Misinformation

To the Reader:

This blog is an odd collection of writings over the past couple years from my time living and working on the island. I was a volunteer development worker in the land of wood and water. I organized community groups and farmer cooperatives, helped them manage their organizations and mobilize their members to plan, fund, and implement local development projects and environmentally friendly initiatives. While much of it was written in the bush, I also have a pile of water-warped notebooks that I am currently transcribing here at home. Writing keeps the memories alive, and it helps me make sense of my recent past as I plan for the future.

Basically a repository of stories, this site is mainly for my own enjoyment, and as an amusement to friends, family, and whomever stumbles upon it. I may direct colleagues or potential employers here, as it is a way to showcase my writing and web-editing skills. The themes are varied. I understand my writing can be a bit on the frenetic side. Humor and hyperbole are a powerful combination. My views are entirely my own, and should you object, I invite you to spend a couple years on your own separated from everything you know working with people of a different culture to reverse the twin nightmares of despair and poverty and then get back to me. I’ll buy you a coke.

It’s extremely difficult to describe life in a developing country (the term “third world” irritates me, since the majority of humanity lives under the poverty level, so I like to refer to it as the “real world”) and the myriad problems that arise when whole generations are degraded and left at history’s wayside. Crime, corruption, and social decline are just a few of the horrors that set in when governments are weak and power is cheap. People don’t trust their neighbors, parents don’t trust their kids, and nobody trusts the rich, whose ugly sources of wealth are open secrets. People with skills or money can land a coveted visa and escape to greener pastures. The brain drain permeates every facet of life, and though the cream of society sends back precious remittances, the Western Union channel is little more than national life support and does nothing to replace the knowledge and hard work spent building someone else’s country.

Globalization adds a whole new dynamic. Never at any point in history have there been so many people interacting so quickly across every corner of the world. Cheap communication technology gives rise to vast telecom systems rising across the poorest lands, where every farmer, fisherman, and schoolboy owns a cellphone and Internet cafes pop up in the smallest towns. Images of the good life are beamed into clapboard bars and shanty towns. Pirated DVD movies illuminate every shadow with mindless images of sex, violence, and consumption. Those without are constantly aware of their lot and this pernicious sense of self-loathing pushes many to do whatever it takes to get that money.

The toughest part of my job was finding optimistic people who truly cared about their communities, who could think in the long term, and could set aside petty differences and work together for the greater good. The second toughest part was proving my worth to the worthy, working and living alongside them and earning respect through endless hours of conversation and contemplation. I wanted to help people solve their own problems. I hate the “good-hearted-but-completely-oblivious-great-white-hero-here-to-save-the-benighted-noble-savage-nonsense” that permeates the thinking of many humanitarians. Some blame imperialism for the developing world’s woes, others cite totalitarianism and tribal politics. While I certainly saw those poltergeists in action, I found that they are also handy scapegoats and only add to the general malaise infects just about everyone. Usually veiled with a toothy smile or a fake platitude, I always found this omnipresent depression to be the greatest impediment to change and progress. So many people just didn’t care anymore. Being positive was a rare quality, and it was my chief defense against slipping into the gloom. Bringing it out in my counterparts was quite literally the key to success in anything.

So that’s about it. I change around names and places. I want to push the reader into the bush. The joy of being in another place is intoxicating. Everyone should have the chance to live outside of their comfort zones. The experiences are priceless, and though my meager scribblings can’t do justice to the sheer awesome of it all, consider this a spirited attempt.

-Chris