On Natural Disasters, NGOs, and Our Indelible American Spirit

Listening to the BBC World Service this week, I’ve been hearing many stories of destruction and survival from the tornado which struck Oklahoma on Monday. On Wednesday, a BBC reporter was interviewing a man who has already engaged himself in the rebuilding effort.

The reporter asked the man how is it that he can just move on and begin to rebuild so soon after such a devastating event that turned his entire town to rubble. The man basically replied that this is simply what we do as Americans. We keep moving forward, we tackle adversity.

The reporter seemed genuinely in awe, saying that it is always surprising how quickly Americans bounce back at times like this. And you know what, after having lived in Africa for nearly 3 years, he’s right. Our resiliency is an absolutely remarkable trait.

Could my community of Budalang’i here in Kenya ever bounce back from a natural disaster so quickly? Would they seize control of their situation, begin rebuilding as soon as the dust settled?

I contend that the answer is a resounding no. This community has seen their share of natural disasters – much of the area suffers from substantial flooding each year. But in times of such crises, what do the local people generally do? They lay stagnant, plead for assistance from the government and from foreign NGOs.

To drive the point home, a friend of mine told me today that he was walking along the dykes and noticed people, who’s houses had not been flooded nor threatened in the least, had already moved their families atop the dykes. Why? Because they want to be ready to receive free food once the NGOs come in to assist the victims. I have never encountered such an extreme level of dependency in America.

Without a doubt, in any natural disaster, outside assistance is required. Even in America, we can’t pick up our lives alone after such an event. Food, water, shelter… the necessities must be provided for during those initial days before we can obtain them on own. Even some money to support the task of rebuilding can be essential.

But the difference is the mentality, the amazingly quick rebound from tragedy in America before we begin working to rebuild our lives.

What is it about our culture that makes us so different? Why is this trait so uniquely American? In my opinion, the difference is that since our country began, we’ve chosen to work hard in order to build the lives we’ve wanted. Belief in the concept of opportunity above entitlement. And in doing so, we’ve built a culture of self-reliance and an ethos of hard work.

At times of crisis, it is this American spirit so ingrained in each of us that we fall back upon. Hard work takes our minds off of the tragedy and allows us to move forward in the only way we know how.

So the question becomes, what is it about the culture here in Africa that, at the least, masks those ideals?

I would argue it’s the imposition of a counter-culture by outside forces, those being the donors, the NGOs. We can’t know what the Kenyan culture was like before colonization, because their culture was so irrevocably decimated by oppression, their peoples so exploited, that it was forced to change beyond recognition.

But what we do know is that since that time, NGOs have been ubiquitous in all facets of life in Kenya. Handing out free food, building key infrastructure, providing free healthcare, supporting all aspects of the government. All of this has instilled such a strong syndrome of dependency within the Kenyan people that it has become their culture.

When I was talking to a friend yesterday about the huge number of local CBOs (Community-Based Organizations) and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) which have sprung up all over Kenya, their sheer focus being to write proposals to take advantage of all the free money available from outside sources, he told me that its their African ‘culture’ to do so.

Their culture? Of course that’s false. Who were Africans writing proposals to hundreds of years ago? It is the culture which foreign aid organizations have imposed upon Africans. The shear fact that a Kenyan would refer to proposal writing as their culture shows the depth to which this has penetrated their psyche.

Not only do you find people sitting back, waiting for an NGO or some perceived ‘white savior’ to come to their rescue with free handouts, but the culture of dependency is even evident in the employed.

At the moment, one of my favorite stories to tell Kenyans is to describe the work I had to put in to get to where I am. Studying hard in school and taking out massive student loans because my parents lacked the means to help me. Here in Kenya, this level of independence at such a young age is unheard of. The burden of paying for education falls solely on the parents, even if their child is 25 years old.

I then explain what a normal workweek entailed for me as an engineer in the states, working not only to support myself but also to pay off my massive debt. 8-5, Monday through Friday. Except for lunch, all of that time is spent designing, no break, no hours ‘kupiga story’ (to beat the story, or chat). Here, even if someone has a full-time job, the bulk of their hours are generally spent reading the paper or chatting with others.

Then I talk about the project deadlines, having to work overtime throughout the night and into the morning hours, even over the weekend. Not by choice, but because if you miss a deadline, your firm could lose a lucrative client, and you a job. Never mind that all of this overtime, which can be up to 30 hours a week, is completely unpaid.

Then comes the issue of time management, much talked about by those who work in Africa. How here in Africa, if you schedule a meeting, you are fortunate if people show up an hour late. The locals themselves dismiss this behavior as normal, its just ‘African time.’ It’s just our culture, they say. The whites keep time, we don’t.

But this is just a sorry excuse. Why do we as Americans keep time? It goes back to our hard-working culture. Say you are holding a meeting at 9am. Imagine that you show up at 9, but have to wait around for an hour before the others arrive. That is an hour that you will never get back. An hour that could have been used towards designing another section of roadway, constructing another house, treating another patient… whatever your profession.

And if you have another meeting, another time commitment later on in the day, by the shear reason that your first meeting was late, your entire day will be thrown off with a compounding problem of time.

It’s not African verses American time, its simply understanding the opportunity costs. Knowing that you build the life you want by working, and therefore understanding that our time has value.

My life was nothing unique, its normal to millions of Americans. But when talking about it to Kenyans, the response I usually get is, ‘wow, life in America is hard. Maisha yetu, tafadhali! (Life here in Kenya, please!)’

There is a lot of mysticism surrounding America. They say that we are a strong nation because our land is closest to God, the most blessed of all. They believe such rumors as the government gives us money for each birthday we reach. They think that just by being born in America, we can drift through life, good things always falling into our laps.

But none of this is true. The only thing that sets our country apart is the fact that throughout our history, we’ve seized control of our destiny. We’ve worked, toiled, struggled to get to where we are with steady drive and determination.

And because of the dependency instilled in Kenyans by NGOs, that spirit is what is sorely lacking here. In order to simply attend a training that will teach them a new skill which can then be used to make money in the future, Kenyans generally demand a ‘sitting allowance.’ They want to be paid to attend a seminar meant only for their benefit. The knowledge and skills learned aren’t enough. They need instant gratification, without work.

Until foreign nationals cease giving handouts, and instead focus only on training and capacity building, Kenya’s work ethic will remain bleak. We as Americans didn’t get to where we are because we were well supported. We got to where we are because we worked! And that is the path needed for Africa today.

I’m not arguing for pulling out all financial assistance. It wasn’t Africa’s own doing that got them into this predicament and it can’t be just them to get them out. But we must target our aid correctly, and in doing so, help to export our greatest asset as Americans, our spirit.