I’m still working on learning a little about Africa, one nation at a time. I was hoping to find more good news than I have, but then I remember that life in Chicago looks very different to people who watch cable news than it does to people who live there. Yes, Chicago has too much violence and too many guns, but it’s not like most people are walking around seeing people get shot. People sometimes ask me if I’m afraid to live here, and I wonder why I would be. There are many ways to experience a place, but most of those experiences are not newsworthy.
Still, Central African Republic is a tough situation. It is one of the poorest nations on earth, with a per capita GDP of $700. The Lord’s Resistance Army is active. About 40% of the 5.3 million Centrafricans are younger than 14. It’s not a great place to be.
This book, Culture and Customs of the Central African Republic, is a bit of anthropology, concentrating on the daily lives of the people. It’s hard. Most people rely on subsistence agriculture, which involves physical labor every day, day in and day out. The breaks happen for different celebrations – birth, initiation, marriage, death – and then everyone goes back to work. There’s beauty in community and in the singing that takes place during work, but it doesn’t mask the ugliness of extreme poverty.
This is not a country that will appeal to investors any time soon. Not everyone in the country is hungry or miserable, but Central African Republic is not anywhere near real economic development.
