As the economic gap widens, leaving the poor relatively poorer and the rich relatively richer, with a shrinking middle class, and as technology leaps forward at an ever increasing rate, where does that leave people like my Senegalese village friends?
Most of them Literally do not have the means to complete anything beyond an elementary education, and even that has only been available for about a decade. Many of them cannot read or write, and the basic mathematical skill of addition is a struggle. Though nearly every family has one television and at least one cell phone between them, they get two channels on a good night (reception of whatever-waves is sketchy at best), and frequently can’t afford to put credit on their phones (yes, they’re pay-as-you-go). So, while in America we’re discussing whether we should save up for a new flat-screen real-color display television, and if we’ll be able to buy a new iPad when the prices go down just a little bit, here, most people have never touched a computer and don't even own any books other than the Koran.
What, then, are the implications of this lag in technology? As the speed of technological improvement advances, the developing world lags ever further behind in their ability to share in our world of rapid information exchange. What impact does this have on their ability to self-determine their development, or to experience development at all? I can only speculate, and all speculation comes from a firmly grounded culturally instilled belief that knowledge is power and there is no greater human gift than that of new insight. I’m scared of Kindles because I believe the printing press was the greatest invention of all time, and books are a divine gift to humankind. So, please, give a moment’s thought to what it actually means to be illiterate—to be unable to share in the vast amounts of information exchanged through the printed (or typed) word.
...(This is a pause for you to stop reading, clear your mind, and Really think about what that would be like.)...
...(Seriously, take a minute :) )...
What can we do about it? I’m not sure. Part of my mind is screaming “HEY AMERICA! SLOW DOWN!!! Give people a minute to catch up!” But of course, slowing the progress of technology won’t happen, nor is this a reasonable solution. What is?? Promoting literacy, promoting education, promoting the exchange of new ideas (if you’ve never heard of it, check out TED. Google it. Great stuff). How will this impact my work here? Stuff’s-a-cookin’. It’s hard enough to work with the local kids to encourage them to fight for their right to be educated, but to convince the older members of society who have rarely left the village in their lives that the world IS changing, and for Senegal to be a part of that they MUST be proactive in seeking to increase their literacy and education opportunities… See, what they see is that in America and France, everybody has a computer, everybody has more money than them (I know, its not true, but its the media image they receive), and when development forces have come to their village before Peace Corps, it has been to dump some money to build something-or-other (needed stuff, mind you), the get the * out of dodge (dodge is a hot, buggy place, of course), nowhere in that schema has the idea been conveyed that you must BE the change you wish to see in the world. That no one can help you until you help yourself. And if you don’t know how to help yourself, you look into it. You learn about how other people have gone about helping themselves. You SEEK KNOWLEDGE. But where do they have to look?
Mmmm… I fear this is a self-centered view point, and obviously just a baby idea that has not been so well thought through as to be entirely coherent, but I think there’s some serious seed of truth here.
So, thoughts? I plan to talk to other PCV’s about this at our Summit, starting tomorrow, and perhaps organize literacy classes in my village, perhaps even try to organize a literacy campaign in the north with other volunteers culminating in a book distribution funded by YOU GUYS (that’s how Peace Corps money actually works, turns out) through Books For Africa. For more information about that aspect, google Books for Africa or Peace Corps Partnership funds. I'll keep you guys posted.
Sending Love to my waa Amerik, always.
I'm with you. I'm not sure I have anything to add, but I'm with you. I 100% support your absorption and processing of your unique, and yet not so unique, experiences and your reflecting the world back to the world so we can all see that we look like and all think together "What to do?". Love, Dad
ReplyDeleteI think that one perspective that we rarely hear in the US is that all of this instantanous information isn't really giving us anything. "Information overload" was one of the terms coined to reflect a negative aspect of our vast available information. I could google it and see who coined it - pointing back to that digital divide. So I won't. It's hard to give this view point much credence when you need to access information - like on staff infections - or want to compete in the global economy. It's lovely to be able to use wikipedia, mapquest, pubmed; it's great to be able to read blogs like this and "be there" through the internet. I know there is an effort to put inexpensive laptops into kids hands in the developing world - crank models that don't require electricity. Not sure how they deal with providing internet access or if they do. All our computers at school will now "talk" the information on the screen to the user. But do the people in your village really need to access this information in order to live full, productive lives? Incidently, the Millenium Goals do add health education and health literacy as subgoals. Keep thinking! As you do know, you are the change you want to see in the world! Love Ya!
ReplyDeletecouldn't resist. Alvin Toffler, in Future Shock.
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