I have worked with some good souls throughout my life. All deeply caring people. Doing the right thing. Fighting poverty. Fighting diseases. Fighting injustice. Always fighting the good fight. Without guns. And I don’t judge them for what they do. They mean well. But sometimes I wonder if they do it for the right reasons.
Or rather for the right person. Are they really doing it to make the world a better place? Or are they doing it to make themselves feel better? Is this important? Does it matter? I don’t know. But it does make a difference in how you do your work. How you try to make the world better.
It matters because it will tell me who “owns” the fight. Is it us, together? Or is it you? Is it about the “me” or about the “us”? It’s a subtle difference. But it plays out differently. It can mean the difference between success or just throwing some money on the fire. I see too often that people want the personal glory. The recognition that they alone deserve the credit. Or at least a little bit more than the next person… You know, that if it wasn’t for “me”… That they own the problem and the solution. A new Foundation. A new personalized cause made to fit your persona. Or your company. Not about the partnership we need to solve the problem. Not equal partnership. But rather you telling me how you will solve the problem. How you are the saviour. The knight in shining armour. Coming to Africa to save our sorry souls.
I felt this amongst the Brits more than anywhere else. Americans do it as well, but they are more open about it. (Remember, I am making a HUGE generalization here.) But in the UK I felt it in every conversation and in every campaign. Colonialism is alive and well – you just don’t know it. Even if you don’t mean it that way. Here, let me help you out a bit. The Oxfam Make Trade Fair Campaign. The Oxfam Coffee Campaign. The Blair Commission for Africa. The Bob Geldof Live 8. The Bono G8 speech. I know that many of them don’t do it for personal glory, but rather to use their influence and status to highlight the problems. I mean really, life could be so much easier for Bono if he didn’t have to do this – and concentrate just on his music. I just use them as examples – not judgement.
But so many individuals and organisations and companies want their own piece of the pie. Their little piece they can own and get the glory and “ain’t he/she a good guy/girl” comments. Of course they need the pretty picture or trophy to go with their “emotional struggle and commitment”. And then they’ll just drag in the poor African farmer struggling/Aids sufferer/hungry kid. To be paraded. And maybe if they are lucky they will be asked to make a short speech before the big boys come up on stage to say how they have helped them and how you can help them help those who suffer. And the African melts into the background…
Oh how many times do I have to hear how far ahead the UK is when it comes to humanitarian work. And corporate responsibility. And sustainability. How much better their government is about doing their bit for the world. And the companies that care so much. And the people who give so much. The UK. Rule, Britannia!
And the BBC will go off to make a documentary of a white guy going to some village and tell a story to make you cry. And collect a few pounds. And hand out a few pennies. Or maybe some food to go with it. Highlight the good work some organization/company/government department/aid agency from your home country is doing in these poor African village. It makes you feel good. Good about yourself. Good about your countrymen. But it is a good feeling inside yourself.
But it doesn’t tell you that poverty doesn’t define who these Africans are. That being ill doesn’t make them less lively. Or less happy. Or less hopeful. Or that they have a few ideas themselves. Or that maybe they havea few solutions already thought out. Because it is the BBC. It’s not an African crew with and African investigative reporter and producer. Or even an African celeb.
But maybe it just makes you feel better. Makes you feel that you are doing something good on our little earth. That it will get you into heaven or whatever your religion calls the next “stage” – if there is a next stage. But it is still about you. The “me”. Just for different reasons.
But here is the problem. You might not even know that you look at the world in this way. But we know. We can see it in your eyes. You feel sorry for us. You want to help because you “just know the answer”. Even if you don’t believe that you do it for these reasons. Even if you don’t think you feel this way towards us. We know it when you come up with “solutions” without really engaging us. Only parading us and lying to yourself that you really are interested in working “with” us. We feel it when you come and hand us some money or medicine or food. We hear it when you talk down to us without even knowing you are doing it. We see it when we look into your eyes and into your heart. It’s there. It is there.
Here. Take my hand. Let’s walk this rocky road together. Hand in hand. Next to each other. I am no better than you. You are no better than me. Together we can do it. Make this world just a little better. But I don’t have the answer. And neither do you. Because it isn’t about me. Or you. It is about the “us”. Together.
Maybe I am wrong on this one. I wrote everything up to here on the way home on the train. It was so clear back then. But now I am home. I had time to think a little bit more. And it is all cloudy right now. Maybe it doesn’t matter. I don’t know. Is there a point to this?
In actual fact. I don’t really care why you do it. Just do it. Stop throwing stones and moaning and bitching. Stop looking for excuses. Or reasons to hate. Just do something to make the world better. Peacefully. Without the guns. And without the stones. And without the violence. I don’t care why you do it. Really I don’t. I’ll use it against you anyway.
Because it gives us an angle. An opening. We’ll “prey” on your good feelings. On your ego. On your “me”. We’ll look into your eyes and figure out why you are doing it. Or anything. What makes you tick. Your weakness. And then we will feed that weakness and make you do what we want you to do. But we will make you think it was your idea in the first place. And we will let you get the praise. And the glory. Because we don’t care. Because we know it is not about “me”.
