Question and Answer

I was asked “How has your experience been as a person coming from a privileged country to one where so many people have so little? Do you ever find yourself resentful of your own fortunate upbringing?”

When I got back from studying in Kenya after my first trip to Africa, I glorified the East African way of life. I praised Kenyans, for example, for conserving water by bathing using a small amount of water in a basin instead of standing under a shower of hot water for 10 minutes. I decided that having the supportive ties between family members in Africa was so much better than Canada’s individualistic society. But after spending a longer period of time in Rwanda, I think that I have become a lot more realistic in the way I see my own life compared to the life of Rwandans. Yes, I love Africa, but I now can see that as with anywhere in the world, it is neither all good nor all bad.

Nothing is simple. We can look at everything from a wide variety of angles. Someone may consciously conserve water and energy by using a half-full basin of cold water to bathe, or they might wash that way because there is no alternative. One can look at obligations toward family members as a beneficial support network in the face of a lack of government support programs, or one can look at how the same obligations hold a person back from achieving their goals because they have to give their hard-earned money to aunts and uncles and cousins.

So, to come back to the question of whether or not I ever find myself resentful of my own fortunate upbringing, no, I learned not to. What I’ve learned living in Rwanda is that people are similar all over the world. I’m not that different from Rwandans, and Rwandans are not that different from Canadians. Most Rwandans would stand under a hot water shower for 10 minutes every day if they had the chance. Those that do have the chance, do just that. There is no reason for me to resent myself for being born in Canada and for having what I do.

However, I would like to be that person who tries to conserve water even though she/he could take a long shower. I do feel a responsibility to improve living conditions for all people. I just happened to be born in Canada, and my friends here just happened to be born in Rwanda. So I would like to work with my Rwandan friends to improve their situation here in Rwanda, just as I would like to improve conditions in Canada.

What makes me angry is that countries like Canada (and more so the US and other more powerful countries), use their economic influence to affect the course of events in poorer countries, often to the detriment of the poor countries’ populations. I can see the negative results of colonialism in Africa, and the impact of neocolonialism. Developed countries are doing good things around the world, but they also continue to commit human rights abuses and destroy the environment in developing nations.

I wish people would learn to understand that people (whether from Canada or Rwanda or Thailand or wherever) are very much the same, and would work together to make the world all over a better place.