I'm running out of titles...

My mom asked me to follow up on my ideas about the advantages/disadvantages I see in the westernization of the culture in the midst of what I blogged about as far as being a woman in Africa. Thanks for the feedback. I really do like hearing what questions people have about what I feel or think. I want to be challenged in it because I know I'm not always right in it, but people are often too passive and too afraid of conflict to make people stop and think about it. I encourage bluntness if you so desire to give it.

As far as the advancement of the culture goes, here's how I'm feeling. (I'm not trying to solve the world's problems, just convey what I am observing). There is a lot about this culture that is beautiful (maybe good or functional is a better word, because the beauty I see here may be a biased by the fact that I am also a sojourner here and can leave and escape it whenever I want. So I appreciate seeing a country that doesn't look just like my own. Why else is traveling so appealing, right? Maybe that's a selfish viewpoint to take on it). There is also a lot about this culture that is rooted in ignorance and a lack of education and would make a better world if it did disappear.
As Americans who have so much, we expect a lot. To see the simplicity of the lives of people here is honestly challenging at times (I don't mean simple as in easy, but simple as in more easily contented). It's difficult to see someone lying outside their house on a mat like they've been lying there for hours and not find yourself asking how boring a life that must be. I always have to shove down the notion to feel that way because it’s wrong to see it like that. It's hard to see that kind of life and realize that their life is still good too; I wouldn't choose it for my own because I have different experiences, but it doesn't mean it's bad, just different. If they have a roof over there head, food in their belly and water to drink, they don’t find much to complain about. Before we jump in and try to change everything that we perceive with a 'poor them' attitude 'how do we fix this?', we must remember that just because their daily life doesn't consist of the same kind of activities, events, and responsibilities as ours do, that they're lives are less full or less satisfying, Bringing a Wal-mart, McDonalds, a shopping mall or just a whole bunch of money here, isn't going to make their lives more fulfilling. On some level, I think the opposite. Now, family is valued, friends are valued, strangers are shown hospitality (mostly, I'm sure not always). They find joy in relation with people. What other country in the world can you drink tea 6 times in one day because people want to talk to you. I think as humans we were meant to find joy in relation with other people. God created us for relation with him and I think it's an essential need that we all have (K, maybe Chai 6 times a day isn't necessary nor good for your health with that much sugar, but it’s still good).
As Americans or westerners, we spend are lives seeking happiness in possessions, reputations, accomplishments, etc. We've all heard it said that the more we have the more we want. It's true. None of us could step into the life of a Maasai villager and live contented for the rest of our lives because we would want/'need' too much. In a discussion with PH I asked him how money has affected the villagers, and he said that in his time he has seen that the more and more the money (the physical kind, not just in the form of cattle and goats) becomes a part of the lives of these people, the more likely they are to abandon their neighbor. Life becomes more and more about material possessions and less about relationship. Money leads to selfishness; everyone starts asking what they can get for themselves. There's more temptation to go spend your money at the bar or buy something new than to share your wealth with a hungry widow. I think we can all identify with that temptation. It’s easier to buy ourselves a nice supper than to give the money to a hungry person.
But it can't be denied that there are several customs that continue to be practiced so frequently here that are without a doubt harmful and would probably be better off done away with. And as I mentioned in my last blog, the way women are treated is not the way that I would ever want to live. And yes, that does have a lot to do with a lack of education. Maasai are very smart people; I have no doubt about that at all. But when practices have been around for years and years, it's hard to convince people that it really isn’t the best way to do things. Just look at what it took for us to do away with slavery in the US. Only after a war was the practice of slavery done away with. Now that we have seen things differently, we will never go back. So to look down on them for continuing these customs and practices isn't fair because we have our own mistreatments to judge first. America drops bombs on people in other countries like they aren’t people just like you and me. So to say that we treat people more fairly or humanely would be pointing out the speck in someone else's eye when we've got a log in our own. I don't sit here justifying any of these practices, but I can't help but feel a rage of anger and bitterness when I hear someone who steps out of a country where the money reads ‘God Bless America’ refer to Africa as a 'God forsaken country' because of the hardship and unfair treatment they have seen here. I’ve heard it said more than once, and I had to refrain myself from bursting out in outrage.
I just had a friend return from a service-trip in East Saint Louis. She said it made her absolutely sick that there is a place that is so stuck in crime and poverty in our own backyards and that most people aren't even aware of it. I was aware of this place as I have heard people talk about it before, but have never been there myself. Whether you’re in East St. Louis or Africa, sometimes you can’t help but wonder how God can allow such suffering to exist in the world. But as I said before, I think if we asked God he would ask us the same question in response.
Believe me, my heart hurts to hear stories of people's cattle stolen or women raped or people being killed and to know that their offenders may not face any punishment for their offenses. I don't desire to see those sorts of practices continued or ignored. But that isn't the whole culture here. Just as the ‘white-picket fence family’ is far from the whole picture in America. I guess I'm torn. I want their way of life to improve in many aspects: I wish they had better health care, I wish they had better education, I wish they didn't have to carry a five gallon pail of water on their heads for miles (but even fetching water is such a relational task for the people here that they don't really mind). But there life is still functional and satisfying, and it would also be sad to see relationship among people broken.
At least without shopping malls and Wal-mart one stop shops, the small shops and street vendors are able to exist in abundance and they are essential in keeping so many people going with just enough money each day to feed their family and keep a roof over their head. To change that would mean less jobs and more people with no money at all (we've seen that even in America). The bigger things get the greater the spread becomes between the poor and the wealthy. It seems better in some ways for everyone to have enough, than for a few people to have a lot, and a lot more people to have nothing.
So mom, does that sort of answer your question? Please add your own thoughts. Don't just take my word for it. I really care what anyone has to say.