caldrail's Blog

It was definitely one of those days to relax, so on the grassy hill south of Croft I lay there watching birds wheel overhead, listerning to the breeze, taking in the sun. You know what? I came home feeling refreshed. Sometimes you just have to leave the modern world behind.

 

I totally agree - it's good to get away from it all sometimes. Just to give you a slightly more radical example. I lived and worked in a mud-hut village in a remote part of Africa for a few months in 2007 and 2008. At the time, we had no electricity, no running water, no access to internet, and very basic facilities. To many people this would seem like hell but I must say it took very little time and effort for me to adjust to this simpler way of life and in fact didn't miss having a TV or a radio too much. I did miss not being able to use e-mail to communicate with friends and family but once a week I would take a boat to a nearby island and use one of their two public computers for about one hour. I had a wonderful time there and actually had a harder time adjusting back to "normal life" once I was back in "civilisation".

At the time, we had no electricity, no running water, no access to internet, and very basic facilities.

So... basically what you're saying is.... they're no better off than me?

 

Seriously though, the 'back to basics' lifestyle is great when everythings peaceful and the necessities of life within easy reach. Add some policial turmoil, a few chinese arms dealers, a famine, a long period without rain, one or two king rats, and you get hell on earth.

At the time, we had no electricity, no running water, no access to internet, and very basic facilities.

So... basically what you're saying is.... they're no better off than me?

 

Seriously though, the 'back to basics' lifestyle is great when everythings peaceful and the necessities of life within easy reach. Add some policial turmoil, a few chinese arms dealers, a famine, a long period without rain, one or two king rats, and you get hell on earth.

 

No I didn't mean it like that. And I didn't mean to paint an idyllic picture of rural Africa either. Life there is tough, people die every day of malaria and other easily preventable diseases.

 

I was simply talking about one aspect of life in a remote location where you are away from the usual Western comforts and technology. Don't get me wrong, these are not bad things. But I was amazed at how quickly I got used to not having them around, that's all. Of course, I'm not going to lie that I was not happy when I took my first "real"shower after I don't know how many weeks. But it took me a while to adjust back to the faster pace of life in the city.

I like quoting this, but the film Three Kings has an interesting sequence where the men are stopped by the rogue special forces guy and he asks them "What is most important?"

 

They look stupid for a minute then he says "Necessity."

 

I do understand your point. We become accustiomed to our luxuries and devices. My world has shrunk enormously since I became a pedestrian for instance. Life without a computer at home would be unbearable! I think though this subject tends to be viewed from the perspective of the individual. Thats not really the right way to see it. Humans are social animals, and unless we're part of a co-operative tribe, the back-to-basics experience can be a lot tougher.

 

I remember on the tv news a wanted criminal was caught after he'd tried to hide out in the woods, armed with one of those special forces 'how-to' guides. He'd spent two weeks away from civilisation and was caught because he'd attempted to buy matches in a shop looking completely dishevelled. Rather like the Simpsons, where Homer falls out with Marge and lives in the kids tree house. After three hours, he's reduced to a wretched state.

 

then again, regarding pace of life, mine has almost stopped due to unemployment. In fact, the authorities regularly kick you up the rear to remotivate your job seeking, or send you to obscure units where they try to renew your energy. It sort of works, but I don't think you're unchanged by the experience.

I like quoting this, but the film Three Kings has an interesting sequence where the men are stopped by the rogue special forces guy and he asks them "What is most important?"

 

They look stupid for a minute then he says "Necessity."

 

I do understand your point. We become accustiomed to our luxuries and devices. My world has shrunk enormously since I became a pedestrian for instance. Life without a computer at home would be unbearable! I think though this subject tends to be viewed from the perspective of the individual. Thats not really the right way to see it. Humans are social animals, and unless we're part of a co-operative tribe, the back-to-basics experience can be a lot tougher.

 

Absolutely. We evolved as social animals and more often than not our survival as a species depends on interaction with others. One other thing I noticed while living in an African mud-hut village is the fact that you don't see beggars or abandoned children. Every single child or disabled person is cared for by a neighbour or relative, no matter how poor they are. So here's an example of necessity for you: take care of one another because this is all you have. You may be healthy today but could be crippled by malaria tomorrow. And as there are no hospitals around (there was a health post there but the nearest hospital was 11 km away), who's going to take care of you? This also reminds of an old African proverb: "It takes a village to raise a child".

It is a sobering thought given how solitary my life has become. Your experience in african villages is interesting. In the news we see strife. One man complained and eventually got government aid so the bandits turned up to take it away. Then the army turned up to chase them away and took everything he had left (don't know which country, but it was africanish).

 

Nonetheless, I keep seeing footage of children in the appalling poverty of the countryside and lo and behold they're blissfully happy and playful. Until they're old enough to buy an AK that is.

It is a sobering thought given how solitary my life has become. Your experience in african villages is interesting. In the news we see strife. One man complained and eventually got government aid so the bandits turned up to take it away. Then the army turned up to chase them away and took everything he had left (don't know which country, but it was africanish).

 

Nonetheless, I keep seeing footage of children in the appalling poverty of the countryside and lo and behold they're blissfully happy and playful. Until they're old enough to buy an AK that is.

 

I was working in a village in Mozambique. Even though the country went through almost 17 years of civil war, it sort of bypassed this particular village (that's how remote it is). I think the images that you normally see on TV of children holding guns etc are mainly from war-torn countries in which the fabric of society has been largely ripped to shreds (and probably the conflict is still ongoing). This means that there is very little holding "traditional" African communities together. Anyway, Africa is a very big place so it's difficult to generalise.

I'd have to bow to your superior experience there. It just seems that after the withdrawal of colonialism, the local tribes have rubbed each other up the wrong way and spurred on by the value of natural resources and the influence of arms dealers. After all, the abortive coup in Equatorial Guinea was about nothing more that profit from natural resources.

 

One aspect of African strife that I notice is the lack of ideological struggles. Although the Cold War supported one side or another as they did elsewhere, the issue was always something more corrupt.

 

Perhaps though my image of Africa is sponsored by the media. It does seem to be backed up by the accounts of mercenaries I come across - but again, they operate in dangerous areas anyway.