Africa and the Notion of Poverty

NOTE: This is a summation of the impact of my experiences from Rwanda, Burundi and my previous trips to West Africa as well. This is still a work in progress as I seek to further understand and communicate my own thoughts to others.

“Only by seeking after, knowing and acting out the truth can one be free. All else is the creation of a lie that is appealing to the senses, but is still an illusion.” (Allen Paul Weaver III, Transition: Breaking Through the Barriers, IUniverse, p. 91)

What thoughts enter your mind when I mention the name Africa?

Do you have thoughts of Poverty? Do you envision hungry children with nothing to eat and little or no clothes to wear? Do you think of a territory that is filled with savagery and war? Do you think about places of beauty? Creativity? Dreams? Peace?

I have discovered from my travels between West and Central Africa that the tendency of American media in general, is to paint a one-sided picture of a continent in poverty and chaos that is often caused by its own people. However, Africa is not a continent immersed in chaos or poverty. Both do exist to varying degrees, but this continent is so much more than what the media likes to focus on. Here are three aspects I would like to highlight.

1. The continent of Africa is rich. When I first went to West Africa, I was immediately surprised at how many large, international businesses had a strong presence and major investment there. Africa is a place of commerce and has always been rich in resources: precious metals, diamonds and other quality stones, crops, oil, fabrics, wood, wildlife, crops, etc… However, over the centuries, outside interests have fueled a colonial presence that has mainly sought to subjugate, harvest and strip away the natural resources of the land, not for its inhabitants, but primarily for foreign investors.

2. The people of Africa are immensely creative. Africa is a vast continent, made up of many countries, languages and people. Even with various differences there are many similarities. One such similarity is their creativity. Their art is striking. Their wood carvings are intricate in detail. Their ability to envision and perceive are unique. I have seen children make their own toys - taking soda cans and wire to create a car, truck or bicycle. I have yet to meet an individual who was not innovative in some way. In a very real sense they have to be innovative. In many places there is no social welfare system - so if they don’t work, then they do not eat. Even so, the majority of people are willing to work creatively in exchange for monetary gain rather than just receive a handout. This desire to dream and innovate is such a great gift that inspires all other continents.

3. Africa is not poor. We have this notion about poverty… that Africa is poor. Poverty is defined, “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support… Poverty denotes serious lack of the means for a proper existence: living in a state of destitution - having absolutely none of the necessities of life.

I propose that Africa and its people are not poor - in the way that we tend to look at poverty. Let me say that there is a lack of access to resources that goes way beyond anything we’ve seen in the United States of America. I have looked into too many eyes of children and adults who have dreams, but no food or clothes to wear. I have also witnessed attempts by my African sisters and brothers to maintain their dignity as human beings.

In the factual sense, much of Africa lives in poverty; and our tendency, when coming from “developed” nations is to “help those poor people who have nothing.” However, our mission should be to enable the people to gain access and utilize the wealth of their land. The resources to thrive are there, but in many cases full access to what is needed has been structured out by foreign influences. I have also come to realize that there are different types of poverty. And in a very real sense, where Africans may be poor in one aspect, they are rich in another. Where there is a lack in physical resources, there is no lack in love, hospitality, and joy.

Those of us from America have many physical and financial means at our disposal… yet many of us are poor when it comes to love, hospitality, and joy. To go to Africa is to receive a lesson in what it means to be able to smile when one’s stomach may be empty; to sing when there seems to be nothing worth singing about; to dance when you have no new clothes nor shoes on your feet; and to give of your last to eat because a visitor has traveled far to see you. Perhaps those of us in “developed” countries are the ones who are truly poor - as we seek to live in safe and sterile communities filled with more technology and less, true human contact.

CONCLUSION

This short writing doesn’t even begin to delve deep beneath the surface of the African reality. But hopefully it will stimulate a desire for you to learn more about the tremendous history, wealth and contributions of the various people of Africa. Africa is as diverse as any other place on earth, with varying climates, drawing people to visit from all over the world.

There are areas of both great poverty and great wealth. Whatever stereotype you have about Africa cannot contain the reality that IS Africa. I have been blessed by God to be able to visit, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Burkino Faso, Burundi and Rwanda. As I seek to understand more and more of my MotherLand, I realize that I have also been given a great gift through these journeys… the ability to dream. May God not only bless America… but may God greatly bless Africa as well as the rest of the world.

-Allen Paul Weaver III -