Nice piece about Nigeria in the Star by Fran Quigley

A reminder that thanks to Prof. Scott Pegg, Indianapolis has some unique opportunities to make a difference in Nigeria. Scott is one of the country's leading experts on "the resource curse" — and as this article implies, the curse Nigeria has in the form of sitting on vast pools of petroleum is a big one. Scott has brought some of Nigeria's leading human rights activists to IUPUI. And he has set up a primary school and orphanage. Check it out.

"Nigerians Get Their Day in Court On Human Rights Claims Against Oil Companies"

By Fran Quigley

If IkpoBari Senewo had not been conducting an exam for his secondary school students in the Niger Delta village of Bane one afternoon in May of 1994, he believes he would have been killed. As it was, members of the Nigerian military who came to Senewo’s house that day found only his father at home, so they flogged the elderly man with a section of high-tension cable and then burned the house down.

Plenty of Senewo’s colleagues in the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) faced even worse consequences for their activism. The most notable victim was Senewo’s close friend and movement leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed by the Nigerian military in 1995.

MOSOP leaders were outspoken critics of Royal Dutch/Shell’s environmental practices in their oil-rich Ogoni homeland, and Senewo and other activists blame the multinational corporation for their brutal treatment. “Shell did not want anything to interfere with its business in Nigeria, so it made sure the Nigerian police and military did its bidding,” Senewo said from Chicago, where he has lived for ten years after fleeing Nigeria. A lawsuit brought against Royal Dutch/Shell by the Wiwa family and other victims of arrest and torture is scheduled to go to trial in U.S. District Court in New York in February.

Shell spokesperson Robin Lebovitz said via email, “The allegations made in the complaints against Royal Dutch/Shell concerning the 1995 executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight fellow Ogonis are false and without merit. Shell in no way encouraged or advocated any act of violence against them or their fellow Ogonis.”

Shell’s prospects in the Wiwa trial may benefit from this month’s ruling in the similar case of Bowoto vs. Chevron, where a San Francisco jury rejected a claim that the oil giant was partly responsible for shootings by Nigerian soldiers the company summoned to respond to a protest at Chevron’s offshore oil platform.

But some human rights activists like Scott Pegg, an IUPUI political science professor who has conducted research and helped build primary schools in Nigeria, find a silver lining in the Bowoto decision. “The good news is that the verdict cuts against transnational corporations’ argument that they cannot get a fair trial in cases like these,” Pegg says.

The Bowoto and Wiwa suits were brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act, a 1789 statute which allows non-citizens to file lawsuits in U.S. courts for alleged violations of human rights even if the acts occurred outside the U.S. Multinational corporations have succeeded in getting many such claims dismissed. But in 2005, Unocal settled a high-profile suit alleging the company’s complicity in forced labor to build an oil pipeline in Burma. Yahoo recently settled a claim that it aided in the arrest of a Chinese dissident.

Pegg says that U.S. jurisdiction of these claims is necessary for justice to be served. “We are fortunate in the U.S. to have a stable and independent judicial system, but that is not the case in many countries where the worst human rights abuses occur.

“In Nigeria, for example, many people see the government and corporations as one and the same, with the government serving as a military wing of the corporations. The disparity of power between the corporation and the victim of a human rights violation diminishes the chance of a fair trial.”

A fair trial in the Wiwa case, according to Senewo, would publicly identify the source of the Ogoni people’s suffering. “I long to see justice done against Shell,” he says. “I want the world to know that innocent people were sacrificed on the altar of greed.”

Quigley is an Indianapolis attorney working on local and international poverty issues. His column appears in The Indianapolis Star every other Monday. This column is online at http://www.indystar.com/article/20081215/OPINION12/812150310/1002/OPINION

Joe Mamlin on video

This from Fran Quigley:

Dr. Joe Mamlin, field director of the Indiana-Kenya Partnership, gave a stirring talk at Indianapolis Mid-North Shepherd’s Center last week. The video of Joe’s presentation, which includes compelling images and stories of patients whose lives were saved and transformed by your generosity, is viewable online at

http://www.tvwebcity.com/?videoID=574

Quite a presence, watch the video.

