Africa shall be truly free and developed when we take full charge of our affairs.  We can’t sit back and wait for “help!” No!    Indeed,  this is our time! 

Last few weeks as I do what I do best, be an Ambassador for Rwanda and Africa’s development, I encountered the statement: “it is good to see progressive Africans and I want to “help” especially the poor people.”  Each time I corrected them, asking them for partnerships NOT pity.  Why? 

1. Pity doesn’t transform lives – opportunities to partner for growth do. 
2. Pity runs it’s course (people get tired and aloof – pity parties must end at some point, right?) , opportunities multiply and can lead to sustained development.
3. Pity leads to undermining of the African, which has gone on far too long. I’ll be damned if I let anyone undermine us because of images on tv, armchair journalism, “expat only” opinions.  Good partnerships showcase the brilliance of our people & breed mutual respect.  
4. Pity is often met with simple – greedy minds and is the reason we have been brought to our knees for decades, we chose handouts instead of progress.  Simple greedy minds have chosen to put their stomachs ahead of their own people and have basically turned our socio-economic development into a money making scheme for themselves and “help” organizations, whose staff enjoy huge salaries and perks at the expense of getting more people out of poverty! I say enough is enough already! 
5. Pity has paralyzed many minds into waiting for “help.” We’d rather waste money on “experienced consults”instead of simply owning our issues and coming together to solve them.  We have the answers and can read up on practical examples of best practice.  After all, many of those papers end up collecting dust.  We really need to invest and especially BELIEVE in local talent to deliver – YES WE CAN.

Partnerships are a win-win, the “wait for help – i.e. Aid” mindset must end with our generation for Africa to rise up and take care of her people.  It starts with you and I.