I had dinner at the hotel bar tonight. To my right sat a 40-something woman from Australia that had just arrived Johannesburg to begin a 22 night vacation/safari; to my left was a 40-something Malawian man that asked the price of different drinks before ordering his inexpensive local beer.
There was a small catered event going on at the back of the bar - about 12 people with food and drinks. As that was winding down one of the women from the event approached us and told us to help ourselves as they were leaving and there was plenty of food left. The Australian woman - who could have easily purchased everything on the menu without thinking twice - immediately filled a plate of cold finger foods. While she was up I inquired as to why this obviously cash-strapped gentleman didn't help himself to the buffet table. I will never forget his answer:
"In my culture we offer whatever we have to anyone that is present. The fact that they have only offered us their scraps means that they think of me as nothing more than a dog. I would rather starve than be treated as a dog."
I guarantee that if you visited this man's home in his village in Malawi and all he had was one slice of bread you would be leaving his home with that bread in your stomach. It's unfortunate that the rest of the world does not operate in such a manner.
One of the people on a portion of this trip with me said it best, "the African villagers not only accept their situation, but make the most of it; while Americans only want more, no matter how much they already have".
I think I just broke my promise to never get deep on this blog again, but I just found that story too important not to share.
I'm off to Hong Kong tomorrow for the party of the year so I'm sure I'll either have some ridiculous or incoherent posts in the coming days - either way it should be hysterical!
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