I received the write-up (posted below) via Blackberry message. It was painful to read. A bitter pill to swallow. It was a damning piece on the continent of Africa. Thought provoking!. Read and see what you make of it.
A Nigerian port health official speaks to a passenger at the arrivals hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, Aug. 6, 2014.Sunday Alamba—AP
EBOLA strikes “stone age” Africa.
The entire continent, comprised largely of backward thinking people, is thrown into confusion.
They were praying.
Calling on God as usual.
God doesn’t drop vaccines or cures from heaven.
I wonder why they can’t get that into their thick skulls.
EBOLA hit Africa in the 70s.
The Americans took note.
They developed a cure and locked it up in a wardrobe somewhere.
A thinking society, a practical society, a sensible society.
They solved the problem in the lab and not in the church or mosque.
They know the solution to problems is not by handing it over to God or casting it on Jesus or Mohammed.
They found a cure and locked it away, for a day it will be needed.
We were in church and mosques, praying.
So EBOLA hit West Africa and the entire continent became jittery.
Hundreds died.
America kept quiet.
Two Americans got infected.
The Americans opened their wardrobe, flew the cure to Africa and saved their citizens.
The drug worked within minutes!
The two citizens were saved.
Not by prayers but by common sense preparation.
God doesn’t help the praying Africans without vaccines or cures.
They die in their hundreds.
It’s because of their sins.
What else will they say?
The Americans don’t help lazy minded Africans too.
They make money with their vaccines, which praying Africans have to buy ‘cos they won’t spend their time taking the hard route to solve their problems.
They will rather gather in special prayer grounds and ask God to intervene.
But he does not.
Except maybe through the money making Pharma companies in America.
Such is the life of those who don’t think!
Writer unknown….
This write up was making a lot of sense until i got to the Phrase ‘We were in church and mosques, praying’ then i realised it was written by an African. From this point on the typical features of the African-diaspora way of thinking started revealing themselves. Let us consider the following:
1) What is that style of writing?
It is very very probable that he is writing from abroad and specifially outside of Africa. Because he is writing from outside africa, Africans become they. He is no more a part of it, and not only that he is now an Oga in thought and reason.
2) What sollution is he providing?
Non.
3) What is he blaming for the spread?
In a typical African way of avoiding to take responsibility and/or to criticise he puts the blame on the unknown. Reading this post one can assume that for any given Population, Africa has the highest ratio of followers believing in one believe System or another. In most Afican fora opinions simply translate for facts.
I am a Cameroonian, living outside Africa and sometimes i am embarassed by the way we approach issues. Like a typical African I belong to a union of people from my area area in Cameroon. We contribute money to carry on development projects back home. I remember that one of such projects was to buy a car for our village chief? I wondered what that had to do with village development. That same Group sat a few weeks after buying the chief’s car an wrote letters begging for help to buy benches for a primary School. Being a good member of the Group i approached my White friends begging. One of them asked me why we did not beg for Money to buy a sawing machine since we have excess wood arround us.
4) Do i offer any proposal?
Yes.
My brother, you are part of the problem. Rather than blame the church or someone else decide to become part of the solution. My proposal is that before looking for the cure we should start by curbing the spread.It needs no money. I am from Africa and so i know the influence and power of our village chiefs. Let the consumption of bush meat be banned. I am not confirming that Ebola is from bush meat. IF the source is not known and it is suspected that the consupmtion of bush meat is a potential medium for the spread let that be banned.
Finally, Nigeria has taken a small step in the right direction by banning miracle healers from exploiting Ebola victims. What if this whole blame on the church was framed like this, ‘ Pray while taking your medications’. I think it is Logical to pray that the physician does a timely and proper diagnosis, that scientist fine a cure, etc. If everyone believes that bushmeat is a probable source and keeps away while encouraging and praying for others to stop eating bushmeat. Believing is so powerful that pharma industries use it to ‘cure’. What are Placebos? All we Need is to use peoples ability to believe for positive issues.