Handouts

Something has been bothering me about Botswana for the past few days. What started out as forseen quirks of the developing world- breakdowns in communication, the lack of punctuality, the breezy attitude most people here have- are starting to really bug me. I don't think it is impatience, because living in the developing world requires an inordinate amount of patience on a daily basis (it legit took me 15 minutes to buy a bag of chips at the market today...when we were the only ones in the store..) 

No, I think it is more of a frustration with what I perceive as a lack of drive or motivation. Many of the people here are just resigned to the broken systems or status quo that is obviously not working for them. They are content to plug along, not really wondering why things are this way and with little desire to change them. 

Then my classmates and I were talking and we realized that, here, the government takes care of nearly everything. Housing? covered. Healthcare? covered. University? covered. Almost every single facet of society is provided for by the government, which for now is flush with diamond money. This welfare extends beyond basic services, though. For example, all nurses are employees of the Ministry of Health, not the clinic or hospital at which they work. All receive an automatic 30% overtime bonus and all are automatically promoted every two years, whether they deserve it or not. What kind of incentive does that provide to be better? How does that encourage anyone? This kind of welfare state fosters what one Batswana we met calls a "culture of complacency"-and I completely agree. The exceptions to this rule- and there are many- fight hard for change, but either fold under the weight of their David and Goliath-like struggle or burn out trying. 

I understand why the government operates the way it does. Fifty years ago, this country didn't exist and the annual income was less than $200 per person per year. Add to that a virus which virtually wiped out an entire generation- the medications for which no citizen could afford on her own- and you can see why the government swooped in and took over almost every facet of society. The balance between government doing what it should do- caring for the least fortunate of its citizens- and personal accountability has been tipped. Now, it could be worse. According to Transperancy International, Botswana is by far the least corrupt country on the continent. While little seems to get done, at least the money isn't being gobbled up by a few oligarchs at the top. 

Botswana has some major decisions to make fairly soon. The diamond mines are set to close within 20 years, and most people agree that the economy hasn't diversified enough to make up for this revenue loss. An bloated, inefficient goverment which sucks up a huge amount of GDP and employs more citizens than any other entity in the country will struggle to maintain itself in a post-diamond economy. 

I have hope that things can change and people can once again find that motivation that helped turn this once seemingly worthless piece of desert into the envy of the region. However, they should do it soon, or else it might be too late.