The Road to Hell
The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity
“The evil that is in the world always comes out of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding.”
~ Albert Camus, The Plague
“In public affairs discussions the term “starving Africans” (or “starving Ethiopians” or “starving Somalis”) rolls from the tongue as easily as “blue sky.” “Americans leave enough food on their plates to feed a million starving Africans.” Charities raise money for starving Africans. What do Africans do? They starve. But mostly they starve in our imaginations. The starving African is a Western cultural archetype like the greedy Jew or the unctuous Arab. The difference is that we’ve learned that trafficking in these last two archetypes is wrong or, at least, reflects badly on us. But the image of the bloated helpless child adorns advertisements for Save the Children and World Vision. The image of the starving African is said to edify us, sensitize us, mobilize our good will and awaken us from our apathy.” (The Road to Hell: 3)
Talking to people helps. It creates awareness. I was talking to an American, a Reverend, a medical practitioner and aid worker. She started telling me about some aid project for needy children in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since I was loaded with too many biases about foreign aid to Africa, I asked her, did you read a book called “The Road to Hell”? She said, “I know what the Road to Hell is. But I didn’t read such book”.
I openly told her how foreign aid is destabilizing the Horn of Africa. I also said, look I am a victim of the so called foreign aid to Ethiopia. I promised to send her synopsis of the book: The Road to Hell. Read more…
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