Public sounds
Lodging
Sharing and hospitality
Hospitality
Meal etiquette
General practices
The social use of resources
The role of recipients
Budgeting and accounting
Other patterns of resource use
Summary: Use of resources
Networks
Etiquette
Summary: friendship
Sharing resources
Effects of solidarity
Summary: the role of solidarity
People of means
Practicing the system
Summary: society and people of means
Debt and funding strategies
Repayment of loans
Summary: loans and debts
Role of relationships
Negotiating
Business strategies
Handling problems
The voice of experience
Summary: business matters
Acknowledgements
I have benefited from the suggestions, comments, and experiences of many people. They have all been either Africans or expatriates who have spent years working or living in Africa.
Fred West heads the list as it was first his idea to ask me to talk about my experiences—something I had not thought of doing. After him, the history is hard and tortuous, as is often the case during the gestation of a book. Discussions with individuals and groups, and more life experiences in Africa, fattened the file until it turned into this book. Hence, extensive and varied contributions from many people have provided valuable material and comments. I would like to thank all these friends and colleagues who have collectively made this book possible. It could not have been written by me alone. In the final analysis, of course, I was the one who put all these contributions together, so any blame for misrepresenting Africa or Western viewpoints falls on me. I do trust, however, that the book contains no misrepresentations.
In the space available I can thank certain friends who have been involved. Those who made substantial contributions or reviewed the text at various points include the following (in alphabetical order): Elinor Abbott, Grace Adjekum, Kwashie Amenudzie, Victor Azelenkor, Jules Badji, Pierre Boly, Oumar Diallo, Viking Dietrich, Mandé Diop, Joseph Diouf, Marilyn Escher, the late Djibril Fall, the late Mbengue Fall, Salifou Fall, George Foryoh, Yatta Foryoh, Karl Franklin, Glenn Gero, Fritz Goerling, Stephen Graham, Mafatim Guèye, Irene Haibucher, June Hathersmith, Marian Hungerford, Jim Leonard, the late Karen Lewis, Steven Maranz, Eddie Mungai, Emmanuel Njock, Stephen Payne, Clinton Robinson, Richard Shawyer, Duane Troyer, Bert Visser, Katy Wienecke, Gordon Williams, and Sara Williams.
John Watters, Africa Area Director of SIL International during much of the period in which the research and writing of the book took place, provided invaluable encouragement. Some early versions or excerpts were sent to colleagues in several countries from Senegal to Kenya, who used the materials in various seminars, courses, and training sessions. Their positive reports as to the helpfulness of the material have been a stimulus to keep pressing on. Barbara Moore and Harriet Hill have been special encouragers.
My wife, Louise, has from the beginning been a major supporter. In fact, together we lived many of the examples presented in the work.
I must thank the countless African friends and acquaintances who are really the subject of the book. Almost without exception I have found Africans to be friendly, accepting, and personable. The book is really about them and “us” Westerners, and how we can better understand and appreciate each other.
A few contributors have asked to remain anonymous, so they are cordially thanked anonymously.
The names of some who gave me a good word, or suggestion, or encouragement along the way may have been left out. I ask their indulgence; no one has been omitted intentionally.
I finally thank the academic editorial staff of SIL International for their interest in the book and for bringing it to light of day. In particular my sister, Bonnie Grindstaff, did the heavy editing for which I’m most grateful, followed by Bonnie Brown. Others were part of the process, in the editing and business sections headed by Mary Ruth Wise and Larry Salge, respectively. Many cordial thanks to all.
Westerners who give money and economic advice to Africa, as well as those who write about the continent, spend far too much time looking in the wrong direction. We concentrate our energies on semifictional, barely functional, frequently irrelevant Western imports: central bureaucracies, ministerial policy papers, macroeconomic statistics, and the “sincerity” of leadership commitment to free-market reform. All of which can be condemned, applauded, or made fun of within easy walking distance of a four-star hotel. Meanwhile, we are ignorant of the indigenous system that helps hold the whole…together.
Blaine Harden1
1 Harden 1990:63–64.
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Introduction
Several years have passed since the first edition of African Friends and Money Matters was published. The author and publisher have been gratified at its reception and from the comments received. Expatriate and national workers across Africa have been using it. It has gone through several printings. Now we present a new edition including two completely new chapters. We believe this added material will add to the usefulness of the book.
The first edition attempted to contrast two main types of behaviors, those African and those Western. It was pointed out in the first edition that what was described were observed to be typical behaviors, seen often across the African continent, but that there are many local, regional, and individual differences. The same was noted as true for “Western” behavior, with differences, for example, between Europe and America, and within countries. Also noted in the first edition was the fact that even though the “observations” have been discussed and revised with African friends from West to East, they should be taken as starting points or hypotheses when living and making friends with Africans in any