It’s about us. And making it better. Together. Anyway possible – without strings or violence attached. As long as we do it together. Hand in hand. For others. Because we know. I am because of others. And that is really all that matters. In the end. Here. Take my hand.
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May 30, 2008 at 8:27 am
Thank you for this, every word said in this post has been my thoughts and my feelings on the way people manipulate for the “greater” good perhaps in most cases just for their ego or to boost societies ratings. If you are going to give something to someone else, help out, etc is there really a need to publicise it. If someone comes to us to ask where they can help (oneworldonesoul.wordpress.com) then we guide them … no branding no nothing, it is us in this together, no you and me, just us.
May 30, 2008 at 10:15 am
To be honest, I don’t care what their personal motivations are – if all it is is to let them sleep better at night, fine – I am just thankful that the celebs like Bono and Bob Geldof highlight problems and bring attention to them. Would the world really have known as much about Darfur or Ethiopia if it were not for people like there? If you were starving in Ethiopia, would you care what the motivation was behind that bowl of porridge you have just gotten? I wouldn’t.
And you can always really tell the genuine from the fake. Put Bono or the late Audrey Hepburn next to a Spice Girl – there is a difference there.
May 30, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I’m glad you wrote this, mate, and I’m glad that you went ahead and posted it here even when you’d thought about it a second time. I needed to read it.
My wife and I have talked about these kinds of things a lot. In fact, this whole question of what should be done, how to do it, and why, was rattling around our heads as we wrote our wedding vows! We talked about this in the context of, yes, going out into the world to do something positive, but also in terms of who we want to be as individuals, and how we wish to raise our family.
I tell you what, our wedding vows started to sound like a bloody UN declaration on human development! We toned it down a little before the big day.
Motivation – an individual’s rationale for doing what they do – is important when it comes to “aid work” or “development work”. For all the reasons you have stated here, yes, and also because some of those whose motivations are not entirely sound (or who haven’t really taken the time to think about why they are doing what they are doing) quite simply do a shit job. And that causes more harm than good.
One day soon I hope to join the ranks of these “fight the good fight” characters. At the moment I am pretty sure of my motivations because they have been slowly brewing over many years. On that day when someone reaches out their hand to me and invites me to walk with them, I reckon I’ll know for sure whether my reasons are the right ones or not.
May 30, 2008 at 2:11 pm
@SanityFound – See? The Ubuntu way… I saw what you are doing over there. And it speaks to the heart of who and what we are on our little continent.
@a broad – You are right. I don’t mind why they do it. As long as we get them to do something. But I would still like everyone to think why they do it. Shouldn’t stop them doing it. Should just make them think why they do it.
@Damian – Thanks man. That means a lot. I sometimes struggle to post something I think might insult people. And I know you two don’t fall in this category. Because you reflect. And that’s maybe the difference. We reflect to make sure we are comfortable with who we are. Oh, I had to laugh when you mentioned the UN statement. I can actually see how the two of you got there! But that happens when you live a life worth caring about. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if ducks were mentioned in there either. How is she doing by the way?
May 30, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Yep, the ducks got a mention in vow 8.1.
The boss is in Nairobi and loving it. Adjusting to a new organisation and all that, but doing well. Her first trip into Somalia takes place next week. I’m keen to get there myself. Not long now!
June 2, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I guess it was about a year ago now when I realised you can have a good heart, and help people, you can really do good, but you can still do it in a superior way. That treats people more like dogs to be fed or oil-drenched penguins to be cleaned, than people. Where you stand above people and benevolently give them what you feel they should have, and tell them they should live the way you think they should live. And feel yourself the gracious giver, and them the grateful receiver.
Which is so terrible. Yuck. And the saddest thing is that you can actually treat people like that from a real desire to help, and out of real kindness and compassion. Just having shrunk the people you are helping, in your mind, to hungry stomachs to be fed and dirty bodies to be washed.
I have a friend who often reminds us that just because someone it poor, it doesn’t mean they don’t have hopes and dreams, families and talents. Personalities, capabilities. God given destinies.
June 2, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Oh on a slightly different note too:
Its nice to know you are doing something worthwhile, making a difference, its nice to be affirmed and recognised. But it really is so easy to let those superficial things motivate you! You have to be pretty vigilant not to let it happen. Its a bit like that proverb:
As the crucible tests silver and the furnace gold, so a man is tested by the praise he receives. (Prov 27:21)
And it leads to fighting for recognition and unwillingness to work with other people and share the glory… not great!
June 3, 2008 at 4:01 pm
your points are very valid and worth pondering by all the have countries. Indeed your words strike deeply at all of us who individually reach out to “help” others. There is often I believe a thinly veiled condensention at work, even though it is not intentional or even realized for the most part. It is important to always remember this tendency lest we continue in our ignorance of being “better” than those we seek to help.