Kelly Campbell reports from Tanzania and Kenya

Here are some quickie reports Kelly Campbell of The Village Experience sent back while on her trip to Tanzania and Kenya. Read about her plans here. With so much stuff she was delivering to Kenya crammed into her luggage, Kelly couldn't bring her computer with her. So expect more pictures after she returns on Dec. 17, and lots of opportunities for us to hear about ways to become engaged in Kenya initiatives. You can see Kelly discuss some of this in a discussion hosted by the Mid-North Shepherd Center:

http://www.tvwebcity.com/?videoID=574#

Here are Kelly's on-the-fly reports:

4 December (from Tanzania):

Today The Village Experience participated in the first ever Traveler's Philanthropy Conference in Arusha, Tanzania. Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, Wangari Maathai, gave the opening speech urging people and companies to be responsible as they travel the world.

Topics such as Voluntourism, Wildlife Conservation, Fair Trade and Micro-financing, Sustainable Development, and the tourism industry's role in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention were addressed by experts in the field. The Village Experience will be presenting their business model tomorrow in a presentation entitled "moving forward by giving back..."

The Village Experience is excited to leave Saturday to begin a week long trip through Kenya. Projects in Eldoret, Nakuru, Nairobi, and Mbita will be further developed and funds and donations from the Indianapolis community will be distributed in time for the holiday season. Stay tuned to hear more about The Village Experience journey through Africa!

9 December (from Kenya):

Entry 1:
Yesterday began a journey to what felt like the ends of the earth. A plane ride, bus trip, ferry ride, and matatu finally had me arrive at my destination: Mbita. Mbita is a small fishing village on the shores of Lake Victoria. It doesn't look far from Nairobi on a map, but it took a good 6 hours of intense travel to find this hidden gem. I came to Mbita to learn about an orphans and widows program and find out ways that we could help empower the community. After conversations with some of the widows, we discovered several that already had skills in basket weaving and soap making. The Village Experience is going to help this project set up a handicraft center and teach the women to become self sufficient. We will continue to tell their story and try to generate funding so that the orphans may have a stable school to attend and a feeding program in place.

Entry 2:
Today I arrived in Eldoret after a long journey from Mbita. I spent most of the day learning about small business projects and trying to get an idea of what a successful model looks like. Many things I would never think of seem to be working and empowering the people of Eldoret: chicken farms, commodities stores, passion fruit production, and chappati vendors. The Village Experience is excited to begin working in Eldoret to further develop and support these efforts.
In the evening, I met with people from Eldoret involved in community projects-all of them with a link to Indiana. I met with the team from Imani Workshops to talk about their fair trade products and ways to further market and improve the program so that more women may eventually be employed. The team from the new Harambee Center on Philanthropy at Moi University were in attendance as well. Dr. Some explained this new initiative and the vision it has for the future. We also discussed street kids issues, the new mother and child hospital, the hospice center, and Neema orphanage to name a few. The upcoming trip to Eldoret in May 2009 will be an excellent venue for the new Cities Pamoja Partnership to flourish and for all those involved in Eldoret to learn about each others projects and deepen community relationships.

11 December (from Kenya):

As I leave Eldoret and head towards Nakuru, I'm left thinking about all the wonderful connections made in just 2 short days. As a representative of Cities Pamoja, I explored relationships with Moi University, the new Harambee Center on Philanthropy, street kids organizations Koinonia and Xstreet, Neema Childrens Home, Imani Workshops, Family Preservation Initiative, and many more. We have decided to dedicate an entire day in our May itinerary to exploring Cities Pamoja and conducting the first joint meeting of committees from both Eldoret and Indianapolis. This will be an exciting addition to our trip!

The Village Experience worked alongside women from Imani Workshops on this trip to develop a new line of jewelry for our company. The collaboration was a lot of fun and was a great learning experience for both parties. We will meet with the Indianapolis focus group and talk about launching this line soon.

Koinonia is a Kenyan ngo that The Village Experience and others in the community are trying to revitalize. The number of street children in Eldoret has drastically increased in the past year due to political conflict and we want to empower this organization to respond to their needs. If you are interested in learning more, please contact me at kelly@experiencethevillage.com. With a little jump start from the community we can help create the infrastructure this ngo needs.

13 December (from Kenya):

Once again I have been welcomed to Nakuru with open arms by all of our partners and supporters. I am visiting established projects here that The Village Experience supports, and I am helping to develop new initiatives - especially those that empower women.

