What does poverty mean to people in their daily live?
...that is what I want to show in this Blog. Recently I had a discussion with friends on this Blog: they thought I was to cynical. My response is always that cynical is a matter of style. Writing down things that happen to you or others in daily life has not to do do with being cynical. It is honest observation, that might be coloured because of personal circumstances and background. I observe the place I live,with other eyes than the native people who live here and who are used to all the insecurity, the corruption, the fact that they have to spend a month working on medicine (if you are a diabetes for example)..., the fact that they don't have clean water, the fact that police is not your best friend, the fact that young girls have to skip school because they don't have the money for hygienic measures during their period, the fact that you dont no how your future is gonna be when you are sixty (and old, for here). It has nothing to do with cynical but maybe, and that might be moralistic, it has to do with the fact that I would like other ("Western") to see that this is the world these people on this continent live in and make them realise what it means, although none of 'us Westerners' will never ever experience this...
5 Comments:
Ik lees regelmatig deze blog en ik vind niet dat je cynisch bent. Juist dat je begaan bent met je (Afrikaanse) medemens en je ervaringen/belevenissen beschrijft zoals jij ze ervaart waarbij cynisme een enkele keer voorkomt. En ach, mocht je een keer cynisch zijn, je bent mens, geen machine, je hebt gevoelens en een beetje cynisch op zijn tijd kan geen kwaad. En laten we eerlijk wezen; het leven in Afrika is hard vergeleken met de Westerse Wereld. Het is een dagelijkse worsteling om te overleven en toch lukt het heel veel mensen met het weinige dat ze hebben te overleven.
Ga alsjeblieft door met je belevenissen/ervaringen te melden via internet, ookal zijn deze niet altijd positief, het leven is nu eenmaal geen groot feest.
Nina
Think Nina's right, but on the other hand a bit more sunshine in the blog might be good. Just to make sure that people who have a negative attitude towards Africa are not confirmed in their stance.
posted from Nairobi - Kenya
Nina...het leven is inderdaad zwaar maar hier in de Westerse wereld is het ook zwaar. Kenianen mogen best een schop onder hun reet krijgen af en toe. Ik geef Ruud gelijk...laat ook eens wat positieve dingen horen uit Afrika en wees ook eens wat kritischer tegenover het (corrupte) Afrikaanse handelen.
Cynisme op zijn tijd kan geen kwaad maar je moet niet overdrijven...anders kan je niet meer genieten van de mooie dingen in het leven....toch?
I agree with the lasty comment. Butr to show how people survive (I realy adnmire them), you should also show in what circumstances they survive. That is not cynicism but reality. Cynical people don't believ that things get better and just accept. But ist is also cynical and to neglect. People don't survive because of Western Aid her, they survive because they have found a way of surviving. I agree with Ruud that I shoukld not give criticasters a stance for Not giving help, but maybe we should seriously consider if help is the right thing to let Africa survive? Africa is strong enoughto survive it self. We shouls ask the question if WE (e.g Western Countries) want to HELP our own farmers with subsidies or WE would like to help small scale African farmers by not giving them the barreers they experience now. Africa is a net capital exporter!
Think we should get rid of these subsidies, and do away with export quota.
This week I learned you can help Kenyans surviving without damaging the local economy. For example with the famine in draugh areas. You don't have to plenish people with huge loads of food, or other presents from the sugar Uncles in Europe. Six kilos of maize flour, 1.5 kgs of pulses, and half a liter of cooking oil per person per month is enough. It's half the amount a person needs, so the local community cannot become lazy.
It shows that small help still can do great good.
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