Thanksgiving in Brazzaville

As a former French colony, which only became fully independent in 1960, the Republic of Congo still has very close ties to France. There are, however, Americans here aside from the embassy staff. Not many, but a few. A fairly large cross-section of these Americans gathered at the residence of US Ambassador Chris Murray to celebrate Thanksgiving. Americans make their way to Congo for a number of reasons: to work on environmental conservation, to work on public health, and to work in development and education. (I’m sure there are business people, too, but I didn’t meet any last night.) The first American School, a private institution offering instruction in English, opened this year, and the first group of teachers is quite extraordinary. They appear to combine a sense of adventure with great dedication to, and passion for their teaching.

Some longer-term American expats, individuals who have worked abroad for various international NGOs and other organizations, and who have been in Brazzaville for years, constitute a different group from the newly arrived and still (possibly) jet-lagged group. Conversations with this group tend to focus less on the excitement of new experiences and anxiety about resources, and more on comparison of this year’s events to last year’s, or to the sharing of new strategies for coping with the wildly inadequate infrastructure in Brazzaville and the sheer physical difficulty of getting around the country. One important signifier of short-term versus long-term status appears to be the moment when one switches from being amazed at how inexpensive most things (except food) are in Congo, to being appalled at how expensive they are.

As a developing country in great need of a wide variety of things – better roads, more reliable electricity production and distribution, better basic health care, more jobs and opportunity for citizens – Congo, like other countries in a similar situation, attracts the usual array of international organizations, each here to carry out its mission and achieve its own specific goals. Americans work with all of these institutions, and were present at Thanksgiving. The usual alphabet soup of large international groups – WHO, WCS, UNICEF, UNDP, etc. – is also accompanied by smaller organizations and even individual efforts, dedicated to service and often faith-based missions. If ever there was a time to heed the general advice for Thanksgiving dinner survival, “avoid religion and politics,” this was such a time. It was, instead, a good time to marvel at and appreciate the choices so many people have made to leave the comfort and security of their home country, their native language, and (often) their families to do work that they believe is important. From foreign service officers to volunteers on development projects, this is an interesting and deeply engaged group of people.

*One important caveat, which has been studied by both scholars and practitioners of international aid and development, is the extent to which NGOs and other large international organizations can take over and basically replace the normal functions of the state in a developing country. Where state institutions are weak, NGOs often flow in to fill the perceived vacuum. This process, over time, can undermine the incentives for the state to fulfill its obligations to its citizens, whether in public health, or education, or basic infrastructure. There is also a risk that the state’s own capacity to fulfill these functions may be undermined, if the work is instead being done by the foreign employees of a variety of NGOs. A short walk through the Centreville section of Brazzaville will demonstrate just how prevalent NGOs are in Congo, as you walk past one sign after another indicating the office of yet another NGO, or company funded by the UN, with yet another mission. They are almost as numerous as the various government ministries. Just another aspect of the context here in Congo, and something else to keep in mind as I move forward with my research.