REFLECTIONS ON THE RICHES AND POVERTY OF AFRICA
Richard Gehman
Richard Gehman
Written in 2000
[Following our many travels to visit our Scott graduates in 2000-2002 before our retirement, we wrote back to our friends in the United States our thoughts and reflections of what we had seen. This is but one of many we intend to share with you in Makumbuko, a web site and blog to remember and reflect on what we have learned in Africa over the 37 years we lived and served there.]
For the past thirty-four years we have lived and worked in Kenya with its rich beauty and natural wealth mingled with wrenching poverty of people surviving with meagre resources. During our recent opportunity of visiting seven different African countries, from Ethiopia in the north with its ancient peoples and culture, to Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland and Namibia in the south, we have done a lot of thinking and enquiring. Why does Africa have so many riches mingled with such pervasive and endemic poverty?
Africa is a beautiful continent which is rich in natural resources. Africa cannot take a back seat to “America the beautiful” in its diversity of natural beauty and resources. Every country we visited was unique in its splendour. The awesome lakes in the Great Rift Valley are jewels in Africa that stretch from Ethiopia in the north, through Uganda and Kenya, down into southern Africa, moving into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mozambique. We saw the water plunging out of Lake Victoria into the river that becomes the Nile. It takes three months for the water to flow 4,000 miles to the Nile delta. We walked beside the longest shelf of falling water in the world where 550 million litres fall 300 feet into the gorge every minute, sending mist 1,500 feet into the air. It is awesome. In the vernacular language these falls are called, “The smoke that thunders.” David Livingstone called them the Victoria Falls. We travelled over the vast Central African Savannah grass lands where elephant grass grows fifteen feet tall and the whole of central Africa receives plentiful rainfall for all kinds of rich agriculture. We saw the tiny but beautiful monarch of Swaziland perched on the mountains of southern Africa with mountain streams flowing everywhere. Though Namibia is a desert country with the Namib to the west along the Atlantic ocean (the oldest and driest desert in the world) and the Kalahari desert on the east sweeping into Botswana, the country is actually rich in mineral wealth. In fact all these countries have mineral wealth which is the envy of the world - tin, copper, bauxite, coal, gold, diamonds, oil and uranium.
But mingled with all the natural beauty and resources, we frequently became depressed by the pervasive, persistent and endemic poverty everywhere. Yes, the wealthy class is always present in these countries. When arriving in Zambia, the first place Bishop Shamapani took us was a modern shopping mall recently built by a south African company. We were dumb struck. I thought, “Has Zambia overtaken Kenya in economic development?” Inside the mall one would have thought he was in America - wide aisles stocked with electronic goods just like America. But we soon discovered that Zambia is a very, very poor country with people subsisting on this fertile land, a country with so much land occupied with so few people that the Zambian government is actually inviting white, commercial farmers from Zimbabwe and South Africa to take possession of empty portions of the land and develop it. People in all the countries where we visited (except Uganda) felt that their country was economically depressed. Ethiopia is reckoned the second poorest country in Africa even though they trace their history back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and even though Ethiopia became a Christian monarchy in the fourth century. Why?
The poverty of Africa is pervasive, persistent and endemic because the reasons are complex. No simple answer explains it. Sometimes you hear of the burdensome foreign debt owed by the African governments, or the devastating economic loss that came from slavery two centuries ago. The poverty surely is not due to racial conditions for there are many developing and prospering Africans in every country. I have concluded that poverty in Africa is due to a complex set of reasons including the following. When conferring with some African friends, they concurred with my thoughts. It may be that more can be said, but at least these reasons point in the right direction. And the interesting thing is that the Christian gospel is at the heart of the solution.
1. Lack of Education. Most people lack proper training. This is much more than the 3 R’s (reading, [w]riting and [a]rithmetic), for a large number of peoples can read, write and count. Much of what we take for granted in America is learned in the homes and understood as a basic part of American culture. This includes such things as hygiene and the basic knowledge of maintaining health; the use of money - earning energetically, spending wisely and saving faithfully; maintenance of a house, furniture and equipment, including how to care for such things so that unnecessary damage does not occur. By care one can preserve things and extend the life of clothes, radios, furniture and ceiling boards (leaking roofs).
