2018 was fewer than two weeks old when the U.S. President made headlines for allegedly using a pejorative term in referring to a broad swath of Latin American, Caribbean, and African nations during a closed-door discussion on immigration policy.
Community Development
Those of us who work in those regions were dismayed by this unfortunate characterization. We worried that such rhetoric could hamper efforts to change international development dialogue.
Students and community leaders traveling with our organization, [he Global Livingston institute, to East Africa report being asked, “What are you going to do there?” One implication of that question is that Africans must just be waiting for Americans to descend upon their communities and build schools, clinics, and orphanages.
This implication is reinforced by rhetoric like the President s—countries with rich cultural traditions, abundant natural resources, and promising investment opportunities are reduced in the public imagination to backward places defined by poverty, disease, and corruption.
Such mischaracterizations have real consequences. In 2018, the IMF highlighted the importance of governments in Sub-Saharan Africa increasing their ability to collect tax revenue. [hese countries must bolster private-sector investment and growth. People and companies are not eager to travel to or invest in places disparaged by our leaders.
Cultural exchange can drive investment and development. This year the Global Livingston Institute and its cross-cultural, cross-sector partners and sponsors produced a tree concert series attended by 72,000 people in Uganda and Rwanda. Local health providers tested thousands of attendees for HIV and other health conditions.
These concerts had an economic impact estimated at USD$1.3 million. Travelers to the concerts told their friends about the Uganda and Rwanda they saw— places that have little In common with the stories often told about Africa. When we build authentic partnerships, we can ensure that economic development Is driven from within communities.
When we listen and think before we act, we can create change that Is intentional and sustainable. It is not about building schools, it is about building communities, it is about building movements. And In doing so, what we do Is no more important than how we ao it—and how we talk about It.
