Willie DuBe

Ten minutes after stepping off the bus to Swakopmund, Namibia, an old man on the street called out to me. He approached me, claiming to be a schoolmaster from Mpandawana, Zambia. Walking on crutches outside of the public hospital, he claimed to have been in a car which hit an elephant while traveling in Namibia from Zambia. "The collision killed 13 of the 16 of us," he said and showed me a massive deformity on his back. He claimed to hold a master's degree of bio-chemistry and he was able to back up this assertion by answering my subtly posed skill-testing questions about bio-chemistry and the general sciences (he had at least a 6th grade knowledge of science). He had N$200 and needed another N$100 ($15 CAD) to get to Livingstone, Zambia where his colleagues could assist him the rest of the way home.

I had been walking quickly in order to gain a glimpse of the Atlantic ocean during sunset. It was getting late, but I slowed my pace to hear his stories of Zambia, his mother in Zimbabwe, his schooling, and the "many virtues of the merciful whites." With the sun setting and Willie slowing me down to his limped pace, I said goodbye. I could still make the sunset if I went now. As I left, he asked me for aid. I was in a hurry, and had no money except a single N$100 bill ($15 CAD). I showed it to him, but explained it was all I had left and I couldn't spare it. Instead, I gave him a handful of change from my pocket: N$6 ($0.90 CAD). In despair, he said, "Well, that's useless." I apologized and walked away quickly, knowing he couldn't keep up. I felt aweful as my gesture had clearly been an insult.

Due to Canada's comparatively superior social safety nets and a comparatively lower number of elephants on major roadways - I had never encountered this exact predicament. Yet in my transposition of this situation into comparable Canadian circumstances, I would probably have given a stranger on the streets of Vancouver my last $15 if he explained he were in a comparatively unfortunate predicament. In fact, I actively spend time finding people in real need of charity. But today I'm in a hurry, and in Africa, people often putting me on the defense by trying to get money from me. I am cautious to not be taken advantage of, since I don't want to be the stupid tourist who falls for "Old Willie's" cons. I've been in town for only 30 minutes so perhaps many people here have a story such as this one. I don't want to lend money to Willie now and have every person in town who experiences tough times to know of me.

As I walked away, I thought about the people I lend money through Kiva. I thought about what Willie's 'profile page' would have looked like on this internet charity site. In my mind's eye, I saw his 'character profile' reading as if it were a transcript of the polite story he had just told me. I could see myself clicking "Donate" for Willie DuBe had I been in the comfort of my armchair.

Weird.