Why?

I had a very interesting conversation with a Tanzanian tonight.  Very interesting.  I think what I say may not go over to well with some people, but it needs to be said.

Why do people feel they must "fix" Tanzania or Africa as a whole?  What drives someone to fly halfway across the world to "help" people they don't even know or know nothing about?  Why did I decide to become one of these people?  Why?

I was told that Tanzanians have no choice and no say in their own present and future affairs.  They live in a state of passive indifference.  It is not dependency.  It is dealing with what they cannot control.

I decided to go to Tanzania to help Tanzania.  Tanzanians did not ask for my help, nor did they ask for Christopher Stuart Taylor to come with his Canadianized views and morals.  I chose to go.  I, and people like me, are what plagues African development.

We as Canadians cry foul when we're subjected to American hegemony, so why do we do the same to other countries? Why?

Being a Mzungu and foreign puppet is "painful".  You have no choice.  You recognize you and your country are being raped and exploited for your natural resources by the same countries that are sending people like me to "help" fix the mess we created and continue to feed.

Is it help if I shoot someone in cold blood, but try to save his life after the fact?  Does that make me a good person, or someone that just can't live with the guilt of destroying an innoncent man's life?

Well, I personally didn't shoot the man, but it doesn't mean my fingerprints aren't on the gun.