Africa ...

It struck me just the other day as i looked at the dirty squalid streets of an African town, that although there have been western influences here for over 100 years .. it has remained as dirty and squalid and gets more run down by the day.

In the early days when western influence ordained the daily management of the town it was tidy, clean and the utilities worked, now that Africans have taken over the running of it ; a downward slide is evident ..

name the village, town or city in Africa, and the picture remains the same ..

Ok i grant you, on the fingers of one hand you MIGHT find exceptions .. but you are really gonna have to look very hard.

Its not that a better more efficient way has not been modeled.. it certainly was ... so the input and effects have been seen and clearly noted .. so why once Africa gets its grubby claws involved, does a rot and decay immediately start taking place?

Corruption on a massive scale, self interest, greed, incompetence, and the lack of any ability to administer competently seem so prevalent .. decay sets in, infrastructure breaks down, health services wither and die ..

... and the dirty little begging bowl gets thrust aggressively under the noses of the western nations .... once again ...

when they look the other way, a strident voice reminding them of their colonial sins gets raised .. louder and louder come the accusations, guilt is piled upon guilt and finally the western nation doles out a few million dollars in "aid" ....

which promptly gets divided among the elite in power .. while the health services continue to wither, infrastructure decays and the nation slides slowly backwards into its precolonial stone-age past ...

On a personal level the game is played slightly differently ..

seeing that you are white.. the newcomer soon gets a handful of African friends .... stories are swapped, meals are eaten together, much laughter and friendship seems apparent .. yet as sure as night follows day .. the time comes when you are approached for assistance.

... some or other family member is sick/dying/in hospital/ a bus ticket is needed/ school fees/ the list is creative and endless .. if you are foolish enough to assist one, the vultures eagerly gather at the scene .. and pretty soon you are overwhelmed .. If you stop to say "no" the 4th, or 5th one .. then you are no longer a good friend .. you only help one or two.. not all your "friends" ..

if you say "no" to the very first attempt, your circle of "friends" slowly gets smaller ..

so it becomes obvious you were never a true friend ... you were only ever seen as a source of money ..

What is this chronic disease that infests Africa ??

Why, when after billions of dollars, nay probably trillions of dollars over the last 50 years have been pumped into education, health and infrastructure, is this continent no better than it was 50 years ago??

I went to the Seychelles a short while ago on a business trip .. expecting to find a stinking pile of sewerage and litter as with the rest of Africa .. was i ever so totally wrong.

instead i found an island that was almost spotless in cleanliness, with real service and real pride in its appearance ..

They had a Creole festival one night. Early the next morning we drove past the field where celebrations had been held .. it was almost ankle deep in litter and trash ... we drove back again that afternoon .... you could have eaten your meal off that lawn ...

then i returned to the foul, litter strewn, sewerage pit called Africa ..

so why does one nation like the Seychois people get it so so right .. but Africa, despite all that has been done for it keeps sliding backwards?

why??

SO, why do we do this stuff?

I mean, why do perfectly normal seeming people leave their family and friends and go do some "good works" in Africa/India/Asia .. pick your desperate place ..

As i fly around picking up people here there and everywhere at some pretty remote mosquito laden, fly infested remote spot in Sudan or Chad .. i find young eager fresh faced kids doing something good for the less priveleged .. why on earth do they do it??

Kids who are often highly qualified professionals ..

As a follower of Jesus i can understand why others like me do it .. but not all i fly are of the same belief sytem, motivated by the love of Jesus.. so why do they do it?

Its all a bit of a mystery for me at times ...



These guys could be getting ahead in life, marrying, having families, building a carreer, building a house, .. instead they try to do SOMETHING to make the miserable life of a primitive bush dweller a tad better .. albeit for a short period of time

What motivates them .... ?



Please understand i am not knocking their good deeds, or trivialising what they do, far from that.

If the truth be told the opposite is certainly true.

Without question I hold them in high regrad for the sacrifices they are making..



.. i am just trying to understand what happens inside their heads ..