What do you know about Africa, and how do you know it?
When you read about Africa, do you expect to hear about "tragic hellholes full of starving children with flies in their eyes" (Kristof 44)?
And when you hear about famines in Africa, do you respond with what Kristof describes as a "collective shrug" and say, "Too bad, but isn't that what Africa is always like? People slaughtering each other? . . . we have our own problems?" (41).
In "How to Write About Africa," Kenyan Binyavanga Waianana summarizes the many ways Western writers discuss Africa, her people, and the struggles faced by the many nations represented on the continent.
How accurate are her observations? Have your views of African been influenced by the kind of writing she describes?
Will the kind of writing/campaigns Kristof suggests help readers/viewers begin to see Africa in new ways? Or is Kristof part of the problem?
As usual, respond to the blog by commenting on this prompt or on the comments of another student.
When you read about Africa, do you expect to hear about "tragic hellholes full of starving children with flies in their eyes" (Kristof 44)?
And when you hear about famines in Africa, do you respond with what Kristof describes as a "collective shrug" and say, "Too bad, but isn't that what Africa is always like? People slaughtering each other? . . . we have our own problems?" (41).
In "How to Write About Africa," Kenyan Binyavanga Waianana summarizes the many ways Western writers discuss Africa, her people, and the struggles faced by the many nations represented on the continent.
How accurate are her observations? Have your views of African been influenced by the kind of writing she describes?
Will the kind of writing/campaigns Kristof suggests help readers/viewers begin to see Africa in new ways? Or is Kristof part of the problem?
As usual, respond to the blog by commenting on this prompt or on the comments of another student.
32 comments:
After reading the article, it seemed as if Wainaina felt that the only way for others to help Africa is if we dehumanized it. Everything she said that we should write and depict of Africa seemed so stereotypical. It is the usual things that we read about the problems in Africa. The part that irked me the most is when she started talking about the animals. She wanted writers to humanize the animals. For example she wanted people to make elephants seem “…caring, and are good feminists or dignified patriarchs”. It made me irritated because how can she want to dehumanize her own people, yet give animals human traits? Throughout the reading, I found myself disgusted. If this is how writers write in order to get a reaction, I’m disappointed. If we came to the point of making humans seem more like animals, it’s upsetting. It led to the point where I was thinking if I were her, how would I have the guts to write this way in such a condescending tone? I realized that maybe she was disappointed at how writers were depicting her home country. This is just a way of her mocking the advertisements, editorials, newspapers, and etc. I believe that the solution to writing about Africa that Kristof presented was the opposite of what Wainaina was sneering. He thinks that we should write about the improvement in people’s lives, not the poverty and depression in Africa. Even though Wainaina was telling us how to write about Africa, I felt as though she wants us to do the opposite. She wants us to follow what Kristof’s method instead of all the common stories we hear about Africa.
I know that Africa is very well known for the rapid spread of diseases but the one that I really here about is HIV spreading rapidly across the population. I also know a lot about the Invisible Child movement that is occurring their and why it was started and so on. The majority of what I know about Africa is from what I learned in my cultural geography class last fall semester. When I do read about Africa I do expect to hear about suffering and malnourished people that have no hope. The biggest reason behind me feeling this way is because in my geography class our professor showed a film of pictures and a lot of these children were malnourished and had flies on top of their eyes and dirty ponds of water so in my mind I have that image. I feel that people who have the power to impact huge change should really do something about it but I feel that myself as a person I can also have an impact but yes I have my own things to worry about such as family and getting my family and life along before I can help someone out substantially. If I had the over to do something or the time and money then I would definitely go out of my way to bigger and better things for Africa as a whole.
Binyavanga’s point of view of writing about the continent of Africa in my opinion is very accurate because everything she describe s in her writings for example she explains in her article that most authors or columnist that write Africa always talk about the bodies and put into detail that they exposed and nude to increase sympathy and things of that nature and for the most part everything I have read about Africa is very similar to what she says so in my opinion once again I feel that she is one hundred percent correct about African writings from outsiders perspectives. I feel that Kristof is not really part of the problem but his way of writing might have an effect on the aid that will be in the near future for Africa. As far as seeing the country in a new way it might change perspectives for some people but I guess we will be able to tell if that occurs if aid increases and writings about Africa change in the near future.
I really enjoyed reading author Kenyan Binyavanga Wainaina “How to Write about Africa”. It really gave me a better understanding and feeling about Africa and how rich the culture is like out there. Africa is one the richest country to me in the world. What makes it rich is the history it has, the people, the food, the music, living with the wild animals, the deserts and so much more. Many people are disgusted by Africa due to the violence out there, how the men are raping the young women, wild animals running around, aids and malaria is rising and so much more problems. In Kenyan eyes, she sees it as art because that is where she is from and grew up since she was a little kid I believe. Not many people who haven’t grown up in Africa can see the same image of Africa as she sees it. The one thing that stood out to me was when she was discussing about the different meat they eat out there, how you can’t complain about the taste and pretend that you enjoy their food. It would be awkward for me to pretend to enjoy their food, because you will know if I like your food or not by my face expressions. But other than that, she just wants us to experience the feeling of being in Africa and show us what she seen every day. In Kristof’s article, I feel like he gave us his opinion on Africa and either you agree with him or disagree with him. To me, they both have a different perspective on what Africa is like to them. I feel like Wainaina kind of agreed with Kristof which he made Africa look bad but, she just made it more artsy.
