BUT I WANT TO SAVE AN AFRICAN ON THE BRINK OF DEATH
The only thing that surpasses the large number of Africans living on the brink of death is the number of individuals in the West who want to do something about it. That all these people want to be personally involved in alleviating Africa’s problems is remarkable, nay, immensely welcome, but the big question is: how do they do it?
While we at the Black Campaign do not claim to know the best way through which the resources in the West can be channelled towards Africa, we believe that good answers begin with good questions. And remaining, admittedly, far from the right question, we can at least claim to know what the wrong kind of question is. And that is the question that begins from a point of ignorance and misinformation.
Beginning with a simple google search: I want to go save lives in Africa, Yahoo Answers gives us not only one of many ridiculously framed questions but answers too and declares the question resolved. But is it really?
Following is an unedited ‘copy and paste’ of that question and the answer that resolves it (with, merely, one vote). Though we frown at the purported authority of this (and all the other) answers and their respondents, we would like to point out that the last one, by Blacknight, leans towards our thinking.
Resolved Question: Im thinking about going to africa to save lives, can you help me?
(Im srry if i upset anyone for re-posting this)
I really want to help the starving kids in africa, or anywhere for that matter, but i don’t want to do it by donating money or joining another group. for me, sending money no matter how much, just doesn’t feel like its enough and i don’t like following orders
- my plan is to travel to Africa with two friends and find someone on the brink of death, and bring them to a hospital (using the money i save up). plz if you think im crazy that’s fine, but if there is anyone out there who knows that this is possible and could give me some direction, it would mean a lot.
User Name: Token
Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
Hi,
I have just recently set up a volunteer organisation based in Zambia, where we are working in 2 small community schools, here at the schools, all of the students are vulnerable, and around 50% in each school are orphaned.
What sets us apart from other organisations, is that we are going to be allowing volunteers to help in any way that they want to, I have seen first hand the restrictions that other volunteer organisations put on their volunteers, as a result of this, I feel that the volunteers and the schools don’t benefit fully from them.
When I volunteered at one of the schools that we are working in, I supported 2 of my students- buying them clothes, food, and just generally guiding them into becoming more confident. I also took my class on 2 trips, the places that we visited, most of the students had never been there before, and it gave them a chance to have fun and to be children again. When I left the school, the students had changed considerably, not only academically wise, but also in their personality.
I don’t personally think that you are crazy for wanting to do something like this- its all very well sending money off to a 3rd world country, but you don’t get to see for yourself where your money has gone to.
If you want any more information about our volunteer organisation, visit www.mapunzilo.co.uk
hope this helps, and good luck!!
Source(s): have volunteered for 7 months in total, and set up a volunteer organisation.
www.mapunzilo.co.uk
www.flickr.com/photos/mapunzilo
User Name: matt r
Other Answers
I.
Join the Peace corps or any other organization.
If you go there yourself it is quite useless.
What can you do which they can’t ?
If you go there you will have to eat yourselfes, which is less food for them.
You really will not go there and walk around till u see someone on the brink of death. And if so, what will you actually do about it ?
User Name: paul v
II.
I spent a a few months in Africa. I was in Togo for a while visiting a friend. I didn’t see what is always displayed on the news. where I was it was a pretty nice area with friendly people. good food too.
My advice to you would be to contact the peace core. you will have to learn french, dutch or German, in order to go(i’m assuming) as those are the official languages of most countries in Africa except the southern half
User Name: Mike
III.
Dude, I’m only 14 but I’ve always wanted to do something like this too.
You need to do this under your own steam I think, of course I wouldn’t know about all the difficulties involved but…
If you do end up doing this Good Luck with it.
Maybe speak to Oxfam or some World Aid Organsation.
User Name: Jonny
IV.
I’ve been to about 14 countries in Africa and I can tell you that it’s not what is portrayed on the news. You would have to look long and hard before you found anyone close to the brink of death. As a matter of fact, the way you pose the question reveals some condescension on your part, which I don’t think is intentional. You will offend Africans if you go there thinking that there are many starving people. You would do better to allow them to become your friend, which they will want to do, and learn from their culture by talking to them. The only time I saw people who seemed truly to be suffering from acute hunger was in a city called Sikasso in southern Mali. You’ll see a lot of scammers who pretend to be starving, but this time I could tell it was for real. So then, to answer your question directly, you can go to Sikasso, at the main long-route bus station, and you will probably find some of these kids there. They will not be on the brink of death, though. For that, you would probably have to get a special press pass to get into such an area (Darfur, etc.)
Source(s): Personal experience
User Name: bradwelljackson
V.
Ok, firstly yes I think you are crazy! It’s great that you want to go to Africa and do some good, but you seem to view it in a strange way.
