Paul Theroux in his book Dark Star Safari is quoted:
"Charities and aid programs seemed to turn African problems into permanent conditions that were bigger and messier."
He continues:
"They have turned much of Africa into a land of beggars and helpless whiners who approach life with a sense of frustrated entitlement.The result after four decades [of extensive charitable efforts] was a lower standard of living, a higher rate of illiteracy, overpopulation, and much more disease."
He believes that the key to Africa's prosperity is in the hands of Africans,
"In my view, aid is a failure if in forty years of charity the only people still dishing up the food and doling out the money are foreigners. No Africans are involved - there is not even a concept of African volunteerism or labor-intensive project. If all you have done is spend money and have not inspired anyone, you can teach the sharpest lesson by turning your back and going home."
Paul Farmer came to our school and spoke about this exact topic. He believes however that treatment can be done.
ReplyDelete"Partners In Health’s success has helped prove that allegedly “untreatable” health problems can be addressed effectively, even in poor settings. Until very recently, it was conventional wisdom that neither multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) nor AIDS could be treated in such settings. PIH proved otherwise, developing a model of community-based care used successfully to treat MDR TB in the slums of Lima, Peru, and deliver antiretroviral therapy for AIDS in a squatter settlement in rural Haiti. National health authorities in both countries have now significantly expanded these pilot projects. Today, PIH has transplanted and adapted its model of care to the epicenter of the HIV pandemic in Africa, launching projects in Rwanda in 2005 and Lesotho in 2006. Elements of PIH’s community-based approach have been disseminated to and adapted by other countries and programs throughout the world."
http://www.pih.org/what/PIHmodel.html
I think that there needs to be support in the African cities either way and turning your back on a country that is not getting the hang of supporting themselves is only a matter of how economically poor they have become over the past years. Maybe additional support for education and jobs needs to be more emphasized rather then the basic food and water.
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