The longer I am in Zambia the more I learn about the Zambians relationship with development workers and foreigners in general. It appears as though there has developed a general attitude of entitlement. People expect you to help them. Even when you do they do not appear to be thankful but act as if it was owed to them. Perhaps I am simply misinterpreting cultural differences but it has seemed to me that quite a number of people expect help from foreigners. There are numerous aid organizations operating in Kitwe so it makes sense that the Zambians living here are accustomed to accepting money and supplies from external sources.
When I travel into the markets I am always shocked by how much of the merchandise has been donated by American and Canadian sources. Shipments of clothing sold here are openly advertised as originating from Canada and the US. It makes me concerned that such a great proportion of the local economy is directly dependent on donations.
To date, the youth we are working with in Village of Hope have been funding their post secondary education by selling donated clothing. They have no insurance that the shipments of clothing will continue being sent and this is a main reason for us starting a corner store with them. If donations were to stop coming to Kitwe the economic consequences would be devastating for its entire population.
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Thanks for this post Janna,
You point to one problem with aid – depency – but also to something that I think is even more troublesome – a sense of entitlement. I have come across similar feelings in Kampala. There are some refugee communities that feel entitled to being resettled. Some members of their community have been resettled to Canada, the US and Australia, and suddenly, all members have only one demand – to be sent to a third country. The question for me is where does this feeling of entitlement come from – because not all communities have it. And how to ensure that aid does not change the culture so much for this sense of entitlement to develop. But that is too much to tackle in a comment.