Delia's Gone

dynamicafrica:

A Chinese, Latin American, and North American student are sitting in a classroom. The teacher pulls out a map of Africa, and asks ‘tell me what you see”.

The Chinese student speaks of opportunity and business; South African steel, Congolese minerals, and Angolan oil to power his country’s growth, and an endless list of future contracts for Chinese-built roads, bridges, and infrastructure to link the continent.

The American reflects on Darfur, the Rwandan Genocide, thatched-roof villages, famine, Bono, Madonna, nonprofit work, and starving children. The Latin American student draws parallels in a tragic reflection of the worst parts of his own country; nefarious warlords, corruption, and poverty.

Who is right, and who is wrong? No one. And everyone. The complexity of this mighty and expansive continent can hardly be confined to a single narrative. Over one billion people. 54 independent states (as recognized by the UN). Nearly 3,000 languages. And as remarkably diverse as the continent is, so too should be the stories that emerge from it.

As I stepped through doorway of my concrete apartment in Nairobi, Kenya the other morning, I had the strange feeling I’d done something terribly wrong. I had just returned from two weeks traveling by local transport — bus, boat, motorcycle, and foot — through the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and as it happens, had an incredible, inspiring, and uplifting time.

Before you barrage me with your criticisms, and claim perhaps I’m blind, insensitive, ignorant, or arrogant for eliciting pleasure from my time in the D.R.C., let me explain myself.

The journey went hard against the grain of the typical Congo narrative; I did not pay a single bribe. Immigration officials turned out to be the friendliest and most helpful bunch I met. No men with AK-47s kidnapped me. I spent Christmas day hunting with Mbuti pygmies in the world’s second largest rainforest, swimming in crocodile-infested rivers with their children. I met with grassroots NGOs and social entrepreneurs that were changing communities and bringing hope. I encountered warm smiles, and generous hospitality. I saw a beautiful, untold side of the country.

In short, I was fortunate enough to be able to peer behind the constant narrative of war, conflict, corruption and poverty. I saw real people. I saw real lives. I saw raw potential. Disabled women breaking down stereotypes in their villages by starting small tailoring businesses. Young men, left crippled by the war, training to be carpenters and welders. Communities that massacred each other just nine years ago, collaborating economically and socially. People returning from being refugees and attempting normalcy — school, business, family.

If you were to look only at the bleeding headlines, it would appear that the eastern D.R.C. is a dangerous black hole, like the old maps which demarcate unexplored territory with “Here be dragons”. A no-man’s land of endless bloody conflict, rape and abuse, driven by our consumer demand for diamonds and iPads, by ethnic divisions and land boundaries. Some parts are. But then again some parts aren’t. Ituri, where I traveled, was once dubbed ‘the bloodiest corner of the Congo’ by the UN. Yet since that report, little news has emerged.

The theme here is that much of Africa is more than what is so commonly seen. It’s a rapidly changing continent full with hope, enterprise, entrepreneurship, a growing middle class and everyday life. Congo may be an extreme example, as it is a barely functioning state that hardly serves its people, but it is an example nonetheless.

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submitted by: http://oncoloredaspirations.tumblr.com/

 Worth reading the whole article.  Reminds me of the “I need Africa more than Africa needs me” campaign from Mocha Club.  Africa is a vast, complex continent and should be treated as such!