Do you ever feel awful whenever you ignore ads using images like these? As if by not donating, you have… no soul?
Then congratulations to the marketeers of non-profit organizations, who may argue that this strategy “helps” the people of Africa because it gets what it wants: money.
I know this is a worn-out topic. After my trip to Ethiopia in July with the ARC Initiative, however, this has become very personal and real to me.
This is an iconic song written for the famine in Ethiopia during the 1980s. It even led to the Live Aid concert in 1985, which had an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion and was broadcasted across 150+ countries as it took place simultaneously in London and Philadelphia. The image of famine has stuck with Ethiopia since.
And this is Sintayehu, our driver and Ethiopian father during our month-long stay. When asked about how Ethiopians feel about how Africa is portrayed in the media, this is (roughly) what he said in an unusually aggravated tone:
“We absolutely hate it. Sure, there are people who struggle like that. But that does not define us. There’s so much more. We are proud people. Even if we are materialistically poor, we are rich inside.“
I know that the aim of pity marketing is money. But distorting the image of the people of Africa beyond their control is unethical and manipulative. It’s not only against their will but it desensitizes people’s perception of poverty. Many people skim over these images mindlessly nowadays.
The people of Africa are proud and strong, and I believe that showcasing their beauty is much more powerful than pity marketing. I am a first-hand witness to their love for life and willpower to survive and I know that there is so much more to them than what the media has established. Fortunately, this pity-marketing trend has been dwindling as of late – I had to search pretty thoroughly for the photo at the top – and it’s a sign that we are on the right path. A sign that we are one step closer to truly knowing the incredible people of Africa.
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