The Shadow of my African Life

Interesting quotes from the book I am reading:

And the thefts? In the beginning I was filled with rage each time I returned to my ransacked apartment. To be robbed is, first and foremost, to be humiliated, to be made a fool of. But with time I came to understand that seeing a robbery as a humiliation and an affront is an emotional luxury. Living amid the poverty of my neighborhood, I realized that theft, even a petty theft, can be a death sentence. To steal is to commit manslaughter, murder. A solitary woman had her little corner in my street, and her sole possession was a pot. She made a living buying beans for credit from the vegetable vendors, cooking them, seasoning them with a sauce, and selling them to passersby. For many, this bowl of beans was the only daily meal. One night, a piercing cry awoke us. The entire alleyway stirred. The woman was running around in a circle, despairing, frenzied: thieves had snatched her pot, and she had lost the one thing she depended on for her livelihood. p112.....I told him about how I was being continually robbed. Suleiman considered this to be something completely normal. Theft is a method- admittedly unpleasant- of lessening inequality. It is good that they rob me, he declared. It can even be seen as a friendly gesture on the part of the perpetrators - their way of letting me know that I am useful, and, therefore, that they accept me. Basically, I can feel safe....

==People are not hungry because there is no food in the world....They attack and rob groups of women and children because women and children are the targets of international aid: it is they for whom the sacks of flour and rice are intended, the boxes of biscuits and powdered milk, things of no consequence in Europe, but here, between the sixth and twelfth degrees of latitude, priceless. P 198

==I told the Scots that these requests on the part of the people they had met follow from the belief of many Africans that the white man has everything, or that, in any event, he has a great deal, much more than the black man. And if the white man suddenly crosses an African's path, it's as if a chicken has laid him a golden egg. He must take advantage of this opportunity - he must remain focused, must not miss his chance. All the more so because so many of these people really have nothing, need everything, and want so much.

But this behavior is also a manifestation of a great cultural difference, a dissimilarity of expectations. African culture generally is a culture of exchange. You give me something, and it is my responsibility to reciprocate. It is not only my responsibility; my dignity, my honor, my humanity require it. Human relations assume their highest form during the process of exchange. The union of two young people, who through their progeny prolong man's presence on earth and ensure the continuation of the species - why, even that union comes into being through an act of interclan exchange: the woman is traded for various material goods indispensable to her clan. In this culture, everything assumes the form of a gift, a present demanding requital. The unreciprocated gift lies heavily on the head of the one who has received it, torments his conscience, and can even bring down misfortune, illness, death. Thus the receipt of a present is a signal, agoad to immediate reciprocal action to a quick restoring of equilibrium: I received? I repay!

Many misunderstandings arise because one side does not understand that things of a very different order can be exchanged; for example, we can exchange something of symbolic value for something of material value, and vice versa. If an African approaches the Scots, he showers various gifts on them: he bestows upon them his presence and attention, imparts information (warning them of thieves, for example) ensures their safety, etc. It goes without saying that this generous man now awaits reciprocity, recompense, the satisfaction of his expectations.....p276


This last interpretation is a big deal for me and my expat friends. We THINK that our service and supplies to the clinics, the villages and the hospital IS recompense for the attention an African imparts on us white folks. WE have large problems with the endless requests for money (and beer) from the poor black folks from Sanniquellie - and why do those strangers who force us to stop as we walk the road on a Sunday afternoon and ask us to fill their pockets, what is the connection beyond the golden egg lying on his path?