The African Future Times

No blog today. I did one for the Mail & Guardian’s Thought Leader Blog. Pretty happy about that. Mail & Guardian isn’t what it was back 10 or 15 years ago, but pretty much still the best newspaper in the world according to my humble opinion. Okay, not that humble.

The piece is similar to my Next Week’s News Today, but with an African flavour. Some of them you have seen, some have been tweaked and some are new. A bit like Africa itself really. Hope you enjoy. So follow the link and let me know what you think.

The African Future Times: Giving you tomorrow’s news today

They say that America is ahead of the times. So I travelled there to see if I can get an insight into our African future. This is what I can report will happen in Africa over the next few weeks. It makes planning a bit easier…

Ja, boet...

Note: I even spelled in my old South African way again!

 

These are the good old days…

These are the good old days. The good old days the way our parents remembered the days of old. The good things in life. Children playing in the streets and the fruits growing in abundance. Of days working in the fields with the sun shining on your back. The days of rockets to the moon. When families ate together and lived together. The days of peace, love and happiness. Those were the good old days.

But for my children today and tomorrow are the good old days. These are the days they will remember. The days when they were young and free. The days when they were happy and not a problem in the world. These are their good old days.

The days when they come home to another great supper made lovingly by their mum. The days when they come home and can play with their toys and tell their story on the Internet. These days when they celebrate their birthdays with the toys they hoped and prayed to get and they got. These days when they can fall asleep in their warm cosy beds and dream dreams of another beautiful tomorrow. These are their good old days.

These days when so many children do not have a home. Or warm bed and meal. These days when the toys they have are the lives they live. These days when they pray for another tomorrow. These days when they go to sleep and cry themselves asleep. The cries of fear and hunger. These are their bad old days.

These are the days when I can have my flu injection and hope it works. These are the days when my family can have their vitamin pills in the morning and know they are strong enough to play another day. These are the days where I can drive down the road and by some more at the pharmacy. These are the days when medicine is for me to have and for me to enjoy another day. These are their good old days.

These are the days when people die from Aids, TB and malaria. These are the days when you can get a Coke to reach far off places, but not the family down the road on the wrong side of the tracks. These are the days when we have medicine to solve so many diseases, but people die in the continent next to us from little things like diarrhea. These are their bad olf days.

These are the days I can love my wife. And respect her for who she is. Strong and a woman. These are the days when my daughters can be proud to be girls. These are the days when I can hear them laugh and giggle as they play. These are the days I can see the love in their eyes and the future in my heart. These are their good old days.

These are the days when a woman or child gets raped every 17 second in the country of my birth. These are the days when our mothers and sisters work the streets. These are the days when the love of our lives walk around with hurt on their bodies and hurt in their eyes. These are the days when woman and girls are hurt. In pictures and in health. These are their bad old days.

These are the days when my children are healthy and play outside. These are the days when they are strong and eat their food. These are the days when we keep them warm and their bodies and healthy. These are the days when they laugh so much and have the fever we can handle. These are the days when they are children with bodies strong. Strong enough to be the kids they should be. These are their good old days.

These are the days when every 3 second another child dies. These are the days when kids die from little things like a cold or the cold. These are the days when the milk dries up and another child cries. These are the days when so little food is good to eat and the water brings more disease. These are the days when children die. These are their bad old days.

These are the days when we have two kids. These are the days when my wife was strong and the doctor even stronger. These are the days when the hospital helps and the beds are good. These are the days when I smile and saw her bravery, knowing she will be fine. These are their good old days.

These are the days when mothers die. When mothers die from anything at birth. These are the days when the doctor is far or not to be seen. These are the days when the water is bad and the mothers suffer. These are the days when the water is gone and the milk followed. These are the days when the mothers suffer and die. These are their bad old days.

These are the days when my oldest girl is the brainbox at school. These are the days when she makes me proud and brings home straight A’s. These are the days when her sister learns to read and write and is having fun. These are the foundation for their days to come. These are their good old days.

These are the days when the children work the fields for the chocolate we eat. These are the days when the children walk the streets because the school is gone or never came. These are the days when the children work the machine for the shirt on my back. These are the days when a child works the job of a man. These are the days when a child is no child anymore. These are their bad old days.

These are the days when we play in the snow and sled and ski. These are the days when we wait for spring and the flowers it bring. These are the days we can go pick some apples and tap the maple. These are the days when we smile at the sun and catch the snowflake. These are the days of fun outside and mother nature oblige. These are their good old days.

These are the days when the rain has stopped and the crops don’t grow. These are the days when the polar bear starts to drown – the bergs starts melting. These are the days of tornado’s and floods. These are the days when the sun don’t smile but just starts to burn. These are the days when the heat it gives is to much to take. These are not the days of old.

These are the days when we play in packs. These are the days when we gather in groups and join hands in fun. These are the days when we help each other. Friends and foe. These are the days we stand together and face the world. These are the good old days.

These are the days we fight and look for wars. These are the days we break the bonds that makes us human. These are the days when we live in packs instead of communities. These are the days we take to anger and strike before we hug. These are the bad old days.

Yes, these are the days we make. We can decide what we want from this world. The good old days, or the days of yesterday? We have a choice. We decide what days these will be. No one but us. I made my choice. I know what I want to answer when my kids look at me and ask, “dad, what did you do in the good old days?”

Note: For those who didn’t pick it up – this piece is based on the UN Millennium Development Goals.

 

Africans live in hope, but Americans not?

