I meet a fellow singer-songwriter

fred told his history to me and sang me a few songs. His mother died when he was only 2. his father when he was 4. he also had 4 brothers and sisters and all have passed from aids. He is the single survivor in his entire family. He says he feels alone in the world without “parental” care and love. But he also feels so lucky to be at the parish and loves the people there. This scenario is common here. The song he sang went

My world is crying
My world is weeping
My world is crying
Ohh ahh

Please don’t cry
Please don’t cry
Please don’t cry
Ohh ahh

And he sang the whole thing with bright eyes wide open and a smile on his face.

He also told me he doesn’t have it. Aids. He recently was checked and he doesn’t have it. He looks young maybe 18 years old. He loves writing songs and believes he has survived for the sole purpose of sharing his family’s story through song. He says he is very serious about aids and tries to get his friends to be also.

He’s in his senior year about to graduate and he takes school very seriously. They ALL do. I went into one of the classrooms and this young girl (12 years old at the most) was writing a paper about neuro-transmitters and how reflexes work in the nervous system. Its amazing how disciplined these kids are. So focused on their school. Most of them walk long, long distances, too. Ranging from 8-15 kilometers one way. And they all look clean and proper in their uniforms. They take such care to look formal. It’s cultural here, everyone dresses in formal wear and everything is always perfectly clean and starched. Even if they are wearing the one shirt they own. Its mind boggling to me how they do that. I feel like the sloppy mzungu (white person) by comparison. (!)

One thing that’s interesting to me is how it’s hard to keep the balance of human to human equality when a donor is giving aid to communities like these. It definitely lowers the status of the receiver. Always. And this lower status doesn’t serve anyone. Especially in the long run. Mostly it seems to create more need for the aid. The more involved the community is in whatever program is being funded the better. So if the program is developed. Implemented and sustained by the men, women and youth within the community it raises their status. Its such a simple innate thing that somehow gets overlooked a TON in the world of humanitarian aid. And the result is more dependency. This is why mercy corps is so awesome. They believe if you stay in a country for longer than 3-5 years they’re not doing their job. I love that.