Volume LV, No.4
December, 2001
Democracy, Development, Debt and Disease in Globalising Africa: What is Our Future?
Peter J. Henriot, S.J.
IN THIS ISSUE
Peter J Henriot, S.J. presents Africa's challenges for the future from a perspective of hope, discerning hopeful movements in the growth of the church as family, the role of a vital civil society, and the development of women.
I must be honest with you. If I lived here in Rome, and saw an advertisement for a conference with such a long title, such a depressing title, scheduled for only two hours, I don't think I would have come! How could anyone possibly treat all these topics, except in a very superficial fashion, in such a brief time? And why should I come to listen to such a litany of problems _ especially if I suspected that the speaker might also have plans to add a few more "Ds" to his already questionable list, words like, "deprivation, discrimination, deception, decay, disappointment, despair"! Africa, what indeed is our future?!
Well, this particular speaker does not, despite the long title advertised, intend to cover all these topics, nor does he intend to add even a few more topics to the list. Rather, I want to offer a perspective, a mindset, that seems to me to be very obvious and very necessary, but all too often, very sidelined.
I arrived in Rome yesterday, coming directly from Zambia, where I have lived for the past twelve years — admittedly a short time for many missionaries, but a very full time for this particular Jesuit. I will be returning there in one week's time. Many of you may know that Zambia is a country of tremendous potential and great promise, a land of rich resources and wonderful people, a nation at peace though surrounded by wars, conflicts and instabilities. But Zambia is also a country of problems, for it is one of the poorest countries in the world (80% of the people live below the poverty line) and one of the hardest hit by HIV/AIDS (a rate of 20% — a fact, of course, directly related to our poverty).
Lessons of the Eclipse
But an incident happened in Zambia last week while I was preparing this paper that has influenced profoundly the perspective I want to offer to you today in addressing the question, "What is the future for Africa?"
As you may know, Zambia was one of the African countries touched most dramatically by the total eclipse of the sun on 21 June, just one week ago. Lusaka was one of the best viewing places on the continent for this fantastic celestial phenomenon. As I gathered on last Thursday afternoon on a wide open space on the campus of the University of Zambia, next to where I live, with thousands of Zambians and hundreds of tourists from around the world, I marveled at a show, a spectacle, that no human producer could ever aspire to present. For over three hours of partial darkening of the sun and over three minutes of total darkness, we witnessed the disruption of ordinary patterns of life, as animals and birds, along with humans, grappled with the dramatic removal of sunlight in the midst of an otherwise bright and sunny winter day.
I must tell you that for the three minutes of total darkness, I prayed strongly that what the scientists had told us would truly be true, that the sun would reappear in all its shining glory. And it did…with a new dawn that gave rise to shouts of relief and joy among the people I stood with that memorable afternoon.
The reason I tell you this story is that the experience of this eclipse last week reinforced in me a fundamental perspective that I believe is so very, very important today when looking at the continent of Africa and its future. This is the perspective of hope, hope reinforced by careful discernment of concrete instances of hopeful movement into the fullness of God's Kingdom.
By European colonialists, Africa was often contemptuously described as the "dark continent." Dark not only in the colour of skin of the inhabitants, but in the tone and the mood these visitors often experienced from their supposedly superior position of "civilisation": a continent backward and dismal, mysterious and incomprehensible. But Africa of course is not a "dark continent," any more than Europe or North America are places of "superior civilisation."
What I experienced at the moment of the eclipse was the fact that in God's loving plans the sun does indeed appear again, that the darkness does truly vanish, and that nature does really awake once more to new life. I profoundly believe that this is the story of Africa today. I don't use the term popularised by South African President Thabo Mbeki, namely the "African Renaissance" — I believe that it unfortunately has too many political overtones. But I do believe that Africa is a continent coming alive with new hope, and with the potential to make that hope a reality.
Yes, I am willing to affirm that this is the same Africa that you perhaps read about in the daily papers, watch on CNN or BBC, hear many stories about _ a land of deprivation, disease, debt, despair and many more "Ds"! What makes my perception different from that of so much of the popular media outside Africa is my perspective, a perspective of hope.
Signs of the Times
I said earlier that this perspective of hope must be reinforced by a discernment of the movements of hope, both personal and institutional. This requires what John XXIII called "reading the signs of the times." In his great "last will and testament," the 1963 encyclical letter, Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris), this truly "blessed" pope challenged us to be aware of God's action in history. He identified three major movements of his day — the gains of the working classes, the rise of women and the end of colonialism — as signs of the times that reveal God's work to bring human dignity to its fulness (#s 40-42)
These movements were not simply economic, cultural or political phenomena, but God's actions in history. As such, they were to be cooperated with in the building of the Kingdom of God, in the fulfilment of the Lord's prayer, "your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"!
