Counterproductive Issues

Benny Dagan, Israels ambassador to Sweden, had a lecture recently in the University Building in Uppsala. His talk was interrupted within seconds of its genesis, with an activist screaming out “Go back Dagan! You are not welcome in Uppsala!” Security took him out, but the tense atmosphere remained.

The speech itself was mainly about Israel, and Israels standing in the Middle East at the moment, with the current upheaval going on in the region taken into special perspective. A little was said about the Peace Process. Benny Dagan said a lot of things that evening – some agreed, others didn’t. I agreed with the following statement, not its specific meaning, but the general and more philosophical message hidden behind the statement:

“You are holding the Palestinians back. It is you who victimizes them.”

He was most probably referring to the quite strong support for the Palestinian cause that exists amongst Human Rights Groups. But as I said, I am interested in the more general meaning, and I want to apply it to the debate on Aid today.

The UNICEF advertisement that is broadcast on Swedish television now and then shows the typical view of a refugee camp in Darfur (only an example). Poor mother, malnourished child, dusty environment – misery, despair, victims of a cruel world filled with injustice. Victims are often portrayed as powerless, disempowered, pathetic, not capable of helping themselves etc. Such a position is not desirable. Most of us enjoy being in control, being in a place of influence – over our own lives and perhaps also over others.

Victims are to be helped because they cannot help themselves.

We have to help the “poor people in sub-Saharan Africa” because they cannot help themselves.

Or perhaps for the more analytical – We have to help the “poor people of East Africa” because they have no capital (or resources, or opportunity, or knowledge) to help themselves.

I do not question the fact that a lot of people in that region live in bad conditions. What I am questioning is how much the lovely aid is helping, if it arrives in the condescending manner that it often does. The European man saving the poor African woman is a common example. When you speak of a people as victims, and emphasize their lack of strength, then people start believing in their lack of strength. It becomes counterproductive. The donors are so busy feeling good about giving, that they stop looking at how the aid actually affects the people on the receiving end.

Small things such as how some things are said make a difference here. Alice Acan, founder of Christian Counselling Fellowship, keeps emphasizing the importance of not calling people traumatized all the time. This is in the post-conflict context of Northern Uganda. She claims that it limited people’s ability to move on.

If all else has failed in this update, my point could be summarized as this: pity helps no one. Money disguised as pity does not help anyone either, especially not when there are strings attached.

Hope helps. Encouragement helps. Empowerment helps. Self-initiation helps.

Trevor Noah, South African comedian, puts it this way:

Peace