White people in Africa

I have some pretty strong, pretty emotional, and sometimes pretty convoluted thoughts about this.  (And I realize my title is blighted by broadness and bluntness that go both ways: Africa, obviously, is a vastly diverse continent, and white people certainly have all manner of diverse reasons for being in Africa, including having been born there.  But sometimes I think generalizations are more expressive than political correctness.)  So rather than offer a tirade or lengthy exposition, all I'd like to do for now is offer a little intro and share an article that may add a new dimension in your thinking about what Africa is, and what it means, especially when you're the one living there.

I'm tired of hearing people talk about "how happy" people they meet in Africa--or Haiti, or South America, or wherever they've recently come back from spending a week or two--are, "even though they are so poor." Yes, there is material poverty of a different flavor in these places (for simplicity's sake, let's term them the "Global South," since I'm not big in a developed/developing dichotomy) when compared to the United States.  Yes, I've met plenty of happy people in Ghana, Uganda, and Haiti, and many of these people are indeed very materially poor.  And yes, it is definitely a good and humbling thing for me to be reminded on my visits there of just how many things I assume are at least normal, if not essential, for life are actually just obfuscating luxuries that distract from some of the realities of life I'd rather not face.

But it's too easy to release ourselves from responsibility, much less ask ourselves if we in fact do have a responsibility, much less give careful consideration to how we should respond to this maybe-responsibility, by telling ourselves that, well, it's a shame that my friend can't buy food this week because the government decided not to pay rural teachers on time, or that a 10-year-old can't have an asphyxiating tumor removed because government health insurance doesn't cover for surgery and there's no private health insurance in Ghana, but at least they're happy in the midst of their poverty.  To an extent, maybe there is a sort of Pauline contentment going on here: "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" (Philippians 4:12).  Or maybe not.  So, even though one journalist's account of his experiences is not authoritative for a nation, I don't think we white Americans (yes, "we," including me!) get to pick which is the answer.

So, too much exposition already, but here's the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/29/world/africa/op-ed-chude-jideonwo/index.html

Thoughts?