June 27th
After my junior year in college, I took a course called Black Women in US History. It was cross listed between women’s studies and ethnic studies, so I figured I would get my proverbial dollar’s worth, seeing as how this elective constituted about 25% of my elective credits at UW-Madison.
It was the first time in my life that I could really begin to realize the atrocities that african americans faced in the US. More importantly, it was the first time I began to realize the atrocities that women faced, and still do face every day. In short, it was a 3 credit summer course on how to learn to hate myself: the white male. To give credit to my instructor, I would loath myself intensely for hours at a time—much more so than usual. And although this was not her intention by any mean—far from it, of course—it just was something I could be very passionate and dramatic about; because I feel so very strongly about equality... in the biblical sense, and such. I jest, but I do feel strongly about equality, and that’s why I had to loath the idea of every white man from that point, onward.
This past weekend, Nicole and I went up-country a bit to camp near a lake and hike up and around an extinct volcano. The trip was amazing, of course: we heard hippos grunting in the night, listened to a 9-year-old boy sing us “Ridin’ Dirty’, and hiked around an extinct volcano (need I say more; pictures to come, I hope). Unfortunately, the entire weekend I was surround by white people, and I have to admit that I really didn’t like it. Here, I spent less than fifteen US dollars the entire weekend (which includes the cost for transportation, lodging and food) to take this little vacation, but I was absolutely put off by the notion that I was surrounded by white privilege. I mean, what else were these people doing there if they weren’t rich as can be? They were almost all white (50%-80% white, at least), and I basically have to assume that the white people have more money than the black people. Think: they’re coming from either America or Europe, and they had to travel to get to Africa, which costs at least $400 for some Europeans, and is ~$1800 for Americans right now.
So here, I’ve run away to Kenya, more-or-less run away from the West and my privilege and the wastefulness that I’m responsible for in the past, and I take one little weekend trip and I’m surrounded by my own privilege again. What a bummer, right?
No. Only a bummer if I approach it as such. I’ve given no mention to the fact that I probably would’ve gotten along very well with the white people from the campsite, seeing as how we all decided to take a trip to the same part of the globe. (Aside: I realize that not everyone there was there for the same reason as I; I’m not trying to be egotistical, just brutally honest.) What I learned this weekend is that it doesn’t matter who I’m surrounded by: it doesn’t change who I am or where I’ve been thus far; what matters is... well, I can’t tell you, because it’s the secret to life. You’re going to have to travel to an extinct volcano if you want to figure that one out.
ps Sorry for sneaking out of that one. I just didn’t want to say the same thing over and over. The secret of life: do what you want; but do it right. And don’t ask me what’s right, because I tried writing a post about problems, and it came out all messed up.
University of Washington Flow Cytometry Laboratory
I've been promising pictures, and this is the one I have with me at work right now. I promise I'll put up cool pictures... this century.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Problem with Health Care in Nairobi, Kenya, pt. 1
June 19th
I have not stepped inside of a hospital yet. I have not watched physicians practice, I have not spoken with patients or heard their stories, and I have not observed a health system at work. I have no idea what the problem with health care in Africa is.
But I have seen many other things that I would consider problems, though. For example, one of the ‘pedestrian walk’ signs in Nairobi’s city center is stuck on green. I was nearly run over yesterday because I had the gall to think that the sign was accurate and telling the truth. In other parts of town, police are needed throughout the entire day to direct traffic, because either the traffic lights aren’t working, or the intersection is jammed every day, and it is completely without any street lights or signage at all.
At the research facility where I work, it usually takes between 4 and 12 weeks to receive an internet account. That is a huge problem for a plugged-in, internet-needy American worker, and a problem that would never happen in America. A log-in name for a computer system?... as a freshman in the college of engineering, our first assignment was to setup an account at the computer lab; it took 5 minutes at UW-Madison.
