Today’s Good People, Good Works will be presented in Amharic and English, with subtitles in Amharic, Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Dr. Roba (m): Human rights and animal rights, they are interconnected and if we don’t fight for animal rights, and human rights, then we haven’t done anything. We can’t ignore one and leave the other. They are both equally important.

HOST (IN AMHARIC): Greetings, friendly viewers, and welcome to Good People, Good Works on Supreme Master Television featuring the second and final installment of our program on the remarkable work of Dr. Anteneh Roba and the US-based non-profit group the International Fund for Africa or IFA.

The group operates on the principle of “ahimsa” or nonviolence and respect for all beings. The IFA has many projects encouraging constructive relations among humans and between humans and our animal co-inhabitants.

Last week we learned about IFA’s compassionate work, such as improving neonatal care and public health in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa, organizing a spay and neuter program for stray dogs in the same city, and helping to set up a sanctuary for abandoned donkeys and horses in Southern Ethiopia.

This week we hear from Dr. Roba on how his group is spreading the eco-conscious message of veganism and the need for immediate action with regards to climate change in Africa.

Dr. Roba (m): My experience has been very powerful. I've gone to different parts of Africa and I've seen a lot of change, even in my own country. When I left Ethiopia, as a young person, almost close to 30 years (ago), Ethiopia was very lush. It was, you know, beautiful. There was a lot of vegetation. When I went back, certain parts of the country, there is no vegetation. There're a lot of problems with water shortages. The forests are gone and 60, 70 years ago, Ethiopia had 40% of its forests intact. Now it's less than three percent.

The Sahara (Desert) is expanding yearly, and it's affecting Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. The glaciers on Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro are drying up, and the rivers and lakes are drying up. The forests in West Africa almost don't exist. In the Congo, the forests are almost gone. Desertification is becoming an issue, and so yes, there is some serious, serious damage to the environment going on in Africa.

Dr. Roba (m): We need to focus on bringing awareness to the governments, to the communities, instead of pushing for you know, cattle to be, a means of survival for human beings. Because at the end of the day, having a lot of cattle is causing damage to the environment, which (means) eventually both humans and animals are going to lose out.

HOST: In Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa, livestock are used for bartering and are exploited for their meat and milk. The IFA is seeking to end these unsustainable practices to better public health, protect the fragile biosphere, and preserve precious animal lives.

Dr. Roba (m): So, there's a lot of importance attached to having animals in Africa, and it is an issue. But on the other hand, I think the way to handle that, or to deal with it, at least in my way of looking at it is, we can help people transition from meat and dairy-based foods to plant-based foods and make plant-based foods abundant enough to feed the population. Actually, it's a better way; instead of people keeping cattle for food and for bartering, they can start farms, and create their own collectives where they can survive on selling crops.

Dr. Roba (m): We can create that world if the governments, the communities, organizations, and NGOs (non-governmental organizations), everybody understands that a world where we don't use animals is the way to go. And a world where we can respect the ecosystems and preserve the ecosystems and actually improve the ecosystems is how we can deal with these issues.

HOST: The International Fund for Africa’s website has much useful information regarding the harms of livestock raising such as the troubling statistic from the landmark United Nations report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” that 30% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface is taken up by animal-agriculture related activities. The website also states, “Most of the world's crop production, which includes almost 40% of the grain produced, is fed to animals which then get slaughtered to be eaten by a relatively small number of humans who can afford meat.”

Dr. Roba (m): And, even the United Nations a couple of months ago, they came out and said, "That's the way to go." We have to create a vegan world in the future to stop hunger from becoming, you know, a big disaster, which it already is, but it's going to get worse if we don't do something about it.

Dr. Roba (m): What we've seen is an openness even on the governmental levels and on the NGOs levels, non-governmental organizations. People are beginning to realize that global warming is for real and it's affecting human beings. And like the World Watch Institute just came out saying that recently saying that 51% of global warming is caused by greenhouse-gas emissions caused by animals. That idea is beginning to sink in across Africa.