So what can we discern as "signs of the times" in Africa today? What do the "signs of the times" tell us about the future Africa might have? Let me briefly describe and analyse three "signs of the times," three among many, and let me ask you to reflect as you hear me whether or not what I say rings true to you, to many of you who have much greater experience of Africa than do I.
First, the growth of the "Church as Family."
I use that beautiful phrase, "Church as family," captured by the African Synod of 1994 and described so powerfully in a new book by a young Jesuit Nigerian theologian (a book I hope many of you are familiar with), The Church As Family: African Ecclesiology in Its Social Context (Paulines, 2000). A.E. Orobator sums up his description that is at once a hope and a challenge: the church as the Family of God is "a community of solidarity at the service of life." I want to look at each of the three elements in that description, from my personal experience in Africa.
First, in my part of Africa, I experience a church of life in the small rural outstation outside Lusaka where I was last Sunday morning. I serve in this outstation, Kabangwe, on Sundays, where a young and vital laity manage things very well, even with quite meager resources. We follow the pastoral plan of the small Christian communities (similar to the communidad de base of Latin America), so that the Sunday gathering _ with or without a priest present — is a gathering of the "community of communities." Inculturation of the faith is key, making the faith both genuinely Christian and authentically African. The challenge is not simply for a lively liturgy but for a thoughtful theology, not simply for more drumming but for new dreaming.
Second, the church in Zambia and in so many other parts of Africa has taken seriously the message of service from the African Synod about the promotion of justice and peace as integral to evangelisation. This often means bringing Good News in the midst of bad news. This has meant strong pastoral letters on issues such as human rights and economic reform. It has meant active engagement in political processes where necessary, such as electoral process education and monitoring. It has meant making an effort to communicate to Catholic leaders the riches and challenges of the church's social teaching (something that so often is still "our best kept secret"!). And at least in our experience, this ministry of justice and peace has also had positive ecumenical consequences.
Third, in facing the disaster of the AIDS pandemic, the church has done something as a community of solidarity with the people, but admittedly, not enough. The grace side of this immense tragedy of AIDS has been the response of concern for the sick and the dying, shown, for example, in the home based care programme. A collapse of government health systems has placed a heavy burden on families and communities, a burden shared by the approach of home based care where Christians reach out to their neighbours with the basic assistance of a bath, cleaning a home, providing some food and possibly some medicine and just listening or comforting in silence. However, in dealing with HIV/AIDS, I believe that the church still must come to grips more honestly and intelligently with the "condom culture" — but that should be another whole SEDOS conference!
Now the picture I have painted of the movement of hope in the church in Africa might appear overly bright to some of you, but for me it is a not-unrealistic perspective that gives my faith meaning and my commitment strength. And to speak very honestly, perhaps this positive picture may explain to you the extremely negative reaction stirred in Africa by the recent stories of sexual abuse in the church. I know of no African Catholic, lay, religious or cleric, who would deny that a serious problem exists and that serious responses are called for. But what caused pain and anger was the one-sided, stereotyped, paternalistic and pessimistic way that the stories were reported or commented on, whether by accident or through purpose. The stories gave a very untruthful and very unjust image of the church in Africa. But that too should be another whole SEDOS conference!
Second, the role of a vital civil society.
When the "winds of change" swept across Africa from the 1960s, bringing an end to the colonial dominations and exploitations, there were great expectations of new governments of the people (inclusive of all), by the people (participative by all) and for the people (beneficial for all). "Democracy" _ people's rule for their own good _ was to replace colonial rule for the good of outsiders. Sadly, for a variety of reasons both internal and external, this did not work out. By the end of the 1980s, 36 of the 42 sub-Saharan African states were ruled by one party cliques, military dictatorships, presidents for life, or whatever authoritarian regime could find means to stay in power for its own benefit.
The 1990's brought change, again for a variety of reasons both internal and external, and new attempts at democracy came about. Some of the attempts were short lived, others were frustrated by continuing conflicts, many were restricted by outside interferences, and all were hampered by poverty and illiteracy.
But one hopeful phenomenon which has grown in the midst of both the successes and the failures is the rise of what is popularly referred to as "civil society," the phenomenon of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community based organisations, self-help groups, private voluntary organisations, etc. These are organisations of citizens cooperating together for common ends of improved lives.
