The author is a researcher in international relations. She co-edited the collective work White Saviorism in International Development (Daraja Press), with Themrise Khan and Dickson Kanakulya.
Renee Bach was 19 years old, part of a Baptist congregation, and she wanted to save Ugandan children. After being homeschooled in Virginia, she moved to Jinja, Uganda, where in 2009 she founded the NGO Serving His Children, which cares for malnourished children. One organization among hundreds of others in this region of the country.
The woman who said she received a call from God documented her experience on social media. Before its closure in 2015, 105 children died in the hospital founded by this new kind of missionary. According to the photos on his blog and the promotional videos of his NGO, Bach strutted around in a white lab coat with a stethoscope and performed various medical procedures… with a high school diploma as his only baggage.
Two mothers of children who died at the Bach medical center eventually filed lawsuits with the help of human rights lawyer Primah Kwagala: Gimbo Zubeda, for her son Twalali Kifabi; and Kakai Annet, for her son Elijah Kabagambe. The young American finally agreed to settle out of court and pay US$9,500 to each of the mothers, without admitting any guilt.
An HBO documentary called Savior Complex about this drama was released on September 26. Although it is sensationalist at times, the film asks excellent questions about the condescension of some missionaries, who believe themselves to be more qualified than the populations they wish to serve. As if good intentions were enough to save the world.
The savior complex
In a book that I edited with Themrise Khan and Dickson Kanakulya, we define “ white saviorism » or “white savior complex” as a structure that places Western people (white or not) above others in abilities and benevolence.
For individuals who embody it, this savior complex translates into a feeling of having to help populations in need and a self-perception of volunteerism, coupled with a feeling of superiority. Bach, for example, often questions Ugandan doctors’ diagnoses and performs blood transfusions without the help of nurses. This is a paternalistic narrative: “I know better than you what is good for you. »
This often comes with a perception that some people have of being more capable, more intelligent and therefore more “developed” than the people from the Global South with whom they work. Our book specifies that white people are not the only ones to blame…so it is not a question of accusing Caucasian people of being malicious! However, the savior complex is called “white” because it implies that they are above others, whether they like it or not. In the documentary, we see that many Ugandan mothers trust Bach, because she is muzungu (white).
Ultimately, this imperative to help (“I must do something for poor people”) often comes into contradiction with a system of exploitation and dispossession. France, for example, takes with one hand from Mali (through unequal trade agreements) and gives with the other (through projects for the economic empowerment of Malian women).
The benevolence of people like Bach, while laudable, often does not take into account these more structural dynamics that cause inequalities between countries. If there is more malnutrition in Uganda than in Canada, Ottawa should perhaps sign fairer trade agreements with Kampala so that the Ugandan government can invest in sustainable agriculture and education.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water
Olivia Alaso and Wendy Namatovu, from the organization No White Saviors, discussed Bach’s case in the preface to our book: how could a 20-year-old American woman with no training think she was capable of founding a medical establishment in another country ? “To be White is to be considered an expert, qualified and believed beyond reasonable doubt,” they explain.
In an interview for the American magazine Time In 2010, economist William Easterly made the following analogy: “I’m sorry for being disparaging toward people who have good intentions. But if I have an operation done by a surgeon, it doesn’t matter to me whether he has good intentions. I’m much more interested in knowing if he knows what he’s doing. People seem to have different standards when it comes to international development. »
I’m sorry for being derogatory to people who have good intentions. But if I have an operation done by a surgeon, it doesn’t matter to me whether he has good intentions. I’m much more interested in knowing if he knows what he’s doing. People seem to have different standards when it comes to international development.
When you go to see a surgeon, you expect them to have experience — the more professional, the better! But in religious initiatives of international cooperation, many people feel able (or at least, more able than the populations they want to help) to solve specific problems in health, education or politics.
We must tackle injustices, poverty and inequalities in the world, of course. But Renee Bach should have given control of her hospital to Ugandan doctors and administrators from the start, or acted in collaboration with the country’s medical clinics. It is not the desire to help that should be avoided, but the condescension that underlies this type of initiative.
As the members of No White Saviors often say: we have never said that white people should not do anything (in Uganda or elsewhere), but they should not be the heroes of History.