Short Story

Gatimu sat in his old, worn-down shed in the middle of town (or what was left of it) and thought. All he knew was that in the afternoon the white men would come again and take away his possessions. Two kilometers away, people were starving and freezing, but all he could think about now was his very own future. He was about to flee back to his relatives back in his homeland, Ethiopia, when the village chieftain came knocking on his door one afternoon, evicted him and took away his job. At least, he had found shelter near the abandoned town. As the sky grew darker, he stood up, lit up the oil lamp and went back to his bed.

Gatimu thought about what his chieftain had told him; that it was all for the good of Africa; that all would be well again soon, and that we would have the all the protection and peace that they had wanted. But Gatimu was confused. He knew, for a fact, that he remained suspicious of these strange white men and their motives. They claimed to have come in peace, but for all Gatimu knew they stripped him of his very livelihood but taking away his job as a gold miner. The chieftain’s words came back to him, “It’s all for the good of Africa.” What an idiot, he thought. The strange white men were obviously coming to steal all that Africa had to offer. In his mind he envisioned the white men taking away all of Africa’s raw materials on their mighty ships. Ivory, coal, rubber. Gold. Gatimu covered himself with a blanket to keep out the cold winds coming from outside his hut, growing larger and larger and making his very bones chill. He wondered if the winds were like the white men, enveloping Africa and growing more and more powerful with each passing second. In the end, they would leave Africa with nothing but take away everything.

Gatimu remembered how in the past he used to attend the usual tribal ceremonies, and how life was simple, but ultimately satisfying. Now these men came and took away the old traditions and the simple lifestyle which succeeded in the past. They wanted to replace their so called ancient traditions with new, radical ways of leadership which his chieftains foolishly abide to. Missionaries oppressed the rituals they have had since centuries ago; saying that it only showed that they are barbaric. “Savagery,” they chanted, “is unacceptable and, in the name of God, we come to bestow the light upon you masses…” Gatimu tossed around in bed, thinking about how the Europeans are working on “double standards”. They came and taught the Africans how to hunt, and yet before the Africans know it, they have become the prey, the Europeans the hunters. The Europeans turned their arms and ammunition towards them, giving no mercy as they blasted towns and ports apart in their midst of rapid imperial succession. It is evident that the Europeans are not acting on the principles that they have so well decorated and beautified. They came in the name of “ensuring liberty” and yet are depriving the Africans from their rights. Thinking about how the Europeans’ hypocrisy had deprived them from those free days that could now only be found in their memories, Gatimu felt tears cruise down his cheeks. He dreamt only of exploitation of his fellow countrymen by the Europeans…

Credits: KC and Clifford

July 19 1912

It has been more than 20 years since the British have arrived and little has changed. We are not getting anymore glimpses of the modern future and economic policies these days have little to do with us other than us slogging our lives out only for the benefit for the colonial powers. Policies undertaken are all Eurocentric in nature, meaning all the benefits considered are all for the European's higher standard of living. Africans like us hardly gain benefits from the policies. I feel that this is disappointing considering the Europeans had promised us great incentives prior to the control of our nation. For example, the British imposed tariffs and high taxes on goods from other countries so as to ensure monopoly of the market. By restricting the technological advancement and manufacturing skill of African state, Europe created a vast market for European manufacture good because Africa virtually produced no manufacture good and had to rely upon Europe supplies. This ensured that we were unable to become self-reliant and had to rely on Europe supplies in order for survival. The profit earned mainly went into colonial powers’ economy reserve, and we,Africans, benefit very little from expansion or modernisation of trade. The Christian missionaries that have appeared in Africa have also prevented progress of tribal groups and also caused cultural roots to be shaken.

I am thoroughly disappointed with the Europeans for them unwilling to share with us their superior technological advantage and also the fruits of our labour. The incentives that were promised were never reached for most of them and this caused a false sense of optimism of the future with the Europeans at the helm at the beginning. Even though the Europeans have restructured our political system into a more democratic one, I feel that this detrimental effects completely outweighed the meagre benefits that we receive. Should I have a choice to decide to allow the Europeans into the country again, I am adamant that for this time, I would firmly reject for anything to do with the Europeans ever again.

April 2 1905

Missionary groups have starting appearing on our island and strongly sent a message to our Mandinka tribe. Christian churches have experienced a growth spurt in Africa and the Fathers and Sisters of the churches have promised to cleanse us of our evil sins if we follow the God. I personally am not convinced and I think this is destroying our roots of tradition and is affecting our cultural beliefs. Some of my friends as defected to the other side as he felt that our tribe was lagging behind the times and our religious beliefs and practices were irrelevant to the future. This has incurred my wrath and I feel that by spreading such Westernised beliefs would cause a loss of tribal and national identity . This would cause a loss of culture which would potentially result in a split of set of thinkings which would greatly destabilize our nation.

