I was in shock by the scene I had just watched unfold. I was saddened. I was discouraged. I was angry. I saw a vast disconnect I had suspected in my mind,
but when it played out in reality, it had the weight of the WORLD behind
it. The scene happened a few weeks
ago and went something like this…
We had just walked an hour and a half down to the Internally
Displaced People camps in Maai Mahiu, Kenya. As we arrived we were greeted by the normal mass of kids
with no shoes, tattered clothes, and empty stomachs. We walked through the camp and came upon a gathering of
people in one of the open fields.
A common occurrence was underway and we came just at the end of it. A group of foreigners had come on a bus
to distribute food to hungry people in the area. I sat down with some of the kids maybe 25 yards away from
the action.
I watched as the Kenyans encircled the food consisting of
maize, cooking oil, and beans. The
foreigners whipped out their cameras and took photos as they started to load
the bus to return to their accommodations for the night. Women danced and sang for the cameras
to show their appreciation. I saw
the foreigner’s faces light up and smile as they waved and drove away. They looked like they had just saved
the world…or at least everyone they just captured in the photos they would show
people at home. But the truth
was…they hadn’t.
Within minutes of their departure I watched the group that
had encircled the food erupt.
People were upset. People
were yelling at one another. They
were trying to figure out how to distribute the food…how it could be done
fairly…. realizing there wasn’t that much to go around and it wouldn’t sustain
them for long. Scarcity. They were well aware this was only a
temporary fix.
But the foreigners never got to see these events
unfold. They drove off on top of
the world and got to tell stories about how they had done a great dead and made
a positive change. But the picture
I saw was another short-term solution keeping the poor in a cycle of dependency. They hadn’t been given any tools to
provide for themselves for tomorrow.
They had been taught that once again, some random group of people will
see them in their plight and give them food or money so they don’t have to
work….they just have to wait.
See how the two pictures are completely different?
I was saddened…I was discouraged…but most of all I was angry. I was angry with them for coming. I was angry they had an incomplete
picture of what happened and what it means to help. I was angry because….because….I saw myself in them. I have played the same role my whole
life. Whether it’s through giving
money and thinking it will solve the problem, or going on short-term mission
trips and not caring about the long term impacts of my actions, or just not
understanding a culture and adding to the problem.
This is what our team is dealing with now….years of a broken
aid programs that were designed to make the missionaries feel better about
themselves with little regard for the ones they were supposed to be serving.
I’ll tell you more about how this plays out next week….