The reason it takes so long to get an account here: because the IT director only signs the paperwork when he has a pile of 10 applications. I cannot begin to guess at the reasons for this, but it is a major problem, and resolving this problem could dramatically increase the productivity at the research facility. (The IT director is the former director of the Center for Traditional Medicine and Herbal Treatment Research at my facility, and I plan on being introduced to him before the end of my stay so I can talk with him about his old position. I will make sure to comment on what I find.)
Now, I want to discuss the general nature of problems, and I thought I would use these as examples. Using all the deep thinking I’m capable of (I’m really showing my cards here), I think that problems exist for two reasons:
1) They aren’t recognized as problems by a majority of people, and therefore cease to exist as problems. This is the case of the walk sign that was stuck on green. Pedestrians are expected to guard their lives with all their faculties, because cars absolutely have the right of way here, and therefore those on foot have no reason to pay attention to, worry about or heed any signs for pedestrians.
2) People recognize that a problem may exist, but have no incentive for making any effort towards resolving the problem. My advisor at the facility—a Infectious Disease fellow from the University of Washington—was removed from (kicked out of) the IT director’s office when he made an informal complaint to the director (i.e. he rose hell about the bush-league actions of the IT department). Obviously, the IT director must recognize that people are not happy with the way he runs things, and that there must be a problem with one of his processes. However, he clearly enjoys exercising some kind of power over the researchers at the facility, and has no real reason to change his practice.
There may be other confounding issues that aren’t considered in these two scenarios; for example, the IT director may have other reasons for delaying the approval of accounts, such as limited memory allotted for personal space on the accounts (that’s the only shitty reason I can think of right now). But setting those aside—which is, of course, a very important ‘but’—I think the only reason that these problems can persist is a lack of motivation mediated by a lack of incentive.
Shit. I realize where this is going. I’ve read too many WHO reports, seen too many articles on system engineering, and I’ve just broke into the systems vernacular with ‘motivation’ and ‘incentive’. So please, let me proceed informally.
People do good work because they’re either rewarded for it, or because they’re motivated internally for some reason. Here in Africa, people don’t have a whole lot of stuff. (And as the saying goes, if you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. No real point to that, just a good saying.) Furthermore, people aren’t paid very much money here, and are expected to live on very little (especially when compared to their counterparts in the States). So I can understand how people can become obsessed with how little their lives produce, reward-wise, and therefore see no reason to do good work.
I think the people that have the internal motivation have the gift of idealism. Does that not simply and beautifully explain the visions and dreams of a person who hopes to achieve a personal goal? But I want to know, who gets this gift? Has there ever been a poll on idealism? What are the demographics? What’s the distribution like across the map? I think it’s safe to say that more youth in America are idealistic than youth in Africa. It’s an opportunity thing, where the young stay young longer in America (extended adolescence nationwide), while children in Uganda are being abducted and recruited for armies (similar to the US, only 5-6 incredibly important adolescent years earlier). Being an idealist allows a person to work for very little reward, because they have the ability to dream of something greater than the real, terrible and gross world that we actually live in (oooh, I wonder what the demographics on cynicism are).
In conclusion, it’s the same shit in a different place. I think I see problems that need fixing. The only question, is whether or not they are actually problems. And if they are, what needs to be done to solve the problems. Something to meditate on for a few decades.
I have not stepped inside of a hospital yet. I have not watched physicians practice, I have not spoken with patients or heard their stories, and I have not observed a health system at work. I have no idea what the problem with health care in Africa is.
But I have seen many other things that I would consider problems, though. For example, one of the ‘pedestrian walk’ signs in Nairobi’s city center is stuck on green. I was nearly run over yesterday because I had the gall to think that the sign was accurate and telling the truth. In other parts of town, police are needed throughout the entire day to direct traffic, because either the traffic lights aren’t working, or the intersection is jammed every day, and it is completely without any street lights or signage at all.
