It's All Top Down

 In my last blog, entitled “Top Down or Bottom Up”, I focused on showing the different philosophies and methods for reaching the African Continent with meaningful assistance and why we believe very strongly that the bottom up, or hands on at the local level approach  is the only way to be effective here. If you haven’t read that post, I recommend you do so first, or at least read it in conjunction with this one.

Besides our previous trips to Africa over the past five years, Phyllis and I have immersed ourselves in a host of books, articles, and innumerable full length documentaries along with much online research. They dealt with how the West contributed to the various crises which dog Africa to this day. They speak of corrupt and inefficient governments, all the horrible diseases which still run rampant here, wars and revolutions, all the wonderful opportunities, the utter lack of opportunity, and on and on. Unfortunately all were from a Western perspective.

From not too long after our plane touched down in Blantyre nearly twelve weeks ago, we were beginning to see the local African part of the equation. Phyllis touched on one aspect of it several weeks ago, in her post, “George, Jail, and the Rich Uncle”, where even the most casual, and fleeting associations can and often do bring a perspective of duty and obligation. You may also want to read a blog I did around the same time entitled “Pastors”, which also gives some insight into the problem.  Church leaders, school principals, government bureaucrats, and village chiefs, along with the man on the street somehow arrive at the conclusion their ship has just come in, and it’s got your name emblazoned across the bow.

Most people here have no frame of reference to distinguish a five digit annual budget, from a seven, or even a nine digit one. There are also the opportunists here, eager to play on your guilt and their need, real or imagined. All Westerners with a four wheel drive, especially if they have a logo on the side, will be targeted pretty much the same.  If a newly arrived individual or team doesn’t come to terms with this early on, they can easily become totally sidetracked from their original mission, quickly worn out, or worse, disillusioned or embittered.

Malawi, as well as the rest of sub-Saharan Africa has been the recipient of top down aid for the more than half century since the beginning of the end of colonialism. Anyone with a desire to be truly objective will come away with the conclusion that the results have been dismal; the effects have been downright toxic. While nations such as Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, and the great majority of those in Latin America have escaped the pangs of “thirdworldism”,  Africa has sunken deeper and deeper into the mire.

We’ve had some real time, firsthand experience even on the rural village level where on one recent Saturday Phyllis was teaching hygiene and sanitation to a large group of women. They were not only very receptive to all the life saving instruction, but enthusiastically invited her back to teach them more, and told her they would each show her their very own household hand washing stations she had taught them to make. This was the model of how bottom up assistance can and should work. The session could only be described as fruitful and enjoyable, and encouraged us greatly.

Fast forward one week to a village less than a mile from the first, and the attitudes were polar opposites. As Phyllis and Helen were working with the group of about sixteen women, I was playing with a group of about twice that number of children. My interpreter wasn’t able to show up, so all I was able to do was play little games with them, and for the most part everyone was having lots of fun. I was taken aback when one girl, about ten years of age stuck her hand out, palm up, and demanded in perfectly clear English, “give me my money”. 

 

A moment later another girl, who appeared to be a couple years older than the first, also began insisting that I give her money as well. I made it clear that I wouldn’t, and from the way all the others were still being quite friendly, and playful, I deduced that they were the only two who could speak English. I was kind of saved by the bell when Helen signaled that the workshop was over, and that I needed to help them pack up.  When I got over to the circle of women, it became apparent that things hadn’t flowed very well with the workshop  and that some demands had been made on Phyllis also.

I worked to salvage the situation by reminding them that I had explained when we opened that the wealth we brought was one of knowledge which would empower them to keep their families healthy. I borrowed a bar of soap one of the women had won in a little guessing game Phyllis had played with them. I held it up, and explained that as they used it, it would keep getting smaller, and soon would be no more. I told them that knowledge doesn’t work that way, and once learned and retained, it would benefit them and their families for as long as they used it, and couldn’t wear out. As they pass it on to others, it will grow rather than shrink.

I became hopeful that some of what I shared was sinking in, as one woman, quite a bit older than the others, and hopefully a bit wiser, addressed the rest in Chichewa, and was continually tapping the side of her head as she spoke. I believe she was explaining to them the great worth of knowledge and that we had indeed brought something of value.  I closed with prayer, and assured them we would return for another workshop on the date we had promised. On the long drive back to town, Phyllis told me how they had insisted that on our next visit she bring a bar of soap for every woman, and that she make, and bring a household hand washing station for each one as well, a far cry from the attitudes at the first village.

Somehow, and I’m not exactly sure how, the top down expectation toward Western relief had infiltrated, and intoxicated the people of this village. We plan to return, and to work with them as long as they want us back, and as long as we believe we are helping them make progress with their families’ health and sanitation needs. I believe the work will be quite a bit harder there, but if we can break through the wrong mindset it will be well worth it. I’m also reminded that it is our greater goal to bring the redemptive message of the Gospel, and of God’s wonderful patience toward me.

 Now wherever we go, we have simply begun to explain to everyone who has an ear to listen, that we have a very low budget, and that when we made the decision to move to Malawi well over a year ago, what we most desired to bring was in the form of knowledge, knowledge to the impoverished women of these rural villages, and their children. It would be life saving, and life changing knowledge on health, nutrition, and the lifting of overwhelming burdens. Before and after repairing the thirty wells we’ve restored to date, we have assured people that with a bit of planning, they will be able to take charge, and never need to wait for or depend on outsiders again. It is their well. The same also applies to health issues, efficient cook ovens, as well as education, farming, and finances. They own it; it is indeed theirs. Top down had its day, and showed itself to be ineffective at best. It’s now time for a totally bottom up approach to Africa, where the true welfare of the people matter more than programs, power brokering, and payoffs,  and results are able to be measured in real human terms.