Gambia-L:

The e-mail below came from the canadian who recently visited The Gambia and
then sent her comments to the L through Dr Saine. I have to say in advance
that the e-mail is a thought provoking one!

Momodou Camara: Is it possible to subscribe the Canadian to the L?

Momodou Olly Mboge: Congrats!! I am told that you have just got your results
and the good news is that you have successfully obtained a BA degree (Hons)
in History.

Ebrima

________________________________________________________________

>From: "Maria Caterina Ciampi" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Ebrima Ceesay" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Fw: Fw: More questions than answers
>Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 09:13:43 -0400
>
>Sent: Monday, July 16, 2001 8:41 AM
>Subject: Fwd: Fw: More questions than answers
>
>
>Ebrima,
>
>I wrote part of this piece for a friend in The Gambia and then decided to
>share it with you to hear your own views.  Feel free to forward it to the
>listserv as I have been unsucessful in registering my name.  I have been
>feeling very sad in the last few days thinking about the condition of
>Africa.  I realize my comments are probably politically shallow, but
>understanding is a process and not a fixed outcome, so I will get there
>eventually.
>
>On Saturday night I cried for Africa while I watched a Montreal-based troop
>of dancers and singers originally from Rwanda perform on an outdoor stage.
>They opened their "act" with a poem describing their nature, their passion,
>their elegance and also by stating that they choose to put aside tribal and
>ethnic differences and to stand united as a people burning with the fire of
>a flame they literally held high. I cried. I cried because the message was
>powerful, but also because I was struck by the beauty of this group of
>youths who likely witnessed all kinds of atrocities as children and yet
>have survived. I was moved simply thinking about the journey they must have
>had to make it to this country, the sacrifices, the losses, the sorrow and
>the guilt. I cried because I wondered about their families. I cried
>thinking about how Canada must have transformed them and wishing that
>everyone could experience the unity we have in spite of our cultural
>differences, though we like to bitch about racism and other forms of
>divisiveness (did you hear what the mayor of Toronto said about Africans
>being cannibals during the negotiations for the next venue for the
>Olympics? I am deeply ashamed of this my fellow Canadian). I watched this
>group dance with a joy I have rarely seen. I saw the peace they now benefit
>from in their eyes and wanted it to infect even me. I cried because I was
>so touched that these youth, who despite all their trials and tribulations
>rose above it all and generously shared their culture and beauty with a
>group of strangers.  I cried imaging how my Gambian friends would feel in
>their shoes.
>
>Later, I went to see "Lumumba" a movie by Raoul Peck.  Have you seen it?
>It made me shudder with dread. The opening images were of two Belgians,
>drunk as a matter of survival, cutting up the bodies of Lumumba and his
>friend Thomas and then burning them with gasoline. Again, a flame image.
>This time, a brutal one. I was devastated by the honesty of this movie, and
>deeply troubled that it was not a piece of Hollywood fiction. I could not
>divorce myself from the images in the name of entertainment. Today I have
>more questions than answers about the future of Africa, based on what I
>observed in this movie.
>I began to wonder if a pan-African state is a viable solution when
>differing ethnic groups in the same country cannot get along. Is this is
>the legacy the colonial masters have left behind?.   As I was talking to my
>husband about the movie I started wondering whether money is the ultimate
>solution. If the US, capitalists par excellence, were to offer an economic
>infrastructure in Africa that would ensure education and jobs, would you
>refute it on grounds of neo-colonialism? Capitalism seems to work in the
>US. Nobody has time to contemplate how strange or different their
>neighbours are when they have a job to go to, bills to pay and things to
>buy. Have I been brainwashed by the American dream too? Communism seems to
>have failed. What is the alternative? Mobuto benefited from the backing of
>the US... look at the lifestyle he led while his people were dying. What if
>he had decided to share the wealth instead of hoarding it for himself? How
>could we be sure that corruption does not reign when foreign investors make
>their bids? What control mechanisms can ever work when people are not
>united? Now, I have come back to pan-Africanism as a solution... I do not
>know what to think anymore.
>
>"I no longer have a borrowed soul. I no longer have borrowed thoughts or
>ideas. I no longer speak in a borrowed language." Do you know who said
>this? Sounds like a slave freed from captivity, but it is not... think
>about it.
>
>I have also been considering my own role in this whole matter.  Why should
>a Canadian take such interest in the plight of Africans?  Perhaps people
>will suspect me of spying or infiltrating... It looks suspicious whereas it
>is genuine.  What am I doing? Is it my place to get involved?  At what
>point do I need to back off?  How best can I express my solidarity?
>
>I read the Gambia-L listserv and note that Gambians that subscribe to this
>exchange forum are themselves terribly divided. In the last few days, it
>seems that all of you are simply bitching, insulting and challenging each
>other in the most childish way imaginable! So what if Jammeh gets ousted?
>What if he mysteriously drops dead tomorrow? Who would replace him? Are the
>Americans behind any military leader at the moment, like they were backing
>Mobuto? Who knows what games they are playing... Should any of you, like
>Lumumba, be chosen as the next Prime Minister of The Gambia, how would you
>rule? What would your priority be? It seems like Lumumba failed because he
>was naive. A true believer in African unity, he thought that the Katanga
>people could share the political platform with him, and that a military man
>could demonstrate fair leadership, when all the first president and Mobuto
>wanted was their own self-aggrandizement at the expense of the masses. It
>looked to me as though Lumumba could not even begin to instate long-lasting
>political change, like reforming the educational system or improving health
>conditions, because he had to "baby-sit" in the transition from colonial to
>self-rule. Like a father, he had to tell his children to behave and stop
>fighting each other. The problem was, these "kids" felt they were better
>than him and had to ultimately eliminate him so they could continue to
>play.
>
>Author Huxley of Roots, said that Africa "is a cruel country; it takes your
>heart and grinds it into powdered stone - and no one minds". The singer
>Stevie Wonder once addressed the UN and said, "South Africa is the land
>with tears in her eyes". I think this applies to the whole continent. I
>know I weep for her yet again tonight.
>
>Maria

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