Soapbox time...
We watched Hotel Rwanda last night, and frankly I think everyone who can should be made to watch it. It's not particularly graphic (or I'm just desensitised), and not the best film making ever, but it's true.
It's basically the story of the genocide in Rwanda about ten year's ago, and the West's culpability in that genocide. We knew what was going on, and did nothing (not to mention having created the problems in the first place).
It got us thinking like no film I have seen in a long time. At one point one of the Rwandans is discussing the atrocities that are going on with a US cameraman who has just been shooting footage. He says "It's good that you will be showing the world what is happening, so they will come and stop it". The cameraman laughs derisively and says "No, people will see the footage and say 'How terrible', and then go on eating their dinner".
Effectively, this is what the West did. I don't recall knowing much about the situation at the time, and watching the film you can't help asking 'Why didn't somebody do something?' But I have to wonder that deep down, even if I had known about it, would I actually have interrupted my life to do anything about it? Or even think about it?
It also makes you wonder about Africa generally - why is it such a cauldron? How much of it is a legacy of colonialism, and how much is it today with other factors? And how much can we even verbalise what those factors might be? Are 'Africans' lazy, too fatalistic, too short-termist?
But then you start wondering, why do we think of 'Africans' as 'Africans'. They're not 'Africans', they're people (and I'm pointing my figure at myself here). When you live here, it is easier to start realising this. Not long ago a lady who works in the hangar lost a child during a C-section. She was off work for weeks, and had to go to another town for therapy/counselling. This was a complete shock to me - I kind of assume that because life is so hard here, and death such an ever-present reality, that life is not valued as much as in the West. And I still think that in some ways maybe this is true.
But people are still people.
So then I start thinking - is there any hope for Africa. What can be done to help people help themselves? These aren't original thoughts, but when you live with poverty staring you in the face every day, it has to get to you eventually.
Does what we are doing here make a difference? I know it does, in a limited way to a limited number of people. I remember the 'fable' about the boy tossing beached starfish back into the sea. He is interrupted by a guy who asks, 'Why are you bothering? There are millions of them, it can't possibly make a difference'. The boy answers by picking up another starfish, throwing it into the sea and saying "It makes a difference to this one."*
It's basically the story of the genocide in Rwanda about ten year's ago, and the West's culpability in that genocide. We knew what was going on, and did nothing (not to mention having created the problems in the first place).
It got us thinking like no film I have seen in a long time. At one point one of the Rwandans is discussing the atrocities that are going on with a US cameraman who has just been shooting footage. He says "It's good that you will be showing the world what is happening, so they will come and stop it". The cameraman laughs derisively and says "No, people will see the footage and say 'How terrible', and then go on eating their dinner".
Effectively, this is what the West did. I don't recall knowing much about the situation at the time, and watching the film you can't help asking 'Why didn't somebody do something?' But I have to wonder that deep down, even if I had known about it, would I actually have interrupted my life to do anything about it? Or even think about it?
It also makes you wonder about Africa generally - why is it such a cauldron? How much of it is a legacy of colonialism, and how much is it today with other factors? And how much can we even verbalise what those factors might be? Are 'Africans' lazy, too fatalistic, too short-termist?
But then you start wondering, why do we think of 'Africans' as 'Africans'. They're not 'Africans', they're people (and I'm pointing my figure at myself here). When you live here, it is easier to start realising this. Not long ago a lady who works in the hangar lost a child during a C-section. She was off work for weeks, and had to go to another town for therapy/counselling. This was a complete shock to me - I kind of assume that because life is so hard here, and death such an ever-present reality, that life is not valued as much as in the West. And I still think that in some ways maybe this is true.
But people are still people.
So then I start thinking - is there any hope for Africa. What can be done to help people help themselves? These aren't original thoughts, but when you live with poverty staring you in the face every day, it has to get to you eventually.
Does what we are doing here make a difference? I know it does, in a limited way to a limited number of people. I remember the 'fable' about the boy tossing beached starfish back into the sea. He is interrupted by a guy who asks, 'Why are you bothering? There are millions of them, it can't possibly make a difference'. The boy answers by picking up another starfish, throwing it into the sea and saying "It makes a difference to this one."*
But sometimes I wish we could make a difference in the kind of way that the man was thinking about it - a bit more macro, a bit more global.
What can we do to help is a fair question, but we also have to ask what help is actually needed? (I think Libby's talked about this before). Most people are fairly happy most of the time, but what is the bottom line? No one will ever be 'perfectly happy' by improvements in lifestyle. So again, I guess, Jesus is the answer. Maybe I'm looking at this at too humanistic a viewpoint.
So maybe we are doing some good here.
I hope so...
______________________________________________
*[I think I'm getting old, I've got a nasty feeling I've written this one on here before. Never mind, it still makes the point].
*[I think I'm getting old, I've got a nasty feeling I've written this one on here before. Never mind, it still makes the point].
posted by Daniel & Libby @ 11:30 am
3 comments
3 Comments:
Some real food for thought...
If you want to know more about what the West did and didn't do during the genocide in Rwanda then read this book: Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Romeo Dallaire. The Author headed up the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda at the time...it is quite an eye opener!
Hope you are all well!
Love,
Megan
Maybe our problem is that in the information age, we know about far too many things that we can do nothing about. So we end up feeling so guilty and helpless that we don't even have the confidence to do change the things that we could.
a book I've found interesting (in small doses) is "After the Locusts" by Meg Guillebaud- a long-timer in East Africa; I had a friend at school, Mandy, who's grand-dad, Joe Church was involved in a revival in Uganda in the early 1900's and have since been interested in the Uganda/Rwanda/ Burundi area where the Ruanda missionary society operates(linked to the CMS)-I got their newsletter years ago.... maybe one day I'll get to visit...(ps Rich's brother is getting married to a girl in Thailand, in March, so Rich, his sis, Debs and meself are going out for a short trip!)
bye for now, (our computer seems to have recovered- security wasn't workin so we had v. limited times on internet..)
love
C.
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