At the research facility where I work, it usually takes between 4 and 12 weeks to receive an internet account. That is a huge problem for a plugged-in, internet-needy American worker, and a problem that would never happen in America. A log-in name for a computer system?... as a freshman in the college of engineering, our first assignment was to setup an account at the computer lab; it took 5 minutes at UW-Madison.
The reason it takes so long to get an account here: because the IT director only signs the paperwork when he has a pile of 10 applications. I cannot begin to guess at the reasons for this, but it is a major problem, and resolving this problem could dramatically increase the productivity at the research facility. (The IT director is the former director of the Center for Traditional Medicine and Herbal Treatment Research at my facility, and I plan on being introduced to him before the end of my stay so I can talk with him about his old position. I will make sure to comment on what I find.)
Now, I want to discuss the general nature of problems, and I thought I would use these as examples. Using all the deep thinking I’m capable of (I’m really showing my cards here), I think that problems exist for two reasons:
1) They aren’t recognized as problems by a majority of people, and therefore cease to exist as problems. This is the case of the walk sign that was stuck on green. Pedestrians are expected to guard their lives with all their faculties, because cars absolutely have the right of way here, and therefore those on foot have no reason to pay attention to, worry about or heed any signs for pedestrians.
2) People recognize that a problem may exist, but have no incentive for making any effort towards resolving the problem. My advisor at the facility—a Infectious Disease fellow from the University of Washington—was removed from (kicked out of) the IT director’s office when he made an informal complaint to the director (i.e. he rose hell about the bush-league actions of the IT department). Obviously, the IT director must recognize that people are not happy with the way he runs things, and that there must be a problem with one of his processes. However, he clearly enjoys exercising some kind of power over the researchers at the facility, and has no real reason to change his practice.
There may be other confounding issues that aren’t considered in these two scenarios; for example, the IT director may have other reasons for delaying the approval of accounts, such as limited memory allotted for personal space on the accounts (that’s the only shitty reason I can think of right now). But setting those aside—which is, of course, a very important ‘but’—I think the only reason that these problems can persist is a lack of motivation mediated by a lack of incentive.
Shit. I realize where this is going. I’ve read too many WHO reports, seen too many articles on system engineering, and I’ve just broke into the systems vernacular with ‘motivation’ and ‘incentive’. So please, let me proceed informally.
People do good work because they’re either rewarded for it, or because they’re motivated internally for some reason. Here in Africa, people don’t have a whole lot of stuff. (And as the saying goes, if you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. No real point to that, just a good saying.) Furthermore, people aren’t paid very much money here, and are expected to live on very little (especially when compared to their counterparts in the States). So I can understand how people can become obsessed with how little their lives produce, reward-wise, and therefore see no reason to do good work.
I think the people that have the internal motivation have the gift of idealism. Does that not simply and beautifully explain the visions and dreams of a person who hopes to achieve a personal goal? But I want to know, who gets this gift? Has there ever been a poll on idealism? What are the demographics? What’s the distribution like across the map? I think it’s safe to say that more youth in America are idealistic than youth in Africa. It’s an opportunity thing, where the young stay young longer in America (extended adolescence nationwide), while children in Uganda are being abducted and recruited for armies (similar to the US, only 5-6 incredibly important adolescent years earlier). Being an idealist allows a person to work for very little reward, because they have the ability to dream of something greater than the real, terrible and gross world that we actually live in (oooh, I wonder what the demographics on cynicism are).
In conclusion, it’s the same shit in a different place. I think I see problems that need fixing. The only question, is whether or not they are actually problems. And if they are, what needs to be done to solve the problems. Something to meditate on for a few decades.
The striking universality of human wastefulness
Warning: This journal entry was abandoned because it was going nowhere. Read at your own risk/leisure/if you’re really, really bored. Most generally, it is a comment on how people can allow bad things to happen.
