“I come from the small country of Gabon. It used to be the Switzerland of Africa. There are only 1.5 million people there. It has some of the largest oil reserves in the world. It is top ten in iron supplies, uranium supplies, manganese supplies—you name it. And it has the most beautiful rainforest. The country is so wealthy but the people are so poor. There is no clean water. People’s lives are defined by the search for bread. There is no education. And most teenagers have HIV. And when you get sick in Gabon, you die. I have goose bumps right now because my mother still lives there. The people are dying, yet the ruling family flies around in private jets. They give speeches at the UN and people clap. The president’s wife wears handbags that cost $25,000. The ruling family has been in power for 50 years and they get richer and richer every minute. And do you know why they’re in power? Do you know why they’re so rich? Because they hand over our natural resources to the French.”
