A reality check for a Peace Corps worker..... I actually told some new arrivals, that given the choice to have you, or your money, a lot of people would tell you to go home and not come back, just give us your money. Sure it is an exaggeration, but this is how a lot of Africans feel about us and what we do in their village. Of course, the new filed workers I said this to were quite horrified at my statement. Ten years later they reminded me about what I said (I had long forgotten) and said at times we wonder if they really like us or not, or just the money we bring. But that is life with people in any country. Some love you, some love the stuff your bring them, some love neither. Some "love" you as long as your giving them what they want. When you are not, they don't want a relationship.
"No one understands your formal French or how you can teach when you can't bargain for rice. This village needs a pump but we got you."
(Last Moon Dancing: A Memoir of Love and Real Life in Africa. Monique Schmidt)
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