I have found myself
surprised by Namibia on several fronts. I have been surprised by how good the roads
are. I have been surprised by how barren
the land is, and how there is little local fresh produce, most of it coming
from South Africa in exactly the kind of excessive plastic wrapping we buy our
fruit and veg in Europe. I have been
surprised by how forward-looking the people are, not holding grudges against
their former colonial masters but excited about the prospects for their young
country and confident that they will not repeat the mistakes of some of their
neighbours.
Why have I been
surprised by these and many other things?
Because they are
different in Kenya. Kenyan roads are on
the whole dreadful. Kenya is a lush and
fertile country that grows amazing fruit and veg. Kenyans are, I feel, held back by their
bitterness towards the injustice they were subjected to during colonisation.
Kenya is my only other
experience of Sub-Saharan Africa. So I
had subconsciously assumed that Namibia would be like Kenya. This is about as smart as assuming that one
knows what Lithuania is like on the basis of having visited Spain. In other words: pretty stupid.
It made me wonder,
though. Is this a particular, slightly
racist, problem we have with Africa, or is it a more general, human reaction? Or is it just me?
I am beginning to
suspect that it is the first of these options.
“Black” (ie Sub-Saharan) Africa has held this special place in the
imagination of westeners since the times of Dr Livingstone. It is exotic and it is mysterious. But it is all one. We cannot tell one country from another, let
alone one tribe from the hundreds of others that exist. We assume that all Africans are Masai,* wear
loin cloths, live in mud huts and consult their local witch doctor for their
medical needs. They can all run a
marathon in two hours flat, in bare feet.
Development since the times of Dr Livingstone has been minimal – not in
Africa, but in the mindsets of us westerners.
I would have thought
that I was a bit better than the average westener in this regard, but, alas, I
was not. Time for some self-reflection,
I fear …
*Case on point: the
tribe that Corinne Hofmann joined, and discussed in her Memoir The White Masai (Die weisse Massaï), was actually not the Masai at all, but the
Samburu. I suppose The White Samburu just wouldn’t have had the same ring to it.
I am loving the insights from your blog. Also...email me back.
ReplyDeleteThe other day I read an interesting article on a website. The article title was "5 Shockingly Progressive Policies from Insane Dictatorships". It detailed how weed is legal in North Korea, that the Nazis were aggressively pro-animal rights (and how some of the animal protection laws are still in place today), that the Mongols protected religious freedom, that Iran is really accepting of sex changes and that Rwanda is the world leader in Gender Equality.
Even though the website has some silly articles, it does have some more serious ones: http://www.cracked.com/article_20839_5-shockingly-progressive-policies-from-insane-dictatorships.html.
As they say in the article Rwanda "has undergone a pretty incredible transformation" and looks like that have made plastic bags illegal too.
It's a shame we don't hear more about the progressions that countries make, so the other so called "developed" countries could follow suit.
Dearest L... I am loving reading about your adventures and rants... bugger the cash, the thing I would be clutching closest to my chest would be that delightful man of yours ;) Stay safe and come and visit us soon... Mr TM is a much crappier running buddy on Newport Beach... Sydney misses you. Mr JM.
ReplyDeleteHello my darlings!
ReplyDeleteIoana, you are absolutely right, the world is not a black and white place, even dictatorships do some good from time to time, the Iranian laws on sex change being a good example. One correction though: Rwanda is not a dictatorship ;)
Mr JM, I feel like I have been clutching F to my chest a bit too much here, we've spent hardly more than 12 hours apart in total in the last month! Ah, Newport Beach ... You tempt me! I have to keep telling myself that it is a cold winter over there as well right now. Kisses to both you and Mr TM.