PeaceBang
The manic mind of the minister -- Auntie Mame Meets Cotton Mather. Blogging about Unitarian Universalism, UU Christian spiritual practice, occasional cultural and political ravings, and the inner life of ministry. PeaceBang is the alter ego of a small town pastor serving an historic New England Unitarian Universalist congregation.
Blood Diamond, Thoughts On Mother Africa
September 27, 2007 on 11:51 pm | In Cultural Commentary, Joys and Concerns |I’ve been interested in Africa for as long as I can remember. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about that, but whenever I try to articulate them I wind up sounding like a self-absorbed white woman, so I won’t try to go into any depth here.
I have always wanted to go to Africa but over the past decades it has become obvious to me that to go on safari or something equally touristy would be really shallow and avoidant (like “la la la, what a beautiful continent, even though so much of it has been/is being totally ravaged by colonialism and civil war! Look at the pretty lion!”), and so I feel a bit stymied about the dual desire both to go to Africa and not to go as a typical tourist.
I made friends with a Rwandan man in 1991 and was never able to find him after the genocide there. I think of him often. His name was Esdras. He was a Tutsi professor who lived in Kigali. I fear that he and his family were killed, but I don’t know.
In my D.Min. program I have become friendly with a Zimbabwean pastor who would like to take a group of us to Zimbabwe to help train pastors there this summer. I’d really like to go but Zimbabwe is a very scary place of late. I don’t know if I have the courage.
I saw “Blood Diamond” last week and it awakened all those feelings about Africa and got me thinking again about how I might connect with Africans here in the Boston area (perhaps through a refugee organization like the IRC) or go there. (It was a very good movie, I thought.)
And now I am reading “They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky,” which is a harrowing account of the Lost Boys of Sudan. I can’t recommend it highly enough to all of you. Perhaps the most powerful thing about the book is the soft, measured tones of its chapters as written by three of the boys who endured the evils and privations of the war. I have found that I have a dull ache in my heart all day and am starkly aware of the pettiness of my everyday concerns as compared to their unimaginable agonies. I took a break from reading to work on my sermon (pretty futile — I kept weaving the book into the sermon and it didn’t work) and then later to eat some lunch. I opened SELF magazine for a break and found myself staring dumbly at its pages, spooning white beans and rice into my mouth and trying to overcome the cognitive dissonance brought on by mentally traveling from the tragedies of sub-saharan Africa to the vapidity of the typical American woman’s magazine. Couldn’t do it. I was in a daze most of the day, in fact. Still kind of am.
There isn’t much to say here, except that I’d very much like to hear from those of you who are working on African human rights issues here or abroad.
I’m fascinated by the fact that people all over the world who have no ethnic or ancestral connection to a place nevertheless can feel a powerful draw to it. I think of my little cousin Calvin off in Japan now, a place I will probably never visit, but he couldn’t miss it. I think of my strange sense of resonance with Scandanavia and Africa. No family connections whatsoever; what’s that all about?
It’s late but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to sleep until I finish that book. Good night.
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Recently I joined the ministerial staff of a church in south Alabama. My job is to educate the church on the Millennium Development Goals, specifically goal 5 - “Improve Maternal Health.”
Thank you for highlighting the common struggle of straddling cultures. How can we live in our world of excess in the midst of the reality that so many are without? I think education is key - our education, and you do that so well. If folks haven’t already, please consider reading Jeffrey Sach’s book The End of Poverty.
Here are some websites that highlight tangible differences we can make:
http://www.fistulafoundation.org/
http://kiva.org/
http://www.wateringmalawi.org/
Part of the maternal health initiative we’ve begun involves collecting birthing kits. The World Health Organization states that every 60 seconds a woman dies from a pregnancy related cause. 98% of these deaths occur in the developing world and many in Africa south of the Sahara. There are fairly easy steps we can take to significantly lower that number. We would welcome birthing kits collected from you and or/your congregation.
Africa has much to teach us and I am excited about learning. Thanks for reminding us of our need to connect with others beyond our comfot zones.
Suzanah
PS
I am looking for organizations that train birthing attendants globally. I would welcome any connections and networking opportunities.
Comment by Suzanah — September 28, 2007 #
My dear—totally respect your scrupulosity about not jumping into other people’s countries, and appreciate your principled refusal of the tedious white lady “your suffering is all about me and my feelings” stance.
And yet, call is call.
I’m not surprised. It blew my mind how deeply familiar Africa felt to me– not to gloss over difference, but anyone who’s an American can’t really say there are “no family connections whatsoever” with Africa. The history of our country’s so intimately and painfully bound up with the continent, and the relationship has shaped everything about American culture.
Not to mention it’s the home of the human race.
Not to mention, hate to drag Jesus in again, but we’re one body.
Go to Zimbabwe. Are you kidding? What an amazing invitation. Go to Zimbabwe.
xo S.
Comment by Sara Miles — September 28, 2007 #
I second Sara’s comment. Go.
