White saviours? We’re just doing what’s right
I AM appalled at the attitude of Labour MP David Lammy to those of us who have given money to charities that help people in Africa. Several years ago, my then wife and I were holidaying in The Gambia and made friends with a security guard who introduced us to a headmaster who then showed us around his school. We noticed there was no running water for the toilets or taps. When we asked him why, he told us they couldn’t afford to have it set up. When we discovered it would cost just £200 to have the water connected in the school, we gave him the cash. This was not a case of White Saviour Syndrome, but us being in a position to resolve a situation that was unhygienic for young children. Since then, my wife and I divorced and she later married a Gambian and set up a charity called The Jallow Foundation, The Gambia. Singlehandedly, she has supported women in outlying districts to form self-help communities by making and selling soap and clothes, arranged for villages to be trained in first aid by the local Red Cross, organised sponsorship from British citizens to pay for children to have an education and funded malaria prevention. When she discovered sick and pregnant women were dying because they could not get to the nearest medical centre in time, she raised the funds to buy a vehicle to be used as an ambulance. It is self-financed by being used as a taxi when not required as an ambulance. All this she has done without any government help. Every single penny she has raised has gone into the charity, with no CEO taking a huge salary. We are bombarded with adverts on TV by charities urging us to donate regularly to help children in Africa. Yet according to David Lammy, we must be suffering from White Saviour Syndrome if we do this. Should we stop donating to charities and ignore fund-raising events such as Comic Relief? I think I know what would happen if we did.
R. TAYLOR, Stubbington, Hants. WHY should David Lammy apologise for the shortfall in the Comic Relief Appeal? The real reason not as much was raised as in previous years is that people like me are tired of the constant stream of appeals. All too often charity money is spent on admin and salaries. We all fund Britain’s foreign aid programme through taxation.
B. JENKIN, Swadlincote, Derbys.