The African Village

The first time I went to the waterpark here I noticed that the area for the smaller kids is called the African Village.  It has a shallow pool and slides and sprayers with a wild animal theme: elephants, snakes, giraffes, a frog. One of the elephants has on a blond wig and a blue bikini.  Another wears a fez. Another, the one with the biggest smile, doesn’t wear anything at all. It’s a mythical version of Africa that has friendly wild animals and bright colors, but no humans apart from the lifeguards.

If this was at an American waterpark someone would sooner or later take a picture and name and shame to point out, and rightly so, that Africa is a huge continent with numerous complex and diverse human societies, and that making this corner of the park a jungle-themed  "African Village" was just another in a long line of ways in which Africa is marginalized, minimized, and generally disrespected on a global level. There would be an active campaign to put it out of business or at least rename and redesign it. There are so many layers to be offended about if you feel like causing a ruckus.

I've also noticed that most of the lifeguards at the water park are African, though I don’t know their nationality. A few days ago I went back with my kids and made a point of asking the lifeguard by the African Village one of the most common questions in Doha: “what is your country?” She said Kenya. I asked her how she felt about the African village, if it resembled her home at all, whether she lived in a city or a more rural place. I expected her to be offended by the Aqua park’s representation of an entire continent as a few wild animals. She said no, she didn’t mind that it bore no relation to her home- she was happy to see something that mentioned Africa at all. 

I agreed with her that it must be nice to have a pleasant reference to one’s home, as an American bomber roared overhead after taking off from the nearby air base.