Send Your Kids On A Summer Vacation They Will Never Forget!

by Jack

I stopped at a yard sale on my way to workout at In-Motion and really got more than I expected.  I saw they were doing a pretty good business so I figured, eh, why not? I’m a bargain hunter. This was being advertised as a fund raiser for something called “Afri-peace.” Okay, that got me, what’s Afri-peace? I soon found out.

There were several teenage girls (volunteers) wearing customized pink Afri-Peace tee shirts with big peace symbols on them and they had peace symbol earrings to match…cute. But, for a conservative like me, this is never a good sign, those peace symbols might as well been hammer and sickles. I suddenly had the feeling I was at the wrong yard sale. But, me being me, well, I just had to ask some questions. A lady explained they were sending these gentle young high school girls to Ethiopia for a summer as a sort of peace outreach mission. Their first thought was to volunteer at an AIDS clinic, but they were chagrined to find the government of Ethiopia prohibits Westerners from meddling in such things. So at the moment they weren’t really sure what they would be doing, except that they would be caring young American’s, interacting with their sometimes starving young counterparts, including the resit of Ethiopian society, the rapists, the terrorists and who knows who…and showing them all some love. Then presumably they wrap up their trip at the end of summer, have a little Cumbyah sing-along and jet back to the USA. Then they can enter college as the fledgling little Marxists with a strong desire to spend billions of your tax dollars on African dictatorships while denouncing US Imperialism under the tutelage of experienced leftists.

I asked this Afri-Peace lady if this was a safe thing to be doing? I wanted to say smart, but I said safe. She could see the look of concern in my face and I could see the look of resentment at being asked by a guy wearing an ARMY tee shirt. She responded with absolute confidence that it was going to be very safe and that the kids would be fine.

That confident answer made me more concerned for their safety!

I’ve been around some pretty scary places in my life and there’s no way you can make such a statement unless you are a blithering idiot or a naive liberal, but then I repeat myself.

Going to poverty stricken, terrorist occupied, American hating, rebel infested, dictator run Ethiopia is anything but safe for kids from Chico high school, unless they were doing their peace mission from the confines of an M1 Abrams tank, in an armored column…and this peace group would most certainly not have any of that!

This spokes lady said she was recently in Turkey when rioting broke out and how it was really nothing. A media exaggeration. They were never concerned about their safety and she felt the news media played it up for more than it was. She said she felt very safe. I’m thinking…this is the person who is assuring everyone it’s safe to travel the back roads of Ethiopia? And Turkey is not Ethiopia!

Their last Afric-peace goodwill field trip was to Rwanda, right after the genocide. Rwanda, you know…as in Hotel Rwanda? Murder, genocide, rape, pillage…that Rwanda? Good grief…amazing they got back in one piece!

I browsed about the yard sale a bit more, but I just had to ask some more questions… this time my target was a young girl with braces on her teeth working the checkout. So I said, “What kind of government do they have in Ethiopia?”

“Umm, I’m not exactly sure, but it’s one of the few that Europeans haven’t taken over.” She said.

Ah, there it was! I knew it! Trash talking her ancestors, how liberal of her. Well, at least she wasn’t complaining about US Imperialism..yet, but give her time. Somebody special in her life had been filling her squishy little brain with liberal BS again…what a shame.

European colonial rule in Africa peaked in the late 1800’s and Europe’s influence has been declining ever since. Off subject, but my Dad happened to be in Ethiopia during WWII when Haile Selassie ruled as the last Emperor. He liked the guy, but that was during WWII. Things were more stable then… than they are now. For the last couple of decades Ethiopia has gone through a spate of dictatorships and the last nasty dictator was eulogized by Obama in 2012. He died suddenly in office amid a scandal…no wonder B.O. knew him. (Birds of a feather)

For the last decade or two Ethiopia has been in serious turmoil thanks to skirmishes along its border, AIDS inside it’s border, Eritrean military and Al Qaeda operatives acting badly and they’ve been unsettled by Uganda’s genocide campaign and refugees. So when I’m told… the kids will be just fine because their guide or somebody said so… I have trouble believing it.

I’m wondering right now, why do they have to fly so far to get into trouble? Why not just put the kids on a bus to Tijuana for the summer? They could be ambassadors against beheadings, an then do an outreach with love and goodness to reform the Narco-terrorists chopping up the locals.

Question….how far would you (as a parent) have to read into the following State Dept. Warnings for Ethiopia before you say these words, “Ain’t no way my kid is going to that place!”

“U.S. citizens are strongly advised to review their personal safety and security posture, to remain vigilant, and to be cautious when frequenting prominent public places and landmarks. While Ethiopia is generally stable, domestic insurgent groups, extremists from Somalia, and the heavy military presence along the border with Eritrea pose risks to safety and security.

U.S. citizens should strongly consider the risk of attending or being near large public gatherings, or venues where westerners gather on a routine or predictable basis, and which have no visible security presence. Such gatherings or venues can provide vulnerable targets for extremist or terrorist groups. U.S. citizens should avoid, if possible, using public transportation, including mini-buses, and should vary their travel times and routes to the extent possible. You are advised to avoid unattended baggage or packages left in any location, including in taxis.

There are periodic attacks on civilians as well as security forces in the Somali region of Ethiopia. In 2011, Kenyan and Ethiopian forces initiated an offensive against al-Shabab in Somalia, together with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which has been in Mogadishu since 2007, resulting in an increase in the threat level in Ethiopia and neighboring countries.” (There’s more, but I doubt you got beyond the first line.)

I’m wondering if this “flower power-feel the love man” mission to Africa warrants a call to Child Protective Services or to Mental Health first? The adults in this misadventure are clearly crazy people and as parents they are placing these kids in harms way, if only to assuage their own liberal white guilt.

Your advice would be appreciated.

PS Too bad there isn’t a summer camp where soon-to-be-adult kids can learn the virtues of what it means to be a patriotic American, who understands the Constitution, our history and actually appreciates our heritage and wants to preserve what made us great?