When I read, “How To Write About Africa” by Binyavanga Wainaina I was surprised of the way she states we should describe Africa. I was defiantly shocked of the type of tone and language she used. Wainaina gave me some really good imagery of the things she described which were disturbing. Personally I don’t really know were some of these places are that Wainaina names, “Zanzibar, Masai, Zulu, Zambezi…” (Wainaina 92). I think we should all know were these places are because some of these places people are suffering and need serious aid. On the other hand who’s really going to help them out. Some of her statements in the article sounded accurate but not all. I believe that she exaggerated in some of her statements like, “She must never say anything about herself in the dialogue except to speak of her (unspeakable) suffering.” (Wainaina93)
When I hear Africa I think of men, women and children suffering from starvation and being killed. But if we go back two years ago I would have been, “isn’t Africa really nice and pretty place to visit.” I didn’t know that there was a famine in most parts of Africa. I thought it was really nice to visit because all the tropical forest that are there and deserts. However now that I read some articles of Africa my point of view has changed on Africa.
Mothers, Fathers and children are dying from starvation everyday. Kristof states in his article, “To bad, but isn’t that what Africa is always like? People slaughtering each other? … We have our own problems?” (Kristof 41) Kristof is somewhat right in my opinion. People believe that is Africa today because no one has really done major changes to end the problems that are happing in Africa. I bet if we all did our part in helping these people out in need, we wouldn’t be having this problem anymore and we would have a different perspective about Africa. However just like I mentioned before, how are we going to gather so much aid and stop all this from happing. Kristof also states in his article, “If one lesson is the need to emphasize hopefulness, the second is that storytelling needs to focus on an individual, not a group” (Kristof 43). If we apply this concept that Kristof states we could possibly make a huge difference in the starvation that people face in Africa. People across the world will start to aid this country in serious need.
Fidencio Romero
I have heard many things about Africa growing up, I mean lion king is one of my favorite Disney movies! Most things I heard though were bad and unfortunate.
Based on stories and articles I have red or heard in the past, I can say that I do for the most part expect to hear something saddening and tragic happening in Africa, most news centering around malnutrition and starving children on the brink of dying.
When stories like this are called to my attention, I feel like I am a mere teenager who can do nothing about it. After all I have my own rent and tuition to pay for and worry about, why would I take on another task that I possible can’t afford or handle. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to help those in Africa who are in desperate need of help, but I feel that other people would make a bigger impact and difference then just me.
In “how to write about Africa”, I feel the author Binyavanga Wainaina brings truth to Africa but in a straight forward and almost coming off harsh way. I feel most of the things she says are true, the good and the bad. She tells people to write what is really happening there, about the starving families, the numerous people who are unclothed, the dead, and the many suffering from diseases such as Aids. It is explained in a pretty straightforward way in order to get the reader knowledgeable. She also points out good and wants people to realize that at the same time Africa really is a beautiful place, with gorgeous sunsets, various animals, and the wide open space with a variety of plants.
In my opinion, I feel like Kristof is not a part of the problem at all. I believe he is trying to help by looking on the positive side for other people to believe in the good of helping. His campaign strategies defiantly look at Africa in a different way, a hopeful way.
When I think of Africa I think of the most common talked about issues: hunger, disease, corruption, famine, starving children, AIDS, invisible children, and other unfortunate situations. It is very rare that I, and many people I know, think about anything positive about Africa. I completely agree with Belle that everything she wrote is dehumanizing. Throughout reading this entire article my only thought was “what the hell is she saying?” There were very few things I agreed with and the rest only put a huge puzzled disturbed expression on my face. And I’d like to add the very startling sentence about the humanizing of animals: “Never, ever say anything negative about an elephant or a gorilla. Elephants may attack people’s property, destroy their crops, and even kill them. Always take the side of the elephant”. Unless Wainaina has a very sarcastic tone that I am failing to notice, I have no idea what this is about. I personally did not enjoy reading this article so if anyone used these writing strategies in journaling about Africa, I would definitely not turn another page.
Kristof’s article was way more truthful and knowledgeable. It is much more effective to focus on one person, even three people rather than Wainaina talking about animal personalities and describinbg Africa as “hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates”. Huh? The writing she describes confuses me more. The only points that I agreed with is writing about the starving Africans and the children with flies on their eyes and pot bellies. When looking at the photos on the denver post, those were WAY more powerful than anything Wainaina has described. Why should we write as Wainaina describes? Kristof encourages us with strategies of using one person with a story to help with a bigger problem and to focus on the hope so people will see what their contributions could be doing. If anything I would give a “collective shrug” to Wainaina’s writing because the only thought going through my mind was “Huh?” and “Who would choose to write this about Africa?”. Belle said that she realized that maybe this was Wainaina’s way of mocking how others advertise Africa, but even with her mocking, it did nothing to support Africa. If anything, her mocking was just pointless as I will probably never acknowledge this article as much as Kristof’s and I was only confused even more.