Africa is a beautiful continent which is rich in natural resources. Africa cannot take a back seat to “America the beautiful” in its diversity of natural beauty and resources. Every country we visited was unique in its splendour. The awesome lakes in the Great Rift Valley are jewels in Africa that stretch from Ethiopia in the north, through Uganda and Kenya, down into southern Africa, moving into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mozambique. We saw the water plunging out of Lake Victoria into the river that becomes the Nile. It takes three months for the water to flow 4,000 miles to the Nile delta. We walked beside the longest shelf of falling water in the world where 550 million litres fall 300 feet into the gorge every minute, sending mist 1,500 feet into the air. It is awesome. In the vernacular language these falls are called, “The smoke that thunders.” David Livingstone called them the Victoria Falls. We travelled over the vast Central African Savannah grass lands where elephant grass grows fifteen feet tall and the whole of central Africa receives plentiful rainfall for all kinds of rich agriculture. We saw the tiny but beautiful monarch of Swaziland perched on the mountains of southern Africa with mountain streams flowing everywhere. Though Namibia is a desert country with the Namib to the west along the Atlantic ocean (the oldest and driest desert in the world) and the Kalahari desert on the east sweeping into Botswana, the country is actually rich in mineral wealth. In fact all these countries have mineral wealth which is the envy of the world - tin, copper, bauxite, coal, gold, diamonds, oil and uranium.
But mingled with all the natural beauty and resources, we frequently became depressed by the pervasive, persistent and endemic poverty everywhere. Yes, the wealthy class is always present in these countries. When arriving in Zambia, the first place Bishop Shamapani took us was a modern shopping mall recently built by a south African company. We were dumb struck. I thought, “Has Zambia overtaken Kenya in economic development?” Inside the mall one would have thought he was in America - wide aisles stocked with electronic goods just like America. But we soon discovered that Zambia is a very, very poor country with people subsisting on this fertile land, a country with so much land occupied with so few people that the Zambian government is actually inviting white, commercial farmers from Zimbabwe and South Africa to take possession of empty portions of the land and develop it. People in all the countries where we visited (except Uganda) felt that their country was economically depressed. Ethiopia is reckoned the second poorest country in Africa even though they trace their history back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and even though Ethiopia became a Christian monarchy in the fourth century. Why?
The poverty of Africa is pervasive, persistent and endemic because the reasons are complex. No simple answer explains it. Sometimes you hear of the burdensome foreign debt owed by the African governments, or the devastating economic loss that came from slavery two centuries ago. The poverty surely is not due to racial conditions for there are many developing and prospering Africans in every country. I have concluded that poverty in Africa is due to a complex set of reasons including the following. When conferring with some African friends, they concurred with my thoughts. It may be that more can be said, but at least these reasons point in the right direction. And the interesting thing is that the Christian gospel is at the heart of the solution.
1. Lack of Education. Most people lack proper training. This is much more than the 3 R’s (reading, [w]riting and [a]rithmetic), for a large number of peoples can read, write and count. Much of what we take for granted in America is learned in the homes and understood as a basic part of American culture. This includes such things as hygiene and the basic knowledge of maintaining health; the use of money - earning energetically, spending wisely and saving faithfully; maintenance of a house, furniture and equipment, including how to care for such things so that unnecessary damage does not occur. By care one can preserve things and extend the life of clothes, radios, furniture and ceiling boards (leaking roofs).
2. Cultural Restraints. Certain aspects of African culture militate against prosperity. For example, there is often acute jealousy when someone appears to succeed. Any show of wealth in some rural areas will result in witchcraft and cursing directed toward that person. This discourages hard work, development and planning that lead to prosperity. In Ethiopia there has been no private property for centuries. Peasants can be moved anytime from the land and property they have developed. This policy is anti-development. The African traditional desire for many children, deeply rooted in African culture, in this modern era creates enormous burdens on the parents who simply cannot feed, clothe and educate their children. The communal aspect of African life, while beautiful in its own way, creates a burden. Those who are industrious and work hard are asked for food and material help by those members of the family who are lazy. Many admit that they loose their possessions and become poor when compelled culturally to share their possessions with others in the family. A culture which promotes asking and assisting instead of self reliance may also contribute to poverty.
3. Lack of a Work Ethic. While many people do work hard and are progressing, many are content with little. This is evident in the rural areas where there is land to cultivate but they fail to work and till the ground. Somehow, they tend to be passive, accepting poverty as their lot. Through lack of education, lack of vision and understanding, lack of initiative, they simply accept life as it is with its burdensome poverty. There is so much in life that they cannot change, such as poor government, poor roads, poor medical facilities, poor education and poor rains, that they tend to be passive, fatalistic and content with only enough to survive. Many lack the energy, vision or understanding to progress and instead only do what must be done to survive.
