I keep running into very pessimistic people. People that refuse to see the light. People that suck in the pain by bitching about it. By complaining about the problems and pointing fingers. People that refuse to trust other people. And for what? I do not know.
I met someone yesterday who seemed like an honest guy. A neighbor of a friend. A young guy, an honest hardworking guy. Apparently he entrusted his motorcycle to someone with the intention of fixing it up to either sell it or use for what I assume would have been an income generating activity (we call them IGA’s). Anyways, so this mechanic he entrusted his motorcycle to ended up fixing it up and selling it and apparently starting up a boutique (which is a convenience store). In this case it was not so convenient for this neighbor of a friend. I honestly do not know if he’ll recover the money, I hope he does.
I am in the process of beginning a project that I think could actually be insanely helpful for my village. The funny thing is that I think the biggest problem I have right now is the fact that everyone insists on telling me that it just won’t work. I inevitably ask them, “Why?” They respond, “the people, there is no motivation,” then they add, “If it does work, they’ll find away to steal the idea and make their own money off of it.” Again, I add, “Why?” They casually reply, “Because that’s the way it is, this is who we are.”
I’m hoping you’re asking yourself who “we” is in this scenario. The person telling me this is an African man, a person who is very close to me. Every single conversation, and I’m not exaggerating, every single conversation he insists on telling me that Africans have black hearts and will steal your money. He thinks that God has chosen the white people to be successful and blacks are not meant to be successful. I’ve tried telling him that sometimes white people are bigger crooks, look at Enron, or the majority of the people making money off of the recent housing crisis.
I’ve tried telling him that there are successful stories from all corners of the world, stories from races and cultures in between black and white. Brazil’s current rising, the successful reforms that led to the economic success for South Korea, Bangladesh’s success (although it is somewhat controversial but then again, what isn’t?) with microfinance. He asks for an African success story, because here, apparently someone who isn’t black is white (except for the Arabs).
I answer with, Ghana’s democratic turn, South Africa’s membership in the G20, Botswana’s clean sales of diamonds, Tunisian and Egyptian citizens demanding for new and fair leadership.
No matter how fucking hard I try, this man does not listen to me. He tells me to list one African leader who willingly stepped out of power. Of course I went to Nelson Mandela. You know what he said? He said, of course he stepped down, he was old. Do you think a young politician would have stepped out of power like that? He obviously doesn’t know what Mandela went through to see some of South Africa’s progress.
One day I finally lost it. I asked him, do you want me to leave? You obviously don’t want me working with Africans. Apparently I’m inevitably going to get betrayed some how and I shouldn’t waste anymore of my time! He was speechless. Thank God.
The truth is I can’t afford to be ignorant to betrayals. I’ve heard way too many stories from other Peace Corps Volunteers telling me that they got screwed. I know it is inevitable. But I won’t let it get me down, I won’t become an island for it. I’ll find ways to persevere. I won’t ignore my failures and betrayals, I will learn from them because that is what I’m meant to do.
I almost fell off of a motorcycle the other day. I couldn’t hold on, but I held on. And I can type this entry because I did. And if I had fallen off, which I know I will do within my time here, I’m going to get up (hopefully) and walk (as well as not pay). I will simply hold on, for as long as I am alive. And not only is it keeping me alive but slowly, everyday, this man who feeds me pessimism, changes his mind just a little bit. I will try to learn from his pessimism too, and hopefully prevent someone stealing my things to open an inconvenience store.
Carlos J. Fernandez-Torres
February 23, 2011
That's the best you can do I think. The pessimists will attempt to turn you around, and you will attempt to turn them around. The best thing I think is to learn from each other, and gradually improve upon the situation from both ends.
ReplyDeleteDon't give up your optimism, your positive thinking, and your honesty. The world needs more of that.
I have faith in you. You'll get it done.
ReplyDeletewhat an interesting post. I do see some validity in this African mans words. Where there is poverty there is corruption, and it becomes so hard for people to look beyond the boundaries of their own home. I have volunteered my time in some of the poorest villages in India, and so many of the government run projects to help get people out of poverty and just end up being misused by some selfish villager. People start to mistrust people and working for the "good of the community" becomes an obsolete concept. So yes in some sense this selfish mindset becomes en grained in the culture of the residents of the area.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem is trying to figure out how to change the mindset of people so that they are willing to collectively work together to raise the standard of living for their whole community and not just their household.
cjft! my mitten bretheren. had time to kill while waiting for my postmate to return and came across this brooding gem. :P no worries man, not everyone is jaded and hopeless. the world is what is, and all we can do is keep looking for those budding success stories and help where we can.
ReplyDeletehigh five from the ouest,
yaya