When I think about Africa, the first thing that does come in my mind is that it is struggling with starvation, war, disease, and other horrible things but it doesn't mean that everything from Africa revolves around these tragedies. Today the way people think about Africa is mostly negative, but the way that Wainaina describes Africa in her passage "How to Write About Africa" is too horrible, and makes it sound like a hell hole. Surely not anyone believes that Africa is such in an awful situation, and there are many people that believe that Africa is doing great, just look a couple of years back when the Fifa World Cup was held there and how the whole world had its eyes on Africa. Although Africa isn't as bad as Wainaina's description of the Western's view of it, Africa does have some struggles. Everyone understands this, but just like most of us, including myself, we do not do anything to help. Thus everyone believes that their single help will not make a difference, so they don't help. Kristof understands that people are not motivated to help because they have manipulated to believe that their help will not do anything. So he has come up with two ideas, which is that we should emphasis on the individual instead of the group, and that we should have hope. If we don't have hope then people will not participate because they believe their help will not do anything and so they are just wasting time or effort. Then also, if we focus on the individual rather than the group then things will be done faster because there are less factors that will stop us rather than a group which has too many to worry about. Kristof is part of the solution because he has a plan that will promote help because at the rate that countries are going, like Africa, it will be everything that Wainaina describes and much more.
“How To Write About Africa” was surprisingly different from what I had expected. Beginning the reading I expected a guide on how to attract more people to aid Africa by your writing. Yet as I was reading more and more I felt the author was going in a completely opposite approach. The author seemed to be mocking the terrible stories of Africa and how they all sound alike. First, giving to charity is suppose to be a selfless act of kindness yet the author seems to batter the Africans in order to help them. Also the author states that “The Modern African is a fat man who steals and works in the visa office…” and he continues to say derogatory things about the “fat man.” This is to supposedly exploited the competition but under no circumstances is this usually excepted when trying to win a debate.
After reading the writing a second time I started to read other responces to thte blogs. My worries were resolved after reading that other people have had the same response to the reading. Although some may have not dramatized as much as I did, I responde to “How To write About Africa” that the author disagrees with the way people are trying to gain support for the corrupt Africa.
After reading “How to Write about Africa” by Kenyan Binyavanga Wainaina, I realized how more confusing the topic became to me. I feel that the author took a very unusual approach to try and convince her audience to support her point of view. I still did not completely understand what she was trying to prove, but I hope she was trying to gain awareness for her country. The manner in which she spoke about Africa is what startled me; the author would speak in a derogatory manner giving words that spoke with such imagery about the living conditions of Africa. Wainaina also speaks about the typical stereotypes that one would hypothetically link with Africans. Some of those stereotypes would be of their unusual cuisine of choice and the “starving African”. Some of the struggles that I already knew about were of poverty, hunger, diseases, and so forth.
In the meantime, I feel that this author speaks out of frustration. In my opinion the author writes in such a cynical way to prove the point that she is tired of her people being seen with such disgusting eyes I feel her observations are correct because of the examples she gives, which makes me think that her writing style mirrors on what others presume on how Africa is.. For example, she gives the example of an elephant and that if it destroys someone’s property, it should be left unharmed. To me it seems that animals are being treated with more human like qualities, making it seem that Africans are not as important as animals are. Also, the author touches the surface about activists stating that they are the third most important people in Africa but, Wainaina makes it seem that these activists have the completely wrong intentions as to why they help, maybe it is because they get some type of monetary benefits, which they do not use to support their own causes.
In my opinion Kristof is not the problem, I believe he brings awareness of the problem in Africa in a more logical, and sensible way. I am sure that the campaigns that he promotes are to help Africa in any way it can to lose the negative connotation people have of the country. The author writes her work in such a way that it makes me confused of her point of view nonetheless; I believe that the author uses her tone in such an unusual manner that it brings attention to the problems in Africa. Maybe she tries to convince the reader that the problems in Africa are bigger than one would like to imagine, and the media tries to censor it to make the general population believe that the problems are not as grave as they appear.
When I read the title of this article I kind of immediately knew that it was going to go through that point of view. Usually when you are taught how to write you are taught techniques and not how to write about a certain place or a person. So when I started reading this article I read it with the set of mind that it was going to be kind of criticizing a certain way of writing or different views towards Africa. I most definitely agree with my classmates that when I hear Africa I think of suffering, starvation, famine, death, poor, bad nutrition, and other negative thoughts that come along after that. I cannot think of a single moment in my life where I have view Africa in a positive way, I mean heard that Africa is a wonderful place to live or that there is a surplus of money and or food. The media always seem to refer to Africa as a suffering country and that we should always help them because they need the help. Society today has been conditioned to think about Africa in such a negative way you know? It's like when you hear that "pop goes the weasel" tune down the street of your neighborhood, you know that the ice cream truck is coming; same when you hear the name Africa... you think of starving children dying of malnutrition and lots of suffering. Wainaina is so right about how people write about Africa in this way.
Unfortunately, all my knowledge of Africa comes from the stories in the media about the poverty, genocides, and other forms of social unrest going on in that part of the world. For that reason, every time I read about Africa I expect it to be some tragic story about death and hardships. Kenyan Binyavanga Waianana does reveal a common trend in the way people often portray Africa in their writing. She shines a light on the fact that many journalists and writers tend to ignore writing about the positive aspects of life in Africa and how they tend to create a feel that Africa is far different from other continents. Writers such has these have greatly shaped the way I think of Africa because thats all I really have to go by since I've never been there. Kristof writes that people want to hear success stories on the individual level, and with that advice taken I think that writers will begin to show the diversity and through the adversity of the lives that reside in Africa.