June 8th
I was quite astounded to hear from my girlfriend, who was studying abroad in Kenya, that she and her classmates were getting drunk and high on weeknights and on the weekend. In a corner of the world where malnutrition and disease ravaged populations, I didn’t know how anyone could afford beer or buy pot.
But I think there are a number of elements intrinsic in human nature that allow this scenario to be the case, always.
First, the disparity which humans are willing to allow between those with above average means to accomplish their goals (which is awarded with capitol), and those who have less than average means. This can be restated by the capitolist as the differing abilities in people to survive and thrive.
Strike that, because I’d like to immediately discredit that point. I think a strong argument can be made for efficiency that the people with the most successfull means for generating income also should be the most efficient at effectively minimizing their amount of waste. Generally, if you’re most capable of responsibly generating income, then you’re more able to have a perspective that a person should make an attempt to minimize their own wastefulness. In a proactive senses: eat right, exercise, sleep and drink water; don’t burn trash, recycle, reuse and walk to work.
Unfortunately, I think that there is something inherently discrediting about money that prevents it from being an accurate marker of how ‘successful’ someone’s ‘means’ are. Obviously, just because a person is capable of making money doesn’t mean they’re also capable of living a responsible life: industrialists pollute, priests rape children, presidents have extramarital affairs.
Although this topic is terribly sprawling, I would like to re-generalize my initial point—the disparities—and claim that my original point would better be summarized by the inability of people to maintain perspective. If people aren’t aware of what they’re doing to the environment—if society is there to distract them and connive them into living a lifestyle that is reckless and damaging to their environment (and eventually their offspring—hello, fecundity and reproductive success)—then it will always be difficult to convince people to ‘minimize’ waste to a level that I deem necessary.
The only reason I bring this up is because I can’t believe how polluting Nairobi is, even though it’s hardly the industrial center that cities it’s size are in America. The cars here have no regulations on emissions, and the busses kick diesel like it’s nobodies business; I got nauseous today just because I sat by the roadside for too long.
June 8th
I was quite astounded to hear from my girlfriend, who was studying abroad in Kenya, that she and her classmates were getting drunk and high on weeknights and on the weekend. In a corner of the world where malnutrition and disease ravaged populations, I didn’t know how anyone could afford beer or buy pot.
But I think there are a number of elements intrinsic in human nature that allow this scenario to be the case, always.
First, the disparity which humans are willing to allow between those with above average means to accomplish their goals (which is awarded with capitol), and those who have less than average means. This can be restated by the capitolist as the differing abilities in people to survive and thrive.
Strike that, because I’d like to immediately discredit that point. I think a strong argument can be made for efficiency that the people with the most successfull means for generating income also should be the most efficient at effectively minimizing their amount of waste. Generally, if you’re most capable of responsibly generating income, then you’re more able to have a perspective that a person should make an attempt to minimize their own wastefulness. In a proactive senses: eat right, exercise, sleep and drink water; don’t burn trash, recycle, reuse and walk to work.
Unfortunately, I think that there is something inherently discrediting about money that prevents it from being an accurate marker of how ‘successful’ someone’s ‘means’ are. Obviously, just because a person is capable of making money doesn’t mean they’re also capable of living a responsible life: industrialists pollute, priests rape children, presidents have extramarital affairs.
Although this topic is terribly sprawling, I would like to re-generalize my initial point—the disparities—and claim that my original point would better be summarized by the inability of people to maintain perspective. If people aren’t aware of what they’re doing to the environment—if society is there to distract them and connive them into living a lifestyle that is reckless and damaging to their environment (and eventually their offspring—hello, fecundity and reproductive success)—then it will always be difficult to convince people to ‘minimize’ waste to a level that I deem necessary.
The only reason I bring this up is because I can’t believe how polluting Nairobi is, even though it’s hardly the industrial center that cities it’s size are in America. The cars here have no regulations on emissions, and the busses kick diesel like it’s nobodies business; I got nauseous today just because I sat by the roadside for too long.
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