A view I thought I could only get from an airplane now greets me every morning when I step out of my tent. We are staying at Mambo View Point, a lodge on top of a mountain that feels like the top of the world. Below me is a field of clouds that will sometimes drift up and engulf the mountain, leaving us in a cloud. It is a new experience to be distracted by a wisp of cloud drifting past the classroom but up here I find it happens on a regular basis. Coming out of the clouds are other mountain tops that are dusted with houses, terraced farms, and trees. Dirt roads weave their way up the mountains and connect the villages. Here, high above the rest of the world, I understand what David, our cultural history teacher, said because I can see it. “Africa is land rich and people poor,” meaning there is more than enough land for everyone, in fact, they lack the people to utilize all of it. Here, I can look around and see how each farm has space to grow and each house has space around it. The people here are not financially driven so expansion for the sake of money is not necessary. The work is done by relatives, not paid workers, and it is done with a community mindset. Work here is social, you can get all of it done or less than half and it’s all okay because the emphasis is not on output.
David said the needs are few and all the needs are met. People here don’t need a college education because the jobs don’t require it. What they do need, they can get. There is space for someone to build the shelter they need and plant crops for the food they need. Every need they have, they can meet. In a way, the land we Westerners view as poor is actually plentiful.