Building walls

I had an interesting conversation at lunch today with someone at ILRI. She asked what I thought about my trip. She was from the UK but had been working in Addis for several years, affiliated with the Anglican Church.

I said I had mixed feelings. The people were wonderful and had been very warm and hospitable and that I had met many people who were doing wonderful work trying to improve lives in Africa. But, that I was dismayed by the depth of the poverty I saw around me. She seemed surprised that I thought things were that bad. That took me aback.

I’m not naïve. I spent years working in clinics for severely malnourished children in Latin America and in some of the poorest villages in Honduras. I know you need to build a wall around your emotions in order to work effectively in those conditions. But, there is a difference between building a wall between your emotions and your work and putting up blinders to the problems around you.

Do people manage their lives so they can ignore the poor around the? ILRI is a world apart. Tennis courts, swimming pool, aprivate clinic (which I confess I took advantage of). I can’t help but wonder if people don’t just isolate themselves from what is going on around here. Is there another explanation?