Much of what I know about Africa is what I see on television. In between television shows I see commercials with young, skinny children with flies flying everywhere and the children wearing dirty clothes, or even times, no clothes. I’ve heard other things about Africa from friends who have visited the more “well-off” areas, but what I hear never overshadows the devastations that I see on TV. When reading articles and stories about Africa, it never really surprises me to read about the devastations that swarm their country since I’m made aware from the commercials. Hearing and reading about the famines and oppressions in Africa fills an indescribable feeling in my heart. As much as I feel they need the help more than many places in the world, I always think to myself, they can never be saved…at least anytime soon. There are not just a few families that need food, health treatment, clothes, and a place to live, but there are millions of them who need this help. I’m too much of a caring person to just “collectively shrug” or feel that it’s “too bad.”
Binyavanga Waianana’s “How to Write About Africa” was I reading, that I believe probably have opened a lot of eyes, showing that the situations in Africa are so real that they need to be talked about in more realistic ways. It seems a lot that when people talk or write about wanting to save Africa, it’s more of a just help the country, opposed to telling why people need to help and be a little more graphic and show them that this is what is really going on with the country. For some reason, out of the entire piece, this excerpt stood out the most when Waianana said:
Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat things no other humans eat. Do not mention rice and beef and wheat; monkey-brain is an African's cuisine of choice, along with goat, snake, worms and grubs and all manner of game meat. Make sure you show that you are able to eat such food without flinching, and describe how you learn to enjoy it—because you care.
It kind of made me see some of the things that I would never dare to eat, or think about eating, if the last meal I just ate was promised to be my last. It was also brought to light their talents. This observation made by Waianana was one that I have always been aware of from books and articles I have read and commercials I have seen. I hear much about the amazing tribe music that they make, and also hear about what extremes they have to take in order to eat.
Everyone has their own story to tell and their own way of trying to help and also get others to understand what goes on in these countries and help. I believe that Kristof is just one of those people who have his own story and way of getting help from others. Everyone wants to help, and everyone has an idea of a way to help, so I believe if more people like Kristof were to come up with different ways to get help from everyone, then the situation would be in a more advanced step to progress than what it may be in now.
Adrianna Boles
When I hear the word Africa the first thoughts that come to mind are the images that the media presents to the public and how they provide information regarding a malnourished people asking for assistance. I heard so many stories of how their government is corrupted. By watching Invisible Children rebellions would just kidnap children off the streets away from their families just to join their army and teach these children to rebel against the government itself. What I’ve learned about Africa is that they’re poor, uneducated, over crowded, broken down cities, and they have a corrupt government. These are some the things that I learn from the media and books.
After reading Kristoff’s article, I can agree with the author because the main points that he’s arguing are surprisingly true. When he states “Too bad, but isn't that what Africa is always like? People slaughtering each other? . . . we have our own problems?" (41) we do what we can to help Africa. People create organizations to help give back to Africa such as TOMS shoes a person buys a pay and with every purchase they send a pair of shoe back to Africa. Kristoff states the problems in Africa to bring awareness to them, not to degrade the people.
After reading "How to Write About Africa," by Binyavanga Waianana, it made me feel that she was mocking writers as a whole. She writes about how writers struggle to capture the hardships of Africa and its people and argues that writers don’t see Africa in full detail. She uses stereotypical examples of what writers use when writing about Africa. I feel like the writer speaks from frustration that’s why she feels as if writers always stereotype Africa.
I think that many young people really do not know much about Africa. In K - 12 all I really learn from Africa is that Europe's would take them from their land and enslaved then. I think that many journalists stopped writing about them because people in America did not like hearing about the many problems Africans face. I believe that when people read about Africans many problems individuals feel in different, overwhelmed, or hopeless. How is one person going to make a difference in Africa if it is so far away and in so much need to be helped? Americans want to hear stories of hope and accomplishment. Life in America right now is difficult there is no money in the government and there is not a lot of jobs out there because of the recession. People are really not thinking of helping people in Africa but in feeding themselves and their families. Life is very crazy everyone is running around working, school, trying to pay their bill. How are they going to have time and see how they can save the world if there world is falling apart. I think that people would rather read in the newspaper an inspiriting story that can give them of hope. Then a story about Africa's health and poverty that is just going to get them more depress and make them hopeless. Africa has lots of problems and they have always had problems. When we read books we learn about the beauty of the Nile and the Congo. This has created confusion in me how can this place that is so beautiful always be in conflict among themselves. This I think that before anyone things in helping Africa they should first think of the people in America they also did help. There are also hungry people walking our street without food or shelter. We can also look at other countries in Central America that need the same thing as Africans food shelter and medicine. The topic about Africa is a very difficult thing to talk imagine what the leaders of countries are feeling when they have to decide to help Africa.
As I was growing up, my parents would always talk about the Philippines: how horrible the situation was, how children were starving, how the police didn't do anything for anyone and how they grew up with scarcely any food to eat. Naturally as Filipinos, our family helped those in the Philippines out by sending our old clothes and all of our canned food (even all of our Halloween candy we collected). Naturally, as well, I felt bad that I had so many opportunities and basically everything they didn't, however, I didn't care so much when they would use the Philippines dilemma (that I was "lucky") to guilt and force the feeling of guilt on to me.
