Letter to Mary&Jeff - 11/30/06

I’m currently sitting in the shade of a Neme tree, waiting for a woman to train her how to do proposals for NGO’s. She’s currently 35 minutes late and I’m slowly losing patience with her lack of punctuality. I’m giving her another 10 minutes before I pack up and leave.

Unfortunately, she’s the one woman that I believe has true potential to help her community doing this training, but if she doesn’t show… How can I help her help the community? I can’t and I’ve come to that conclusion long ago with this job.

Recently, my job as a whole has taken a turn for the better, but my outlook on many global issues has become a bit less forgiving and survivalistic. There are times I think in terms of survival of the fittest and at others, this morphs into the responsibility of the strongest for the community as a whole. The two sides battle daily and I’m not sure of the victor.

There are obvious reasons why Burkina is where it’s at in its’ place in the world’s economy. Despite all those, I don’t see anything really wrong with this country staying as it is. There’s a blessed ignorance that could keep this living sustainable indefinitely. But there’s the blind desire for more, that will tip the balance and bring this society and the world’s to a point and then crash. Bring all back to a more basic level of subsistence that will mirror more the current living conditions of Burkina than of the United States.

I think that is becoming inevitable. Definitely sounds like dooms day analysis. It is and it isn’t. I don’t think the world is going to end. No, but I do believe in the rapid decline of mondial standard subsistence. There are just too many people in the world who want the western living standard. It’s impossible to achieve, or for that matter, maintain. The world does have a finite energy source and the western countries are by no means willing to allow the decline of their living standards to accommodate India or China’s populations. Should be an interesting turn of politics in the next 5-10 years and then the next 25-40. People will begin to doubt the idealism of globalization in preference to their regional needs. Then, countries on the edge of environmental catastrophe won’t be limited to countries like Burkina. Western countries will start to feel the burn. Prices will change and then standards of living. Travel will decrease and so will the markets and lower wages will become the norm. The gap between rich and poor will widen like a crevasse and cause political unrest in even the most traditionally stable countries. Well, I think I’ve said enough to cause anyone to think I like to write horror stories. I don’t, but as you can see, my perspective has definitely changed. :-)

Hope I didn’t put any rain in your day. Maybe, I gave you reason to enjoy your day more. :-)

Hope this finds you well. Take care and Happy Holidays!
Love,
Laura