My advice? skip this post. It's more for me than you.
They say that once you've heard the fish eagles call, Africa will always be in your heart. Well I heard it quite a few times but I always thought it was a warning before it tried to shit on me, rather than an invitation to return on another holiday. After 5 months in Africa, I'm happy to say I'm heading home (all be it, briefly). Africa has been amazing, I've loved almost every day, but I don't think I'll be back unless it's on a short kayak trip or a dive trip to Tofo. There are just too many other places I've never been to.
I'm leaving confused about the nature of Africa and its problems. I've seen aid agencies, charity schools, intelligent locals, fertile land, countries with rich resources everywhere I've been. All of the above in every town and country Why is Africa still so poor, why is education still so poor? I don't claim to even begin to understand Africa's problems, but it seems to me that everywhere the west has interfered we've either:
- Been at war ourselves and brought it with us.
- Created the circumstances for civil, ethnic or interAfrican war,
- Imposed sanctions forcing countries into poverty (e.g. Zimbabwe)
- Plundered all the natural resources available and then buggered off
Or, - Handed out aid in a manner which seems to have prevented African's doing it for themselves….
There seems to be a commonly held belief in Africa, that Africa is entitled to gifts, aid, and overpayment from westerners. For example, I read a newspaper story in Uganda that said the Government had set up a new nature reserve in Lake Victoria to celebrate CHOGM and would fund it for the first two years until a sponsor was found. Not just fund it, do it themselves, but rely on us. Obviously it's not a bad tactic cos they'll probably get a sponsor, but it doesn't really lead to an efficient governement or national park.
Worse than this though, I think many aid workers and aid agencies are doing short term good but long term harm. For example some aid workers are taking jobs from African's who should be doing it instead, and so the skill base in africa doesn't improve. I met an aid worker who spent time planting fields while the locals watched him. I met aid workers who were paying 75 pounds a week to teaching at a charity school which was too disorganized to make effective use of them. I met three aid workers who's main job was looking for land to build schools in Kampala...
Am I to believe that there are no locals who could be paid to do this? Perhaps I should believe that there aren't, after all, for the last 20 years overseas volunteers have been paying for the privilege of doing the work for them…
I'm left with a feeling that someone should tell Africa to pull it's socks up and get on with solving it's own problems. I met a church politician on the way home who's job was to try and persuade the church in africa to do intervene and do something itself rather than relying on western church help. He agreed with my view (after all his job was to enact that viewpoint), but he also drew the line, reminding me that Africa doing things for itself, or not doing things for itself doesn't absolve us from being morally obliged to help.
All the same, if I make charity donations or try otherwise to help Africa, it will either be to:
- Eradicate 3rd world debt - I've not yet been disillusioned with the notion that this is one real reason why Africa can't help itself.
Or, - To help charities such as the red cross and aid des frontiers who help those who really can't help themselves.
I'm sure there are many more worthy charities who operate in the toughest places and most difficult circumstances, I just don't know them. And perhaps I owe an apology to the middle class of aid agencies, who help in in the short term in nice places where tourists visit and want to lend a hand, after all the fields were planted, I'm sure the kids in the school learnt something, and I'm sure the land for schools will be found. So I'm sure some good was done, I'm just not convinced it was for the long term.
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