Does anyone watch CNN? If you do you may have recently seen a broadcast interview with Ben Affleck about the situation in South Sudan.
Yes, indeed, darling Ben came to visit. In fact, he may still be here, but he tends to hide from us ex-pats. No, his face is for CNN alone. Yes, you detect a small hint of dislike. I have a very simple reason for this. If you have the money and the fame to get peoples attention, and the desire to help out a country in trouble, excellent. I support you. Indeed, I raise my drink to you and may even donate a little to your cause.
However, if you are going to do all those things, and then LIE about the reality of the situation for shock value I will just think you are a twat. Ben Affleck was recently seen on CNN telling the world about his new projects in South Sudan. Excellent. They need all the help they can get. Then he mentions bombs dropping all over the place, and his life being at risk for the duration of his stay. I pause briefly to open the curtain and check if there are any bombs falling. Nope. Sorry. I think back over the last few months.. has my life been at risk? Not really. I mean, if you want to go for a walk through an empty town at midnight surrounded by people who really really need money and food, then yes, you will be in danger. But only idiots walk around ANYWHERE in the world at that time of night alone. He also mentioned that because he is high profile he was at a higher risk. These people have been at war for 20years. They live in mud huts and have never seen a toilet, let alone used one (seriously: we had to train our new staff in how to use the toilets. They were baffled). The last thing they are going to do is recognise a celebrity when they have never even watched TV! Overall, the picture he paints is one of ongoing war, violence, bombings, deaths and poverty.
I spent the evening mulling over this as I sat at a bar on the Nile, watching the sunset and sipping my G&T. I smiled briefly at the Sudanese man to my left drinking his Johnny Walker Black and raise my glass in salute. Yes, the Sudanese have it very very hard. There are few jobs, there is little money, they have no income, or medical facilities or transport or water. They need help from the rest of the world, they need help building an economy that can support the livelihoods of the people here. They need a sustainable water supply. They need lessons in healthcare and hygiene. Basically, they need a hell of a lot. This country is buggered. But what it needs most is a lack of scandal and intrigue so that real businesses are willing to invest in the country and help provide for its future. Not stories of bombs and danger and lives at risk.
I order another round, and raise my glass to you Ben, you idiot.
10 comments:
Brilliant... so interesting, so well written, and so true! Stuff in SA is probably scarier than in Sudan right now (well if you're not South African). Your blog is so entertaining yet so informative too!
Thank you :-) Yeah, SA seems pretty hairy at the moment. Despite the war, and the local tendancy to violence, its actually much safer here!
Perhaps it is human nature to exaggerate one’s accomplishments, especially when speaking. Most extroverts—and I assume that Ben’s an extrovert—use the process of “speaking in order to think.” Introverts use the opposite process: “thinking in order to speak.” While introverts prefer to communicate with the written word (and therefore can edit their exaggerations), extroverts simply utter it and “think” about what they are saying after they say it. It takes a very honest and courageous extrovert to admit that the last words he/she uttered were not wholly true.
I think politicians especially utilize the process of “speaking in order to think.” And they—Richard Nixon, George Bush (both of them), Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, al Gore, Tony Blair, and Hillary Clinton, to name but a few—have each more than once stuck both feet in their mouths and had difficulty extricating them.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to think—and write!
Wow, I didnt realise that my blog could inspire such thoughtfulness! Nick, I think you have something there...
Well, Miss P, never underestimate the power of words or blogs. Your words got my brain going and created words to write.
Of course, I'm a theologian so thoughts and words are my profession. However, I have been know to misplace things--like my pay check--while processing all of my thoughts.
P.S. ~ my favorite drink is gin and tonic.
Ah, a man after my own heart! I cant understand misplacing a pay check though... I do greatly enjoy your comments. You have a fascinating background!
SA is not quite as scary either... we also see all the xenephobia only on tv, but that's about it :) that was a good post miss p, well done! salute!! (laat hy val waar hy wil :)
Wow Miss P, that is an excellent post.
I suppose he could have been trying to scare the rest of the world into giving money and helping.
But he is probably just a total twat.
*Cheers*...I raise my glass to that!
He does come across as a bit of a twat...most of them do actually! Pity, because they do have theinfluence and the power (i.e. status) to make some sort of change...yet they still buy Louis Vuitton bags, fur-skin outfits & other such paraphenalia that really doesn't mean much in the bigger picture!
It's the real people who make real differences!
Nice post, most enjoyable & I was slightly envious at your location...a bar on the banks of the Nile River...haiwenna but that's lekker!
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