Each year, countries across Africa receive approximately $50 billion in aid from Western governments and $13 billion from private charities. Though some of the money undoubtedly helps feed hungry people and prevents disease, the massive amounts of aid have created their own problems.
Thousands of non-governmental organisations have cropped up to help spend these funds spawning an industry of consultants who often lose sight of their original mission to "help other people". Besides, the notion that they are helping restore order to allegedly dysfunctional societies makes some Western aid workers in Africa seem patronising and arrogant.
Over the last few years, creative people across Africa have attempted to highlight these attitudes using parodies and spoofs. Here are some ways in which Africans have struck back.
1. The Samaritans
This new Kenyan television show chronicles the adventures of an NGO called Aid for Aid that "does nothing". It has been created by Hussein Kurji. "I think it kind of dawned on me when I was working at a five-star hotel here in Nairobi a few years ago that NGOs aren’t always what they seem," he told one interviewer. "All these guys were gathered around eating lobster bisque and discussing how to reduce poverty. Something didn’t seem right."
2. Africa For Norway
"Imagine if every person in Africa saw the 'Africa for Norway' video and this was the only information they ever got about Norway. What would they think about Norway?" ask the creators of this video, a parody of the 'We Are the World' tune that brought dozens of Western pop stars together to raise awareness about a famine in Ethiopia in 1985.
"When most Westerners think about Africa, they think about hunger, poverty, crime and AIDS because that's what they mainly hear about in fundraising campaigns and media stories about the continent."
"We need to change the simplistic explanations of problems in Africa," they say on their website. "We need to educate ourselves on the complex issues and get more focus on how western countries have a negative impact on Africa’s development."
3. International Aid Worker Meets African Villager
This animation highlights some of the worst attitudes that characterise Western aid workers in Africa.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Thousands of non-governmental organisations have cropped up to help spend these funds spawning an industry of consultants who often lose sight of their original mission to "help other people". Besides, the notion that they are helping restore order to allegedly dysfunctional societies makes some Western aid workers in Africa seem patronising and arrogant.
Over the last few years, creative people across Africa have attempted to highlight these attitudes using parodies and spoofs. Here are some ways in which Africans have struck back.
1. The Samaritans
This new Kenyan television show chronicles the adventures of an NGO called Aid for Aid that "does nothing". It has been created by Hussein Kurji. "I think it kind of dawned on me when I was working at a five-star hotel here in Nairobi a few years ago that NGOs aren’t always what they seem," he told one interviewer. "All these guys were gathered around eating lobster bisque and discussing how to reduce poverty. Something didn’t seem right."
2. Africa For Norway
"Imagine if every person in Africa saw the 'Africa for Norway' video and this was the only information they ever got about Norway. What would they think about Norway?" ask the creators of this video, a parody of the 'We Are the World' tune that brought dozens of Western pop stars together to raise awareness about a famine in Ethiopia in 1985.
"When most Westerners think about Africa, they think about hunger, poverty, crime and AIDS because that's what they mainly hear about in fundraising campaigns and media stories about the continent."
"We need to change the simplistic explanations of problems in Africa," they say on their website. "We need to educate ourselves on the complex issues and get more focus on how western countries have a negative impact on Africa’s development."
3. International Aid Worker Meets African Villager
This animation highlights some of the worst attitudes that characterise Western aid workers in Africa.