At the end of our project trip, we spent Saturday and Sunday at a nice resort/bungalow place on the Nile in Jinja, where we had our "closing time," which included reflecting on what we had experienced and learned, sharing positive traits we had noticed in our teammates, and praying for each other. The place we stayed was directly overlooking some white water rapids on the Nile (which we had rafted last month), and it was absolutely beautiful. The three girls on our trip shared a nice "bungalow" with impressive natural rock accents, a separate bedroom, a secluded porch overlooking the water, and probably the best shower I've had in Africa. The food was also amazing. It was really nice to have a peaceful place to rest and process the week, and also to enjoy the beauty of God's creation. But in order to get there, we drove through about 10 km of backroads past "village" houses of mud and sticks and kids playing in the yard.
The contrast was quite striking and brought up questions for us of the "justice" of that kind of retreat place and nice Western places in general. I think it's a difficult issue because I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing for there to be nice places for foreigners to stay when they visit Uganda, or for missionaries and aid workers to go for a much-needed weekend of rest. I have found that "treating" myself to a nice cafe lunch or pizza delivery is the type of thing that can keep me going and make this sustainable for me. But I do think that insisting on being surrounded by an excess of wealth in such a poor country can be selfish and narrow-minded. Also, I think it's sad when people visit and surround themselves in Western luxury and never actually get out and get to know "the real Uganda." I suppose you can argue that tourist places help boost the economy, etc. I don't know much about the economics, but when I think about how that kind of system makes Ugandans view Westerners, it makes me sad. It's true that we generally have much more wealth, but I think it makes a difference when people come to a place and get to know people and want to learn about the culture and history and foods instead of going straight to a Western luxury resort bubble and not ever getting to know more about the actual place they're visiting.
The place we stayed in Jinja brought these questions and the reality of the wealth disparity into our faces when we drove past dozens of very poor families and suddenly ended up at a resort with manicured lawns. It's interesting to think about what was actually "wrong" with that picture. Was it just that the contrast had been blatantly displayed and made me feel guilty? Is it unjust that the place exists or just that it exists so close to poverty? Would it better if they just circumvented the village houses and blazed an asphalt trail around the farmland, directly to the resort? It doesn't seem like that is really the answer.... But maybe there is an injustice or insensitivity about having cars full of (mostly) White people driving down their road, bypassing the locals and heading directly to a resort that they will never be able to enjoy. Should that type of resort not exist at all or do I just not like it when I'm reminded of how privileged I am to be able to benefit from it when so many people here can't? I don't have answers to these questions, and I don't necessarily think that everyone needs to come to the same conclusions. But I do think it's important that these types of questions are asked, especially by foreigners who live/come here. I think it's important that I ask these questions of myself.
Thanks for this. ;)
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