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Little Brother Big Brother

For the first child in any family life is an adventure which is never quite echoed by the second or subsequent children in any family, assuming of course that the gap between siblings is not great and that they are living and growing together. For the first child everything is new, the world is a place of discovery; everything is there to be understood and the relationship between the first child and the world is a curious one which is determined through trial and error with the occasional intervention of adults and other children. The second child however is walking a path already trodden by the older brother or sister. The older brother or sister has already seen what is safe of fun allowing the younger child to copy with little of the risk taking that his older sibling has undertaken. No longer is growing about exploration but about learning from others. Late additions to a family copy mirror and make strides in development much faster than their elder siblings. When left to their own devices, however, the world becomes a very different place. They have no guide, no mentor and no assurance that what they are doing will be fun, safe, acceptable or of value. Risk taking is suddenly new and the younger child then lacks the assurance they apparently had. Watch a younger child who generally plays with their elder brother or sister suddenly have to make their way on their own, life is suddenly a slightly more precarious place.
In my view the Gambia is like the second child. They copy other African states comfortably. They follow with little thought but when left to their own devices they struggle. They lack the assurance of the elder child to go alone where none have gone before. Even in their educational systems students are taught to copy, do this, it is right, safe and you do not have to think. Consequently many Gambians lack creativity, lack the drive to go where none have gone before and when faced with problems do not even know how to approach finding a solution.
Sadly the world of international development fails to recognise the need to support growth in anything but fiscal terms. NGOs and other donors generally tell Gambia what to do allowing them to live with the notion that everything is okay because we have been told to do it. The oft quoted, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a meal. Teacher a man to fish and you feed him for life.” does not seem to apply here. It is time Gambia be allowed and challenged to stand up and become accountable for their own decisions, masters of their own destiny. Of course the Gambia is a very needy country and I understand and I understand why donors demand so much and why the Gambia continues to rely on the guidance of the donors and other African countries as role models for development but sooner or later Gambia has to understand that their big brother might not be around to rely on for ever. It is time to become self reliant, personally accountable and take responsibility for their own actions and decisions. Or am I wrong?