Just Us

Mwirire (hey in rwandan)
Up here in Canada, the sun is shining (at least in Ottawa at the moment), but winter chill is slowly swaying back and forth across the country. This change in weather would have Mary Poppins off again, and is stirring up my own wish for travel. If only I had an umbrella like hers…

Anyhow, until I can click my heels or wave a wand to land me back somewhere warm and dusty, I’ll try to find contentment in just letters, books, and learning about all that’s going on around the world.

The JustUs Project held their video premiere last week. This was a documentary I’d heard about for a while in the making and finally got to see. The entire film was shot in Rwanda to look at the Millennium Development Goals and how they are shaping up in this one country.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are 8 critical targets the United Nations has set for the world to achieve by 2015. These broad ambitious goals have been taken on by nations around the world, seeing the need for humanity as a collective whole to address what needs to be done in our world, which we can’t ignore much longer.

I read Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty, which was one of the earlier publications on the MDGs and was excited by what ideas were even being proposed, such as eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, and providing universal primary education. Exciting, lofty, and way over my head. These were goals for wealthy governments and rock stars. I didn’t include Canadian university student as one of those a part of this effort.

My first trip to Kenya in 2005 changed a lot of that for me. I’d read about AIDS and poverty with intimidating numbers and tragedy-filled commercials. I remember one afternoon, taking a nap on one of the bunk beds at the orphanage I was staying at and thinking how similar I was to these youth I was living with. We shared books, did laundry together, they’d cook me fish, I’d clean scraped knees. The whole distance and lack of connection that I had held for my life to that point disappeared. That whole ‘me’ and ‘them’… differences disappeared. It was just ‘us’ taking care of each other, entertaining ourselves, learning from each other.

From university or interest, I’ve ended up watching a million documentaries on ‘Africa’. Some I’ve shaken my head at: the ones that instill pity, and evoke self-righteous feelings to those who pick up the phone, or leave you feeling like there’s nothing to do for ‘them’. Some documentaries just document horror and try to squeeze in as many graphic images of guerrilla troops and bloodshed living in that stereotypical ‘heart of darkness’. Some documentaries look at the desolation and what foreigners are doing for locals, how outsiders alone are solving the problems. Perspectives on Africa, or the “Majority World” in general are often informed by films or notions like these. Perpetuating ‘us’ and ‘them’.

As the title suggests, “JustUs” studies the MDGs and Rwandan life from the perspective that everyone from anywhere can and should be taking steps to meet the goals. The video documents the need; it discusses the goals and why they are set, and how they are being achieved (in this case Rwandan projects solving Rwandan issues, sometimes partnering with internationals and larger organizations in extending their reach). The perspective that on earth there is work being done by ‘us’ (humanity as a whole). Interviews in the documentary, depicting need and progress, evaluate what is being done as a whole. Africa is not a continent waiting around for foreigners to solve its problems. Dynamic local individuals and teams are bringing about change - sometimes small because of means, but Africa is not a stagnant place. For development to happen, the world needs to partner together (this is the 8th MDG). Grassroots and governments; individuals and organizations; us.

The entire documentary had me slipping in and out of memory and personal experiences in the sub-Saharan, which is what drew me to it so strongly. It showed the Africa I knew, not some westernized version of Africa with Alex Trebek holding your hand to tell the story. Rwandans set the content and held the dialogue - it was their voice talking about their country, needs, and successes. This is what I think international education should be made of.

My blog has run far too long. words tripping over words. The JustUs Project is touring Canada right now, and sometime next year the documentary will be available to all for purchase. Check out www.thejustusproject.com for more info on it all, including general info on the MDGs.

Getting involved with partners those we have here at SpanAfrica exist to also drive the point home that humanity needs to work together - learn and understand the differences so we can see our similarity. It’s the similarity that inspires motivation for justice.

Goodbye in Rwanda is a word I have yet to learn. So I’ll sign off with what’s familiar.

Cheers, Cam