Gee, I just don't understand why they hate us...

[Rose Siding]

...Vincent plans to start his own tailoring business using a loan from a local lending group funded by Partners Worldwide, a Michigan-based Christian group. But Mohammad has no chance of getting that loan. He, like the vast majority of people living on Kenya's coast, is Muslim.

Partners Worldwide has been hailed by the White House as a model for international assistance. The administration has given $700,000 in taxpayer dollars to Partners to help cover the cost of staff in Kenya and two other countries and to help pay for mentoring and training programs for businesses receiving loans, though not the loans themselves.

Nonetheless, the focus on Christian businesses has sparked anger toward Americans in Mombasa, which is an important front in the war on terrorism....

But the exclusion of Muslims has caused no consternation at the US Agency for International Development, which gave Partners the four-year grant.

...Martin Mutuku , program manager for Partners in Nairobi who oversees Fullscale and other affiliates, made it clear that including Muslims is not a part of his vision.

``We started this to help Christian business people to grow their businesses," he said. ``We are using this as a vehicle to spread the word. So if they want to join, they may have to convert."

In inland Kenya, where Christian missionaries have long been active, Mutuku's outlook hardly raises an eyebrow.

But in Mombasa, where Christians make up fewer than 40 percent of residents and in many cases aren't native to the region, the exclusion of Muslims prompted immediate anger toward the group -- and toward the US government.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2006/10/10/for_those_excluded_loan_program_is_no_success?mode=PF

Not to worry! U.S. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes is on the case, talking up our good points to the Muslim world.

Kisses!!!!!
http://www.washington-report.org.nyud.net:8090/images/Dec_2005/views.jpg

[MadMaddie]

1. So this is actual proof that it is a religous world war.......

[Rose Siding]

2. You know, I thought I'd read that these "faith based" grants *couldn't*

be used for proselytizing, but in this case, that's ALL the company does!

Looks like a religious/culture war to me -with more fronts than we even know.

[MadMaddie]

3. Well apparantly this is going on in the US too...

The faith based money is only going to Christian groups it is not being fairly spread to other religious organizations..