Читать книгу The Climate City - Группа авторов - Страница 58

The coda to this chapter examines a short documentary, “Buddha in Africa”. Made in 2020 by director Nicole Schafer, it tells the tale of a Chinese orphanage in the heart of Malawi where the children take lessons, learn Chinese, study Buddhism, and are trained in martial arts. Ordinary Malawians, too poor to look after their children or grandchildren, hand them over to the monks who tour the region in minibuses to take them away. The youngsters, some as young as five years old, fear that they are going to be eaten by the mysterious Chinese child-catchers, but they are whisked away with the opportunity to get an education. For years they engage in a strict martial arts regime, learn a range of subjects, and seldom get to visit their families. After a young lifetime at the school, the students are offered the chance to go to university in Taiwan, an opportunity unheard of for their relatives and friends. In this documentary, the main protagonist, Enock Alu, a Malawian teenager, is uncertain whether he wants to go or stay in order to retain his cultural roots. The head monk tells him: “The world is changing. The poverty of Africa now can’t be blamed on you because you are a victim. But in 20 years, if Africa still hasn’t developed, you are not a victim anymore, and should be blamed to a great extent.”³⁵