After listening to presentations at the Travelers Philanthropy Conference and then listening to those living in the actual villages, I have come to the conclusion that "trade not aid" is indeed very true. If we could get everyone interested in giving back to contribute to small business projects, handicraft initiatives, and income generating ideas, we could make a huge impact on a community and empower them to sustain themselves. This is an idea I will be promoting through The Village Experience and throughout my travels.

If anyone is interested in getting involved, TVE will be starting 2 handicraft centers in Mbita and Nakuru and running a street kids project in Eldoret focused on enterprise and skills training. We could use some help in collecting the initial capital - join us in "moving forward by giving back."

Check this blog for more about Kelly's trip when she gets back.

Welcome back to Indiana, Jay Hein!

After putting in a two-year tour of duty as the White House Director of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, Jay Hein has returned to Central Indiana, back to Sagamore Institute where he is writing a book about his experiences. Jay talks some about his experiences in this video from the Mid-North Shepherd's Center:

http://www.tvwebcity.com/?videoID=574#

Scroll through videos on the left to get to Jay's. His talk was supposed to be a exchange with Sheila Kennedy, a frequent critic of faith-based delivery of government-funded social services. Sheila couldn't get out of Montana that day, so that debate will have to wait. (It's too perfect not to take place eventually.)

One of Jay's achievements while he was in the White House was linking President Bush's two passions for faith-based initiatives and finding relief for AIDS-ravaged Africa. These are two areas in which you can expect continuity when President Obama moves into the White House. Jay recently wrote an article in the Indianapolis Star praising the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other aspects of the outgoing Admin's policies towards Africa.

Rush job saves lives of African AIDS sufferers

President George W. Bush is famously punctual. This was on my mind as I prepared to offer him a briefing last year. I arrived outside the Oval Office 20 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin only to find out he was running 15 minutes early, making me barely on time.

So I was not surprised to listen to the president's recent World AIDS Day remarks announcing that the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief had met its goal of providing life-saving drug therapy to more than 2 million patients -- ahead of schedule.

The achievement is remarkable on several levels. First, consider that merely 50,000 people suffering from AIDS across the continent of Africa received such medication five years ago when the president's plan was announced. Second, consider that while PEPFAR was the single largest health-care program aimed at a single disease in world history, it is one of the only development programs to operate with strict accountability standards.

Conventional wisdom previously argued that African leaders were either too corrupt or too inept to deliver results in exchange for assistance. One of the most hopeful outcomes of PEPFAR's success is proving how wrong conventional wisdom was on both counts.

I had the privilege of joining Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kagali when he announced that his country not only met the PEPFAR performance standard but exceeded it -- well before the deadline. The U.S. and Rwanda presidents clearly have an affinity for performance and schedule and they also favor non-government actors. Both are quick to point out that the real work is done by health professionals in faith-based and community clinics.

This story is familiar to Hoosiers. In the late 1980s, the Indiana University School of Medicine set up shop in northern Kenya to pursue its mission of providing medical care to the indigent, teaching the next generation of doctors and conducting world-class research. What it did not intend to do was become one of Africa's leading solutions combating the world's deadliest pandemic.

But AIDS soon became such an overwhelming presence in its facilities that IU-Kenya program officials were required to respond with heartland compassion and innovation. Matching private philanthropy with dynamic partnerships, the university formed an Academic Model for Providing Access to Healthcare that now treats 70,000 Kenyans at 19 sites.

The IU-Kenya Partnership's success was born of necessity and grown through its commitment to indigenous leadership. The program's impressive results earned the respect of Bush administration officials, who recently awarded it a five-year, $60 million PEPFAR grant. This funding will ensure that 150,000 AIDS-infected Kenyans will be served by 2012.

Odds are good that this target will be met on schedule. For the Kenyans served by IU-sponsored doctors and the millions of other Africans given a new lease on life thanks to American generosity, PEPFAR is a presidential achievement that did not come a minute too soon.

What makes the Indy-Africa connection special — perhaps even unique — right now is the extraordinary ferment at the grassroots level with the presence on the community some of the decade's most influential policymakers on Africa. Jim Morris, Randall Tobias, Sen. Richard Lugar ... and now Jay Hein. Jay is a very generous person who is eager to share his experiences, lessons, and connections with anyone who wants to make a difference. You can reach him at jay@sipr.org. Welcome back, Jay!