When I first came to Zambia for some programmes in 1982, and then returned to live there in 1989, I often heard the phrase "the party and its government." As a one-party state, Zambia had no "civil society," since everything was done _ at least theoretically and legally _ by "the party and its government"! But with the constitutional acceptance of multi-partyism in 1991, a vibrant but formerly forbidden sector of society became alive and active. Service NGOs such as development associations, programmes for orphans and street children, women's groups. Advocacy NGOs such as justice and peace commissions, human rights organisations, environmental and integrity of creation groups.
I know that what Zambia has experienced is something that has occurred across the African continent. At their best, these civil society groups do not substitute or replace government, but rather complement government's activities and strengthen democracy's actions. I say, "at their best," because I've also seen civil society groups formed primarily to benefit the organisers and their narrow interests. In Zambia, besides NGOs, we also have NGIs _ "non-governmental individuals," and GONGOs _ "government organised NGOs"!
Why do I call this movement of civil society one of the "signs of the time," a reason for hope? Because I see them as demonstrations of compassionate response, analytical skills and cooperative strength.
First, the civil society groups offer a compassionate response to social problems, sensitive to the needs of so many of the marginalised and oppressed in society. Governments that are sometimes insensitive and other times incapable simply do not act adequately to meet the needs of the majority of the population. And the powerful locus of African traditional care, the extended family, is today weakened in its social responsiveness by poverty and by illnesses. The NGOs both provide services and lobby government to be more responsive. Their efforts are fully compassionate.
Second, analytical skills are an increasingly important capacity of civil society organisations. By analytical skills I mean the ability to identify the root causes of social problems and consequently work for radical solutions and not merely deal with symptoms . When I came to Zambia in 1989, I worked for a year in a village development programme that used a Paulo Freire methodology of community organising called "Training for Transformation." Central to that was the training of the peasant farmers in basic skills in social analysis. By constantly asking "why," these Zambians could take apart the situations they were in the midst of and then try to build an adequate response. I've subsequently found myself in admiration of the solid analysis done by the civil society organisations that have challenged government over issues such as budgetary priorities, corruption, legal practices and electoral processes.
Third, the cooperative strength I mention is evident in the number of coalitions that have effected significant change in Africa. Many of these are local political movements _ not partisan or party-oriented but with more of a civic education orientation. These local groups have struggled for strong democratic rule, constitutionalism and respect for law. Others are issue-oriented, such as the Jubilee movement for debt cancellation _ a religiously inspired movement that may not yet have completed its task but has already done remarkable, truly remarkable, things. The strength of Jubilee, of course, is that it has combined local organisation and international cooperation. A similar example is the anti-land mines campaign. This cooperative strength manifested in civil society outshines efforts of both government and political parties and is indeed hopeful.
Third, the development of women.
One of the earliest insights I learned about the women's movement from feminist analysis was the simple fact that women's rights are human rights, women's development is human development, women's progress is human progress. I have come to understand that the improvement in the respect, opportunities and advancement of women is the improvement in the whole human race. It is not simply a woman whose life improves but the quality of life of the whole community improves.
I believe that this is one of the reasons why John XXIII could refer in 1963 to the movement of women to claim their full dignity as one of the "signs of the times," one of the clear indications of God's action in history. Because as the situation of women is improved, the total situation of humanity is improved.
This is certainly the case in Africa. It is estimated that African women provide nearly 80% of Africa's farm labour and over 75% of its food. Women are key actors in the informal sector, where, in a country like Zambia, a sizeable portion of national economic activity is generated. Women are the caretakers in homes and are the providers _ frequently as grandmothers _ for the myriad of children orphaned by the AIDS crisis.
What is occurring in different ways, in different places and at different paces is a growing recognition of the dignity of women and subsequent advocacy for the respect due to them. This recognition _ a truly hopeful sign — frequently must overcome deeply set cultural traditions about the superiority of men. But there have been very encouraging steps in recent years toward the treatment of women according to the basic truth of Genesis 1:27, that all are made equally in the image and likeness of God, all women and men. Let me mention just four areas where these steps are taking place, in politics, in agriculture, in schools and in the home.
First, there is growing involvement of women in the politics of the new democracies that are struggling in Africa. Civic education programmes are aiming to inform women of their rights and their duties to participate in electoral politics. Registration, voting, running for office _ more women are becoming involved. Some political parties are even talking about quotas, whereby at least 30% to 35% of their candidates would be women. Lobbying efforts are made to assure that sufficient numbers of women are named to cabinet posts and other key government offices. As far as I know, there have not yet been any heads of state in Africa who are women, though in some places (e.g., Uganda) a woman is serving as vice-president.
