So, I’ve only got one week left here. I’ve got to say that it’s been an eye-opening experience. Although I don’t think that this place defies description, I don’t think that it’s something that could be so easily summarized in a single post. It will probably take me a while to figure out what’s a fair portrayal of how CAR actually is.
That said, having only spent 10 weeks here hardly gives me the right to write some sort of definitive description on what this place is and how it works. However, just for my own memory, I’ll need to think of some way to make it make some sense.
Overall, I think the most important lesson that I’ve come away with from being here is that, if you hope to make any progress in development or humanitarian endeavors, the biggest assets you have are your brain, your will and your patience. And there ought to be particular emphasis on the last two.
I think I came here with a lot of naive ideas of what it takes to get “the job” done. I don’t want to say that I got it all wrong, but I think being here has really made it obvious to me that turning around a country’s misfortune and mismanagement is a job that’s basically never done and can easily be derailed by just about anything. It’s also particularly complicated because of cultural misunderstandings and ignorance (on both the side of the national and the foreign nationals).
For example: this is not, in any way, an egalitarian society. Authority here is revered and accepted. Social hierarchy (e.g., this person is BETTER than this other person) is the way of the walk. I had, and continue to have, a lot of difficulty with his. For example, people of status here (that includes westerners with money) are just called “Patron” (boss) by default. You, being a “rich” westerner (or a wealthy Central African), are expected to spread your largess to those around you. You’re also expected to wield your authority with a mighty fist.
One example of this (of which I have many) was earlier this week, I came home at about 10pm. My building is surrounded by a huge stone wall and there’s a steel gate with a lock on the inside that the security guard is supposed to unlock when people knock. I knocked. And knocked. And knocked. After five minutes of knocking and shouting, eventually the security guard woke up and let me in. Word of this made it to the day guard, who asked me repeatedly why it is that I hadn’t shouted at him and that that irresponsible guard most certainly deserved it and how it would be good if I were to give him a talking-to because what he did was unacceptable. He was upset to learn that I hadn’t and had no intention of doing so.
Stuff like this happens all the time: people getting shouted at. Getting spoken down to. And it is expected. And if you don’t do it, there is something wrong with YOU. You’re not being nice when you don’t do it; You’re a sucker. The idea that people are worthy of respect and have an implicit value and are even, perhaps, equal is not in practice here. Of course, it’s never just that simple. But this is the general idea.
Now I get that I’m probably sounding more and more naive as this goes on. But it’s not that I didn’t realize that this existed – I did – but I don’t think I ever understood the extent to which this system is a part of the fibre of a place and its people; that is, the extent to which there is no understanding of another way of doing things (sort of like my post right now — irony, eh). And I can’t say for certain whether or not it has any effect on people’s sense of what possibilities they have – but I’d be surprised if it didn’t.
To me, having grown up where I grew up, things like people saying “thank you” when you say “hello” to them on the street is disturbing.
I know, I’m not being very articulate . . . I’ll work on it.
Anyway, to bring this to a close, there are a lot of things here like the examples above that make you realize how far CAR has to go. And not just to be like the west, but to just be able to be productive and in whatever way healthy. And that will take time, patience, and a lot of effort on everyone’s part.
