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Africa: Understanding Each Other

Wakayama National College of Technology

A: Good morning, everyone. In 2011, the Tohoku area was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and its tsunami. And in the same year, Wakayama Prefecture was hit by a huge flood following a typhoon. When these disasters struck, Japan was helped greatly by volunteers and donations not only from within Japan, but also from foreign countries. We really appreciated their kindness. Today, taking Africa as an example, we are going to talk about the importance of “supporting” and “being supported.” I am Asumi Morimoto of Wakayama National College of Technology. I will be the MC and one of the commentators.

B: I'm Chihiro Nishikawa.

C: I'm Natsumi Seki. As in the case of the Great East Japan Earthquake, it is not unusual nowadays for countries to support each other internationally. Since Africa is the continent that probably receives the most international support, we have decided to re-evaluate the aid for Africa.

B: Today, Africa consists of 53 countries, and it receives humanitarian aid from Japan through ODA: Official Development Assistance and other groups in a variety of fields such as employment, education and public health. Even though we now live in the age of the Internet, it is often difficult to get detailed information about life in Africa and how ordinary African people feel about such assistance.

A: If we were to give aid to African people without fully understanding them and their feelings, it would be a cause of misunderstanding between us. Therefore, we initially tried to learn more about life in Africa.

C: Well, to get more information, we can utilize various media such as newspapers, TV, radio and the Internet.

B: Yes, there is no doubt that media are convenient sources of information, but they can also manipulate our opinions by the intentional use of misleading pictures and editorials.

C: Yes. For this reason, we tried to make contact with the people living there.

A: That's very interesting. What did you do?

B: I got acquainted with a student in Algeria via e-mail. I asked her about life in Algeria, and I learned many new things from her. Due to the abundant oil resources in Algeria, the economy there is gradually getting better. Now the government can help the citizens, food is available cheaply, and education is free of charge. I never got the impression that life is difficult there.

C: I attended a presentation given by students from Uganda. While the Algerian education system is well organized, in Uganda unqualified teachers teach classes, and some teachers sometimes don't even come to school. This means some children cannot be taught sufficiently, and I heard that the achievement gap has become a big problem. Also, because people in Uganda don't know much about good hygiene, a lot of people acquire infectious diseases.

A: Though we call the whole continent Africa, each country has its own unique circumstances, doesn't it? It might be necessary to change how we support each country according to the local situation and living conditions there.

B: I agree. In fact, the Algerian student told me that many people believe that foreign assistance is no longer needed in some urbanized areas. On the other hand, there are also areas in which a lot of people who are unemployed because of job shortages are forced to live in slums in terrible conditions. In these areas, the work of developed countries and NGOs can really help by improving public health and helping people get jobs and education.

A: As a result, their lives have improved, and developed countries seem to be appreciated. It sounds perfect.

B: Yes, it really does. Nevertheless, according to the people who have done advocacy work in Africa, if we support the local people only by providing them with resources, they often begin to take it for granted and depend on support for their daily lives.

C: The purpose of aid should be to help people become independent by giving them the knowledge to work so that they can provide for themselves. We have to make this message clear and look ahead to the future of Africa.

A: That sounds great. If we are going to aim for this kind of aid, we can refer to the example of BRAC. Originating in Bangladesh, but now operating in Africa as well, BRAC is an NGO that lends money at low interest rates to people who are eager to open shops and small factories. Rather than just giving money and goods to African people, we need to encourage them to become independent by starting their own businesses.

C: What a good idea! Ultimately, we must aim not at support but at a mutually beneficial relationship in which the countries have equal status. As in Algeria, other areas of Africa have also been rapidly urbanized. These places no longer need economic aid or public health projects. They could, however, benefit from a two-way relationship, for example teaching technology to local people in exchange for access to natural resources.

A: This is an important point. Moreover, our eagerness will influence the aid and interaction with Africans. In the end, the success of these projects depends on more Japanese people getting interested in helping Africa. B: That's right. So, we considered how we could do our own kind of aid by raising others' awareness of Africa. We actually participated in a seminar on supporting Africa held by UNICEF. We listened to African students and Japanese working in the field. What is more, we discussed topics related to Africa in small groups. It was a valuable experience for us.

C: Subsequently, we told our close friends and family what we had learned and experienced at the seminar. In my case, they listened to me earnestly and told me that they had become more interested in Africa. This presentation is also an example of this kind of aid. We are committed to doing this kind of activity in order for as many people as possible to consider more deeply about how to support and interact with Africa.

A: Volunteer work and donations are also valuable forms of aid. As for Kosen students, there will be many things we can do to help as engineers in the future: such as the transmission of technology, research and development, and the educational campaign for science.

C: Whatever assistance we may give, please don't forget that the most important thing is to get to know each other. In addition to learning about African people, we should also let them know about who we are, that is, our way of thinking. Having a mutual understanding of each other's values and keeping a good relationship are the ideals of “support” and “being supported.”

A: Thank you, Natsumi and Chihiro. (To the audience) Everybody, what do you think of this topic? Please take this opportunity to talk about it and share your own opinions with us.