Pygmies

Yesterday we went to visit the Pygmies. It was quite the experience. They were essentially refugies in their own country, driven in from the forest to these small communities that consisted of mud homes with tarp-and-straw roofs and reduced to below a subsistence level, dependent upon outside aid. We brought a decent bit of food... over 100 kg of rice and the same amount of beans, but it seemed to do so little. Some people were grateful, but many others were not. They complaned and were very picky. It was a bit of a shock for all of us to see such a reaction to people who were bringing them food. We expected them to be grateful, and some were. Many others were not. We handed out a bag of food to every hut in the village and still had some left over, so we gave a bit to the next village over. We didn't have enough to go around to everyone in that village. Some old ladies there were fuming that we didn't bring enough food for them too. A couple people on our team were afraid they would attack us. And we just came to give them food! But it's the handout mentality.

I'm reading this great book by Dr. Yanus of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh (winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize). He is discussing his experiences in lifting the poor out of poverty through microfinance and other businesses. One thing he mentions is how people in situations like the Pygmies we visited are always chasing what's free. Because there is always something free coming in (even if it's just enough to survive on), they never take responsibility for themselves. They continue to live in extreme poverty. It's really sad.

It was also very sad to see the potential in so many places here. When we were at the Pygmies, I saw that even though they didn't have a ton of land, they had enough that they could have been growing vegetables and fruit trees. Someone could have taught them how to do that. There are so many opportunities, but so few financial resources and so few workers. I hope that one day this will change.

On the bright side, the FNL (last rebel group) and the government agreed to peace a few days ago. This is very, very good news. The UN is now planning on moving in to work on development (I didn't realize initially that we beat the UN here and that it was too unstable for even them). Kieran says that they'll work on evaluating the infrastructure first and then work with the refugees. But that's such a touchy topic too because many, many people here are like the Pygmies, refugies in their own country. And that technically isn't a refugee according to some.

Blessings on you all. May the peace of Christ reign over our team, over our local friends here, over this nation, and over you, our faithful supporters and readers to the glory of God.

Sawa sawa (Swahili... indicates the end of a conversation, agree, or OK)