Two Appeals for Contributions
First, I’m back! The extended stay in California has been very good for my well-being and I am ready to start the Central and South America leg next week. In fact, I am as excited about this next leg as I was about Africa in May. It will “start” with a detour back to Vermont and then to Los Angeles to see Chris’ family before flying to Puerto Escondido, Mexico by way of Mexico City. I want to tie up the loose African strings before I get on the Mexico-bound plane on November 6th.
I have been in touch with folks in Tanzania since my return. As I had mentioned in an earlier posts, my opinion is that the West should just help Africa with education and health and let them run their own countries the African Way. I saw way too many instances of uneducated groups and a lot of it just comes down to lack of money at the family level. Some of the countries like Kenya are moving towards mandatory education and Kenya is even starting to prosecute parents who do not send their kids to school, but this is far from the norm. Look, in Africa the children often exist to tend to the cattle, goats, crops, etc. and school can only take them away from doing the jobs that keeps the family alive. It’s a totally short-sighted view, but isn’t it nice that we have it easy enough to not have to worry about day-to-day survival and can see the long-term view? I saw many families caught in the middle where they really need those kids working, but they also know that they are better off scraping by so the same kids can get educations. I would say that Africa is where America was in this respect about 120-150 years ago. Not all that long ago if you are offended by five year olds tending the cattle kilometers from home each day.
But the world is changing much more rapidly than it did in the nineteenth century and it seems so crucial to me that Africa get on board the education train NOW. Some of the African governments are trying their best. Certainly the missionaries are out there educating many Africans although I am quite suspect about what they focus on lesson-wise. Giving money to the African governments via our government is certainly happening, but I wonder how much actually trickles down to the individuals – you know how the governors like BIG projects for the photo-ops. The NGOs are out there, too, but they seem to have a whole host of agendas and poor track records.
When I visited the Barabaig tribe in Tanzania, I was very moved by my visit to their school and its children. Mary, my host and translator, cares deeply for her people and she believes they must be educated so that they can protect their culture. After seeing much more of Africa, I am totally convinced that education is the only hope to saving parts of the unique tribal cultures. I’m sure many people would argue that they should stay isolated and ignorant, but that argument is so detached from the reality of the past centuries where indigenous peoples are disappearing rapidly. My guess is that most of these traditions will be totally lost over the next couple of centuries unless we can figure out a way that integrates them into the rest of our increasingly vanilla society while retaining the knowledge and traditions of their ancestors. Without creating human zoos, educating them and allowing them to make their own way through this world is probably the only alternative.
So, in Mary, I found a great conduit for getting educational funds directly to the schools for specific children. I asked that she and the primary school choose two students who are accepted into secondary school (pass the tests), could not afford secondary school (and therefore were going to drop out) and who can make a real contribution to Tanzania, the Barabaigs and their families if they get more education. They chose two and I wired $300 for each student directly to Mary. Three hundred dollars pays for a whole year of public schooling in Tanzania and seemed to be the going price in many of the countries. In return, I will get copies of their report cards and if they continue to do well then I will continue to fund them. If they don’t produce, hungrier children will be found. Believe me, African children know more than anyone else the importance of school – they see the alternatives everyday of their lives – so I’m quite confident they will do well.
So, I’m not in the business of fund-raising nor am I one to discuss where people should contribute, but I do offer an excellent way to REALLY impact lives of Africans if you have any interest. Email me for details about Mary and I will get you connected with her. I can say 100% that she can be trusted and the need for these contributions is very REAL. Think about this one – unlike here where kids must go to school and are provided with transportation, Barabaigs are not legally bound to go yet children walk up to twelve kilometers each way every day to get to school. The sooner we get Africa educated, the sooner we stop hearing about the wars, the famines, the genocides and the dictators. (And the sooner we see Wal-Mart having goods produced there and American cigarette companies opening new markets… OK, so maybe education isn’t always a totally up deal… just better than the alternative… one of my favorite bumper stickers… “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”!!!!)
Here’s an easier one… Most of us have old computers at some point. “Old” meaning that we have bought a newer one rather than meaning that the previous one is decrepit. And getting rid of the old computer is no longer so easy. Well, I’m telling you there is a great need for those computers in Africa. And again, I have a connection who wants them. Tanzania allows computers to be imported without duty fees. Albert, someone else I met while visiting the Barabaigs, but he is not Barabaig and lives the modern life in Arusha, has a place to build a computer center for children and adults. This is what I would like to propose… If you can save your computer (no monitors required) until June (when I plan to come back from South America), I will collect it and send it to Albert and I will pay for the shipment. If you are interested in sending computers before June, I would still be interested in paying for the shipment, but I would need you to take care of the logistics. Again, contact me and we can work out the details. Keep this one in mind because you will probably be involved in a converation over the next few months with someone who has bought a new computer and you can ask them what they are doing with their old one and then you can tell them a cool story about how you can get that old computer into the hands of Tanzanians. (And then you can tell them that if they get tired of hearing about African calamities, this is their best way to actually make an impact on the future of REAL people!)
I know I will come across other ways to help the world as I go to each continent, but I am quite sure that the focus of the rich world should be Africa. Every other continent can help itself. Africa will, too, if this focus is applied over the next couple of generations. It isn’t to say that there are not other good causes in India, Central America or even USA, but Africa is really on the edge as far as keeping up with the rest of the world. Consult some of the writings by the Gates, Bill Clinton or Oprah Winfrey if you don’t believe that there is a real difference between where the poor of Africa sit versus the poor in other continents. We can see the brightest future for Africa or the darkest and there is no other continent where both are true possibilities.
Tags: Travel
vagabondrick
I just found your blog through bootsnall and am reading from 2006 – present! I love it! In the beginning stages of planning a couple RTW trips myself.
Are you still collecting computers for Africa?