The Wonder that is Africa

The Wonder that is Africa

I finally arrive on the African continent. After a multitude of trips to India and it’s neighbors, I found myself headed to Africa armed with memories of Tarzan and a small library of socially conscious authors.

It is Christmas Eve and I am thinking of Africa -- a land and people that I have come to love and admire. I went to a continent that is a land mass larger than India, China, the US, Western Europe, and Argentina combined, and on this massive ground I traveled only a few hundred miles, thus my contact with Africa has been microscopic at best.

As villages and towns went streaming past the windows of my caravan, I saw similar traits in every glance. It seems that wherever poverty dominates I find a large outpouring of churches and faiths. When I travel in the known modern world, I see a land filled with glitter, not God.

The people of Africa eat real food. Both adults and children can find their own food, prepare their own food and feed themselves, and to them food means something that is alive. How different it is back in Pennsylvania – where humans think that Kellogg’s is their mother and that McDonald’s is their kitchen. The incredible strength and brilliant smiles of the African people may reflect their understanding of food and feeding.

I was invited to Africa to participate in social regeneration programs based on the theory of rule empowerment. This ancient doctrine espouses that when the grassroots of a society is self-sustaining and linked to other societies, both great and small, then stability is maintained and healthy growth becomes a possibility. As an American, I must constantly remind myself that 70% of the world’s population lives in a village with dirt floors, a common well, and sparse access to electricity and health care. Billions of people live that way.

In the past, I would respect the privacy of such a simple village, but this is no longer an option. As multinational forces from the private sector and governmental delegations exploit the resources and gentleness of these distant lands, they leave chaos in their wake.

Instead of taking their trees, why not build furniture and carpentry trade schools to let the neighbors of these trees proudly display their skills. Instead of large corporations flying bananas and pineapples out every day, why not develop local food-processing centers to provide everyone with year-round access to these foodstuffs. Over 60% of all food grown in Africa goes to waste due to a lack of market linkage and a lack of technology to preserve the delicate produce. These ideas form the basis of rural empowerment.

Rural empowerment creates massive employment. A huge job market brings people options and conveniences that they have never seen – such as health care, a great education, refrigeration, eco friendly modes of transportation and energy. How painful it is to live in this world without money and without fellowship at a global level.

I am sure there is a long list of obstacles that make my neighbors hesitant to visit or invest in Africa, but if you would come with me only once, you would see that Africa can feed Africa, that Africa can heal Africa and that this great land mass can become the breadbasket to the world. All it would take is your open loving heart and your skillful generosity to make rural empowerment a reality now.

If you would come with me only once….

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Blair
December 24, 2007