The good news from CentCom
Centcom's web site has lots of good stuff, but I was drawn especially to this story, written by Sgt. Brian E. McElaney, about an orphanage for girls in Djibouti, an obscure nation in the Horn of Africa.
First Sgt. Lawrence Wei bears the imposing title of Operations Chief for Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa Future Plans. He visited the orphanage in Djibouti City and found that many of the girls there had no shoes. That might not be a project for the U.S. Army. But as it happens, Sgt. Wei has a second, less grandiose title: Assistant Cub master for Cub Scout Pack 84 in Petaluma, California. In that capacity, Sgt. Wei organized an effort by Cub Scout Pack 84 to procure shoes for the orphaned African girls. The Cub Scouts responded handsomely, collecting more than 100 pairs of shoes and sending them half way across the world. And let's give credit where credit is due: many of them came at a discounted price from local shoe manufacturer Birkenstock, the butt of occasional conservative jokes, but here, on the side of the angels.
I like this story for what it says about the Scouts; suffice it to say that there aren't any African orphans who are wearing shoes, for the first time in their lives, courtesy of the well-funded, prestigious groups that have done their best to destroy the Boy Scouts.
But I liked this story for another reason, too. Sgt. Wei explains:
At one point, I asked the kids what they wanted or needed. What shocked me was their response – they said they wanted to learn English! They didn’t ask for candy or toys or anything like that… it seemed like such a mature answer for a child to give.
These kids aren't stupid, and they aren't hopeless. They share the natural optimism of youth with every other kid born anywhere else in the world. Their optimism and ambition aren't misplaced, but they require a few basic preconditions to be realistic--a normal government, and a normal free-market economy. Given those fundamental realities, and with an occasional helping hand from the Cub Scouts and others who wish them well, there is no reason why these girls' hopes should be futile. The world--the African world especially, but with far too much support from Western enablers, including, sometimes, the U.S.--has tolerated corrupt, tyrannical and cruel governments in sub-Saharan Africa for far too long. Cynicism isn't just wicked, it's dumb. The time has come to say goodbye to tyranny, world-wide. And that includes Africa.
