World traveler Patrick Giantonio led audience members on a journey through Africa Thursday night as he narrated "Footsteps into Change," a film presentation of his five-year walk from Kenya to Cameroon.
Giantonio traveled to Africa five years ago to find out "why is the quality of life declining in Africa and what, if any, role can we play in the solution?"
With only two donkeys to keep him company, Giantonio walked during the day and arrived in a different village each night, where he said he was warmly welcomed by villagers.
Although African lives are plagued with devastation, Giantonio said he was inspired to see their "age-old energy and spirit," which he said brought a festive spirit to the villages he visited.
During his tour, Giantonio said he realized that he had many misconceptions about the United States' role in Africa and the issues of overpopulation and poverty.
Before the walk, Giantonio said he thought the U.S. was the answer to Africa's problems -- but after speaking with Africans he doubted whether intervention has really improved the quality of life in Africa.
"Africa is made poor and kept poor by Northern industrial nations like the United States," Giantonio said during his talk in Dartmouth Hall.
Giantonio said most people think the U.S. gives generously to Africa. But America "actually gets three times more out of Africa than we put in with loans and foreign aid."
Giantonio said he was surprised to learn that business, government and industry benefit from the poverty of others. Colonization has led to the creation of new governments and economies which serve Northern industrial interests, he said.
Northern industrial nations use African land to cultivate sugar, tea and cotton, Giantonio said, but this does not help the African people.
"Africans can not eat tea," Giantonio said.
The U.S. also adds to Africa's problems by supporting political factions such as the Mozambique Resistance Movement, which is waging a civil war in Mozambique, Giantonio said. For the cost of training one soldier, 100 African children could be educated.
"Africa is not a dead continent, but must be given the freedom to develop on its own," Giantonio said.
Giantonio said statistics on African overpopulation show poverty is not the primary cause of overpopulation.
Some Africans have children because they are insecure about the likelihood their children will survive, Giantonio said. Only when Africans feel more confident in the children's chances for survival will birth numbers decline, he said.
The "Footsteps into Change" presentation was brought to Dartmouth as part of Hunger Awareness Week.
