"To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."
- Inauguration speech, President Barack H. Obama
On Inauguration Day morning, I sat with my family over a glass of champagne to celebrate Barack Obama's first day as the 44th President of the United States. For most of my political life I've known only the experience of George W. Bush-- I've known of resolutions and legislation with which I disagreed on issues of importance for education, women, environment, and international peace. I've seen war. I've seen Guantanamo. I've seen tax cuts that, when paired with ignorance and arrogance by a government intended to set some limits on greed, have resulted in a hallowing recession-- if not depression-- at the same time I plan to graduate with a BA in Global Studies and Religion. The Assistant Director of CLP is preparing to move to a cheaper place as her department store employer makes hints at bankruptcy. Students at UCR may have to take unexpected time off as their parents can no longer afford to send them. Grants? Who knows what will happen with those.
What is it like to grow up in a depression? In relationship to my fellow American citizens, I enjoy relative plenty-- two parents with secure jobs, and no debt in my name. Miraculously, I started a new, well-paying job this quarter as an English Tutor, and although my family has made the decision to "tighten down the house" in fear of a possible lay-off of teachers and education staff, I keep an image of the "New Deal" in my head-- heck, if anything goes really bad, I'll start doing manual labor on a development project-- but not in India, in the USA.
But what about India? What do times like these mean for our responsibilities and relationships abroad?
India has its own set of stimulus packages. An individual within our partner organization, ASA-GV, a microfinance institute, has noted a general sense of concern for the stability and sustainability of their organization as well.
Even in the face of our economic crisis, a crisis that is transnational and interconnected to the economies across the world, I feel our obligation and our responsbilities remain. I have still seen the generosities and willingness of people to be "risky" on "development investments." What better savings, what better investment, than the education of youth and young adults in India and Southern California? These our are youth, our children, and we strive to fulfill our responsbilities to them, to uphold the worth of their future, even in the face of our self-created crisises.
When Obama mentioned "non-believers" in his list of the religious constitutencies of the USA, my brother-in-law smiled and giddily exclaimed to the family-- "Yes! Thats my president!" Finally, a president that validated and spoke to the feelings and beliefs of their constituency-- even a constitutency they may not agree with or relate to.
For me, Obama was "my president" when he described working "alongside" people from across the globe to "feed hungry minds." What better way to describe what CLP strives to do? Work alongside people all over the world to feed hungry minds-- including our own.
With a new sense of connection to our own leadership, our work certainly continues.
Gates on the future of aid:
http://audiovideo.economist.com/?fr_story=11ebb33e58a9ff8214910041ef6052e744cfdece&rf=bm
India's Primary Education:
http://audiovideo.economist.com/?fr_story=245b1271041e7d13684d8e8f331abac64f28cf3b&rf=bm
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