Perceptions of poverty

So the UB nursing department suggested we attend international student orientation. One of our cultural events was a traditional Setswana meal at a local woman’s house. As we drove to the site of our traditional dinner, I anticipated the sights and sounds of village culture that are so vividly displayed in many media-produced images of Africa. The almost heart-wrenching outward compassion one feels for the people of Africa, the suffering, the dying, the forgotten, and the oppressed upon viewing the grotesque images of starvation and poverty is unfortunately characteristic of many parts of Africa. However, what we’ve found in Botswana, much to my surprise is that widespread poverty and its effects on the population cannot really be seen much in proper Gaborone. Much of it is hidden in small, surrounding communities and villages. I perceive Gaborone to be a wealthy capitol city; however, when I venture beyond the conventional and globalized developments of this city, another world is found. This world houses some of the most impoverished families of Botswana. I have been exposed to similar environments around the world, namely India, where the rich and poor are clearly separated; however, I came to Botswana expecting to have less of a middle class and more people on the same playing field, so to speak. After learning more about economic policy in Botswana, I realized that the wealth distribution here is characteristic of many developed countries. This distribution is one that upholds the rich and upper-middle-class and proverbially oppresses the poor simply due to the nature of its market economy and capitalistic values. And while it is obvious that the typical rich-poor gap exists here in Botswana, as it does around the world, the poor in areas around Gaborone are not visible unless one immerses him- or herself into village communities.