Is there Hope?? I’ve been asking myself this question since it truly hit me that development is wayyy more complicated than I had anticipated.
Development shouldn’t be that hard, right? Billions of dollars in aid flow to developing countries every year, money is all that is needed, isn’t it? But obviously, it takes a whole lot more than money to bring a country out of ruins.
The success story of China is always a wonder to read, in about fifty years, they developed and the economy is doing way better than the global west countries that have been developed even before time immemorial (I exaggerate but you get the point). I don’t know the intricate details of how they climbed to victory but I know it wasn’t through receiving aid in cash or kind from western governments.
Literature on China suggests the Chinese culture and tradition had a lot to do with the rapid development, sacrifices had to be made by the citizens to see a better China. I ask myself why can’t other developing countries follow suit? Especially Africa, where I’m from and where my heart lies. Was Africa doomed from the beginning? Was it as soon as the white man set foot on our land? So many questions, so little answers. We can say development in Africa took a nose dive when we tried to copy and paste what supposedly worked in the west “neo-liberalism” that’s right, the dreadful Structural Adjustment Programme supposed to work wonders, was the final straw that seemed to break the camel’s back.
Since studying development, one thing I keep getting is questions. So, if aid, humanitarian assistance, social protection, etc., doesn’t work, what will? I expected answers but all I get is questions. There are so many problems in developing countries but so little solutions.
From bad governance from extremely corrupt leaders to political manipulation and domination from the west. Even the countries supposedly trying to help, have hidden motives that most often than not damages these countries’ economies further. So, then what can be done, if the corrupt leaders don’t care about development, the west is more concerned about what they can get out of it all and development projects, by their very design undermine and ignore the knowledge of the supposed “beneficiaries”? This is the ultimate question in development.
It almost wants to make you give up on it all, think there’s no hope or whatsoever for development in Africa and other developing countries. BUT I do believe there’s hope, and its people that genuinely care and are passionate about seeing and making a real difference. People that have no hidden agendas but to help make lives better for the billion-people living in extreme poverty. Those are the people that give me hope. Even though I have more questions than answers, I won’t stop searching for solutions and doing my part in seeing a better world in my lifetime.
Boladale Shobowale.
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