Second, in agriculture, serious analysis and strong advocacy has been going on regarding the ownership of land. Land has gained in social and economic significance, particularly where land reforms _ peaceful or violent _ have occurred. However, many customary laws discriminate against female land ownership. In some places, women cannot secure title deeds for land; in other places, "customary land" (controlled by local chiefs) are only allocated to men. But there is a strong movement to change all this, with NGOs, churches, farm workers' unions, etc., lobbying for non-discriminatory laws and practices. With the centrality of agriculture in Africa's economy, this attention to women's rights to land will have profoundly positive effects on everyone's development prospects and this is truly hopeful.
Third, education is, of course, key to development. Women have suffered from lack of educational opportunities and the sharp statistical differences in literacy rates between males and females are clear evidence of this fact. But many recent programmes in education have focused particularly on the girl child. We have come to realise the truth: Education of the girl is education of the nation. It is estimated that even a few years of schooling for a girl may mean that she will marry later, have fewer children, take better care of the children, and contribute more to the community. There are many barriers to be overcome _ some economic, some cultural _ but the improvement in girls' education is a positive and hopeful sign of development in Africa.
Fourth, in the home, the role of woman is central. But many cultural blocks hinder the experience of full dignity by women. Two of the worst of these are spouse abuse or domestic violence and property grabbing of widow's goods. But there are encouraging signs of a struggle against these evils. Groups like the YWCA and Catholic women's organisations provide not only rescue help for abused women but also legal assistance. Moreover lobbying by groups like the Catholic Justice and Peace Commissions in several countries have both educated the public about widow's rights and advocated for legislation to protect them.
I mention these four positive and hopeful areas without ignoring that we indeed have a long ways to go in securing the full development of women in Africa. And surely the church has an important role to play here, both by education and by example, by word and by witness. The African church is carried by women at every level, even without admission to ordination. One day, that admission to ordination will also come, I firmly believe. But in the meantime the church must put into practice what it preaches about the equality and dignity of women.
"Globalisation of Hope"
So, this is what comes from bringing a perspective of hope to Africa today, discerning hopeful movements towards the Kingdom of God. I've tried not to be too over-optimistic, too unrealistic, in my treatment of (1) the growth of the "Church as Family," (2) the role of a vital civil society, and (3) the development of women. Frankly, I've surprised myself a bit in the preparation of this paper and perhaps I've surprised you also in its presentation. But when I've talked to some good African friends in the past few weeks, and we have bemoaned together the oh-so-negative image of Africa projected in the media outside the continent, I decided to do something different than I had earlier planned when submitting the original title for this conference this afternoon.
What I've said here in bits and pieces may not be new to you, but what I've wanted to do is put these bit and pieces together in a framework that could provide a perspective of hope. I realise that I haven't directly addressed the phenomenon of globalisation _ you can read my thoughts on that on our JCTR website (http://www.jctr.org.zm). But I was struck recently by a phrase that made a lot of sense to me and really sums up my presentation: "We need a globalisation of hope!" Let's contribute to that kind of globalisation, you here in Rome, and me in Zambia.
I say that because I'm reminded of a statement from the greatest document of Vatican Two, The Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes): "We can justly consider that the future of humanity lies in the hands of those who are strong enough to provide coming generations with reasons for living and hoping." (#31) For Africa, what is our future? I believe it is in the hands of those of us willing to discern the movement of hope and then act to make that hope a reality. And so I repeat, let's do that, you here in Rome, and me in Zambia!
Thank you.
About the Author
Peter J. Henriot, S.J.,Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection,
P.O. Box 37774 10101 Lusaka, Zambia, Tel: 260-1-290410, Fax:260-1-290759, E-mail: phenriot@zamnet.zm , Web:www.jctr.org.zm
Peter Henriot, S.J., directs the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, Lusaka, Zambia, cooperates with the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace of the Zambian Bishops Conference, and is in charge of a local language mission station outside of Lusaka. Originally from the United States of America, he has lived in Zambia for the past twelve years. Before that, he served for many years at the Center of Concern in Washington, D.C. A political scientist, he also teaches courses in the "Social Teaching of the Church" at the diocesan major seminary in Lusaka.
This address was given at the SEDOS Conference 28 June 2001 Rome, Italy
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