Perceptions

So on the bike ride (about 5km) from my house to my friend Jessica's (she has power, yay!), I had something happen to me that I haven't experienced yet. Anytime I leave my house and travel around, especially in the village, I am randomly assaulted with words from the cheap seats, ie, side of the road or off in the bushes. Usually it's children demanding money or sweets from me or mocking my voice. Notice how I said "demand" and not "ask" or "beg." There is this entitlement that a lot of people feel they have to white people's possesions, especially money. You'll be drinking a bottle of water and someone will be like "give me your water" or listening to your ipod only to hear "I want that device" over your Journey songs. My response is always involves some annoyed or clever way to say no or a futile attempt to explain that no, I don't have a lot of money even though my skin color, according to you, indicates that I do. Something that my girlfriend Diana like to point out is, why do people think that what is mine is theirs? Where did they get that idea?

So this setup brings me back to my story. I was riding and one kid in a group of about 5, all around 8 years old and wearing the local primary school uniform, calls out "You give me my money!" So I yelled "oize" which means, "you come." I did this thinking that if he really wants it, he should chase me down and get it. In retrospect, that's demeaning and I won't do that again. Immediately I said that, I forgot that I said it and was thinking about whether I remembered to bring the key for Jessica's house with me or not. I stopped my bike and started digging through my pockets, not even thinking about it. Sure enough, those boys run up to me and stand next to me staring. Halfway through tearing through my pocket I realize what I'm doing and what I've done. I look up and say no, I don't have money for you and tell them to go to school and to work hard. As I'm riding away, I feel like utter crap. The look of expectancy and joy on those boys faces when they thought they were getting a handout from the Muzungu was so great and sad at the same time that I almost stopped again and gave them something. That experience was the first time I had ever stopped and gave someone the impression that I took the bait and was going to give them money. Should I have done it? "NO!" I think to myself, "you can't just hand out money to these extremely poor kids. That will cause more children and even adults (who are often way worse than children) into demanding candy and digital cameras, and scholarships to schools in America from me." "But Wes, haven't you given out thousands of dollars worth of free stuff??" "Yes, but that has always been to support a community based project benefiting a larger group of people or something relating to the health of someone." I have donated to medical costs of individuals I know before but it's always been on the sly and i make them not tell anyone that I did it. I hate loaning money or helping people out, but everyone here ends up doing it sometime in one form or another. People take you in like family members and family helps each other out. That's something that translates across cultures.

All this misperception and rude behavior (in my mind) goes back to ignorance, poor parenting, poor education, and irresponsible donors who just dump money and run thinking they are saving Africa by giving a ton of money to one guy who in turn "eats" the money and becomes a wealthy man. A lot of people perceive that situation as "that man got rich because white people gave him money." They don't question why he got the money or whether he was supposed to do something that benefited more people than just his own family with that money. I'm always frustrated because I want to scream to people "If I had money, would I be riding a crappy Chinese made bicycle in the middle of the village for 2 years sweaty myself dry!?!" "Would I be sitting in this cramped, sweaty taxi with 25 of my closet "friends"? Wouldn't I just get a Land Cruiser and a driver?" "Would I be buying supplies and food in your small, run-down trading center in the middle of rural Uganda if I had money to spare? Wouldn't I have people do my shopping for me?" There seems to be no critical thinking for a lot of people in the village. It's WHITE=MONEY, simple as that. Black and White (no pun intended, but that's the perception). It's amazing to me that people will have their back to me as I'm approaching on the road and then turn around and immediately, with no hesitation, ask me for money. Like they've been waiting all day for this opportunity and expected it to happen at that moment.

So that's my vent for the day. These type of scenarios of misperceptions of money and the overcharging that goes along with it together with sexual harassment, mockery, incompetence and corruption are the things that really wear on people here and create a negative taste in their mouths. It saps up hope and idealism and replaces it with cynicism and bitterness. Keep in mind that this is only a portion of an extremely complex experience. I am actually really positive about a lot of things that other people aren't but it's easy to talk about the things that bother me because they have a big part in how I act and react now.

In lighter perception news, I sometimes get stereotypes that are fun. People have mistaken me for all sorts of celebrities including Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Dam. Lately though, there seems to be a trend that I might run with. People here are crazy about English Premier League Football (soccer). People are either fans of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, or Liverpool. Though the two biggest are Man U and Arsenal. Apparently I look a lot like one of the stars of Arsenal, named Cesc Fabergas, a Spaniard. I have gotten this at least 10 times in the last 3 months. Of course I always confirm that I am him and that Man U, sucks! :) My next purchase is to get one of his jerseys and see what kind of reaction i get when I'm walking around. Should be fun. When the CHOGM meetings were here last year, I tried to convince people I was the Prime Minister of Canada. Unfortunately, no one really bought that one. :) Maybe they know what Stephen Harper looks like really well, you never know??

Last, but not least, I gotta say that I LOVE having the internet in the village. It's so nice to be able to keep in touch with what's going on with friends and family as well as around the world. So much better than fighting with crappy computers and the formidable "time remaining" counter at the bottom of the screen. Now I can do important things like update my Facebook profile! :) Ok, all for now. Enjoy!