Besides, the British have brought in many new diseases that our tribes and villages have never seen before. I have heard from other tribes that many people have died due to new strains of diseases which are powerful and are fatal. My tribe used to be rather healthy prior to the Europeans arrival, but since then, we are unable to cope with the new strains of diseases that are surfacing. Frankly speaking, everyone is in a state of frenzy and is worried about being the next one to get infected with the disease. This is causing a state of fear amongst us and I think this is a worrying trend that deserves much concern. I think the Europeans must find a way to solve the problems that were generated by them. They should research for cures on such diseases and bring some over for the Africans who are in the current plight even though we are totally innocent. My friends who rears livestock for a living has suffered major losses as most of his livestocks are unable to survive the disease of the regions.
I have also heard from other tribes that the epidemic has caused much burden on the breadwinners of the family. As parents die or are unable to work, children have to sought care elsewhere and this increases burden on existing families to provide money for the family.

All that I saw from our period of colonization so far is that the Europeans have barely contributed to the modernization of African states and the previously stated benefits were just overhyped. I just hope that this epidemic would be resolved by Europeans who have to take up responsibility in sparking off this strain of illnesses and affecting our lifestyle.

December 3rd 1900

The British have taken control of our economy. They have implemented their economic system on us, however, all the economic gains went to them instead of us, the producers. My friend, Bala, was forced to grow poppy in his fields instead of growing rice to feed his family. According to the British, the poppy can be sold off at a higher price and would have maximum yield per hectare of land. The short growing season also increases the number of yields per year and allows up to triple cropping which boosts the economy. Despite Bala's hard work in the fields, he receives minimal wages of only 50 pounds for his menial labour. The high amount of profit goes to the British's pockets and the gains are not evenly shared with us, even though we provided them the land and the labour for them. With farmers being forced to grow cash crops, there is of course a decrease in the output of staple food such as rice which has to be imported now.Then, 6 years after the British have arrived in our state, no improvements on the transport system has been made. The transport system is still the outdated type which depends on horses as the main mode of transport. It was then i realised that routes for communication was not laid down to facilitate internal trade in African commodities but rather for European businessmen to do trade by the sea.I observed that all roads and railways led down to the sea. I heard from the village head that they were built to make business possible for the timber companies, trading companies and agricultural concession firms, and for white settlers. I felt outraged at such obvious exploitation of African labour. I am strongly against such discrimination of Africans and the making use of Africans for their own gains. Neither have they helped improve the state of Africa, as all they did was to build roads so as to facilitate external trade with other European businessmen, and not for African businessmen to do trade with. I am truly infuriated with their selfish actions and at the same time, disappointed with the lack of progress in Africa.

History Poem

They came in gigantic wooden ships
With skin so white it burned our eyes.
Aliens they were,
And aliens they proved to be.

They tried to be friendly,
Inspiring us with modern technology.
Promising trade and better farms,
We welcomed them with open arms.

They inspired us,
They awed us.
We sensed no harm, no bad sensation
Just good Samaritan white men who had come with pure good intentions.

The white men were nice,
But treated us like mice.
Before we knew it,
Colonized we were,
With no say whatsoever.

They took our women,
They took our men.
They sold our people,
They sold our land.
We were like slaves,
Controlled by them.
They ruled us by the iron hand.

We had no rights,
We had no say,
And we longed to be free one day.
Separated by paper,
Destroyed by borders.
Traditions abolished,
Cultures demolished.

Throwing away their Samaritan hide,
They showed their demonic side.
Their technology too advanced,
Giving us no chance.

Credits: Ang Yang

5th November 1896

It has been more than two years since the Europeans arrived in our state. Life has been the same as it was two years ago and we have since little change in our way of life so far. Modern technology has not been incorporated into our life and things have barely changed much. We are still awaiting for the great change which would improve our lives. Recently, I heard that the British are going to officially take over our country. I have mixed views on this. Firstly, what would happen to our leader? Would he remain in power or would he be taking up a lesser role? However, I think this might be beneficial for us. The European political system has proved to be successful considering that Europe is a modern society with high-technology advancements. If the same political system is applied for us, it might bring about modernization for us.

Then in the afternoon, the whites brought us some peculiar objects. A rod-like object was used to inscribe words on a white thin-piece of rectangular object. It caused much generated much excitement throughout the village as most of us have never seen such an object before. Before the whites came, we had to use a sharp stick to carve on a piece of rock which was of utmost difficulty. Unexpectedly, we found that using this object made carving items easier and improved communications between each other. The whites also showed us a black ,shiny metallic object in which they used to shoot at distant objects. I was particularly interested in this as due was able to substitute for bows and arrows and had a higher accuracy . Despite initial disappointment with the lack of progress in our state, we still remain optimistic about the future. We had lofty dreams for ourselves , which was to reach the high standard of living of the whites and leave our history which was blighted with hunger pangs and poverty.

News have also slowly diffused that Britain has reached into a confrontation with France due to imperialism based on strategic reasons in the Nile System. Apparently, Britain wanted to acquire Sudan so as to protect its Nile system . France was jealous and made counter moves to spite Britain. Britain felt threatened by the move and moved again so as to protect its own colonies. This continued on and resulted in a tension between Britain and France in the Fashoda Crisis. I dont know much about it , but I think this is going to seriously affect both countries relations