“It appeals to our ego to
consider what ‘we’ have
and what ‘they’ need.

I went to South Africa
once, to a small village
about 800km from Cape
Town. The people were
extremely poor, conditions
were basic; alcoholism
was rife.
My first
impression was typical of
a Westerner: I thought
‘These poor people…’
and I thought about what
‘we’, in the prosperous
North, could offer people
in poor developing countries.

But, by the time I
left, having been invited
into homes, eaten and
laughed with both kids
and adults, talked to folk
wherever I roamed, I
came away thinking
more about what they
had to offer to us.
The
visit made me realize that
in our greedy pursuit of
wealth we have lost a
great deal of what money
cannot buy. Our value
system has gotten out of
kilter with what is important
in life.
The people I
met had an abundance
of natural generosity,
exuberance, lust for life,
sense of community and
family.
I am now more
worried for us and the
road that we are walking,
blinded by unconscious
greed because we
always look after number
one.
We all, rich and
poor alike, have something
very valuable to
gain if we share the
world resources more
fairly, and if we look
again at what is really
valuable in life.”

- Fran Healy, singer/songwriter
with the band Travis (from ‘The Rough Guide to a Better World’)