Most places in the world are more dangerous than life in the U.S. And people in a large part of the world live with the threat of violence every day. If only more Americans were willing to take their precious selves into those places to experience a fraction of what it’s like. (Americans traveling in most war-torn areas are afforded protections never dreamed of by the indigenous population, despite media hype that may suggest the contrary)
Your call and attendant fear are both reasons to GO, not to stay home.
Comment by Pastor P — September 28, 2007 #
I have never been to Africa, but the experience you speak of is not dissimilar to my own experience in Haiti. Such a dark place, yet such hope and beauty in the people, from the little naked kids to the bright colored dresses and pigtails of little ones that have the benefit of missionary/sponsor funded schooling.
I went in 2002, a month after my father died of a stroke. I saw little people wait in line at a free medical clinic on the missionary compound I stayed at. I worked for a week helping to build an addition. We slept in housing with cockroaches the size of Volkswagens, and we ate well and worked hard. One night at about 10:00 one of the Haitian natives that worked with us knocked at the door to tell us his baby died, for hos 8 month pregnant girlfriend got in a fight and lost the baby as result. I met a young man whose mother died and father left. Somehow my dad’s death took on yet deeper meaning. But the spiritual darkness was almost paralyzing at night. The gas powered generators shut down at 9:00 PM so there were no fans or lights, and while you lay there sweating (though covering with at least a sheet for the “yikes” factor of the cockroaches!) you could hear voodoo drums in the background. I took my sleeplessness as God’s nudge to be praying for the precious people there.
I am still very drawn and will go back despite those things. As many know, the political situation is always volatile there. I encourage you to sponsor a child or help fund a well or something to make that “connection” and keep it fresh. And if you can go, GO. Just spending time with people and giving your two loaves and and fishes can really make a difference for you and them, and the Lord smiles in gladness at such love and humility, wherein he sees a reflection of His own sacrifice.
Thanks for sharing those caring thoughts about foreign peoples.
Comment by Patrick — September 28, 2007 #
I’ve often read that international travel is a good way of redistributing wealth.
You might like the documentary And God Grew Tired of Us about four of the lost boys.
Comment by Ms. Theologian — September 28, 2007 #
Hi,
I’m a seminary grad now working at a non-profit called Refugee Family Services in the metro-Atlanta area. (We have a mutual friend, and he told me about your 2 terrific blogs). We serve over 2,500 refugee women and children each year through programs designed to provide education and economic opportunity.
I wasn’t looking for this work when I got out of school. I was simply an unemployed MTS grad, not in the ordination process, and had experience in writing and publications that were a fit with the Development/Grant Writing side of non-profits. So, I guess I’m still processing exactly what it is I’m doing here, but for now, I’m grateful to have ended up here and had a chance to meet people that I’m afraid I would never have known lived just down the street.
I enjoyed this post and your thoughts about Africa. In my current job, I’ve been blessed to work side by side with refugee, and some immmigrant, women from Africa: Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia, Burundi, and Liberia currently. We also have caseworkers who are Bosnian, Guatemalan, Vietnamese, Mexican, Kurdish, and Meskhetian Turkish. I’m one of only 5 American-born staff members here. It’s quite an amazing environment, yet each day brings a new challenge as I learn more about subtleties of the different cultures in our office.
We’re not a resettlement agency like our local IRC or Church World Service office, but rather come in after that 3-6 month resettlement period to work with refugee women and children, helping them secure employment, learn English, and navigate the confusing health care and school system.
Let me point you towards a great article published by the Brookings institute abour refugee resettlement in the US. http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060925_singer.htm. It talks about some of the challenges that refugees face, and also tells more about the patterns of resettlement. It’s surprising to see what cities are receiving growing numbers of refugees–it’s certainly not just the traditional immigrant gateways that first come to mind.
Comment by Katie — September 28, 2007 #
I am deeply moved to support the Africa Vulnerable Children Project, which is a small group of Buddhist monks from California who are feeding and educating the poorest of poor children in Kantolomba, Zambia.
http://www.livingcompassion.org/africa/index.html
Every time I read about the good work they are doing in Africa, I weep with joy. I have seriously considered joining them on their next trip.
Go. You only regret the things you don’t do. Go, and if you need help financially, ask.
Comment by Louise — September 28, 2007 #
go. Go. go.
Comment by karla — September 28, 2007 #
PB,
Mother Africa calls many of us. One of these days I shall go (when I know I’ll be able to mentally stand seeing where my ancestors started their journey to the new world).
Anyway…you and I have a mutual friend who is going to Africa early next year. I’ll call you soon and we can talk about it. But I do understand your reluctance about Zimbabwe; things there have changed greatly in the last number of years.
Plus, I know of a couple of theological schools that have special programs that take trips to certain parts of Africa. We can talk about that too.
Comment by KRH — September 28, 2007 #
I am going to Africa for the first time in my ife in a week… I feel awed and honored to go. I have been thinking a lot about how I will respond and react to Africa, place of great fascination to me. Soon I will find out.
A group from my church is going to Ghana to build a church for a small and poor congregation there. It all started when a Ghanain woman’s sewing machine broke down and her livelihood was on the line… Through that God called us to help the local church.
Comment by Ansku — September 30, 2007 #