kids

There are paths. If you can't see them - and why should you see them? - you've only got your own eyes to blame. A white man can't see everything: and he has no need to see everything either, because this land is not a white man's land.

~Camara Laye, The Radiance of the King

I'm reading a book called "A Continent for the Taking: the Tragedy and Hope of Africa" by Howard French, who was the New York Times West Africa bureau chief through much of the 1990s. He writes of the West's involvement and indifference in Africa and at one point, he talks of how the US looks at Africa and believes that it has problems simply because it is Africa, because it is the "other".

I was reminded of a scene on the way back from our safari. A boy, about 10 years old, was standing on the side of the road, just outside the Ngorongoro park, on very tall stilts. He stood balanced high above the road, on the shoulder, as a car passed him and then ours. As we passed, I could see the huge grin on his face - joy at standing so high and pride that there were people to see it.

One of the interns in the car said, "That's the strangest thing I've ever seen. This kid, standing on stilts, right outside the park. Shouldn't he be herding cows or something?"

And I thought to myself, maybe. Maybe that's what kids have to do in Africa, herd cows and get water and take care of little brothers and sisters. And maybe they grow to be more responsible and less rebellious because of it, so maybe it's good.

But maybe he's a ten-year-old kid playing with a great toy.