Christmas is getting closer, and so is the end of our work in Korogocho. In one way I look forward to being with my family which is coming on the 20th, but that also means that there's a lot of my friends in Korogocho I'll probably never see again. However, it's time for some reflections as this comes to an end. What have I learned? What does walking among the worlds poorest people almost every day for two-three months do to you?
In a somewhat scary way I've gotten quite comfortable with walking in the slums. In a way it's good, because it enables me to meet people as people and to «forget» that they are in an extremely difficult situation compared to myself when I meet them. Hanging around with people living on less than a dollar a day is no longer strange. A guy told me some days ago «Now I'm going to visit my friend and find out if I can borrow some money from him.. If not I won't get food tonight». He said it in a completely relaxed way, as if it was a completely normal thing to say. What's shocking is that it IS a completely normal thing to say. He didn't complain about it, he just stated the fact.
On the other side not anymore reacting in the same way to the screaming poverty I see every day leaves a bad taste in my mouth. That kind of conditions demands IMMEDIATE action, but still it's hard. What to do? I wish I knew.
But I know one thing; we have at least as much to gain from them as they have to gain from us, maybe even more. You may ask, isn't that what we've been doing for years? Exploiting the poor to gain for ourselves? Yes it is. But it's the mentality of us coming from the rich countries to be nice and «help» I want to address. We keep trying to buy good consciousness, so that we can tell our friends back home how nice we have been. Do you see the arrogance in this? «Us» claiming to be the «superiors» coming «down» to «help» «them»? It's not the truth at all, believe me.
That's why I think it's a good thing to meet people as people. We're all people, we all love, we all hate, we all think, we all live, we all have dreams. We're not any different from each other in that sense.
I'm not saying that you should stop supporting various organizations, rather the opposite; support them, because they know how to use the money in a sensible way. But going gratefulness-shopping by running around in a slum being «nice» has no point.
1 kommentar:
Tord, by far this is your BEST post so far. Not only does it show just how much you have grown as a person in the last almost 3 months.....but it shows that you have observered the reality of the situation down there. This expeirence has already changed how you go about your day to day life there. That is something that few get to learn and it will continue to impact your life for years to come. Throwing all the other crap out the window and meeting/talking with people as just another person, is a awesome thing. You come to realize that the day to day things that you used to think were important, really are not. Such a valuable thing to learn at a young age. most people don't get that to sink in their heads for years & years. It will be interesting to hear how you spend the rest of your time there with this "new" realization.
Much love to you this Holiday Season & I am thrilled your family will be spending it with you!!!!
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