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Journal of African trips

Africa, spring 1999 part II

Agelasto
2004-05-21 18:00:16

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the ankles for producing
sounds, the villagers have tied coke cans filled with sea shells. We learn that this is not
some sort of ad hoc presentation, though. It is put on once or twice each year to honor a
visiting delegation from a particular village in Southern France, the sister village to the
island. (I though the visitors looked familiar; they were the party which had reserved our
favorite restaurant a few nights before. Each year a dozen or so people from this French
village visit the island to be entertained and, indeed, to be honored for their contributions
to Karabane.) The French sister village funds the island?s school and clinic and helps in
various other ways. In turn, they get a rather pleasant vacation, treated as visiting royalty.
Their contributions significantly affect the lives of Karabanians, although I would argue
they create an unhealthy type of dependency which, in my view, characterizes almost all
foreign aid in Africa. In any case, both sides seem content with the situation, and in the
short-run at least no one gets hurt. But my concerns are with the long-run (a time in
which, of course, we are all dead, so we needn?t be so concerned with it; but the bottom
line seems to me that Africa?s long-run is being cut short by its short-run) and the big
picture, and I?d rather see Karabane revert back to a simple self-sufficient fishing village,
maybe with a school and a clinic, but without the tourist culture. Oh yes, the French
couple give several Bics to local children after they sing songs in French. I am sure West
Africa has more Bic pens per capita than anywhere in the world.

On the taxi ride back, we convince the driver to wait a half hour in a town called Mlomp
while we visit the small Catholic charity we had passed and heard about in the morning.
It is called Social Center for the Promotion of Women and is run by the Sisters ...