Theroux om "teleskopiske" filantroper

Den verdenskjente reiseskribenten Paul Theroux tar et oppgjør med de moderne Afrika-filantropene i Barron's. Og han rammer ikke bare tradisjonelle NGO'er, men også rikfolket som vil bidra til "investeringer".

"Never have so many people, so many agencies, so many stratagems, so much money been deployed to improve Africa -- and yet the majority of the movers are part-timers, merely dropping in, setting up a scheme in the much-mocked "the-safari-that-does-good" manner, then returning to their real lives, as hard-charging businessmen, Hollywood actors, benevolent billionaires, atoning ex-politicians, MacArthur geniuses, or rock stars in funny hats. (...)

"Americans like working in the bush," my African friends used to tell me, and they were probably right. Jiving a little they would add, "We prefer city life." With an almost unlimited supply of foreign teachers sponsored by their own governments, what incentive is there for any African ministry of education to improve conditions? I thought I was part of the solution in Malawi, and the experience changed my life in profound ways -- as a man, as a writer, as a traveler; but I see I was part of the problem. (...)