Tuesday, November 30, 2010

DE ONGESCHREVEN GESCHIEDENIS

DE ONGESCHREVEN GESCHIEDENIS

By Stella Evelyne Tesha

Vroege Afrikaanse geschiedenis spreekt over bloeiende koninkrijken die onderling handelden door gebruik van traditionele onderhandelingspraktijken en gebruiken. De maatschappijen hadden structuur waaronder wijze ouderen en artsen vielen. Dit waren de koninkrijken die de kolonialisten barbaars noemden.

Toen kwam het tijdperk die een val bracht van vele oude Afrikaanse koninrijken en niet te vergeten kolonialisme, slavenhandel en gedwongen arbeid.

Gedurende de periode van de 19de eeuw stierven vele Afrikaanse mannen, mijn grootvader inbegrepen, in de bloei van hun leven als resultaat van vermoeidheid vanwege gedwongen arbeid en weemoed door de slavernij en/of export van hun zonen. Zonder zonen om de familienamen te dragen, of de productie voort te zetten en de families te onderhouden zag de toekomst er somber uit. Dit was het begin van de armoedecyclus in Afrika.

Opgroeiend zag ik Europa als de bron van al het kwaad dat in Afrika gebeurde. De industriƫle revolutie dat de ontwikkeling en het welzijn van de Europese mensen verzekerde, was een nachtmerrie voor Afrika. Tot op de dag van vandaag kunnen vele zwarte mensen wereldwijd hun voorvaderen niet traceren.

Afrika voeld nogsteeds het effect van de gebeurtenissen van de19de eeuw.
Het ontwikkelingswerk is een positieve bijdrage van Europa om de schade te herstellen die Afrika door hun voorvaderen is aangedaan. Per slot van rekening, geniet Europa nu nog van de vruchten van de arbeid en bloed van onze voorouders.

Is er om het even geen wrok van Afrika? Ja natuurlijk. We kunnen allemaal boos zijn over de moorden van onschuldige mensen in Zimbabwe, maar op een bepaald niveau van ons onderbewustzijn weten we allemaal dat het enkel een kwestie van tijd was alvorens het zou gebeuren.

Wij hebben ons verleden met Europa gezien als ‘hun zijn degenen die ons continent tegronde hebben gericht ‘ zou het niet fijn zijn als de geschiedenis geschreven door onze kleinkinderen zou zeggen ‘ hun zijn degenen die samen met ons het continent hebben herbouwd’?

Ontwikkelingshupl zou niet moeten worden verminderd, het moet vorden geherstructureerd. Wij bijven toegewijd aan de VN ontwikkelingsdoelstellingen. Het is tijd om aan nieuwe strategieƫn te denken om deze doelstellingen te verwezenlijken. Het is tijd om een nieuwe geschiedenis te schrijven.


Genoeg is genoeg!

‘THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY’

‘THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY’


By Stella Evelyne Tesha

I have always enjoyed stories. My grandfather from my mother’s side always told me stories about ancient African kingdoms, about slavery, about colonialism, about forced labor.

My grandfather from my mother’s side, was a good story teller. He lived to be 90.He lived during the time when the African tribal chiefdoms were functional, the various chiefdoms traded among themselves, there were traditional negotiations practices, and there were established customs, there were traditional doctors who healed by means of herbs and extractions from tree barks, roots, and or leaves.
These were the kingdoms that the colonialists termed as uncivilized.

My grandfather from my father’s side, died in 1945. During this period, many men died in their prime. If they did not die from tiredness as a result of forced labor, they died from broken hearts caused by slavery and exportation of their sons. With no sons left to carry on their names, no son left to continue with production, to take care of the families, the daughters, the wives, they foresaw no future. This was the beginning of poverty in Africa.

My father used to tell me, the colonialists had one very interesting trick called ‘divide and rule’. The ‘divide and rule’ practice pitted tribes against each other. Until today we see the result of this ‘practice’ from the Rwanda genocide.
When I was growing up I always looked at Europe as the source of all evil that is happening in Africa. The industrial revolution that ensured development of Europe and the welfare of European people, was a nightmare to Africa. We lost a lot! Until today many black people all around the world can not trace their ancestors. Until today, the daughters who had no support from their brothers and their fathers because they were either killed in sisal or sugarcane plantations or taken for slavery out of the country, are still suffering from the results of growing up as orphans. It is an obvious fact that if the head of the family is taken, if able bodied members of the society are exported, the society is weakened. And thus, Africa is still feeling the impact of the 19th century.

When I came to understand development work, I saw this as a positive contribution from Europe to repair the damage that was done to Africa by their ancestors. After all, Europe is still enjoying the fruits of labor and the blood of our ancestors.
Are there any grudges from Africa? Yes of course. You can see that from the reaction of Zimbabwe. We can all be angry about killings of innocent humans, but at some level we know it was just a matter of time before it happened.

Development aid has always seemed to me as ‘the right thing to do’. So I am very disappointed to hear that the Netherlands government has decided to cut down on aid.
Who will pay the price? We can’t foresee this now, but it won’t be the decision makers …naturally.

Development aid helps to uplift the grassroots societies of developing countries. Aid given for education, health, environmental management and others, contributes by building positive relationships between developing countries and the west.
In the past, we have looked at our history with Europe as ‘those are the ones who destroyed our continent’ wouldn’t it be nice if the history written by our grandchildren says ‘those are the ones who rebuilt the continent with us’?

Decision makers are not usually the ones who do the development field work. They don’t see the sufferings of hunger victims, they don’t experience the desperation of those who live with terminal diseases, and neither do they see the eyes of an orphan who foresees no future other than death on the streets. I could go on giving examples, but much information can be found on internet.

In my opinion development aid should not be cut down, but it should be more structured. We work in development and we are committed to UN development goals. Right now it is time to think of new strategies to accomplish the goals, it is not time to back out of the race. It is time to write a new history.



Enough is enough!