9 February 2014 - QA 16

Q: When I came here, as I entered the door, I had a lot of questions. But when I sat down I realized that this whole session is about finding your inner peace, and that was a beautiful realization.
My question, today, is about Africa. You had mentioned earlier that simply sending food is not a solution. I would like your guidance on how to further charity in Africa to a new level and make it a more sustainable solution. Africa is a forgotten continent. They are going through a lot of pain and I want your guidance to help them better. (Her Excellency Sheikha Hind Khalid Khalid Al Qasimi: A designer and editor from UAE.)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You know, I was also thinking on these lines: how we can help Africa more. There are 3 dimensions we all have to work for.
First is, we have to see that corruption doesn’t happen. Billions of dollars are being siphoned off into the pockets of just a few political leaders; if I’m right.
When I was in the European parliament, I met several people who informed me that many of these African leaders have stashed their money away in London. So the first thing we need to do is to create a sense of awareness in them that there is a need for a strong anti-corruption bill, or some such thing will have to happen. Such a moment has to come up there.

Second is, creating a sense of belongingness among the people. A lot of money is wasted in ethnic conflicts in Africa. People can just get together, and instead of getting into conflict, celebrate their diversity.
Africa is not one, there are so many diverse little sections, groups, and tribes. They should celebrate this difference together. For this India can be the best example, because in India, every 200 kilometers a different language is spoken! It’s almost like Europe.
Just take the whole of Europe, how many different languages are there; how many different countries are there, yet it is all in one country. Similarly, in some provinces in India, there are 10-15 tribes, but they all celebrate together, they remain together. There aren't such big ethnic conflicts.
So we need to teach people how to live harmoniously in spite of their differences. This can be inculcated in the education system. South Africa has done it to a very big extent. Botswana has done it to some extent. Rest of Africa should do this.
Just giving out charity is not enough. We need to teach them how to fish. We need to teach them how to stand on their feet. This is what I believe in.