"orientalism"

it's interesting how many people responded to my last entry about my awe at my "African" moments. i'm not sure if it's that i asked for comments cause i want to know who's reading this or if it's because that's such a common, expected feeling. i know it is. an awe at the beauty and the frustration of living here is hard to not make romantic.

i'm reading a book called "The Road to Hell" right now (i forget who it's by, but i'll try to get it on here next time!) which is, to be very broad, about the failure of development organizations and possibly even the evil of them... that they can participate in the continuing underdevelopment of nations. but it focuses on somalia in the '80s and the work done around the famine and food aid. the image of a starving african child is, in its horror, romanticized by the "Development" world. "you can help! you can feel good about yourself! you can smile at how you helped!"

it's sick and yet part of the system. of course women here in their beautiful, colorful suits will seem romantic and an "other" to me because it's been part of our media for so long. africa, since the days of the explorers, has been full of mystery, intrigue and excitement. and that goes from here to the states too. a zambian in america would probably keep thinking "this is america! this is the land of opportunity!" yet, trying to make it a reality, with it's complexity is something i try to do everyday and something i also try to do here, on this blog. keep commenting!

to change direction just a bit, i got an e-mail from a friend today talking about "relative" poverty. i'll quote:

"Otherwise, I have been spending a lot more time thinking about the situation in the US. Obviously, we don't have extreme poverty like that which exists in Mali, Zambia, India, and Honduras. So at times I think it is foolish to spend time wondering how to help those who are relatively well off globally yet poor relative to our country. And yet, it is sensible and even powerful to be an advocate for change and justice within one's own community and culture. Perhaps I can do more in that capacity...especially as I do not envisage myself living overseas for the remainder of my life. Perhaps not. Either way, the conditions here are not great. The country is going through a terrible crisis of confidence, with 81% of people thinking the country is seriously off-track. Prices for food and fuel are soaring, the number of people on food stamps is growing, unemployment is up and the economy is struggling with a seriously f-ed up loan system and declining real estate prices. As usual, the poor and lower middle classes suffer the most. That, plus the presidential race and the serious questions of race and sex it elicits, makes it a fascinating time to be here."

i thought he (and i'll reference him if he tells me it's ok!) wrote so eloquently about the complexity of poverty today. the poor here suffer. lack of clean (or running) water, illness, infant mortality, HIV, poor education, lack of jobs and capital and loans and so much more make life difficult. yet people are friendly and kind and supportive in ways that i know i will miss when i am back in america. the random person who saw that i greeted another peace corps volunteer and then asked me to greet someone for him and who i ended up talking to as i walked the two blocks to the internet...

yet, the poor everywhere suffer. especially when you SEE wealth and inequality around you. few people here have a good education so, though you may want that for your children, it's not rubbed in your face as much if you don't have it... is that harder? or is that easier? where do we need to work? how do we make change? obviously the answer is both. we need people who can work and make change here and we need people who can work in the states making change (both with the poor and how we view the poor!)...

but, i also recently got a letter that another friend wrote a year ago. not sure how on earth it travelled to take so long but she wrote about being a peace corps volunteer and trying to both teach people but not change values, to work within the cultural system and values. but if you're trying to teach to change behavior how does that not, inherently, struggle with changing values? women are healthier if they don't have ten children, but children and having family are valued here. they are also valued as a kind of social security - unpredicatability and lack of care in old age mean children help you survive... but as we encourage women to have fewer children (both for their own health and for the fewer expenses of caring for fewer children) do we change values? change a culture? to come back to the beginning, make it real and less romantic and less full of suffering?