Then I found out about Darfur from a friend raising money for those affected by the genocide in the country. She made by hand hundreds of bracelets with the colors of the Darfur flag and sold them each for a dollar. She raised $300, with $75 dollar contribution from myself, to send to this foundation (I don't remember the exact name of the foundation, I think it was Green Peace, I'm not sure) so the people of Darfur would have some food and some clothes. She told me, and everyone else who bought her bracelets, that the government did not care that women were being raped and killed, that there were “starving children with flies in their eyes,” and that water they drank were dirtied...As she told me this, all I could think of was this sounds like the situation in the Philippines, so I kept donating to the Foundation. Soon after, our school invited a group of representatives from Invisible Children to speak to us about the genocide and show us a video of students who were able to go to Darfur and see the situation for themselves first hand. Then the following week, my Honors English teacher brought in her friend, a woman who escaped from Darfur, into our class. She told us her stories and what she saw (one story in particularly was really strong both emotionally and detailed, it was about this girl being raped in front of her, as well as the rapier cutting off the woman's breast) , and I cried.
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I had the opportunity to speak to her after class and told her I'll keep donating to the Organization I was already donating to, but she told me that wasn't enough, that it wasn't only Darfur that was suffering, and that buying and donating a goat would be more help than donating cold hard cash.
Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, I don't know much about Africa, but from what I do know from accounts of people who have gone to and have seen the devastating scenes, I know that Africa is not a paradise and is even worse than what I saw in the Philippines. Kristof is right, whenever you hear about Africa, you usually do not hear anything positive, it's all "tragic hellholes". He also said that there is a “collective shrug” and the saying, “Too bad... we have our own problems?” My initial reaction was those people are too selfish and I'm still going to help even if my parents aren't helping me with my school expenses/tuition and I'm basically paying everything by myself with little help from financial aid. I still will, whenever I can, donate my older clothes and all the goats I can afford. There are enough people too focused on the poor and homeless people here; The poor and homeless who can get jobs if they wanted to, or go to a homeless shelter if they wanted to, but in Africa most people cannot get decent jobs, escape from the tortures of inner-terrorist groups, or even go to a homeless shelter where they can find nice clean beds, clean food, etc that we can find here. Pardon my harshness towards people helping here, we do have a problem, but not a continent changing one.
In “How to Write About Africa”, Binyavanga Waianana shows how westerners view Africa. She alludes to generalizations and somewhat racial titles like "Darkness" or "[how] African characters may include naked warriors, loyal servants, ..." The things Waianana said made me speechless, not because I was offended really but because she said some things I wish I could say to someone who writes in a "I-expected-so-much tone", looks down on Africa, or even ignores acknowledging anything about the people of Africa and their sufferings. We really are ignorant and she shows us that. We barely even put any of the news of Africa in our news, and when we do it's usually about how devastating it is and how bad it is, never anything good.
So in a way, Kristof's way of writing about Africa's situation is not good, it is needed to help guide some people to try to help. He and many other writers have the right intentions, it's our problem that we as people with our own selfish problems that don't because we do not usually like feeling guilty about something, or read something that is sad and depressing.
All I know a bout Africa is what I have been reading in articles and books. Yes it is true that not much have been said a bout it other than all the negative stuff. Most of what I have read mainly talked about how most of the people are either dying because of hunger or diseases. Yes, it is very sad that these topics are all writers could discuss but when I have never heard positive stories such like how Africa is growing, how will I expect to hear good stuff when I come to read an article a bout Africa? However, I do not just shrug it off. It is very disturbing when reading a bout it because I am here with food on my table and a roof on top of my head and there are children in Africa who are suffering and do not have anything close to what I have. If anything, reading these articles helps me to appreciate what I have and try to donate a little bit more next time. I believe Kenyan Binyavanga Waianana's observations are pretty accurate because that is how exactly people portray Africa every day. After reading this, it made me notice how my expectations are when I come across an article a bout Africa. Now, I will try to not think so negatively next time when I read one. However, it will not make a huge change because I feel like her writing was just another depressing writing. There was no happiness or hope in it. Like every other writing. Therefore, she is not exactly being any better than other writers.
When Africa comes to mind, disappointingly enough I visualize and remember all of the stories I have read about throughout the years, and documentaries exposing the hardships and struggles that this country goes through on a day to day basis. I hate to admit it but I do expect to hear about children starving, and people being killed and forced to do unimaginable things against their will. When it comes to hearing about famines in Africa, I don't necessarily respond to the way Kristof has stated as people having reactions of being automatically empathetic, and careless. I think that I just never really grasped the level of seriousness these issues are becoming such as starving to death, and the aftermath of not having clean water available. Figures are nothing but numbers, but being able to see the struggles within, and actually seeing these events takes place gives an individual time to process these things, and just like Kristof stated "results are statistical, not visible" (42).
After reading "How to Write About Africa," Kenyan Binyavanga Waianana has opened my eyes to a new kind of issue, the way Africa has been labeled. She has accurately provided scenarios and ways that someone who isn't from Africa, specifically Westerners have paved a way for a permanent description embedded in the minds of many. Waianana makes it clear that people are quick to stereotype her people as being "starving Africans, children with pot bellies, and looking utterly helpless" instead of seeing how these people ended up in the situation they have become stuck in. Writers disregard the phenomenal savannahs, and jungles containing exotic beautiful animals within the fifty-four countries.
