Angling

The old proverb goes, "Give a man a fish and he eats for a meal. Teach a man how to fish and he eats for a lifetime." (Was it Aesop who wrote it?)

I come across that saying (or was it Confucius?) frequently, and admittedly it is somewhat annoying and oversimplifies a complicated situation:

First, it assumes that the man wants to learn. In populations around the world, and especially in situations of poverty, there is always an element of apathy. In America you can find people who take advantage of welfare and do nothing to improve their lives. In Uganda, there are people drunk at 9am every morning. They will not take the initiative to change their lives no matter how much is done to try. That said, there usually is also a group of people in an underprivileged class with the ability and will to change. Finding these people are key. But teaching them to fish is only step one. You must also provide them with a loan to buy a fishing pole or net. You need to teach them how to be fiscally responsible with their new-found wealth. Above all, you have to make sure fishing is the most economically-viable way for them to produce. Maybe growing a staple like potatoes or millet takes too much time, and even if you teach them and support them in fishing, they will go back to farming because it provides more food with less time/effort.

Second, it does not take into account any moral responsibility. If you can teach a person to fish, and he does, there will also be one person who is apathetic and uninterested in working toward his progress. Do we then have a moral responsibility or obligation to continue giving them fish so they don't starve? What does that do to any jealousies or relationships within the small village social circle?

Third, it assumes a person has a direction and positive outlook on their life, which I think is typically a Western view of life. In the developing world life expectancy is so varied. From my limited experience people do not have the same views of life as we do in the West. Death is just as integral part of daily life as living. In the past three months a local Anglican bishop and a Catholic priest have died in car accidents. In my village there is probably one burial a week. Malaria is the number-one killer, and AIDS prevalence remains high. Not to mention malnutrition significantly reduces a child's development to become a healthy, strong adult better able to fight the diseases they encounter every day. I don't think most people plan for the future because they could die in six months, or five years. Instead they live more on a day-to-day basis. Thus, teaching a man to sell his fish, or value-add to his fish (by frying it and serving it with french fries!), and save for the future, just may not be realistic. He may be better satisfied by immediately spending money from his daily catch on booze, or a new shirt, and not save it for the future. Instant gratification is one thing, but gratification before you die is another. That said, insuring your children are healthy and educated is above-all the most important thing they can do.

So, maybe we can change the proverb (was it an old Jewish saying?):
Give a man a fish and he won't starve. Teach a man how to fish, provide him support in his new enterprise (including capital, business education, and information on savings and investing), and you give him the tools to change his life, if he wants.

Time, Is On My Side

In Spanish it is called "Mañana Mañana." In English it's the adage "Why do today what you can do tomorrow?" In Africa you frequently hear about "African Time," or "I'm not on time, I'm in time."

During pre-service training we were continually warned about the frustration that can occur with African time and some ways to cope, including bringing a book and your patience. I have been working here for over three months now, and I've learned that when someone says there's a meeting at 10am, it won't actually start until noon. I know this; I plan for this. Yet, it still drives me absolutely nuts.

To provide an example, yesterday was just a typical day. I planned to do three things: 1) Attend a youth meeting regarding a farm project, 11am; 2) Find bananas, cut them, and put them in my solar dryer; 3) Bake some bread (needing to get some flour first). Three simple tasks, and there should be time enough to do them all.

Planning ahead was my first mistake.

This is how the day unfolded:
1) My bike being broken, I waked the 4km (2.5mi) to the Parish where I was to meet some youth for a meeting. I got there at 11am, knowing well that it wouldn't start on time. I talked to some of the teachers and the priests, had lunch, and then finally we started the meeting at noon - early! Granted, only 8 people showed up. An hour later the meeting was over. The Parish is in the larger trading centre, so I planned to find bananas (this is a Banana Republic, it shouldn't be difficult), and flour, and head home.

2) 1:00 pm: Upon the insistence of Father Silver, the parish priest, I couldn't walk back because we have been having a heat-wave and it was too hot; he would drive me into the trading centre, then home. But first he had matters to attend to.

2:00pm: Still waiting, I passed the time under a tree talking with some teachers. Remembering I wanted to buy a desk, one of the teachers walked me over to a local carpenter to discuss business (a carpenter in Kamwenge wanted 60,000 UGX, the local guy wanted 25,000 UGX for the same thing). I only had 12,000 UGX to buy bananas and flour, and the carpenter wanted 10,000 UGX in advance to pay for some materials, so I was left with only 2,000.

3:00pm: The parish priest informs me that he needs to take some corn (about 450KG of it) to the mill near where I stay. But he needs to recruit some boys to help load/unload it.

4:00pm: Finally becoming annoyed, hungry, and dehydrated, I found the priest and he was finally ready to go.

4:15pm: In the trading centre there were no bananas. No Bananas!! And I didn't have enough money to buy flour.

4:30pm: Reach the mill. Unload the corn, talk to the millers a bit, wait.

4:50pm: Finally reach home. If I had found bananas, it would have been too late to put them out to dry. If I had bought flour, I could start baking, but alas I didn't. I would just have to wait until tomorrow and try again. I was most annoyed at the fact that I lost a day to dry fruit, and I lost a day to improve my baking (both projects are on rather strict deadlines).

What's the moral of the story? In Uganda planning ahead is vital. This week my trading centre only had onions - I had no fresh food and lived on oatmeal and noodles. To get fresh food one must travel about 4km to a market, which are only held on certain days, and I have no working bike currently. If you plan ahead by one week, you can manage. If you don't, you're stuck living on oatmeal.