Why Bushbaby?

I chose this title because : I like bushbabies. They are guaranteed "aah"attractors. Their name may appeal to the subconscious of possible readers. I haven't seen one since I left Africa in 1971, and nostalgia for pre-"Independence" Africa is strong in me today. Post-"Independence" Africa frightens me. The removal of the white man from Africa did not bring instant wealth to every black as was promised by deceitful black leaders pushing for power. Had Europeans stayed on as Africa's leaders for another generation, at least thirty years, I have no doubt whatsoever that the whole continent would be happier - and definitely more ready for black rule. The infra-structure would have doubled, the education and medical facilities tripled, the chances of a succesful entry into the 21st Century would have quadrupled. I hate the misery that glares out of Africa through my TV screen; un-necessary misery, avoidable misery! Dumped onto the unready shoulders of simple people because they could not cope with the complexities of economics and social policies a la Europe, because so few had yet been reached by modern education. When I lived in Uganda in 1967, my maid's husband's tribe did not allow its women to eat meat or eggs; these were foods strictly for the delectation of its men. Its girls were not allowed to go to school but had to till fields and carry water from miles away even when heavily pregnant The missionaries did their best to correct these attitudes but they were there for too short a time, and were too few in numbers and finances to have made much impact on tribal practices that were centuries old. The colonial leaders, too, were hampered by a chronic lack of funding from short-sighted home governments, who could find the money for two massive wars in the colonial historic period but not for peaceful endeavors. I hate the secular europeans who blandly and ignorantly assumed that removing white leaders virtually overnight from Africa would automatically generate intelligent, honest, trustworthy, hardworking, compassionate black leaders. In this dark depression that is overwhelming me today, my only consolation comes from my belief that God holds leaders to account whatever the race to which they belong. They will pay in eternity for their stupidity and greed, despoiling lands that were beginning to truly flourish, crushing people who were beginning to become educated and starting to learn that women and children were worthy of kindness, starting to understand that rights carry responsibilities. Starting........everything was just starting.......there was hope in the air......... Then it was undermined. It is hard to see how it can ever recover now.