I can hardly remember a time when Stephanie Nolen wasn't my favourite reporter in Canada. So needless to say, I am enjoying her latest book, 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa.
But this figure astounds me: $6.6 billion (USD).
That's how much the United Nations believed Africa needed in 1999 to fund a response to AIDS. The continent got $560 million.
But how's this for a figure? $8.9 billion (CDN = 8,323,980,546 USD).
It's so much cash, it's sick. And it's just the surplus in our rich province. Imagine the difference it could make somewhere other than here.
1 comment:
But just remember, if we're all REALLY lucky, a portion of that $8.9 billion could be ours, if we all get a tidy cheque for $400 or so again. Cause really, in a province where women miscarry in hospital waiting rooms, rural schools are forced to teach 3 grade levels in a single classroom, provincial infrastructure is crumbling beneath us, we couldn't possibly have a better use for the money, could we, even if we do choose to be completely blind to the miseries of the world beyond our borders.
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