I think that campaigns such as Kristof's will help readers and viewers alike to see that Africa can progress, slowly but surely with the aid of people like us. A little goes a long way is something that Kristof expresses greatly in his article, and that seeing is believing. Succeeding is always better than failing so hearing such things such as a triumph story can give light to other struggling individuals who just need a little push, and of course a generous donation to keep them on their feet because "making people feel lucky that they have the opportunity to assist will be as refreshing as, say drinking a Pepsi" (45).
I know a few things about Africa. I know that that the population in Africa is very high, the majority of the population lives in poverty, and the spread of diseases are very high too. I know this about Africa from reading outside texts and hearing it from other people as I grew up.
After reading, “How to Write about Africa,” by Binyavanga Wainaina, I had a better image in my head on how Africa really looks like. From everything she described in her article, Africa does not seem like a very hygienic place to go to. It is a country that I would not like to go to. Wainaina goes into so much detail in describing how Africa is really like. She mentions all the problems African people have, like they die from diseases and they starve. Wainaina is really straight forward on describing on how Africa really is. Not only does she mention the bad things about Africa, but also the good things. She mentions that are a variety of different animals, from elephants to lions, the beautiful sunsets, and the variety of different plants.
Kristof’s article “Nicholas Kristof’s Advide for Saving the World,” includes a few problems that Africans have, but has a way to help them. A good way to help out people in Africa is by helping one child at a time. it is better to help one, than to help ten or even twenty at a time. There are more positive results by helping one at a time. Kristof is not part of the problem because he wants to help the needy rather than to let them die.
When I initially read the article I was shocked that someone would have the guts to write something like it. But the more I kept on going the more I realized what Wainaina says, and as sad as it might sound, is correct about what most people say or how they portray Africa. Personally when I hear the word Africa I think of a large continent that has a lot people in certain areas but the other parts of the continent are empty because they are inhabitable. I also think of large exotic animals such as lions, rhinos, cheetahs and giraffes that roam around freely, but my view of Africa is due to articles and movies that portray Africa. Wainaina states that this is something that writers do, but as I kept reading I realized that he was writing in a sarcastic tone. But everything he says that writer "should" write about is what we hear. It seems that what many of us hear are sad stories about how Africa is "hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall,thin people who are starving"(51), dying of AIDS or how the violence is out of control. Through Wainaina's sarcastic tone I feel that he tries to make us more aware of how we see Africa and actually take a minute and meditate on the fact that the only thing we know about Africa is negative, even though there are positive things that happen.
I have always viewed Africa as a place that still lives in the past. From what i know they struggle everyday to survive and face problems like famine and diseases such as AIDS.
After reading Kristof's paper i was actually surprised at how terrible the conditions actually are. I thought things were bad never to the extent that he explains in his paper. The examples he uses when he talks about individual children suffering really made an impact on me. Truthfully, before reading this article i thought that Africa has its problems, we have ours and they can deal with it themselves. I now see that these are real people suffering and that just because Africa "is always having people slaughtered" doesn't mean we shouldnt do something.
My views of Africa have definitely been shaped by Western Writers. Everything that Waianana said summarized all my views on the African people. I do not think that Kristof's campaigns will help it all in changing the world's view on Africa. I personally think that it just give people a worse view of Africa then it already is.
Whenever I think about Africa, I immediately think of suffering. I imagine starving children and dead bodies everywhere. When I think of Africa, I imagine hell. The reason why these images come to my mind is because this is how the media portrays Africa. I am always seeing commercials with videos of starving children and theyre sitting looking very sad and lonely. Of course for just ten cents a day I can help this child go to school and learn. Whenever I think about Africa I see civil wars, blood diamonds, child soldiers, poverty, and disease. Most of these images are from movies and TV. I guess these are the images that people see because Africa needs help. As I read the article “How to Write About Africa” by Binyavanga Wainaina I felt like throughout the entire article she was being completely sarcastic. All of the things she said seemed to be so stereotypical. She says to never have a picture of a well adjusted African, instead use a picture of an ak47 or naked breasts. In a way I understand why she would write this. We have been given this horrible image of Africa for so long that seeing a peaceful Africa would just be unbelievable. I would also say that without making people feel guilty, no one would ever feel bad enough to help. I definitely think that without the guilt people would definitely just shrug it off and just let Africa tough it out.
After reading the first paragraph of "How to Write about Africa," i knew that Binyavanga Wainaina was telling the truth but satirically. Wainaina wants to unveil the strategy that many people use to campaign for Africa. Together Kristof and Wainaina agree that most fundraisers market and describe Africa in the way that they will receive the most support. When Wainaina used words like, "'Africa' or 'Darkness' or 'Safari'" (Wainaina 92) I recognized this as the title of many articles that you or I have read. Kristof takes the side of acknowledging "both the desperate need and also the very real progress in parts of Africa, the prospect of improvement in real people's lives if the help goes forward" (Kristof 44). Here Kristof takes the side that progress in Africa will come from when people see improvement and want to help.
To be honest, I think that these are useful techniques and fulfill their purpose. I think that people who use these techniques have the right motive, just all the wrong moves. I think that people will donate when they feel compassion for a hurt and broken country. The methods of Kristof and Wainaina are directed to two different types of people. One will feel be inspired to give by seeing hope. The other feels empathy for a starving African and will want to help. Both marketing techniques shown by Kristof and Wainaina get money. Kristof wants to show hope and inspire people to give money to help Africa. Wainaina shows the method that shows a "Starving African, who wanders the refuge camp nearly naked" (Wainaina 93). This method of displaying Africa will bring pity.
