What Are We Doing Here? Why Western Aid Hasn't Helped Africa

What Are We Doing Here? follows three young American brothers and a cousin—Brandon, Nicholas, Daniel, and Tim Klein—who quit their jobs to spend six months traveling overland in Africa, investigating why poverty, famine, and drought continue to persist despite the millions of dollars distributed by American agencies and the U.N. The affable Kleins interview politicians, aid agency officials, and struggling Africans in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somaliland, Rwanda, Malawi, and Cape Town, South Africa. Along the way, they discover that the situation is very complicated: foreign aid helps individuals in the short term but may foster dependency in African communities rather than encourage citizens to solve problems with local resources; on the other hand, teaching people to manage resources will no doubt benefit communities in the long run, but those who are dying of disease and starvation need immediate care. Since it's easier to raise funds for starving children than to promote broader programs for reducing poverty, many aid groups focus their fundraising efforts on emotionally-charged images of babies (although the resulting donations are often used more generally for community development). At the same time, politicians and agency administrators—who are often far removed—may have unrealistic ideas and a limited understanding of what might actually help the people. The Kleins ask difficult questions and while they come away with no definitive answers, they (and viewers) do gain a better understanding of why Western aid hasn't eradicated poverty in Africa. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)