There's a thousand examples to illustrate how poor some of the people who live in and around Tamale are. I've used one or two already. I like the preface to this blog because of what it says about heaven, although I'm aware that it also says something about poverty. After all, 'purewater' is just a 500mL bag of filtered water - they sell on the street for about five cents.
Still, I woke up a few mornings ago to a 9 AM doorbell. There was a guy there, a friend of one of Create Change's school liaisons. He didn't have enough money to pay an exam fee at school. Thanks to some mid-'80s IMF austerity measures, these run around 100 GHC. I think his idea was that I would pay for it.
I can live without that 100 GHC. But for someone I don't know? To get him through one exam? He's probably telling the truth. But I wonder how rich he thinks I am.
In the end, I told him that I'd ask around the office to see if there were organizations in his area that sponsored boys' education. There was one CCFC partner organization that might have done it. I passed on their name, but couldn't get a contact person.
Send me some Kant?
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ReplyDeleteOh I'm with you on this- I wouldn't give to someone who was asking just because they assumed I was a wealthy foreigner but I would quite directly tell them it was unjust of them to pressure a stranger in that way. If I had a friend in need or could join with people in doing good work then I would give help and anything I could freely, but that as a traveller and guest in their community they shouldn't be begging us for gifts and charity. Some of our volunteers had host families who were really quite aggressive in their requests but, though the requests ranged from a simple bag to a more expensive bike, I think it would lead to a different kind of dynamic to the relationship and expectation than what we were aiming for in the community. With my own host family we shared everything openly though- I never felt it was a one way relationship so I wouldn't hesitate to accept food or clothing from them and they never saw me as acting the Lady Bountiful but just as family..
ReplyDeleteZeenat
Yeah, I agree. I don't mind buying more often than not, so long as it's not the expectation. I have a local friend who I suspected of that when I first met him. . .made a point of mentioning that I wasn't really getting paid her e a few times & things changed. Not really about money, but I don't like to feel used, you know?
ReplyDeleteOh completely- and if you're living so long with them so they should know you and not make assumptions because you're a westerner. I'm quite blunt I think but I always found that people can tell what is honesty and what is a dismissive excuse. If you're working hard and doing your best then people recognise your good intention and that you're joining with them in their work rather than being an easy fix cash cow. Sometimes some of the children in kasapin would point to others and tell us that they were not really our friends but were only coming to us for food.
ReplyDeleteAnd then among the adults there were many great people who were shy to meet us and especially visit us at the guesthouse in case it looked like they were asking favours. Which sadly resulted in us only meeting those who wanted something from us unless we made the effort to go out and make our own friends. The community had its pride but there were those who wanted to take their chance. Especially at the end of the trip when it seemed that gift-giving had become an established custom and everyone and his mother felt free to demand that we give them literally the shirt on our backs.
Like you say it's not about money but when it came to gifts it should be something given freely out of friendship and care- otherwise what makes it different from begging for charity?
I express myself a little harshly here- I don't think anyone minded when I told them they don't need to beg from me. I said it nicely and they could see I wasn't just seeing whoever it was as an anonymous object of pity..
Of course this wasn't some random kid in a tourist spot but maybe someone you know which is different and I think you did the right thing in looking for people/ organisations to help him out. The exams are crazy expensive and everything depends on them..
Sorry if I'm hijacking your blog with these overlong comments- I should maybe just offload on my own blog only this is my way of procrastinating because that feels like work..
Zeenat