The Challenge for Africa: Blog Post 2

The Challenge for Africa: Blog Post 2

When reading about all the foreign aid and attention that goes into Africa, we're always given one side of the story only. However, when I think back to our Guest speaker Joan's words about how it can be 'wrong', I immediately began to think just how much of an impact international aid is having on Africa. Joan emphasised how it's important to empathise instead of sympathise with the people who are going through the struggle. This all ties back to chapters 4 and 5 in The Challenge of Africa because it describes the 'Aid and the Dependency Syndrome' as well as the 'Deficits, indebtedness and unfair trade' that constantly plague Africa.

Wee are told how the state and development of Africa has risen on the global agenda in recent years. However, despite all the efforts, the results are negligible. It's interesting to learn that a big part of this ties back to Joan's presentation because "The voices of Africans speaking to these challenges are muted in comparison to those of the industrialised world speaking about the needs of Africa". Joan mentioned how important it was to listen and learn from the people suffering themselves, as they know best what they need. However, the common problem in the modern world is that some people simply contribute to what they think is the problem, which is often not the real problem. It's interesting to see how problems often go round in circles because of one missing component, and it makes me wonder when the real change will take place.