Sacramento journal: Africa ... in Whole Foods

Just back from Sac-o'-tomato, a.k.a. Sactown. Grandma is doing great—no pain, in good spirits, in good health, especially considering she's NINETY-THREE (her birthday was on the 15th). To celebrate, she went to a casino with my aunt. Unusually for her, she didn't win, but she very much enjoyed her field trip. Interestingly, her memory actually seems to be getting better! Proof, I believe, that you're never too old for a little neurogenesis.

So I went to Whole Paycheck to pick up some groceries for Grandma, including organic whole milk, free-range organic ground lamb, and locally-grown organic eggplants. As I was checking out, the bagger complemented my necklace.

"Thanks. The beads are from Mali," I said.
"Where's that?" she asked.
This girl looked about eighteen. I took a moment to inwardly curse the American school system. "In West Africa," I replied.
Her blue eyes got rounder. "I've heard that's the most dangerous place in the world!"
Where, I wondered, was this girl getting her information? "It depends on where you are," I said, my brain quickly riffling through all the West African nations, trying to figure out where she was thinking of. Nigeria? (I'm reading Chris Abani's GraceLand.) Sierra Leone? Had she actually heard vague news about Côte d'Ivoire?
"Most places are very safe," chimed in the woman in line behind me, looking slightly alarmed at our conversation.I continued, "For example, I lived in Senegal, which is the most stable country in West Africa."
"Well, I have a friend who was in West Africa, and he said you couldn't even go outside because people would shoot you," the bagger said.
"But which country was he in? Do you know?" I asked, feeling like this conversation was reeling out of my control. She shook her head. I said, "There are plenty of places that are perfectly safe. Senegal, Ghana is very safe, Togo-"
She interrupted me. "I want to go to the dangerous part because I want to save those people."

That was the point, dear reader, where I discovered that I'm not the best think-on-my-feet kind of person, because all the things that were wrong with that statement all rushed to the front of my brain simultaneously and caused a traffic jam in my mouth so that I could only stand there, tongue-tied. At that moment, she finished bagging my groceries and moved off to another register. Misreading the expression on my face, she said as she moved away, "I really do."

I gathered up my bags and shot a look at the sympathetic woman in line. Shaking my head, I said only, "Oh boy," and walked out.

I wonder what the heck she meant by "save." Did she mean, to save them from poverty? From disease? From their "heathen beliefs"? (It wouldn't surprise me if she had no idea that most West Africans believe in the Judeo-Christian-Muslim God, nor that missionaries have been working on converting Africans to various flavors of Christianity for several centuries now.)

Of course, since this incident took place in Sacramento, I was hardly surprised that she used the phrase "those people" without any self-consciousness or sense of irony.

My husband will be unhappy with this, but I do, to a certain extent, blame Bono. And Oprah. And the whole Hollywood "Africa-is-sexy," "black-is-the-new-black" thing. It just makes me sick. White man's burden redux. (Is it still the White Man's burden if Oprah is involved? Discuss.) Damnit, why doesn't anyone teach these children history?

I wanted to tell her that if she wished to "save those people," she should lobby the White House to reduce the U.S. production of greenhouse gasses. Or she should work with Greenpeace for a worldwide plastic bag ban. Or, if she wanted to be more directly involved, she could go plant trees in West Africa in areas where desertification is ruining croplands.

But sadly, explaining to her what is the best thing to do involves educating her about all the complex issues that face the African continent (perhaps starting with the fact that West Africa is actually made up of separate nations—surprise!), which date back at least to colonialism. And issues such as, "Stop the African Brain Drain!" are just not as catchy as "Stop AIDS!" Not that AIDS in Africa isn't a serious issue that needs resources, but—so I've heard from NGO professionals with on-the-ground experience—the AIDS issue overshadows everything else to the extent that countries are flooded with funds that are earmarked only for AIDS, and they can't even absorb the funds effectively.

To my mind, above and beyond all issues, the African continent needs two things:

1) Each country needs a comprehensive, viable program to halt environmental degradation, since every country has a large percentage of the population that relies on subsistence agriculture to survive (and subsistence is linked to security); and

2) Each country needs a program, in partnership with developed nations and NGOs, to slow the brain drain from the African continent—no nation these days is entirely self-sufficient, but no country can run without educated and skilled citizens to run the government, health care, education, and infrastructure.

Fit that on a T-shirt.

I am glad that "Africa" is finally getting some attention, and I do hope that all of the brouhaha will result in some kind of positive, concrete change in the lives of regular people. But I wish—how I wish!—that people in Western countries could decide to "help Africa" without resorting to tired old patterns of "rescuing" their "little brown brothers." Is there a way, I wonder, to excite the interest and sympathies of a Western audience for Africans without the condescension?

Photos of a card and the envelope Kevin and I received from our friend Kiara, who spent several weeks working with the agroforestry center in Segou, Mali. Kiara also visited my friend, Jeremy Chevrier, who is dedicating himself to Bambara djembe culture in Bamako. See his website. You can also watch videos of Jeremy's sons playing djembe—and other videos he has shot in Mali—on YouTube.

Update: Friends Maya and Daouda made good points in their comments. A list of the most effective charities working in African countries is available from the American Institute of Philanthropy. Of course, probably the best organizations to donate to in African countries are small-scale, local groups, but these are difficult to find and even more difficult to verify as legitimate and effective. I can highly recommend The Grandmother Project, however, which trains grandmothers in West Africa, India, and South and Central America to be leaders in maternal and child health in their communities. (And yes, I volunteer for GMP.)