4. A Lifestyle that Wastes Money. A sinful lifestyle saps what little may be earned. For example, smoking, drinking, drugs, discos, prostitution and various forms of entertainment are a sheer waste of material resources. Drunkenness is pervasive among the men so that what little money they may have is squandered on wasteful living. Prostitution saps a man’s wealth, energy and time away from building a strong family. In contrast, a Christian who lives a clean life, cares for his family (clothes, feeds and educates his children), is faithful to his wife and invests his money in his family, will improve his home. He is present in the home to teach and guide. It is a known, confirmed truth that a strong Christian heritage gradually lifts people from their poverty to middle class because they conserve what little they have and invest it wisely in profitable adventures rather than wasting it on a sinful lifestyle.
5. Absence of an Enabling Environment. While one may change the above mentioned things, there remains a very important issue, the absence of an enabling environment. Corruption (a problem of dishonesty) and mismanagement (a problem of cultural values) work together to destroy an enabling environment for development. It has been said that 60% of Africa’s problems are due to corruption and 40% is due to poor management. A serious restraint on development in Africa is corruption and mismanagement of the many co-operatives and government agencies which serve the people. Those who grow coffee, tea and sugar cane, find that their pay is either squandered through dishonesty or poor management. Their income is often delayed by many months. This can only lead to discouragement, disinterest, strikes and loss of initiative. Roads, telephones, electricity, all necessary parts of the infrastructure for business, are seriously wanting. This is due, not simply to poverty, but to corruption. Money designated for roads is not faithfully used for that. Bribes are regularly demanded for routine services. Many international projects designed to alleviate poverty by providing educational seminars, facilities and equipment are thwarted by corruption. International and national aid for famine relief is siphoned off by the politicians for personal gain. There are many capable mangers and administrators in Africa. But unlike the West, it is not what you know but who you know that leads to your promotion. Relationships are often more important for employment than knowledge and skills. Hence people are placed in management positions because they have the right ethnic connections and not because of their knowledge and skills.
6. Frequent wars, violence and social upheavals. Over the past twenty years there have been so many wars and conflicts in Africa which sets back development. Right now or within the past few years war has been waged in the Sudan (for 20 years), the Congo (intermittently for 40 years), Rwanda, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Angola (since independence) and elsewhere. People flee from their homeland and become refugees in another country. They leave behind fertile land that lies uncultivated. The education of the youth is interrupted. Or the youth are enlisted in the violent conflict. Inability to resolve conflicts and generate peace has caused some wars to continue for well over ten or twenty years. These conflicts may be over ethnic or religious or personal issues. But it is the masses who suffer and social and economic development suffers enormously.
One may wonder what all this has to do with a Christian missionary seeking to evangelize and disciple Africa for Christ? An unspoken part of our life is the persistent problems which arise from poverty that surrounds us. Requests for money are unending. These are not selfish desires but life and death issues such as food for the table, fees for education, medicine for the sick, work for the jobless - it goes on and on. We do not mention much of this in our letters but it is a burden all missionaries bear, especially those in remote areas and church planting ministries. It is one aspect of missionary life that we will not miss when we retire. During or recent safari the pain of poverty was driven home to us as never before.
If what we have observed above is true, then it takes little wisdom to see how the discipling of the nations comes into play. Christians have met together in Nigeria to deal with this problem of corruption in official circles. If corruption is such a burden in society, then the Christians must share their responsibility because it is the Christians in their great numbers who participate in what is going on, even if it is only by turning a blind eye to what takes place. The deep problems of society cannot be cured by the United Nations, the government or non-governmental agencies.
Only Christ has the answer. But it is not a cheap, superficial answer of a veneer Christianity. The answer is becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ through living faith and faithful obedience. Through much sacrifice missions brought education to Africa. In the early days the common person recognized that those who attended the mission schools advanced economically. Mission schools were a living testimony to others. When one is delivered from the deep seated cultural restraints, and uses his few resources wisely instead of squandering them, and begins to work hard, and exercises his God given responsibility by promoting honesty and integrity in official circles - life will change. Africa will grow and prosper and become a vibrant testimony to others.
There is a vibrancy and enthusiasm of many Christians in Africa which can be a witness and testimony to western Christians who are more reserved and shy about their faith. What the Church in Africa needs is to teach the masses of “Christians” to go deeper in their faith with practical teaching so that they can make a real difference in this richly endowed and diversified continent. Biblical theology must be relevantly applied to the practical lives of the people.
Thanks for your prayers and support. God is working. Some day, this continent will be transformed into what God intended it to be - a rich testimony of God’s grace. Let’s keep up the faith and persevere in training leaders for the churches in Africa today. Faithfulness to God, despite the corruption all around us, does pay eternal dividends.
Yours in the bonds of Christ,
Dick and Flo Gehman
