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If possible, could you tell me what it's like there?
Sure, you have developing nations such as Egypt and South Africa, but what about poorer countries? Has anybody ever been to one?
I don't get the term "third-world country". Which is why I would like to know if anyones ever been to the poorer parts of Africa, hopefully so they can give me an insight to what it's really like.
African countries are vary widely. It’s like asking if anyone’s visited North America (US, Canada, and Mexico), but on a larger scale.
My father is from Kenya and I’ve visited several times. I’ve been to the slums surrounding Nairobi and Mombasa. I’ve also been to the countryside in Kenya.
Country poor differs from city poor. Country poor amounts to more space, areas are clean, agricultural activity is often present (normally difficult labor harvesting tea, sugarcane), housing normally consists of a small hut (oftentimes on someone else’s land). Aside from National parks, European land barons/plantation owners, and wealthy retirees; the countryside is largely poor. City poor is a larger concentration of poverty, a greater concentration of disease, crime, gangs, children with no parents present, and living structures consist of tin and cardboard shacks.
There is no infrastructure in a “Third World” Nation: no running water, no clean water source, no trash/garbage service (piles are everywhere in the inner cities/slums), no electricity/utilities, no healthcare, and children do not attend school (country poor, they work to contribute the family and city poor they are surviving alone).
As you can imagine any “Less Developed/Third World” Nation and some Developing Nations would include low levels of living, low-income per capita, low education provisions, poverty and starvation, and high infant mortality rates.
These areas may not be safe for unaccompanied foreigners. Should you choose to visit, I’d advise you do so with a few locals. An experience like this will certainly make you appreciate home and re-define poverty.
Libya
Liberia
and visited Senegal, Egypt, Tunis, Morocco
The countires I lived in and visited were certainly developing countries. The peoples varied greatly due to religion, region, politics, etc.
I lived in Liberia long before the political mess it became. They used US currency as the country was founded by slaves who chose to return to Afirca. Liberia was tropical jungles, rubber tree plantations, and humid -- extremely humid. The people were entreprenural, not well educated except for those in high positions or money - they went abroad for their formal education or boarding school in the UK.
It was green and lush as I remember it.
Libya was desert and I loved living there - this was many years ago. The desert there was different than our desert here and I cannot exactly tell you how. The most intriguing part of Libya was the ancient history going back to Roman and Greek times and visiting the ruins in Cyrene - the memories have stayed with me all these years.
Italians had lived in Libya in recent times pre and post WWII and their influence lingers to this day.
There were many nationalities living in Libya. I remember the sand storms. Red dust/sand would penetrate everything - you could not keep it out. You would feel like you were suffocating. I remember the cold nights in the winter after the sun went down. The men would light fires where they could keep warm and prepare their tea. The tea still lingers on my palate - it was a strong sweet tea cooked with fresh mint leaves and served in small clear glasses - it was delicious and they always shared their tea with me.
Kenya is spot on. To add to the stress of the city poor, in Tanzania we have had power cuts to areas up to 36 hours at a stretch. The mills grind flour with power, the trucks that deliver food to the city need power to pump the gas into the trucks..... If one is lucky enough to have a job in the city, you now have your place of work either shut down or shifted to night hours. All this is nothing to the one in the country who has no power anyway. They live on less than 30$ per month and their kids die of malaria or diabetes. We are VERY fortunate.
I spent 5 long months in Jos, Nigeria in 1980 and it gave me an entirely new outlook on life and living in the USA. I found the people to be very nice and interested in Americans. I was drilling water wells in the bush villages and was simply overwhelmed with the appreciation the villagers showed myself and crew. The water system in Jos was unbelievably inadequate, if you had any running water at all it was a happy day. Regular power outages, I'd say on average we had electricity no more than three hours a day.There virtually was no sewage systems other than raw sewabe running in ditches or canals. The bribery system existed in every aspect of government, from getting a drivers license to getting through roadblocks of armed military. Little stores (like farmer's markets) were everywhere and offered some of the best fruit and vegetables one could find anywhere, homemade bread much different and much better than I've had anywhere. Meat was another question, they butchered every Thursday at 7 am and without any type of refrigeration, you wanted to be first in line to get your weekly supply. In as much as I enjoyed the people, countryside, and the experience, I was sure happy to get back to the USA.
I have visited Senegal once and South Africa twice. My visit to Senegal took place in 1975. My first visit to South Africa occured in 1994, not too long after the end of apartheid and the first democratic elections, and I returned to visit South Africa again in 2000. I learned a lot on those visits and believe that people benefit from international travel.
Why does everyone insist on calling poverty stricken Countries in Africa "DEVELOPING COUNTRIES"? Is this a politically correct way of saying THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES?
Nigeria, suppose to be a wealthy country and should be, but if you go you will find out how great we have it. Imagine trying to buy a flashlight. First you get the flashlight in a huge market that is chaos and from a western, or at least my point of view is filthy, then you have to go a mile (seems like more)across town through chaos to get batteries. Then the flashlight doesn't work. Is it the batteries or the flashlight? It makes one love the home supply stores and more importantly the US.
Yes, "developing nations" is a PC way of saying "3rd World."
I lived in rural Senegal with Peace Corps for 2.5 years. I lived in a mud hut, 45K from the nearest town, from the nearest electricity or running water, from the nearest American. I spoke the local African language. Children died all the time. In childbirth, just after...several women in my village died during childbirth as well. There were no health facilities anywhere near there (again, 45K, but there is so car of course, so they would have to walk it or use the ONE bicycle in the village. They had a couple of horses, but they were used for the fields). It is a beautiful place, with hte most generous, upbeat people I've ever known. It is incredibly poor, with diarrhea killing many children, malaria killing many...many of the deaths would be entirely preventable and/or treatable if they had a few extra dollars, which they don't. There was one well in the village. They pulled the water each day to water vegetables, to use for cooking, to use for cleaning. Very difficult work. Planting, weeding, harvesting and barely having enough to eat. All done in 120 degree heat. this is a village in RURAL Senegal. Conditions vary of course. Dakar is totally different. Even villages near Dakar are very different as they get a lot of aid from agencies and also some of the men there will work in Dakar and bring in money.
I've also been to Ethiopia, but only for 2 weeks. Two weeks is not enough time to know anything at all about a country, so I will not comment on life there, although it was a very interesting visit.
My life in Senegal certainly got me to appreciate what I have in the U.S. It also made me feel disgusted at having 100 cereals to choose from. All the petty things we "demand", we think are our "right." I also learned a lot about family and support systems like we don't have here...like hope in the face of adversity, like loving life and truely appreciating it. I don't think anyone in the village is analyzing whether their mother was too hard on them, and needs therapy. They work hard to survive and they do it with more joy than I see on the faces on most of the people in the US, despite all that we have.
Once you live in Africa, I don't think you can get it "out" of you. I hope to live there again one day.
Why does everyone insist on calling poverty stricken Countrie --- "DEVELOPING COUNTRIES"? Is this a politically correct way of saying THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES?
United States
Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776
Today’s date Saturday, May 12, 2007
230 years 10 months 8 days - developed
Africa - some 6,000 years give or take a few hundred and about 10% is all that has been “developed”; America! What a country!!
Does that say something about a country founded on the great ‘I Am That I Am’
Versus ---
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Kenya
Nigeria
Where 0' where have you been---
