As you probably know, Sue and I (with Dave and Sam) lived in the Ivorian village of Gouabafla for a number of years while we were working on the translation of the New Testament into Kouya.
There is an interesting piece on the BBC website at the moment with various people giving their view on the future of African villages. Most of the contributers are Africans, but many of them are living in the West or in large cities in Africa.
There is a clear division between those who see the village as a place of refuge from the stresses of modern life and a haven for traditional culture and those who see the village as undeveloped and mired in poverty. Have a read and see what you think.
This is the sort of thing that mission strategists and those involved in aid and development work need to be reading. It is ever so easy to see rural African life through rose tinted spectacles and to forget that an increasing proportion of the continent’s people actually live in cities.
One reply on “The Future of African Villages”
There is much I find idyllic about the village but the spiritism and reduced access to health and education services make it natural for people to seek out the big city. Thanks for the head’s up on the article.