Silly People

From Thursday, 21/8/08



The Ambassador's visit was two days ago. Actually, the Ambassador was sick, so he sent an officer from the Embassy instead. In my opinion the whole thing was a complete disaster! There was a funeral that morning, so everyone in the village had to go, so I was left to clean/set everything up. Sometimes I feel like a party planner instead of a PCV. It is nice though to have something to do. I'm never sure if I am actually supposed to go to the funerals. No one ever invites me or tells me to tag along, so I never go. We had planned a grand welcome of singing and dancing, but we are technically in mourning now, so all of that jazzy stuff was out of the question. I got everything ready, put on my outfit, and then ran around trying to make sure that everyone else was ready by 11:30; the time that we were told everyone would come. When 12p came and still our guests had not arrived, I felt like an asshole for hurrying everyone along.
The plan was for this to be a small, but by the time the Embassy group arrived close to 12:30, there were at least 20 people. More people continued to filter in as time progressed. I had the chairwoman of the women's group go first since she had to go cook lunch. Then the youth group men took turns speaking. All both groups did was basically praise the last pcv. I just sort of sat there with a fake smile, trying to hide that I was really angry. It was all, "she did this," "she was wonderful," blah, blah, blah. They also kept trying to get money for things. They thought that they were so sly, but it was so obvious. When a hour had passed, and our guests had to leave, I pretty much had to sew everyones mouths shut. After they left, no one in the village could get over that fact that two people came in two different SUVs each with a driver. Even I was a little taken back by the whole thing, but said, "hey that's America for ya!"
I guess the thing that makes me the most upset is the fact that all everyone wants here is money. I've suggested ways to make money, people agree, then later they keep bring up sponsors. I'm always told that we won't make any money selling things. I want to say, "well you'll make a lot more money then you have right now." I have however found another group that does want to do something. These men planted over 40, 000 moringa trees, and they just want help learning how to care for the trees in the dry season. These are the kind of people that I want to work with. They want to teach others about the tree, and they don't need some fancy skills center to do it. Sure it would be nice if everyone had fancy phones, TVs, and clothes, but if people are starving or dying from preventable diseases, then what good would the latest technology do anyway? That's the problem with people helping developing countries. Sure a lot of good is done here, but in the process we've also shown the people what the Western World has to offer. It would be nice if everyone in the world had the same great things, but a country can't magically shift from third world to an America overnight.
Even America was once a struggling nation. All the big companies come here offering fancy gadgets, but what they really need to do is start from the bottom up. Great, everyone has a cell phone, but right now no one can afford fuel for the few generators that are here, and the Gambian NGO that is here can't charge everyones phones. My cell phone has been dead for three days now because there hasn't been any sun to charge everyones phone. My cell phone has been dead for three days now because there hasn't been any sun to charge my solio. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if people had normal cell phones, but everyone here has to have the fancy phones with mp3 players and cameras. Those use up the battery even faster. Everyone talks of buying cars or visiting Europe, but when they can barely afford food for their family, they need to switch their proprieties.
So who really is to blame for all of this? In my opinion: everyone. Africa is the "cradle of civilization." We're taught that life began here. Rather you believe mankind evolved or "poof" we were here one day, all hard evidence supports the idea that it all started in Africa. Over time some people left Africa, and soon people began to inhabit other parts of the world. For some strange reason, the rest of the world began to flourish, while Africa stayed the same. My first group to blame, colonists. Countries from all over came to Africa, robbed her of her natural resources, and also tried to "save the savage beasts." Those who were not sent away on slave ships were left to be "colonized" and "taught the right way to live." Really all that happened was countries were created, lands were robbed of natural resources, and the people began to fight back.
Most African countries at some point gained their independence, but now they were left a complete mess. Most countries quickly became ruled by vicious dictators, and most are still that way today. At some point it was time to make amends for what the "white man" had done, so then came the foreign aid. If you saw how that money was spent it would make you sick. However, I just as equally blame Africans for all of this. Sure there wasn't much they could do when people arrived with guns, but still today continuing to take and more importantly, expect handouts is wrong. I understand that everyone wants the sort of treasures I was lucky to grow up with (and will in fact return to in less than two years), but we grew up in two different worlds. Ideally everyone should have the same things, but like I said before, it is not possible for these things to happen overnight.
People in Western Societies really just need to stop feeling bad for the people of Africa. All that has done is create a continent that is completely dependent on the world. People need to put away their checkbooks. If someone really wants to make a difference, then they need to come on over and help teach the people of Africa to be independent. Instead of watching late night TV and then sending money to some organization that promises to send kids to school, people need to sit down with the people here and explain to them that if 30 people sell the same thing, then no one is going to make any money. Sure they'll make enough to buy food for the next day, but they'll never make enough to get ahead. I've personally seen some of these organizations that advertise for money to send kids to school. They've got nice cars and computers, but I still see a lot of kids that are not in school. I'm not saying that these organizations aren't trying to do their job, but again, maybe a big pile of money is not the solution to the problems of Africa. Every day I'm asked for something, or told to go get money from some organization. I didn't come here to give away handouts, but unfortunately that's exactly what I'm expected to do. Some people see this part of the world as a lost cause. As horrible as it sounds, sometimes I almost have to agree. While everyone searches for the newest thing they must have, people are still dying every day over simple things that could easily be taken care of. Malnutrition, malaria, AIDS and many other things that have been taken care of (minus AIDS) kill people every day here. I was here two months ago when the country ran out of fuel and I saw first hand how ugly things got. I do not even want to imagine how things will get once the food shortage arrives.
The President may not be the most popular man in the world because of the things that he has said, but at least he is trying to push people to farm and feed themselves. I can look past his entourage of 10+ cars, trucks, and hummers, because if what he said at a conference recently on a national holiday. He said many things that day, but what really stuck out (and got my attention) was his request for the people of the country to work hard and take charge of their country. Sure he went on to blame Western Society, but in a way he's right. Nothing will come if the people here are not willing to take a stand and work hard for their country. Also, nothing good will ever come if people continue to thoughtlessly just send money here without actually knowing what it will be used for. Don't get me wrong, some donations are good and really do a lot of great things here. However, a large number of donations are not used properly and in turn are just wasted away on things that will do nothing to help. and soon will be disguarded when the generator runs out of fuel and no one can buy anymore.
One time I heard a story about a PCV in another country putting a video on You Tube and getting in trouble. The video showed a very brief clip of someone dumping trash on the ground and people running and fighting to collect it. The harsh reality is this is what we do everyday to the people of Africa.