Asia in Africa

September 24th

September 24th

This was written on my way from Ndola to Lusaka where I will meet my father and his team. They arrive on Friday afternoon. I wanted to write to give an update on life and not just education related material. It was become hot in Zambia. I think that I mentioned this before, but the weather pattern is one where there is a wet season and a dry season. We are in the last month of the dry season. It is also the hottest time of the year. The heat is not necessarily the problem though. It is still a dry heat; therefore, coming from hot summer days in Georgia this is nothing. The problem is the dust. Everything is dusty- you, your car, your house, your shoes... Plus when the wind picks up, it sprays the dust into your eyes. It is a give and take because when the rainy season comes everything becomes muddy. Africa is full of extremes and this is just one example of that.

I forgot to mention in my last post that we held our first teacher training meeting yesterday, Wednesday September 23rd. I provided an introduction of the program to them, and we also played get to know you games. It went really well. The participants were eager to be there and seemed to enjoy themselves. In total we had 16 teachers from the four schools. I will not hold a meeting next week because for the entire week I will be in Lusaka. Again, Lusaka is about four hours drive away from Ndola.

During our meeting yesterday, we played a game called Four Corners. One of the questions during Four Corners was to pick the place you want to visit. The choices were the USA, Europe, Australia, and China. Nobody picked China; therefore, I asked them why. The teachers were very honest in telling me that the Chinese were racist against them. Throughout my time, I am slowly beginning to understand more clearly tensions like this. Asia has come into Africa with development assistance, but for the most part they are exporting the natural resources without truly providing for the people. They take the natural resources to China, manufacture cheap goods, and then bring the cheap goods back. The development done by the Chinese in particular centers around the economic centers that prosper them, and the Africans can see this. For example, the nicest roads are on the way to the mines. Yes, that has to happen to a certain extent to grow your economy, but at the same time Africans can begin to see that they are being fleeced. Some have proposed that this is the new type of colonialism that is developing in Africa, a strict form of economic colonialism. Some of this has changed in recent years as China is starting to help in more development projects not centered around their economic growth. For example, in Ndola there is a new soccer stadium being built by the Chinese, but the stadium does not fit into the culture. It has huge dragons around the entrance and an ornate Chinese wall around the outside. I would say that it is weird to see this, but at the same time this is what Africa is becoming; therefore, unfortunately you begin to expect this.

The problem is not that the Chinese are coming in to make a profit, but that Zambian government is not considering the long term ramifications of their decision to allow the Chinese to come in with such force. The Zambian government sees the short term benefits of jobs and development without understanding the real issues. The issue is that Zambia is not developing their people to take the leadership reins in the economic sector. This is a very difficult situation to analyze because of the many different factors that contribute to this relationship. One book that offers a balanced perspective on Africa and the Asian influence is Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles by Richard Dowden. He refers to the Asian situation as a new form of colonialism, but is still balanced in his analysis. It is a long book, but a very good read if you are interested in Africa and its current state.

One thing I do know for sure is that ordinary Zambians are starting to clearly see the situation and the treatment they are receiving. Their attitudes towards the Chinese are becoming more transparent. Hopefully, Zambia can figure out a way what truly benefits them before it is to late.