I do not like how Wainaina talks about Africa. I think she is trying to get a bigger point across. She is trying to show the typical American's idea and knowledge of Africa. I do not like her dehumanization of humans and giving personalities to animals. Wainaina says to give animals "names, ambitions and desires... and family values" (94). @Belle and @Ivan Gonzalez described it pretty well, when they talked about Wainaina's description of Africa.
Wainaina's problem is that she only talks about what is wrong in Africa. She talks about poverty and the typical tribal African that American's know so well. The only thing is that Africa has so much more to it. Here is how i see it. Imagine a country that has a group designated to killing a certain race for no reason. In this country people die every half hour from drunk driving. In this place around 2 million people do not have a home. 16,000 people are murdered every year. Do you want to live there? If you haven't found out, I was describing the U.S. I found these statistics online. Living in America, is that what you think about every day? Well to be honest there is a lot of GREAT stuff in America. I don't need to list it off but i think you know what i am getting at.
If we only hear about Africa and from magazines and a Kenyan named Wainaina, then how good of a perspective do we get? We get a skewed view of however the person that wrote on Africa wanted us to think. It is very true that there are "starving children with flies in their eyes" (Kristof 44) like Professor Flewelling stated in the prompt, but there is also a lot of good going on. Wainaina does not have an accurate description of Africa, because she leaves out a lot of truth. I strongly believe in supporting those who are homeless, those who are starving, but i think that we should also know facts and get a better picture for what is going on in a place that we might be sending money to. "But," you might say, "Africa is 10,000 miles away." This does present a problem. Many people try to utilize this disadvantage to exploit others ignorance. If everyone could find out about Africa from a personal experience, I think that people would have a new and different perspective.
To be honest I don’t know much, and if I was put on the spot, as I feel am now, I would probably just say what everyone knows and assumes. I guess you can say I know all the stereo typical aspects of what there is to know; poverty, famine, war, insufficient resources, extremely high aids rate and uncivilized in many parts of the continent. I know this stuff because of what is seen in the news and what I have heard from other people, I mean besides the latest installment of the FIFA World Cup taking place in South Africa nothing positive is ever really said about Africa in the media. Yes it is sad to know so little and to only know about the negative things that are happening, but unfortunately it seem as if people only know about the negative stuff because anything positive is pretty much over shadowed by the depressing quality of life being lived out by Africans in Africa.
When [I] read about Africa do [I] expect to hear about "tragic hellholes full of starving children with flies in their eyes" (Kristof 44)? The answer to this is simply, yes. Media weather it be magazines like National Geographic, or films like Blood Diamond, have all portrayed a poverty driven Africa that we are accustomed to seeing. Many times we don’t think about it because we are to busy living what seems to be a nearly perfect life filled with shopping malls, accessible food supply, and shelter. Africa has been and probably will always be the way it is, but to say its not our problem is perhaps a bit extreme because we should feel sympathy. Sure we might not be able to solve a problem so massive all on our own but we should try to do as much as we can to help.
The observations made in "How to Write About Africa," by Kenyan Binyavanga Waianana are very accurate, I think the kind of writing she describes has actually influenced our views of Africa. Her writings are very true and easy to connect with. As I read it I felt like the stereotypes shouldn’t be the way she described them but in fact it is what it is. I think Kristof’s writing won’t really help people see Africa in new ways, but it will defiantly help people try to find other positive aspects instead of all the negativity.
Wainaina's article "How to Write About Africa" is a result of other accounts, like Kristof's, that provide tragic and desolate images of Africa. As a result of such articles and documentaries, I do see Africa as a somewhat tragic place. I see poverty, unclean living conditions, starvation, and sadness – negative things. What I also see, however, is the fact that Africa as an entirety can also be viewed as one of the most beautiful places in the world, untainted by modern society. Because of this, the culture and spirit is so untouched and incredibly rich.
When Kristof says that people reply with “Too bad, but isn't that what Africa is always like? People slaughtering each other? … We have our own problems?” (Kristof, 41) when they hear of the famines and problems in Africa, I think he is very incorrect. The things he specifies in his article – death, disease, tragedy – are what he might see in Africa and ironically are the things that Wainaina says to do, with heavy sarcasm. I do believe that Kristof’s intentions are good. Although he does write of the typical misfortunes in Africa, he also writes that hope is not lost if we collectively try to change things ourselves. He describes how his audience, can donate money to make a difference for the people in Africa. Sure it seems idealistic and somewhat hopeless because of the staggering amount of people who need aid, but he has noble intentions and a good vision for the future.
Wainaina writes in her article the many cliché and slightly inaccurate ways that others usually write about Africa. She believes that when people write about Africa, they try to have the most heartbreaking and appalling images possible; as a result, Westerners somewhat look down upon Africa because of the poverty and such. I am not sure exactly how Wainaina wants writers to write about Africa, but she is essentially stating that they don’t know much and that they are ignorant of the true realities. Her article is offensive and blunt, and she heavily generalizes about the articles written about Africa. I believe there is some truth to what she is saying since articles I have read mostly speak of tragedies, but she also implies that these articles are of no help at all.
