Thursday, September 01, 2005
Accra, Ghana
The last few weeks have been a series of stimuli. Seeing old friends, meeting new ones, eating all the good food we want (it is all here), drinking espresso at a coffee house. Accra has it all. Unfortunately, most of the luxuries that we have been so hedonistically enjoying are unattainable to so many. The divisions between the have and have nots are stark. Most people eat one or two meals a day, if they are lucky. The average minimum wage does not even cover daily transport and food costs, let alone rent. As a good friend of mine here says: "Forget about technology and progress for Africa, the people need kenke to eat."
Accra is different from two years ago, when I lived here for seven months. I am no longer trying to prove that I understand the culture from the bottom up. I ride more expensive taxis around town, hopping onto the packed tro tros (buses) only when I know I have some time to spare. We are living in a hotel, I am not spending afternoons washing my own clothes in a bucket. I am on the internet daily, either in another friend's office or downstairs at the internet café that boasts the fastest satellite connection in West Africa. I no longer walk around in flip flops and tattered skirts, but have improved my wardrobe to include shoes and smart looking pants.
The reason for these changes is that I learned some valuable lessons through my experience here. Two years ago, after months of the daily grind of tro tros and kenke, I ended up working for one of Accra's most notorious capitalists and learned another side of Africa. I learned a little realism. I learned that in order to affect change in this world, you have to play the game, even if you think the game is somewhat corrupt. I learned that your idealism will never see the light of day, if you think that the beauty of your thoughts alone will captivate those around you. You need money to be taken seriously; without it, you will always be a slave to others. How did I ever think that I could help others, if I did not have the means? Without the means, idealism just teases people.
There are many people here in Accra who are struggling to survive each day. Although I professed solidarity with the daily struggle two years ago, tro tro, kenke and all, this struggle did not leave me in any better position to help. In fact, the experience left me tired and jaded.
Those who are struggling to survive in this city, and many other cities around the world, do not always have the luxury to care about politics or free trade or what is happening in Ivory Coast or whether they should demand to make their own sexual decisions. They wake up before dawn to wait in a transport line by the side of the road, struggle through traffic to get to town, work superhuman shifts, and return to their home late in the night. They do not have the luxury to think about the big picture.
And why should they? The big picture is discouraging. While it is true, that we have seen and will continue to see many innovative local programs that are working to change perceptions about AIDS, gender roles and such; the sad reality remains that most governments simply do not have the funds to support these programs. Most of the projects we have visited thus far were founded with assistance from the West. Global campaigns, such as the fight against poverty, global fair trade, or the fight against AIDS are grossly contingent on the awareness, input and support of Western audiences. I implore you to consider this.
With this backdrop, I am humbled by the reality of our project. As a young person, raising funds to chase an idealistic notion about challenging people's opinions half way across the world about AIDS is crazy talk. Cultural and social priorities everywhere dictate: food, money, house, spouse. However, we had an idea, followed through with it, saved what we could before taking off, and now we are fundraising from the road to keep it going. Our project represents much more than a way to travel for me. It is ripening my somewhat wounded idealism, because it is firmly rooted in our collective belief that we can somehow affect change in our world.
As we began fundraising for this project, when our idea was written on a piece of paper, when it was a rough budget estimate six months ago, not one funder was taking us seriously. However, with your support, we have managed to raise considerable funds for our project. Although we still don't have nearly enough cash to get there, we are out here with a firm belief that we will make it to South Africa and that we will make an impact.
The last few weeks have been a series of stimuli. Seeing old friends, meeting new ones, eating all the good food we want (it is all here), drinking espresso at a coffee house. Accra has it all. Unfortunately, most of the luxuries that we have been so hedonistically enjoying are unattainable to so many. The divisions between the have and have nots are stark. Most people eat one or two meals a day, if they are lucky. The average minimum wage does not even cover daily transport and food costs, let alone rent. As a good friend of mine here says: "Forget about technology and progress for Africa, the people need kenke to eat."
Accra is different from two years ago, when I lived here for seven months. I am no longer trying to prove that I understand the culture from the bottom up. I ride more expensive taxis around town, hopping onto the packed tro tros (buses) only when I know I have some time to spare. We are living in a hotel, I am not spending afternoons washing my own clothes in a bucket. I am on the internet daily, either in another friend's office or downstairs at the internet café that boasts the fastest satellite connection in West Africa. I no longer walk around in flip flops and tattered skirts, but have improved my wardrobe to include shoes and smart looking pants.
The reason for these changes is that I learned some valuable lessons through my experience here. Two years ago, after months of the daily grind of tro tros and kenke, I ended up working for one of Accra's most notorious capitalists and learned another side of Africa. I learned a little realism. I learned that in order to affect change in this world, you have to play the game, even if you think the game is somewhat corrupt. I learned that your idealism will never see the light of day, if you think that the beauty of your thoughts alone will captivate those around you. You need money to be taken seriously; without it, you will always be a slave to others. How did I ever think that I could help others, if I did not have the means? Without the means, idealism just teases people.
There are many people here in Accra who are struggling to survive each day. Although I professed solidarity with the daily struggle two years ago, tro tro, kenke and all, this struggle did not leave me in any better position to help. In fact, the experience left me tired and jaded.
Those who are struggling to survive in this city, and many other cities around the world, do not always have the luxury to care about politics or free trade or what is happening in Ivory Coast or whether they should demand to make their own sexual decisions. They wake up before dawn to wait in a transport line by the side of the road, struggle through traffic to get to town, work superhuman shifts, and return to their home late in the night. They do not have the luxury to think about the big picture.
And why should they? The big picture is discouraging. While it is true, that we have seen and will continue to see many innovative local programs that are working to change perceptions about AIDS, gender roles and such; the sad reality remains that most governments simply do not have the funds to support these programs. Most of the projects we have visited thus far were founded with assistance from the West. Global campaigns, such as the fight against poverty, global fair trade, or the fight against AIDS are grossly contingent on the awareness, input and support of Western audiences. I implore you to consider this.
With this backdrop, I am humbled by the reality of our project. As a young person, raising funds to chase an idealistic notion about challenging people's opinions half way across the world about AIDS is crazy talk. Cultural and social priorities everywhere dictate: food, money, house, spouse. However, we had an idea, followed through with it, saved what we could before taking off, and now we are fundraising from the road to keep it going. Our project represents much more than a way to travel for me. It is ripening my somewhat wounded idealism, because it is firmly rooted in our collective belief that we can somehow affect change in our world.
As we began fundraising for this project, when our idea was written on a piece of paper, when it was a rough budget estimate six months ago, not one funder was taking us seriously. However, with your support, we have managed to raise considerable funds for our project. Although we still don't have nearly enough cash to get there, we are out here with a firm belief that we will make it to South Africa and that we will make an impact.
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