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The one question that is so often the subject of heated debate between myself and my colleagues is the question on why Africa is generally so poor. And by poor I mean both intellectually and financially. Granted, apartheid, colonization and slavery were terrible, you can always blame these three for our poverty. Yet, on closer inspection, you realize that this is only a more recent cause of our poverty. The ongoing infrastructural decay and apathy that has been evident since the end of colonial rule points to an alternate and much deeper cause to the continents malaise. After much thought and discussion, I and my colleagues feel we might have stumbled upon the underlying cause. It is evidently something that predates colonization, and is something that has silently existed and hindered African progress for centuries – it is the lack of any meaningful standards.
A standard can be described as something that is “considered normal or average”. A stark reminder of the lack of proper standards on the continent came to me recently when a friend of mine got ill while doing some work in an African country. She had to spend a night in a “truly” African hospital, not the Christiaan Barnard's or Groote Schuur hospitals we take for granted here. The pictures I saw of what was meant to be a referral “hospital” were quite appalling. How can a hospital, which is supposed to be an exemplar for hygiene, have no water? How can a hospital not have proper refuse disposal facilities? How can a hospital be so filthy? Yes, African hospitals in most cases aren't properly funded, yet I don't feel that’s enough of a reason to justify some of the conditions that are allowed to permeate in some of these “health” institutions.
This problem of poor on nonexistent standards is not only found in distant African countries. We see it here in several incarnations. I was fortunate enough to study exactly half my tertiary education at a purely black university, and the second half at a predominantly white university. Both universities had a proud and illustrious heritage that goes back well over a hundred years. As a black man, it truly hurts me to say that the differences in standards I found between those two institutions were unbelievable. The harsh differences include the very quality of education, the admin, the ideas or concepts that were taught, the quality of food made available to students, and even the quality of student accommodation. Yes, again we can blame poor funding, but some issues have nothing to do with money, for instance, commitment to serving students at a counter. I personally find no fault in wealthy black or white parents who send their children to formally “white only” institutions.
Everything else today that can be considered part of the modern world is watched over by at least one standardisation body. For instance, the quality of food we eat, or the quality of a telephone call are all subjected to strict standardisation tests before being passed for human consumption or use. Without standards and standardisation bodies, the world would be more chaotic. Imagine boarding a plane that had not gone through the recommended checks put in place by aviation regulators? We'd likely have more plane crashes if those checks were ignored! Everyone agrees, standards are a critical part of modern societies.
So an absence of better standards contributes to several challenges currently facing the continent. One can also argue that the situation is aggravated by an over-reliance on governments. A lot of people expect free houses, free health, free education and free everything! That clearly won't work. What needs to happen is the individual has to do their part and meet the governments halfway. So the question is; individually, what can you do? Well, I have personally been accused of throwing litter everywhere! The better or higher standard would be for me to place my litter in a rubbish bin, always. Having been made aware of this “weakness”, I made a personal resolution to start using refuse bins, always! The many rabid readers on this news website have on several occasions “gently” highlighted my poor spelling and grammar! So in response I’m trying to be more careful with my writing. This won’t change the world, but if enough people took care of their rubbish, this country would be a lot cleaner!
To finish off, inspect your personal and professional life. What can you be better? Once we start setting higher standards individually, we also become more accountable to ourselves and those who look up to us. And once the average person on the streets starts living by “higher” personal standards, then I think we are halfway there. Note, by “high standard”, I don't mean high financial standards, I mean high moral and ethical standards.
If you are African and reading this, whether you are white or black, purple or maroon, make it your prerogative to improve something, somewhere about your life. Aim higher, be faster, be more reliable, set higher standards in everything, be better! You may not inspire anyone or appear not to make any noticeable difference at first, but change has to start somewhere! As Margaret Mead once said, “Never depend upon institutions or government to solve any problem. All social movements are founded by, guided by, motivated and seen through by the passion of committed individuals!”.
