A message to all Mazungu

Hello , Long time! I have been away in Holland for 2.5 weeks for a surprise trip to see my family who I haven’t seen in 8 years, then I have been settling in back into life in Rwanda dealing with all the dramas of every day life. So I am sorry it has been a while, but thanks for all your kind messages of support and your prayers . I really appreciate it. This blog won’t really be giving any updates about my life but will give you an insight into my thought processes these last few months. I have titled this blog

A message to all Mazungu

Bear with me. She is a biggie

Mazungu means to be white or an outsider/expat in the country. A Mazungu in Rwanda could be someone who has Rwandan descent but was born or raised in another country(particularly western country), it could be a person from another African Country, or it could be a person from another country in Europe, Asia, etc

In this case when I am talking about Mazungu I am talking about white/other ethnicities who live in Western privileged countries –such as myself.

I have been reading a lot about white privilege, colonialism, being a white savior, and doing aid work properly and have come up with the following thoughts (definitely not original as there is a wide and educated school of thought that also think similar things)

Before you to go to “HELP” someone in a country that is not your own – ask yourself these 5 questions

1.)    Check yourself. What are your motivations? Why are you doing this? Would you do this in your home country? Are you going overseas and helping people because it looks good on your c.v or because you want to be interesting to other people, or because you want adventure? Are you going because it will increase your chance of getting a boyfriend (*cough*)

2.)    Are you are actually qualified or experienced enough to help people with what you want to help them with?

3.)    Do they actually want or need your help and the kind of help that you are offering? Does the organization actually want you to give advice about how to feed your children properly or how to clean your teeth? Does your organization actually want a social worker?

4.)    Is your help is actually useful, sustainable and empowering. Can someone else do your job? Are you training yourself out of a job? Are you stopping a local person from getting employment?

5.)    What messages you or the agency you work for are portraying when you come to help/share Gods love/however you want to call it? Does it show confidence in the local people on the ground? Does it show that White Western People know better than local people? Does it show that White people are the only solution to problems? What messages are we portraying about people themselves? Do we have permission to tell their information publicly?

As many of you know, I went to Rwanda for the first time when I was 18. This is my fourth time in Rwanda and I have now been living here for 6 months and Lord Willing hope to live here for many more years.  I want to go through all of these questions one by one I guess to challenge you and also show you some of the things that I have learnt.

1.)    Check yourself. What are your motivations? Why are you doing this? Would you do this in your home country? Are you going overseas and helping people because it looks good on your c.v or because you want to be interesting to other people, or because you want adventure? Are you going because it will increase your chance of getting a boyfriend (*cough*)

The first time I went to Rwanda – I genuinely wanted to “help the poor kids” when I was younger I was always involved in social justice issues and fundraising for World Vision, I also volunteered at our local Fair Trade Shop.

However I was also not really interested in helping people in New Zealand, so my reasons were definitely not totally selfless.

I also wanted to be interesting to people (especially boys let’s be honest that is how teenage minds work), to prove to people that “I could do it.”

The 2^nd and third time I went to Rwanda I was more guided by a love for the people that I had met (especially the kids) and wanting to see my friends again. Of course I wanted to help people but I think this was secondary to wanting to see my friends/kids again. The third reason (after seeing friends, and helping people) was that I definitely enjoyed being in Rwanda and it was (is) a great place to be.

If I have to be honest going to Rwanda this last (I hope) time has been a bit of a mix. Of course I was itching to see my friends again, and Of course I was looking forward to a warm country with delicious fruit and friendly people, and of course I wanted people to think I was interesting and different. I also wanted (want) people to think highly of me, as a good person and then there was the part that I felt like God called me and that I wanted Him to use me. And also a part where I wanted to use my resources and skills to help people.

I remember one time one of my sisters being upset because an acquaintance of hers had said “that’s cheeky of Kim to fundraise for her to go on holiday (referring to a givealittle page I had to cover expenses while in Rwanda, on I think my 2^nd or 3^rd trip) My sister indignantly told him that I was not on holiday and doing many good things. I was very offended by this at that time too.

