The Spirit of Generosity

A ramble from Tyler

Generosity has always been something I felt pretty good at. I gave to charitable organizations, fundraised, volunteered, etc. It was one of those motivating factors for joining the Peace Corps too, no lie, but on the ground here it looks a lot different than it looked back home.

Someone once said it’s “good to make the poor feel uncomfortable in their poverty,” that this discomfort will motivate them to work out of it. Well, I’d agree a lot more with this statement in the United States than in Burkina Faso. On the contrary, a lot of days I feel rather uncomfortable with my wealth here, and even after being here for 16 months it’s been a struggle figuring out how to deal with that.

A dollar a day
We see the fabled people that live on $1 per day here in Burkina. They’re the subsistence farmers whose livelihood depends on the diminishing rains and depleted soils. They’re the elderly who are no longer able to work, who like 95% of the population do not have a savings/retirement plan, who are now dependent on their families and the generosity of others. They’re 75% of our neighbors here. The dollar a day scheme offers no safety nets, an unbalanced diet, and very limited access to growth opportunities. How should their poverty motivate them? To start a business? With what money? Send all of their kids to school? With what money? Get a job? With what employer? Aside from the civil service (which requires at least an 8th grade education), there are very very few employers in villages and cities, even in a city of 30,000 people like Tougan.

Six dollars a day – Wow!
For perspective, the Peace Corps gives us about $6 per day to live off of. Sounds pitiful, yet it’s more than adequate. We have never withdrawn money from home, and yet we’ve been able to eat at fancy restaurants in the capital, travel around Burkina and to the beach in neighboring Ghana, drink Cokes and beers more or less whenever we like, etc. But we don’t have to use our $6 for a safety net, as PC provides medical coverage, and we can always choose to pack up and go home to the land of plenty. Additionally, that $6 each isn’t responsible for feeding a half dozen children.

A penny for the poor
It isn’t uncommon for people in town to come up to us and ask for money, a sight seen in big cities worldwide. In a predominantly Muslim country, almsgiving is very important, so everyone carries a few coins in their pockets to give to beggars. But in Burkina it goes beyond that. From kids that come up to us asking for soccer balls and old toothbrushes, to people young and old coming to our door to ask for work, money or food. We’re reminded of our wealth on a daily basis as people ask for a chunk of it. While this phenomenon is exaggerated by us being white, in Burkina (and Africa in general) people aren’t too proud to state their needs and ask for things. Wealth and wellbeing are seen as community things, not personal. People are truly able to rely on their neighbors and families here if hardship falls, in a way we don’t often see in the USA, and I have to say it is a good thing 90% of the time. No one is immune to hardship here (the way people often are in the USA with insurance and personal savings), so the policy is “I’ll take care of you if hardship falls, and I know you’d do the same for me.” Community and people are valued more than self and personal gain, and I think we could use a little more balance back home.

Please Sir, I want some more: Oliver meets miserly Scrooge
But how does this play out for us? We feel pretty good about spoiling or neighbor kids who help us in our yard, and with our ‘family’ here. But it isn’t too hard to be kind to those who are kind to you. Yesterday an old woman came to our house asking for food. We gave here a couple pounds of rice and gave the traditional blessing. But it wasn’t finished. She said thank you for the food, and then asked for money. My internal American reaction was “What? I gave you something and you’re telling me it’s not enough? That’s insulting! Well, you can’t depend on me for everything, and look I already gave you food, which is being generous, right?” But is it? The Bible for one never puts limits on generosity. In American we would say “you can’t give like that all the time,” for fear that word will spread around and you’ll have people lining up outside your door, dependent on you. But here I have to question that. I don’t want people lining up outside our door, but if I were to give this woman $1 it would make very little difference in my day to day life, but a fair amount of difference in hers. The woman was absolutely right that the rice wasn’t enough, and that she did need money too, and I can’t fault her for asking. The countless kids that ask for soccer balls could bankrupt us, true, but isn’t it equally a crime that they’re growing up without something basic like a ball to play with?

Teach a man to fish – sustainable development
I feel that there is no way to figuratively or literally teach fishing (see aforementioned lack of opportunities). Everyone here is already farming, it’s just not enough. However, as a development policy handouts are frowned upon because they unsustainable and teach dependence. Very valid points indeed. But we have to consider that Africans have a system of interdependence, and I guess we’re now part of it now. Giving someone a hand may not be sustainable, but it can still be good thing.

It’s difficult to differentiate what feels right and what is right. It’s important to remember that the fundamental difference between my life and hers is where we each were born and who are parents are. I was born in the most powerful, opportunity filled country in the world, and she was born in the 3rd poorest country. As Mr. Smutzler often reminded me, “life’s not fair.” But that doesn’t exempt us from trying to do something about it.