In the most recent State of the Union address, Bush urged members of Congress

...to serve the interests of America by showing the compassion of America.

Since this followed on a paragraph that mentioned the problems of AIDS and malaria, many took this as aimed at the health crisis in Africa.  But it's a huge step back from where Bush has gone in the past.

In the 2003 SOTU, Bush dedicated the middle section of his talk to the discussion of AIDS in Africa and finished with this statement.

I ask the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next five years, including nearly $10 billion in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.

Why was Bush so explicit back then and not today?  Well, likely because he never followed up on delivering the aid that he promised.

But there's a better question: why does Africa need our help in the first place?

From the CSMonitor via the UN Foundation's UN Wire:

Low-cost lamps brighten the future of rural India

KHADAKWADI, INDIA - Until just three months ago, life in this humble village without electricity would come to a grinding halt after sunset. . .That all changed with the installation of low-cost, energy-efficient lamps that are powered entirely by the sun.

[edit]

The innovative lights were installed by the Grameen Surya Bijli Foundation (GSBF). . .The lamps use LEDs - light emitting diodes - that are four times more efficient than an incandescent bulb. After a $55 installation cost, solar energy lights the lamp free of charge.

Properly configured a LED lamp has an approximately 100,000 hour life (it's a semiconductor), and runs on low-voltages (1.8 - 3.6 VDC).  

Coming soon to your house.

2005 Out of Reach Report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.  Detailed annual report:

Out of Reach is a side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every county, Metropolitan Area (MSAs/HMFAs), combined nonmetropolitan area and state in the United States.

We really don't need to hear "working" and "poor" in the same sentence ever again.  Long past time for a Living Wage.  Rep. Barbara Lee's H.R. 1050 is a good start.