Tzu-Chi Culture and Communication Foundation

Africa is big, and so are its problems.
In their midst, people are so small.
There is light on the land.
The light travels in people’s minds and on the land.
The light takes root in Africa.

The Danger of a Single Story
The Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once gave a TED talk on "The danger of a single story". She stated something to the effect that "Stories are important but to diversify the story is even more important.” Indeed, many people associate Africa with poverty, famine, and disease–an impression that they might have learned from a single story. Although partially true, this impression is inadequate at best, especially in the context of charity work.

That impression seems to have a way of morphing into stereotypes, or labels, with which the outside world associates with Africa. Ironically, such labels are welcome in some African communities because, being labeled poor, they get more external assistance for free. As they get used to receiving aid, they even begin to believe those labels. They unknowingly and slowly lose the memories of their gifted toughness. When Africans get used to getting freebies from the outside world, they believe those labels are indeed accurate. This loss of self is a more serious problem than the problem on the label.

Yet, something gratifying has happened in Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic started to sweep across the world in 2020. Many people predicted that the poor would become poorer, the hungry hungrier, and charitable aid would be more difficult to get through lock-down barriers to reach the needy. But our local volunteers in Durban, South Africa started vegetable gardens and enthusiastically shared their harvests with needy people around them.  The pandemic made it clear that they must step up their efforts to cultivate in their own communities the ideal of neighbors helping neighbors so the community collectively would be more able to face the next disaster.

In 2020, our volunteers developed more than 130 vegetable gardens in Durban, and residents in surrounding communities started more than 500 vegetable gardens. Vegetable garden became so popular that even recipients of Tzu Chi aid had asked for vegetable seeds instead of rice.

During the pandemic, international travel was second to impossible. That made it very difficult for our Durban volunteers to travel to Eswatini to conduct any aid operation. Our local Eswatini volunteers stepped up and provided hot meals to poor children in their community every weekend.  Namibian volunteers rebuilt corrugated metal shacks for the homeless. Malawian volunteers raised money to buy fabrics to sew masks and gave them to the elderly in their community. Zambiaian volunteers paddled canoes after the flooding to provide aid to poverty-stricken villages.  All of these volunteers did not wait for the arrival of foreign aid. Instead, they have all proved that they have what it takes to handle any challenge that may come their way.

I have been fortunate to have worked with those volunteers in Africa for many years with a common ideal to purify people's hearts. The stories here may help the readers to have a glimpse of their transformation from hopeless aid recipients to hopeful and helpful volunteers who pay it forward. Together, we have overcome numerous obstacles. They continue to help their own countrymen and leave many touching and true stories, which may help the world get a more comprehensive understanding of Africa.

I hope that through our efforts, more people will be able to join together to help others so that Africa will get better. As Chimamanda also said, "When we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we will regain a kind of paradise."

I sincerely hope that one day the world will associate Africa with confidence and warmth. I believe that the glimmer of hope in Africa will be brighter. The story continues.


作者簡介

Ya-chi Yuan
Born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1979, Ya-chi Yuan graduated with a BS degree in Accounting from Tamkang University. In 2004, she left Taiwan for the first time to get married and settle down in Durban, South Africa.  Soon after she began working in local Tzu Chi activities as a dedicated volunteer.  In 2005, she was certified as a Tzu Chi commissioner with responsibility for Tzu Chi mission development. Currently, she is mainly in charge of local volunteer development in Durban, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape of South Africa.  In addition, she manages international charity outreach to the Kingdom of Eswatini, Namibia, Malawi, and Zambia. Her dedication to documenting Tzu Chi activities has never wavered.