"Darwin's Nightmare"

I've been making a concerted effort to learn more about Africa.  I've been reading Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, which my parents got me for Christmas.  I've also been watching lots of DVD's from the NAU library.

Last night I watched a documentary called Darwin's Nightmare.  Have you seen it?  The film is set in Mwanza, Tanzania, near Lake Victoria. In this lake, one of the "great lakes" of Africa, a vicious species of fish called the Nile perch was introduced several years back.  It has devoured every species of fish in the lake and is now forced to eat its young.  It is also a HUGE fish, and locals have opened factories where the fillets are produced and immediately sent by plane to Europe.

The film follows the story of locals: starving and/or homeless children, fisherman -- more and more of whom are affected by HIV/AIDS, local businessmen, prostitutes, a local pastor (who will not advise his congregation to use condoms because sexual intercourse is a sin), and an incredible teenager named Jonathon who pulled himself out of poverty and makes a living as a freelance artist.  It also follows the story of a group of Russians who fly in to bring the fish to Europe.

Later in the film you find out that they don't take a direct route to Africa.  They stop in Western Europe to pick up arms for countries like DCR Congo and Angola, which are ravvaged by war.  The arms are unloaded and fish loaded, then the cycle continues.

The irony of all this is painful to watch.  From the wikipedia article on this film:
"As Dima, the radio engineer of the plane crew, says later on in the film: the children of Angola receive guns for Christmas, the children of Europe receive grapes. The appalling living and working conditions of the indigenous people, in which basic sanitation is completely absent and many children turn to drugs and prostitution, is covered in great depth; because the Nile perch fish is farmed commercially, all the prime fillets are sold to European supermarkets, leaving the local people to survive on the festering carcasses of the gutted fish."

How can we let people live like this?  Do Americans know this is happening?  Do they care?  Have they given up on Africa?  Do they pretend it's all like The Lion King?  How can I sit here with the ridicious wealth I have while these people are suffering and dying.

A great film, but hard to watch.  For me it's in a category with Boys Don't Cry-- a great film but one I don't think I can ever watch again.

School starts very soon.  This is very much the "calm before the storm."  I'm going to enjoy these last few days off before the mad dash to graduation begins...