But it's admittedly not as fast as we would like it, but there is change, and we need to build on that. That's why organizations like ours, like the Supreme Master (Ching Hai International Association) and others have to get involved more and more in Africa to really drive in that message that we can’t do business as usual with

Dr. Roba (m): global warming breathing down our necks. You know, they’ve already said,

Dr. Roba (m): a two degrees Centigrade increase will affect 600-million people. Basically 600-million people will go hungry. So you cannot ignore that and something has to be done and we need to shift our way of thinking.

HOST: The International Fund for Africa is active in spreading the word about the numerous benefits of a vegan diet and is partnering with like-minded organizations in Africa in this endeavor.

Dr. Roba (m): First of all, we’re working with a couple of vegetarian societies. We’re working with the Vegetarian Society in Ghana. We’re working with the Vegan Society in Togo, and we were instrumental in starting the first Ethiopian Vegan Association in Addis Ababa.

And the surprising thing is the Ethiopian Vegan Association found out about us being involved with veganism through Supreme Master Television, that is seen worldwide, and they one day saw me on Supreme Master (Television) for five minutes and they said, “Oh, this man is in America, and he is Ethiopian and he is trying to promote veganism, so let’s contact him.” And they contacted me and we started talking and finally said, “We need to start a Vegan Society,” so we did.

And now, it has started in Ethiopia and actually we’re planning an event in the next couple of months to introduce ourselves to the city of Addis (Ababa), to politicians, to parliamentarians, and the public, and even have Ethiopian TV come and cover what we are going to be doing. We work with these organizations and we try to help them financially as best as we can.

The other thing we are doing is we are working with local NGOs in Ethiopia that promote plant-based diets, and we support them. They go out to the communities to teach people about focusing on the plant-based diet and are telling people about the the negative effects of meat consumption and dairy consumption in Africa. And so we are supporting these organizations.

HOST: What can we all do to address the challenge of climate change? Dr. Roba next offers his wisdom on the vegan solution and the power of the individual to further the cause of plant-based eating.

Dr. Roba (m): Well, my belief system is: one, change yourself. If you can change yourself, then that is a start. You know, people who understand the impact of global warming and the devastation it causes on the environment and how it is related to animal agriculture understand that, the first thing human beings can do is become vegan themselves. But apart from that, get involved; advocate for veganism.

Another thing that I love about what Supreme Master (Ching Hai) is doing and her followers are doing is they are opening restaurants. That is really important because it is one thing saying, “ Let’s be vegan! Let’s be vegan!” It is another thing opening a restaurant and saying, “Look, this is the food, good tasting, healthy food!”

And telling people that not only is it good for the environment, it is good for you, and it is good for your health. You won’t have to die of diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and all these things if you eat like this.

It’s, you know, change yourself, then change others by showing, by living, you know, by practicing what you preach and going out and doing it, and that is what Supreme Master’s followers are doing and I applaud them for doing that. And that is what we need to do and that is what our little organization is doing, is we’re saying, “We are vegans. We want you to go out and become vegans and help others.”

HOST: Dr. Roba now offers this final message to our global viewers.

Dr. Roba (m): The only thing I can say is if whoever feels passionate about the planet, about human health and animal suffering, the first and the foremost thing anybody can do is be vegan. Stop eating animals and that will help the environment. It will help their health and it will help the animals. And after that they can progress into doing other things.

Once you become vegan, your mind clears up and your spirits clear up. All that (bad) karmic, negative energy of being involved eating dead animals clears out of your system and then you start focusing, just like it happened to me, towards helping others and realizing that we have a beautiful planet that we need to respect, we need to take care of, that nurtures us and we cannot ignore her.

HOST: Dr. Anteneh Roba and International Fund for Africa volunteers, we would like to express our deep gratitude for the wonderful message of hope you are bringing to Ethiopia through the promotion of the vegan diet and your public health activities in Addis Ababa. May your elevated example soon encourage others to change to the compassionate plant-based lifestyle and spread love and light to all sentient beings on our magnificent planet.

For more details on the International Fund For Africa, please visit www.IFundAfrica.org or connect with the IFA on www.Facebook.com

OUTRO(IN AMHARIC): Pleasant viewers, we appreciated your company on this week’s edition of Good People, Good Works. Coming up next is The World Around Us after Noteworthy News. May all lives be filled with appreciation for all of God’s great creations.