People like Kristof are the ones who are trying to alleviate the problems in Africa. Wainaina seems to think otherwise, but these people who she so disdains are the ones who are actually making a difference.
To be completely honest the writer has got it spot on. I have NEVER read an article about Africa that explains all the good things about it. It makes it seem like Africa is the “tragic hellhole” that Kristoff describes. What else do we expect though? Marketing tactics now a day focus on guilt, sadness, and hopelessness, I mean we all talked about the sad abandoned pet commercial right?
I’m wondering, how many of us would donate money to Africa if we saw how pretty it is? Why would we donate money to anyone who shows us pictures about a lovely place, with lovely people, and wonderful animals? It would make it seem like they did not need the help. When I read Kristoff’s article it changed my view on how I see tactics used in aid organizations. In most of the things I see today, none stress the very first thing Kristoff describes—emphasize hopefulness. Talking about sad, dead, mosquito ridden people is not going to emphasize hopefulness but people today want to guilt trip us into donating a dollar, which is causing the complete opposite effect. Producing guilt is expressing hopelessness, which makes us keep our dollar because we think about how bad the place is and your little dollar is not going to do anything. I think everyone should read Kristoffs article, it was wonderfully written, with many great ideas on how to help people. I do not think he is part of the problem, I think hes only trying to help.
It is extremely difficult to help people way across the globe. I personally think that our own country has its own problems to deal with. A lot of people here are poor, starving, and homeless too. Why don’t we see any commercials to help them out? It’s hard to put all your focus into helping someone else when you are so busy yourself.
All in all, I would love to see the day where someone talks about the wonderful things about Africa just once, not to get money but just to switch it up now and then, and maybe my views will change. My perception of Africa is one sided, I only see what people write and everything they write is exactly what Binyavanga Waiaina said they would. I don’t think that she really wants us to write about Africa this way, when I read the article it seemed more sarcastic, I did not get a serious advice tone, like what she wrote is what she really wants us to do. I feel she is leaning more towards emphasizing what she sees about how people write about Africa.
I was very surprised after reading "How to write about Africa" by Binyavanga Wainaina. I have to agree with Belle in the sense that I feel as if Wainaina wants us to look down on Africa in a way. It was strange to hear how Wainaina wanted us to write about Africa, pointing out several flaws, call the people different names, don't put a picture of an african on the cover. There was just so many things that felt very strange about this article. Granted I can't help but to agree to a certain extent. To me Africa is just like the way Kristof describes it, I understand that it is sad to think about it this way, but sometimes the truth can really hurt. This is something that we always hear about when we talk about Africa, it has been like this for years, and in the present day, so many countries are at war with : Themselves, disease, and survival. When I think of Africa I do think of the amazing natural environment such as the jungle's, desserts, and grassland. But with these thoughts I can't help but to think of the people who are helpless and suffering to survive. I feel that a lot of people feel this way as well, but because of how fortunate we are in America, we try to see things from a different perspective, from a more optimistic point of view. However, some things that Wainaina describes in Africa helped me see different things about it that i have been blind to see before. Such as the animal life there, and the beautiful sunsets. There is beauty present in Africa, I feel that her observations are true, but the way she says things are a bit much. For example, she is pretty much making it seem like Africans are just like animals, I don't think we should go to the point where we have to demoralize people. They are still people, they are lives who are going through so much pain. And in Kristof's writing he writes about how life is getting better in Africa, not always about the civil wars and starvation. Both writers have brought something present to the table dealing with Africa, however they both have weak points in the topic as well. If we can combine both sides of this argument and use their strong points for a base, then I feel that that would lead us to a better example for Africa.
I would have to say that I agree with Belle's comment the most when she argues that Wainaina appeared to me to be sending mixed signals with the way she put down the African culture and heritage in such a degrading manner.I felt that putting down the African culture to such a low degree wasn't establishing social justice to their people, and instead of Wainaina's twisted attempt at trying to "help" these people and "call out" the wrongful ways of the past, she in inturn almost sarcastically mocking them and making the issue worse by contributing to the cause. I was disgusted by the language chosen by Wainaina, and like Belle, found myself cringing as I read. While freedom of speech can be a powerful thing for the good, it can also be a very powerful thing not for the good. I think the comparison of animals to seem more human then humans themselves seemed like she had hidden motives to pout down African culture as well. Overall, I think that Belle was completely right on the game when she said how ridiculous this article was with the style and diction.
Becca Cohen said....
I would have to say that I agree with Belle's comment the most when she argues that Wainaina appeared to me to be sending mixed signals with the way she put down the African culture and heritage in such a degrading manner.I felt that putting down the African culture to such a low degree wasn't establishing social justice to their people, and instead of Wainaina's twisted attempt at trying to "help" these people and "call out" the wrongful ways of the past, she in inturn almost sarcastically mocking them and making the issue worse by contributing to the cause. I was disgusted by the language chosen by Wainaina, and like Belle, found myself cringing as I read. While freedom of speech can be a powerful thing for the good, it can also be a very powerful thing not for the good. I think the comparison of animals to seem more human then humans themselves seemed like she had hidden motives to pout down African culture as well. Overall, I think that Belle was completely right on the game when she said how ridiculous this article was with the style and diction and complex ideas that appeared more negative then positive.
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