His heart was not in the right place and if he had concerns he should have talked to me , however he was absolutely right in his judement. I was on holiday. Okay it was not a relax by the pool kind of holiday, there was some element of sacrifice (missing a lot of western comforts i.e running water , internet etc) but I enjoyed my time so much that felt as good as a holiday. I enjoyed all the fun and the kids and spending time laughing with all the young adults and spending time with my friends. I did some (vaguely) useful things with my time (but more my money – or better yet the money raised on that Give a Little page) but most of the time I was enjoying  myself and it felt like a holiday.

I won’t comment on the boyfriend part. Hahaha

2.)    Are you are actually qualified or experienced enough to help people with what you want to help them with?

You don’t need to be qualified to hug a baby or to encourage someone– that is true. But I remember particularly at Noel orphanage I was treating children with injuries (I didn’t even know how to feed myself properly back then), I was teaching kids Maths (when I was reading the text book thinking I am pretty sure we never learnt this at school) , and teaching kids sports (if you know me, hahahahhaha) I wasn’t qualified or experienced in any of these things.

I have heard so many stories of Mazungus practicing medicine/teaching without any experience. One of my friends in the first time I was in Rwanda was helping deliver babies, and he had only just graduated from high school. He is now a Doctor and would be more than capable now but at that time had no experience or education to assist with births. Furthermore there are people who have no experience teaching or knowledge about teaching a class and are given responsibility for a whole lot of children's main education. That’s a huge responsibility if you don’t know what you are doing! I could go on and on about the things I have heard.

If we can’t do that job in our home country, then we can’t do the job in another person’s country. They are not second class citizens and  they deserve quality education/healthcare/etc just as much as we do.

If  you are not qualified to teach in New Zealand (or wherever your home country is) then don’t teach in another persons country.

If you have no experience building houses in New Zealand then don’t come and build a house in someone else's country.

Peoples lives should not be experimented with. Just because we are white, educated and privileged doesn’t mean we know everything about everything. In fact 98% of the time I feel like I know Nothing. Nothing at all

3.)    Do they actually want or need your help and the kind of help that you are offering? Does the organization actually want you to give advice about how to feed your children properly or how to clean your teeth? Does your organization actually want a social worker?

This is a big one and super relevant question to me. I remember being so annoyed that I couldn’t find an NGO to work for. I couldn’t understand why someone didn’t want me ,with my qualification, experience and obvious passion. One NGO that showed some interest in wanting me (but refused when I showed I was not competent in what they wanted from me) wanted me to write things like Assessments for the Social Workers on the ground to use. When I said I wanted to do social work on the ground, they didn’t want me. Why? Not because I am a bad social worker who connects with people badly, but because they already had experienced and capable local people working  as social workers for their organization who had no language or cultural barriers and who deeply understood the children and the society they were in, in a way that I never ever can.

Unfortunately the answer to this question is something I am terrible at (but being aware of this is helping me to improve.) The answer is simply – listening. Listening and if they aren’t saying anything, asking. What do they want? What do they find important? I might find (I do find) women’s rights and child protection important but do they find it important?

Let there not be an us and a them. Lets work together, as we say in Rwanda Turi Kumwe (we are together) .What can the organization/people you are working with can get out of my time and resources? When I leave will I leave a huge gap and the organization goes back to how it was or when I leave have I empowered my organization to have better skills and knowledge and to become more professional  etc.?

4.)    Is your help is actually useful, sustainable and empowering. Can someone else do your job? Are you training yourself out of a job? Are you stopping a local person from getting employment?

This is similar to the question above but more generic.

This is an example but I know it happens.

How many mission teams go to countries and paint their churches/orphanages/etc  for them?

It costs $3000 plus to go on a mission/volunteer trip. First of all I think its fine to want to go and experience another culture and visit and make friends etc. It’s even good because tourism is one of the major income earners for a lot of poor countries.  But lets think about where all that money could go.

