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bamba
Sweden
401 Posts |
 Posted - 08 May 2006 : 16:59:40
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What an onslaught!!! I love it when comes from north, south, east and west. I was just trying to present a contrast. Here we have people confounded by their comfort to the point of groping for definitions.There are people sharing the same planet that will never, ever, know what comfort is in the lives.
Jede, whoever u are, I hope u dont find difficulty in understanding that we blacks are the nicest of all humans, this is our(blacks) tragedy. |
Bamba |
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jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 17:00:27
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twinkly, leave bamba, he has another side to him not sure how often you ave been to gambia, but not everyone who goes there is ripping people off. I did not meet a gambian who was starving, but came across a lot of poverty that could be addressed by the immediate families out there. Some women who are widows are struggling, divorced women not wanted in the compound. that is the job of their own society, not mine. In the rural areas, this happens.
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Babylon
Sweden
691 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 17:16:44
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| Yeah? All the white folks jumping at Bamba now..? Kinda strange. So what if it´s hard to stay positive in a harsh, mad world? Not everybody can forget all their troubles at home or cure their depressions by just taking a nice long walk in the nature... Never mind them Bamba, you know the real deal. Sum ppl here are just pretenders. |
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twinkly
United Kingdom
190 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 17:49:41
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Toubab1020
You have a point there.it is not unhappiness reflecting but simply the truth, I believe.
It is very depressing to see that most Africans can understand our way of thinking, but there are hardly any of us who can really understand and think things from an african point of view.
Jambo, I like Bamba's words and wisdom, sorry (not only Bamba's but he seems to be the only one brave enough to involve with us toubabs)
I know that many people have no bad intention when visiting gambia.But there is ignorance.
My first priority is to be a wife to a Gambian, not an aidworker.Sounds harsh and selfish.I feel bad sometimes when I read how much people on here help, but isn't it more important to know the people and country before I can know what help is needed?
Sorry Gambiabev, I will keep quiet now, totally off topic
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 18:07:55
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Bamba
Just because I write something positive you cant presume that I havent had my sadness, grief and problems in life. I am not going to talk about them here. But please believe me when I say I have had bad times and depression. That is WHY I find small things uplifting now, I have learnt to count my blessings, however simple. |
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Formby
United Kingdom
246 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 18:49:39
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LOL! What, the harsh, mad world of Sweden? LOLOLOL!!!!
Yup, stands to reason, if a toubab is feeling happy it must be at the expense of an Afican, who lives in constant, constant suffering, forever at the gates of Hades.
Yeah....great debate! I can't keep up with the intellectual stimulus. |
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Babylon
Sweden
691 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 19:05:10
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| Yes Formby, the harsh, mad world of Sweden. Where you wont get a job if your name sounds foreign. It´s the reality here, nothing to LOL about at all I´m afraid. If you only knew... |
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 22:12:51
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Formby...havent you noticed..sarcasm passes alot of eople by on this forum..perhaps because it is 'the lowest form of wit'?
Personally I love sarcasm, especially when used against americans!  |
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kiwi
Sweden
660 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 22:20:17
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| Babylon, you have always been the first one to jump on Bamba, and now when "all the white folks" are doing it, you quickly make one of your famous u-turns... Stop preteding being African, you are not. |
kiwi |
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 22:23:18
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Does it matter if someone is African or not? If we have the best interests of The Gambia at heart and want to learn isnt that enough?
Or would you prefer this to be a Gambian only web site? I am really interested to hear EVERYONES point of view on this. |
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kiwi
Sweden
660 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 22:26:13
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| Happy moments often come unexpected. Sometimes expected, as yesterday. Cheikh Lô and his band performed in Stockholm, my home town. A joyful evening. |
kiwi |
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anna
Netherlands
730 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 22:45:18
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Still, i can understand Bamba's need to put things into perspective. Is it possible to enjoy a blossoming tree while your child is dying from hunger right under your very nose? I think not, your attention would be focused on life or death and a beautiful tree becomes totally irrelevant.
But i can also understand why some of us are now accusing Bamba to be a 'spoiltsport'. We might have our own problems here in the (our) western world, like being short of money, your bank account in a sorry state in the deepred, colleagues having it in for us, maybe our lovelife is not what we hoped it would be etc. etc. Taking a long walk (with or without dog) and observe how spring miraculously turns the bare trees into beautiful blossoming ones might help to make us feel stronger again. It will make us understand that after the bad times (bare trees, cold winds), good times (new green leaves, blossoms, sunshiny days) will come again.
Bamba, our experience in life mostly has nothing to do with the problems you describe. That doesn't mean we do not know people live in these awful circumstances elsewhere in the world. Most of us (i am referring to the Europeans) contributing to this forum are in some way connected to the Gambia and we each try to make life easier for some of its inhabitants, like a partner's extended family.
Sometimes it seems as if you are angry with us for having been born here and not know the hardships you describe, personally. Do you want us to apologise? Well then, let me tell you this: i have a good life and i work hard for it and sometimes when i am in the Gambia, knowing it will only be a few days before my time there is up and i have to get back to a stressful job again, i feel envious when i look at the fruitladies on the beach, wishing i could be one of them.
As you say, it is all a matter of perspective: maybe after some time i would find out their lives are not as relaxed as i think, and maybe the fruitlady i would like to trade places with would find out that life in Europe may offer a lot of facilities but is also very demanding and that with us too, nothing is for nothing. No child will die of malnutrition in our world, but some die because the parent(s) freak out because of stress.
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When an old African dies, it is as if a whole library has burnt down.
Amadou Hampate Ba (Mali) |
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 22:57:57
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A moment of joy can still be felt amongst pain and suffering.
It is to do with the level of awareness we live our lives at/on.
There is not doubt that life in Gambia is tougher in some ways than our life in the west...but we also have western diseases that spoil our lives too: for example breast cancer, liver disease, depression, suicide, alcoholism..... Just because we are a bit more affluent dont presume our lives are full of joy.
For many westerners life is a daily struggle full of pressures..they are just different pressures.
So as an american would say..wake up and smell the coffee, live in the moment..........
Just because bad things happen in this cruel world doesnt mean we shouldnt enjoy the occasional moment of joy or pleasure. |
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njucks
Gambia
1131 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 23:11:14
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anna stop! you & co have nothing to feel sorry for and relate to africa's problems. if you wish to help or contribute that is a personal choice but you owe africa nothing!!!
AFRICA'S PROBLEMS ARE AFRICAN MADE!
people starve in ethiopia whilst its government spends millions on a stupid war over a few cm along the border. 1000km away mountains of cassava/yams are rotting in west africa
by the time you agree or disagree with me Nigeria would have earned enough money to solve her problems if she wished to do so. |
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 23:20:05
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African governments certainly dont help their own peoples cause by the way they behave.....
But if I see an individual in need then I respond as an individual. I try to shut out the politics and respond with compassion 1:1.
Sadly there is a limit to what one person can do. I have done very little, a drop in the ocean. To make a real difference it needs political will.
I do get annoyed when people on bantaba try to put some sort of collective guilt on whites shoulders........
I wasnt born when slavery happened..how is it my fault??!
All I can do is see injustices...NOW..and not close my eyes. Try in a small way to do some small thing about it...... |
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