Yemen - Syria - Nigeria - Congo - Libya - Mozambique.... the rising and falling news and images of tragedies seem to merge in a fluid transition with terrorism, instability, natural disasters, corruption and the dark juggernaut of the Internet (fake news, cybercrime) in such a way that it is almost impossible to discern the boundaries between real peace and outright war. But when do we look? When is the world looking?
Yemen right now - water as one of the most important missing basics, along with all other misery to which the children, women and old people in particular are exposed. What are the reasons that the cry for help from Yemen has now been heard by the Western world? Wasn't it just those pictures of war-wounded people, traumatized children, destroyed villages and cities? Live broadcasts from crisis areas, directly from the flashpoints of the events? THAT must happen until the world looks at it. What a sad chapter. Emerging countries such as Liberia on the West African coast is trying to find its way. The peace achieved by the UN in 2003 after 14 years of civil war is so thin-skinned that little is needed for a new smoldering fire. Corruption and lack of prospects, desolate infrastructures, lack of water, catastrophic hygienic conditions; difficult or hardly any access to basic medical care; unemployment, criminality, fear of new epidemic crises such as Ebola in 2014 and much more fuel discontent and fears among the population of a good 4.5 million people living in great poverty. But who cares? A small country like Liberia is on no one's radar - it has no mouthpiece to the world, no refugee drama, so we wait for paralyzing images and reports that reach us via television, newspapers and push messages on smart phones, tablets, etc. and are amazed - one has heard nothing about Liberia before, or wanted to hear.
But there are opportunities. Proactive investments in education and structures are worthwhile at a time when this is still possible. After that, it is too late and the international community has to provide emergency aid and damage limitation with millions of funds - as is now the case in Yemen. The key is EDUCATION, water and waste management, health, prevention and security. Investment is needed in vocational training for children and young people on the one hand and in the training of willing opinion makers of a social order on the other. No - it is not about millions of development funds from Europe, which disappear in the gears of a corrupt administration in Africa. It is about the willingness to pass on KNOWLEDGE, to teach, to accompany, to motivate and to actively participate with patience in the paradigm shift from "survival" to "shaping life". Thanks to the unbureaucratic commitment and willingness from the Swiss engineering and hospital sector, private institutions, as well as an internationally recognized peace researcher and lecturer from Germany, the Swiss BTFS Foundation (HR entry Canton SG) can set valuable accents in Liberia with a school and water construction program in Liberia.
Liberians are empowered to take their destiny successfully into their own hands and to help the country in a valuable way in the reconstruction process (infrastructure, jobs, basic food, tourism).