Again, sorry for delays, but... the dog ate my homework... wait, no, that wasn't it, it was the aliens... um, no, sorry, now I remember... my technology is eating me alive... SEND HELP!!!! Thanks for bearing with me. This is continued from HERE

So here we are, at the point where the little picture becomes the big picture and the most important difference between our Jethro fiction and the M fray non-fiction bring up some tangible issues. This is all about cultural divide and the resulting confusion when it is ignored.

No matter how often we pretend otherwise, the U.S. of A. is the U.S. of A and Malawi is Malawi.

The frontier where the two milieus meet is at the same time minute and often complicated, full of dangerously mined mis-`s just waiting to explode with the weight of a tread, no matter how apparently light: miscommunication, misunderstanding, misjudgment and mistakes mired in myriad mislead maneuvers. Hm.

When relating to Africa, most Americans judge by our own standards what is “right” and what is “wrong,” what is “acceptable” and what is not, what is tragic and wherein lie redemption. We tend to think, fundamentally, “This is how we do it so this is what is right, how it should be done.” We assume because materially and technologically we are ahead of the game, our lives are therefore better, richer, fuller. Tragically, we have even managed, through various avenues of contact with Africans over the past many years, to convince them of the same: Africa becomes more Americanized daily.

What has been grossly neglected in the majority of blahblah around the M Fray (as well as in issues surrounding politics, religion, culture, sports and life in the bigger picture) is some context in general for Africa and more specifically, for Malawi and her people.

As you may suspect, life in Malawi, by American standards, is no easy task. The daily search is not for disposable income, but rather, basic needs. Electricity is a luxury item. There are no food stamps or even, in most places outside of the main urban areas, guaranteed safe drinking water let alone running taps inside a house. Medical care is limited and in many cases, very low quality. The only time there is assistance is when there is a calamity, natural or otherwise, and while people accept the help to survive gratefully, being dependant on someone else is clearly demoralizing for most.

The good news is: there is no income tax for the majority of the population. The bad news is: the majority of the population has a household income less than the average American family spends on video rental in a month.

[Next blog: More on Malawi]