But I shall put that aside and give you some advice…
I work a lot in Uganda and have also been to Kenya and Rwanda, generally working in poor rural areas. I have come across numerous people who want medical attention – and because I show up in a vehicle they always assume I am a doctor and can help (I’m not).
I learnt that despite the fact there are often donated ambulances to transport people to hospital, in general there is no money to pay for fuel for these vehicles, so unless you can afford to pay, then the ambulance cannot move you. I suppose if you really wanted to do something like that, you could perhaps hire a 4×4 (or buy one) and act as a kind of voluntary ambulance.
I want to point out though, that this type of thing is not going to be much good unless you find some way of sustaining the service. There is no use going into an area, helping 5 people get to hospital, and then going back home again to leave them to it. Also, you’d probably need to get in touch with the ministry of health in whichever country you choose to make sure you aren’t breaking any laws, and there will probably be some red tape somewhere…
Finally, I know that donating money can seem a bit removed from whats happening on the ground, but you need to understand that the processes developed by charities and NGOs to put the money into use are generally intended to be the most beneficial to communities in the long run. So if you go and help some people get to hospital, it is not going to be that beneficial to the community in the long run, just for those few people and only for the short term. Doing something like the provision of a facility which the community can then participate in and keep going in the future is far more useful.
Hope that helps.
EDIT – yeah, and I agree with other answers. Africa is not at all as it is shown on the news. The people I have met have very little but they are the happiest people I have ever known! if you go into an average rural village you wont find famine and people on the brink of death you’ll find a really amazing community spirit and generosity.
User Name: Imicola
VI.
We went to Africa and lived there for 2 years during a time of famine. Many, many people came to our door for food, which we gave them. It only helped them for one day. They sold us their goods – this helped them for a little longer. The organization that we went with dug a well, built a medical clinic and helped them with their crops and livestock. That help is ongoing and continues to today.
The way you posed the question makes me think this is not about the needy in Africa, but about your own need. Research this carefully. Culture, customs, language, food, hygiene, clothing, etc., etc. This is a very difficult thing you hope to undertake – plan adequately.
User Name: Mawia
VII.
Do you really want to help Africa?… If so, do this. Tell your congressman/women, senators, your president to do more than they are doing for Africa. You can go to Africa and donate billions of Dollars and tons of food, but that WILL NOT HELP anything. What Africa needs is Africa to help itself, and to do that you need to understand that Africans are under the oppression of their own leaders, presidents, rouge, corrupt, and always thugs who abandon their own people to starve.
How come everyone talks about helping Africa, BUT THEY NEVER discuss the roots of the problem in Africa. It is Africa’s leaders. Leaders that the West and perhaps your OWN president thinks is legitimate and democratic when they are not.
If you really want to help Africa, help Africa get better government to create better institutions that will help themselves, so you do not go back there to help them again.
User Name: Blacknight
3 Responses to “BUT I WANT TO SAVE AN AFRICAN ON THE BRINK OF DEATH”
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It’s fascinating to read these posts and I think you are on to a really important agenda. I don’t know if choosing to call it the “Black” Campaign is too much of a borderline shocker thereby pinning you into the same sensationalism of our Bono. I am all the more interested as I have just joined a responsible travel company that makes its profits and in doing so also does a lot of good both economially and socially by bringing young impressionable westerners to ‘Africa’. The industry is huge as you know but I think I have landed on one of the better ones. They don’t sell ‘Save Africa’ and ‘Slum tours’. Will be following you vis-a-vis working from within…
Hi, I agree, people in the West get a strange view of Africa and it makes us ask odd questions. I think a lot more could be done to prevent people from ‘needing to be saved’. But also, I think there are many things we are doing that we could stop doing and that would make things a lot better for people in developing countries. For example:
Much aid money is spent in the donor country and never gets to developing countries
Much aid money is spent on things donor countries want to sell, not things developing countries need
Recipient countries have been saddeled with huge debts with punitive repayment rates
Rich countries protect their industries but insist on developing countries remove protections
Rich countries extract raw materials from developing countries who receive very little in return for them
Poor people are forced by circumstances to work in terrible conditions and for very low pay so that people in rich countries can buy cheap products
Multinationals are trying to force potentially damaging technologies on developing countries, such as genetically modified organisms
And the list goes on. So there are so many things we could stop doing, we don’t even need to ask what we could do to help developing countries to develop.
Having said that, I believe there is a lot that can be learned through visiting other countries and seeing what people there are doing to make things better for people who are, for example, sick, poor, starving, vulnerable, etc. But I am biased, I’m from Ireland and I’m visiting Kenya and Tanzania so I can find out what people here do to resolve their problems!
Regards
Simon
da best. Keep it going! Thank you