Even though many countries in Africa have seen significant improvement in their politics and standards of living, the negative image of the continent seared in the minds of many around the world by the media and the aid industry has persisted. For many, the whole continent is painted in one broad stroke of despair, even though this is not the reality on the ground. The story of poverty, malnutrition, war, HIV and AIDS, and others, have been the mainstay of an aid industry that cares more about its survival than the interests of the people on the continent. And now, Oxfam seems to be having the epiphany that the story of Africa is not only one of despair but also one of remarkable prosperity. The call that Africa should be seen as characterized by both hope and despair, like any other place around the world, has largely fallen on deaf ears as many still continue (perhaps out of ignorance or malice or both) to paint the continent only in negative images. In every single African country, like in all countries around the world, there are those who are poor and those who are rich; there are those who exploit and those who are exploited; the are those who go hungry and those who are well fed; there are those who are homeless and those who live in mansions; there are those who live to ripe old age and those who die young. However, the patronizing attitude which the media and the aid industry maintains towards the continent continues to paint the continent as only one thing. The point is not to deny the challenges of the continent but rather to insist that the complexity of the continent must be at the forefront of how people view the continent.
There is significant poverty and malnutrition in China and India, for example, but that is not what is being talked about today. In the case of China, for example, the government does not welcome aid groups because it knows that aid groups do not build the image of a people. However, because aid groups are allowed to have their way with Africa, they drive the image of the continent which they want and that image persists around the world even in the midst of a remarkably diverse continent.
Without actually traveling to places like east Texas, Lousiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, one would hardly know that there are many people in the United states who do not have indoor plumbing but rather rely on pit latrines. These places are simply hidden from the view of the media but accentuated in the case of Africa. It is hardly popularized that millions of children go to bed hungry every day in America, however, that is often the story that emerges from Africa. Stories that are hidden elsewhere in the world are usually the stories that are accentuated in the case of Africa. This is a despicable state of affairs that simply needs to stop. However, as long as the aid industry is allowed to define how Africa is seen around the world, this negative image will persist because that is how the aid industry makes its living. Africans must constantly challenge this image wherever and whenever it raises its ugly head.
There is significant poverty and malnutrition in China and India, for example, but that is not what is being talked about today. In the case of China, for example, the government does not welcome aid groups because it knows that aid groups do not build the image of a people. However, because aid groups are allowed to have their way with Africa, they drive the image of the continent which they want and that image persists around the world even in the midst of a remarkably diverse continent.
Without actually traveling to places like east Texas, Lousiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, one would hardly know that there are many people in the United states who do not have indoor plumbing but rather rely on pit latrines. These places are simply hidden from the view of the media but accentuated in the case of Africa. It is hardly popularized that millions of children go to bed hungry every day in America, however, that is often the story that emerges from Africa. Stories that are hidden elsewhere in the world are usually the stories that are accentuated in the case of Africa. This is a despicable state of affairs that simply needs to stop. However, as long as the aid industry is allowed to define how Africa is seen around the world, this negative image will persist because that is how the aid industry makes its living. Africans must constantly challenge this image wherever and whenever it raises its ugly head.
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