First of all when you are painting a church/orphanage etc think- am I the only one in this country that can paint? I think you will find that the answer is No.

Why not spend that money to instead PAY Local People to paint the building. In Rwanda there is a huge huge problem of joblessness and people are constantly trying to find the next temporary job to feed their families or pay the kids school fees. Why not pay some of these people to paint the building. They will do it faster than you (most likely), probably better than you , cheaper than you (not hard with your expensive plane ticket etc) AND you will be providing them with small income which could help them to pay for their daughters school fees for the term. Instead of sponsoring their child to go to school why not provide a job for them so that they can pay for their OWN child to go to school.  I know which one I would prefer if I was in that situation.

Why Not EMPLOY Local People.  Don’t build houses if you have never built a house before. And if you know how to build houses – do you know how to build houses that they have here? And if you do, by building them are you robbing local people of a job? Are you actually making a difference in the lives of Rwandans / any other ethnicity you are trying to help or are you just building a house which in 20 years will have to be rebuilt again?

Slightly off topic but related-  this goes the same for goods that people send to Rwanda/other “poor countries” Why fill your suitcases with clothes and stationary , when you can buy all that here. One of my friends Mama Ganzah has a Boutique (tiny shop) down the road. We buy something from her nearly everyday. She works 7 days a week and 15 hour days so that her children can get a better life. Instead of supporting huge western corporations , who just make their money through the slave conditions of their factory workers, such as KMART etc Why not bring your money to Rwanda/ wherever you are going and spend it here. It’s cheaper and the $10 in profit that the local Boutique owner made from the many soap/toothbrushes/notebooks and pens that you bought from her goes a lot longer and creates much more of a difference than the $10 profit that goes straight into the pockets of wealthy people.

There are some exceptions of course. Some things are hard to come by in Rwanda, or are super expensive. For example a guy from my church in New Zealand gave me a whole lot of solar lights to distribute amongst people who have no electricity. I have not seen solar lights anywhere in Rwanda and have heard that the ones available are extremely expensive. The solar lights I have distributed have been life enhancing for some families who previously spent their money lighting their homes with one candle, and now can have a much stronger light for free.

And of course I strongly encourage you to bring me goods like shampoo and delicious food of all varieties, when you come to visit, haha.

But things like toothpaste, school bags, pens, notebooks, saletape, soap, body oil, clothes, shoes are all things that you can find here. You can support the local economy, you can support small buisnesses that are barely surviving and you can create a real and tangible difference. If you don’t know, ASK! If you want to bring something, Ask what do you need that is too expensive/hard to find in your own country?

And Last but not least

5.)    What messages you or the agency you work for are portraying when you come to help/share Gods love/however you want to call it? Does it show confidence in the local people on the ground? Does it show that White Western People know better than local people? Does it show that White people are the only solution to problems? What messages are we portraying about people themselves? Do we have permission to tell their information publicly?

It’s true people in helping professions, or people from more privileged countries often have the feeling that we need to save people and people need our help. We often are so focused on the problems that we don’t see the strengths of the people we are working with , we don’t see what they are already doing and we don’t build on what they have already achieved.

For example we might see that the country may have a problem with a disease such as HIV. We might want to help by educating people on how to protect themselves. But while doing this we might start educating people and telling people something they may already know, and may already have been told a thousand times. Have you considered that maybe they have other solutions? Maybe our solution doesn’t fit with their culture and their solution?  How can we go into someone’s country and tell them what to do, and how to run their organizations and what to do with their money. I know we hate it when people (especially sadly enough non european people) do this in our own country, so why do we do it in others?

