The White Man's Burden

They truly believe they are the saviors of the world and dont even realize it! One group member said that he had gone to church in South Africa and saw a huge cartoon-like portrait of a pale white Jesus hanging on the wall. So he saw a relation to the children's extreme faith in Jesus and race. When they saw Muzungus (white people), they saw Jesus. So their faith in white people transcended economical salvation to spiritual salvation. His recognition of this was so powerful that I fully trusted his interest in helping the people we saw. He wanted to focus on self-sufficiency, rather than salvation. But today, while debating Ugandan customs, another group member said she'd tip here even though it wasnt customary, but would not in Europe; even though both places expect it from Americans. I prodded and prodded for an explanation, in vain. Her apparent frustration communicated to me that she knew the reason, but didnt want to verbalize it. Clearly, Africans are less advantaged than their European counterparts. She probably viewed her tip as a handout, her service to the people. But I believe part of understanding culture is living as its citizens do.