Africans Working To Help Freezing People In Norway

6 Responses to Africans Working To Help Freezing People In Norway

1. gofer says:

   June 23, 2013 at 1:23 am

   A group of South African students and an aid agency in Norway are challenging the stereotypical image of Africa as a continent riddled with conflict, disease, corruption, poverty, and brutal dictatorships needing rescue from developed nations.

   And they’re doing it with humor and a video parody of Live Aid that’s gone viral. The group turned the tables by producing a fictional Christmas appeal video that portrays Norway as a bitterly cold country full of freezing people in need.

   You’ve heard of “Feed the World”? This is “Heat the World.” There won’t be snow in Africa, but there will be in Norway, so the good people of Sunny Africa want to donate radiators — thus the name Radi-Aid — to poor Norwegians suffering from the cold and dying of frostbite.

   The video is humorous, but there is a serious message. The point is that images of helpless Africans are just as inaccurate as the idea of helpless freezing Norwegians. A lot of Africans cannot relate to the patronizing videos and development initiatives.

   Source: NPR

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2. kbray in california says:

   June 23, 2013 at 1:54 am

   Those “donations” look like oil filled electric heaters. ( unless the oil was drained out for cooking)

   They are mostly useless in Africa because “Only 17 percent of sub-Saharan Africans have electricity access; in rural areas this drops to 5 percent. Areas that are connected to power grids often suffer outages, and power shortages have forced many countries to operate under load-shedding agreements, or rolling blackouts, in which residents receive electricity on a schedule that ranges from every other day to once a week or less.”

   http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0973082608605116

   Wood or charcoal is more common for “heat” or cooking.

   Reply
   • kbray in california says:

     June 23, 2013 at 2:26 am

     No surprise they want to get rid of them.

     Reply
3. Traitor In Chief says:

   June 23, 2013 at 3:41 am

   This is a job for Obama. He could go to Africa, and be Pretendident over the whole continent.

   First, he could shut down their meager electrical grid, then mandate 400 mpg for Yaks.

   Then, he could lead several videos making fun of whatever he feels like.

   Reply
4. tckev says:

   June 23, 2013 at 5:07 am

   A better song and sing so much better than those over-priced egoist on the ‘Feed the World’ dirge ever did.

   Reply
5. Michael D Smith says:

   June 23, 2013 at 4:12 pm

   Strangely enough, just before I saw this, I found one of those exact heaters at a garage sale. $3.00. Plugged it in and it’s sweet! Perfect for the garage! And I’m not even in Norway!

   Thanks Africa!

   Reply