I confess, I have never ever had any desire whatsoever to go to Africa. (To be fair, I've rarely had any desire to go anywhere they don't speak English or Spanish.) It's just never been on my radar, and it's not because I haven't known plenty of people with a heart for the African continent who've gone and returned with magnificent stories. I've prayed for many of them, rejoiced with them, but never felt particularly drawn.
On Friday morning, Andrew Rugasira took the stage. He is a Ugandan man with a heart and passion for his people with a fresh perspective and a challenge for Americans. He is also the founder of Good African Coffee. His first question was "What comes to mind when you hear the word Africa?" He then gave us a few moments to settle on some images. Then, he spent the next 30 minutes challenging that image.
He says that we've heard it said many times that most Africans survive on less than $1/day, and we think "how poor!" But, then he says, "What entrepreneurship is takes to survive on a dollar a day, no?!" Rugasira defines integrity as being truthful about what you need to od oot get out of a situation. He is a proponent of finding ways to help Africans help themselves -- trade, not aid. He asks, "there is no country that has developed through handouts -- why is Africa different?"
Rugasira challenges us to look at Africa and see opportunities rather than problems, to change the dialogue of our conversations about Africa, and to ask ourselves, "what is the impact of our compassion?" He challenges us to see Africa as a country of consumers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
I can never come close to describing Rugasira or his talk nearly well enough, but I loved how it got me to thinking and challenged the way that I see poverty in general. It was a wonderful follow up to an interview earlier in the conference with Jessica Jackley, founder of www.kiva.org.
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