When is a Crisis not a Crisis ?
January 5, 2009 2:14 pm Africa Trip, CrisesIn reflecting on my trip to Kenya I have been thinking of the meaning of a crisis. As a so called expert, I have written so much about crises during my career, how to prevent them, how to deal with them and what causes them and more.
In Kenya I found myself developing a new prospective. So many events that I would normally think of as a crisis are accepted as part of life. Things like not having enough to eat, having your few belongings stolen or your life threatened, or having no prospects for a job,school, or future. Although these things are all cause for sadness to the people who experience them and the people of Kenya worry about these events, they are also accepted as part of life and not seen as a crisis. Initally, my reaction to all of this was rage at the injustice, and of course an attempt to remedy the situation. This of course reflects my usual aggressive reaction to a crisis, that is: “fix it”.
I was actually able to help a few people to get food and return to school and try to build a future. My efforts however seemed less then a drop in a very big bucket. This was very discouraging at times and I found myself lowering my expectations for success and becoming more insensitive to these things. I can certainly see how constant exposure to these “crises” can lead to giving up altogether. If I felt this desire to give up after only a few months, I can only imagine how one would feel after a lifetime of these experience.  Crises becomes a daily occurances that is not even recognized as a crisis or causes much in the way of emotional upheaval. This dulled reaction is of course normal and necessary because it would be impossible to live in a constant state of emotion turmoil and stress.
From the outside this is lack of reaction is often seen as a shortcoming of the people, sometimes called laziness or lack of caring. It took me some time to realize what was really going on and not to be angry and judgmental about the people who appear to just “accept their fate”. It is a matter of survival, I did the same on a smaller scale as I learned to accept things I didn’t think I could. I am not sure if this is good or bad, only necessary.