I have been on the road for the last few days. One conference after the other. And it has been interesting. Okay, sometimes it was interesting. One of the conferences I attended was in DC and was hosted by the sustainability guru John Elkington. John founded… hum, SustainAbility. Catchy phrase nowadays. But it wasn’t when he started it back 20 years ago. John is a good guy. I know him a bit and went to DC to catch up with him and a few other people I knew I would meet up with at the meeting – the usual suspects. Jane Nelson works in the same city as me, but we only see each other at conferences. And, of course, we always promise to get together for a cuppa when back at work. But we never do – just share hugs and kisses when we meet up at the next conference. But us Africans need to stand together – even if it is at conferences. We are generally the only Africans in the room. She’s from Zim and I am from a little further south. Again, I digress. But I had to do a bit of name dropping first.

John and his gang did some research with Globescan on the perceptions people have of the environment. And one of the many findings was that people in developing countries are more hopeful than those on developed countries. Yes, Africans are more hopeful of the future than Americans. And everyone was puzzled about this. How could this be? Americans have everything – big cars, big televisions, big meals and big egos. Well, I was tired by this time as I have been on the road for a few days. And they made the mistake of asking me (and others) to comment and interrupt whenever I felt like it. Yes, now they had an angry and tired African on their hands. So I decided to use the chance and interrupt at every possible occasion. That meant I interrupted on every new slide they showed us. But for now I will focus on this survey result that had them baffled.

Like a good African I scribbled a few thoughts on a piece of paper and offered my infinite wisdom. (You could hear the crowd do a single large sigh – an unbuntu sigh). John humored me though. So why are Africans more hopeful than Americans about the future? Not that difficult. Let me try and give you four reasons. I am sure there are more – so feel free to fill in the gaps. And you might not even agree with me. So throw them my way as well.

1. Lower expectations.

Yep, we have lower expectations than others. We just don’t expect politicians to solve our problems anymore – not after so many years of not getting the results we expected from our elected leader. Many of us live under politicians that won’t solve our problems. And we have become aware of this. We don’t live under the illusion that they will provide running water, electricity, food, healthcare or stop fighting. Okay, Americans and other Westerners have had a few stinkers for leaders as well. But at least a few harmless politicians pop up every now and again. We suffer from political leaders that just won’t do the right thing. Make no mistake – we have some excellent leaders in Africa. But even their hands are tied. Where are they going to find the money to even start solving the problems? And if they try and get money? They have hell to pay through privatization and selling off the crown jewels. And it is not only the politicians – we know we will get even less form those outside Africa. All help will come with strings attached that will only pull us further down. No. We have low expectations because we know that others will not solve our problems.

So how does this translate into more hope? Easy. If your expectations are this low you know that tomorrow can only be better. You expect nothing so hope can’t get any lower. We start off at a low expectation, and there is only one way from there – up. Do you expect tomorrow to be better than today? Of course, because I expected nothing from today and got nothing. Tomorrow won’t be any worse.

2. Nothing to lose.

Of course Africans are hopeful of a better tomorrow because they have nothing to lose. Very similar to the expectations argument. No luxuries like televisions, cars, ample food, health, jobs or safety. You know that tomorrow will be beter, because it can’t be worse than today. You have nothing today. So how can tomorrow be worse?

It’s the problem with having such a strong middle class like in America – too much to lose. Any threat to what they posses – and hope goes out the window. The middle class will feel that tomorrow will be worse because the housing market is down and they could lose their jobs in the unstable economy. But if you don’t have that house and that job? How can tomorrow be worse?

(This relates closely to my argument that any revolution will only be successful if driven by the poor. Because they have nothing to lose but life itself. But so much more to gain – like life itself.)

Of course expectations and nothing to lose are closely tied together in hope. We don’t expect anything and we don’t have anything. But tomorrow can only be better. Because we might actually get that clean water from a tap and not have to walk for miles. And we might get that medicine instead of seeing our people die. Or the rain might come and save our crops. Our politicians and foreigners wanting to help might get it right and actually give us something to fish with. And the school might open for our kids to have a future. That’s the hope – our kids can’t possibly have it any worse than us. Can they?

3. Natural entrepreneurs.

We see it every day. Woman sitting next to the road selling their fruit and veg on the roads in Africa. With a hundred competitors on each side. And feeding a large extended family. Feeling sorry for her? Don’t. See Bill Gates. She is running a successful business with no financial support from anywhere. No business training. Hardly any schooling. She has everything working against her. But she runs that business like Bill can only dream of running his. Cost effective to the last cent. She is Africa. She is an entrepreneur. And entrepreneurs always see a better tomorrow. Always plan for a better tomorrow. Because tomorrow we trade. Without aid.

4. Ubuntu – we care for each other.

We know tomorrow can’t be any worse. Why? Because today wasn’t that bad to start off with. I have my neighbours and my friends. We look after each other. We live and breathe for each other. We hide each other when the warlord comes. And we look after the children of the dead when death comes. We have ubuntu. We are one. That is the greatest hope we have. That when tomorrow comes we will still be standing next to each other. Looking after each other. Sharing the pot with my neighbour. And we will all eat from that pot. Share the last bit. Because I am nothing without them. That is the hope. That being together brings tomorrow. And tomorrow can’t be that bad if we still have each other and can still live and play with each other a bit longer.

And in the West? There they live for themselves. Their closed off properties with the doorbell to ring. And the telephone to warn them we want to come and visit. And their television fence that keeps them indoors and away from others. And their cubicle jails at work. Just them by themselves. They don’t need others. That’s what they believe. But can they live like that and still have hope? Hope for what? Thank God the writer strike is over. Hope might be linked to that pen for them.

See – not rocket science. Africans have more hope than Americans. Easy as pie. We have nothing, but we share with others. Because tomorrow I will have because other will have. And maybe. Just maybe. Someone will get that bloody water to run from that tap they promised. Or the rain will come. And the medicine will arrive. And our leaders will listen to the sound of hope. The sounds of women selling their goods and the children playing in the street.