I get really annoyed when Taxi’s slow down beside me and Motos stop in my path as I am trying to cross the road, because they assume I want a ride, because they assume a white person can’t go anywhere by foot. I get annoyed that Moto drivers and people at the market always try to charge me more than the normal price, because of the colour of my skin (however this definitely reduces when I start speaking in Kinyarwanda) and I get annoyed when children’s only words they know in English is “give me money.” I get annoyed when everybody says I am from America (even I hear some of my friends say this sometimes even though I have explained x times that I am from New Zealand), when I have no intention and no desire to go to America and have no links with the country. I get annoyed that everybody assumes I live in an expensive house with every mod con and servents to do everything . I enjoy inviting people to my home and for them to catch me washing my clothes or the dishes. I notice how people are so surprised and delighted when I speak Kinyarwanda.

But whose fault is it that many Rwandan people think Mazungu people can’t walk by foot (i.e lazy), or that they will give money to anyone who asks them, or that they are so rich they don’t notice the price of their food, or that they all come from America (and speak English and only English), and that they all live in expensive houses , have fancy cars, and only hang out with other MAZUNGU???

These ideas don’t come from nowhere. They are very real messages that Mazungu/white people send to Rwandan people (I assume thensmae in other third world countries) . I asked one of my friends what the worst thing was that he had seen a Mazungu do. He told me about a time someone was on a one week volunteer trip and refused to travel 2 km in the transport provided to him by the organization as the bus was “too small.” He found this so insulting that this man who had come to help was too good to sit in transport provided by the organization (and which in my opinion sounded totally fine and not like the death trap you might be thinking of.)  Another friend told me the time that 5 Mazungu girls took him to a restaurant and ordered huge expensive meals but didn’t offer to buy him anything (even though he had no money/ family to support him) and that they subsequently all bought 10,000rwf worth of airtime in front of him without considering that this was half his monthly salary.

Like I said these stereotypes around Mazungu don’t exist for no reason . They are real. In this question I might score well, but I still have a lot of work to do.

I Guess these questions we can use to challenge ourselves not only when we are in a foreign country, but also when we are around people of a different ethnicity/socio cultural class/religion in our own country.  We can ask ourselves what message am I portraying to those around me? Am I showing them that their ideas are important, valuable? Am I listening to them? Am I helping them in ways that they want me to help them? Am I pure in my motivations? Do they even want me to help them, and if they don’t is there a good reason for me to continue trying to help them (for example due the protection of vulnerable children/people) ? And am I even able to help them? Am I training and empowering people or am I just trying to make myself feel good that I am not replaceable in the organization?

This last part of my 5^th question is particulary confronting

What messages are we portraying about people themselves? Do we have permission to tell their information publicly?

When we go to a “poor country” first of all do we have the right to take pictures of random people? And do we have the right to put them on social media? Do we have the right to label them as poor, homeless, drug addicted, HIV positive, street child or tell the world they are an orphan. I remember when I was at Noel one of the girls my age had found a magazine from Belgium with an article about Noel orphanage and all the orphans that needed help, and there was a picture of her in there. She was so upset “ look they are using our picture and saying we are orphans – I don’t want that” Or another friend of mine found pictures of when she was very ill with a stigmatizing disease when she was younger, on social media, and was so upset by this as she didn’t want any of her new friends to know about her last.. 

Before posting (if you are like me and like to update people about the world around you ) think why am I posting this? To make myself look like a good person? A saviour? Someone to be admired and adored? Think would you want your childs HIV status on social media? Would you want strangers to know that you were abandoned by your huaband and poor? Would you want random strangers seeing yourchild’s photo when they were dirty (because they had been outside playing) and labeled as poor or unwanted? Would you want tourists coming to New Zealand going to the dump , taking a photo and hashtagging #poverty #NewZealand  ?

This is why I don’t post many photos (now) and I feel like deleting most of the ones that I did take during my past 3 trips I took, but I am too selfish too because I love the memories that are triggered by these photos . Did the people that I was taking photos of, know that the photo was going on social media,  and did they approve the message that I wrote when uploading them? Probably not.

I Have so much to learn. We have so much to learn. And the learning will never stop.

Thanks for reading along with my ramblings, and well done if you got to the end!

Lets keep each other accountable.

Keza