19 October 2005 - 21:17
Forget having the G8 countries forgive debts, what Mauritania needs to do is hold a Ramadan-a-thon. It would work just like those fundraisers did when you were a kid and needed to raise money to go to basketball camp or whatever – every Mauritanian solicits pledges from sponsors, preferably in the aforementioned G8 countries, who pledge to donate a buck or 50 cents or whatever for every day that the Mauritanian fasts. At the end of Ramadan (or whenever the Mauritanian decides to quit fasting), he calls up his sponsors and collects his cash, which he can then use to feed his family for the year. Of course, every Mauritanian will probably lie and say that he fasted for 40 days instead of 30ish, but that kind of thing is pretty much a given for these type of sponsorship deals – I mean, who didn’t add a few free throws or jump rope jumps onto their totals when they were kids? The benefit is that Mauritanians will feel like they’ve accomplished something, like they actually did work to make this money instead of just asking for a handout. And the sponsors get a tax write-off. And most importantly, PEOPLE CAN ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING BY FASTING DURING RAMADAN INSTEAD OF BEING COMPLETELY UNPRODUCTIVE.
So, who wants to sign up?
