I once visited a small, remote settlement in an African country. The guy who sold cigarettes , canned food and had a solar panel, so that's where people paid to charge their phones and watched football. The school was run down and closed anyway, because teachers hadn't been paid for more than a year. The health station, where people came to give birth, consisted of three mud huts and a shed, with no electricity (but an amazing health worker). The water pump was the only clean drinking water for several kilometers.

The church and the the priest's house looked like they were teleported directly from Western suburbia.

Priorities. They show what people are really made of.

This thread has drifted way off the travel aspects.

Its a tough call, keep Africa as a museum where death from medieval circumstances are just what happens, or send Westerners (possibly they could wear red uniforms and do Welsh male voice singing? ) to sort them out? Strikes me as none of my business what Africans do on their own continent and the only way is to lead by example if I'm ever there again.

Travel wise I say away from the highly religious anyway. I did once end up on a Christian Fundamentalist stag night. It had its moments like the old boy trying to convince a lap dancer to give up her wicked ways at £10 a minute while staring down what little top she was wearing

Andy

It made me very sad to read your post/thoughts Surfy
It is very difficult to apply the old Indian adage:
'Do not judge another until you have walked a mile in her moccasins,' unless you get out of your own moccasins first...

Please read this thread in detail

Specially:
https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...726#post618532

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...726#post618541

It is NOT about the person itself. It is about that we think we can help. Think they need help. Think we are able to help. Did we help? Did we help also if we dont harm others directly?

Surfy

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Do not criticize someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes.

Then, if you still want to criticize them, you are a mile away and you've got their shoes.

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Hear the challenge, learn the lesson, pay the cost.

Made I larf!

I tend to agree with the posters who are sceptical of missionaries, in fact the whole concept of missionaries is a gross invasion of other peoples lives and culture.

Norway has a tradition of missionary projects, some are really beneficial to the community, but they all demand a payback. Stayed in Guesthouse at Lodwar Lutheren Hospital in Tanzania, run and funded by Norwegian fundamentalist Christians and our gov. Aid money. Really well run and efficient, an enormous benefit to the community, but they still demand "their pound of flesh". The "righteousness" was overpowering, the contempt for Afrika and "heathens" was a given in any conversation.

Not all bad - there was a project to build a walled refuge for Albinos, in Afrika it is a problem that people cut bits off them to use in Traditional Medicine charms and potions. An earlobe here, a fingertip there, some body parts are more potent than others. The Norwegians try to stop this by protecting the Albinos. You can't argue against that by saying it is traditional culture being destroyed!

You can question their motivation and methods. Too many times there is uncovered sexual and psychological abuse in religious communities for that to be an unfortunate coincidence. Politically they tend to be far-right, which has consequences for their attitude to local politics and politicians.

Following this thread with interest

Ride safe

Peter in Oslo

My simple reply would be- it is about the person itself-
one individual can make a difference.
If you don't believe that, try spending One night with just ONE mosquito...

Most, probably, on this site enjoy travelling as it does (for some) widen their understanding and experience a different world to their own
As countries are crossed, (and if the traveller is open to learning) he or she realizes how lucky they are to afford to travel. Some may become more aware of all the many other benefits they have/have had in their lives such as medical care, education etc. compared to many of those, sadly a hugely disproportionate amount, whose life is, more or less, down to daily survival.

So Surfy you ask 'did we help'? I do not to whom this ‘we’ refers to but I have noticed the repetition of that word many a time without understanding whom these ‘we’ you refer to are. Without wishing to pry, I would pose the question to anyone to try to answer it:
Did you help and if so, how, where, what motivated you and why? Such specific questions can be uncomfortable but do call for specific replies. It is possible that, should answers be offered, ways and means ‘how to’ could motivate others to step up. It is, of course, a question of personal choice whether an individual wishes to get involved – or not-

Whatever each of us believes in (or not) , some individuals are driven to get off their gluteus maximus and actually use their knowledge and abilities to step out of their safe and comfortable lives and environments and actually DO something to help. It isn’t rocket science to do so and probably anyone can do this but it does requires the will to do so, the determination to stay the distance and that then engenders personal sacrifice and often, alas, risk.
It is totally about achieving a result for strangers whose suffering you could relieve. I would describe any personal or group effort as grains of sand- mostly insignificant individually in the vastness of our world but collectively will build a massive dune.

There are, as of today, 71,973 userson the HUBB. Imagine the amount of knowledge and abilities held by those plus, should each give £10, the price of a couple of pints soon forgotten, the amount generated would be three quarters of a million pounds. I know what that could build and do for those who are in need.

Every journey has start somewhere if someone wishes to help others. Some people, missionairies or others may wish to 'tag’ a label such as an organisation or Faith describing their motivation- so be it- at least they had the courage to get out there and do something.

Bottom line on all this? and what really (IMHO) matters is the poles apart difference between actually ‘doing’ and just 'talking’ about it.
Who does it, who they are, where they are from, what language they speak, whatever the colour of their skin, how tall or short they are, what bike, 4x4, truck (donkey?) they drive (ride) or what their religion is, consider this:
we ALL bleed red and suffering knows no frontiers Surely this pandemic alone would have taught us this by now.
My 2 pence- Stay safe out there
- and-
if you be of mind to lend a hand wherever you go, please do. For me, there is no greater reward on earth than in seeing that look of gratitude in a stangers' eye, his or her smile or that handshake when you do so.
Be gentle with others and yourself.

You think you can help with that cash?

Our first world gouverments did spent billions as development aid in the third world. Did they did help?

If I had to spent 1 Mio $ to help others. What would be helpful at the end?

Probably I would be able to help at switzerland, in a culture and environment I did understand.

Our helping organisations did show in africa, what they was able to do. Many villages without a drinking fountain, then you meet a village where are 5 pieces side by side. From red cross germany, swiss red cross some eu branded helping organisations. Ok maybe wrong planning... BUT..

They did too want to do something good, or? Does it really help this villages in africa, to build drinking fountains?

Would you build also drinking foutains to make a difference?

Everything is stick together. Optaining more water out of the ground, change the groundwater level, let stop working these drinking foutains they did by themself in villages nearby. Let the plants to die slowly. Now also these villages need help, who did was able to help themself before.

So building drinking fountains did change something in the nature - I didnt calculated before.

What did my "help" did too. Was there s a social structure before? Did the locals did use water more economical as it was rare? Was it a job of a family to obtain water? What else happens unexpected, with build there drinking fountains? Did the population start to grow faster than before?

Also with "I want to do something good", with making a difference, I can do a lot of shi***t.

Even going for planting trees in the desert (like other candidates did rom the hostage thread) could change the local environment unexpected.

Surfy

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Still no idea who the 'we' are!
Here is something to think about

My head says I agree, but my heart says there's another dimension to this.

Take cancer research. Every summer tens, hundreds, of thousands of people take on sponsored charity events - runs, walks, cycle rides, anything you can think of, with the intent of raising money for cancer research. I know because I've run in them and I've worked at the events and I see them, puffing their way round the course with photographs of loved ones who have suffered from the disease attached to their T shirts. And does the money raised make a difference? Compared to what governments round the world put into the research programmes it hardly registers. But most of the participants know that. It's not that they've made a difference that matters to them, it's that they've made an effort. The main function is to keep the subject in the public eye. As with cancer charity events so with foreign aid charities. I've worked with a number of businesses who fundraise for them and they know the money is a drop in the ocean. They still do it though.