Savior Complex

This documentary is very informative, but not in the way the producers intended.

Most white people would see it and think that they should do better, but instead of listening, they should just watch, understand that you never help and always making a bad situation worse.

Never work against nature, never push the scale of evolution, you are just creating an unbalance with an impact beyond your life and ego.

Africa was in a perfect balance before white aid took hold. Misplaced altruism is always pathological, when you ignore your own tribe, what happens next to you, and go to help people on a different continent, you can be sure you are doing harm.

Renee took ontoo much based upon her missionary zeal. Her medical procedures were guided, not by science, but hearing the voice of God. Really sad commentary of misguided goal in an impossible situation. The condition of malnutrition, cultural deprivation, hunger, is really beyond what can be alleviated by well-meaning (misguided) attempts fo introduce Christian beliefs along with healing. The young girl hearing God's call was delusional, thinkinking she could make a difference. Should have just left the people alone, to deal with the crisis themselves. The nurse witnessed the mistakes in the hospital.

Good intentions, no doubt. Pride and arrogance, absolutely.

What started as an admirable commitment to help feed the poor escalated into deadly self-importance. The step from providing food to becoming a weight-gain facility between the hospital and return home was admirable. Once fund raising secured medical supplies and medicine, things hit a slippery and deadly slope. Good intentions do not bestow medical skills and expertise. Nor do they absolve one from the deadly consequences of practicing medicine without a license.

The NWS group also possesses arrogance. Keen insights on the evils of colonialism and lingering issues during post-colonialism do not absolve the organization of overreach. Volunteers of all stripes are needed in the face of abject poverty and starvation. Yet serving rice and beans is a far cry from pretending to be a doctor. Bach thought her faith made all actions acceptable. She was wrong.

The filmmaker is evenhanded and leaves it to viewers to ponder the larger issues of missionary work, volunteerism, and traveling far to help the poor when they are also in your own community.

Watched it, I was expecting something different but what I saw was the same thing we see in America every day. White women tearing other white women down for their own gain. If you have to turn someone else's light out to shine, you don't deserve to have a light. There are morals and then there are decisions made for personal reasons. I will not be supporting any causes made to the Uganda moving forward. If I wanted white women tearing white women down, I could view that in my local church. I am a white woman by the way, Im just tired of it. I would not spend a single dollar to support her predecessors.

It's easy to sit and judge from your comfy American couch, but even when they we're criticizing her, I saw a woman trying to do good. Was it perfect, no. Do I think the documentary gave us the whole truth, no. I very much dislike the nurse, way more than the one who was at least making every attempt.

Having read the existing reviews, I assumed that this was a story that had been told over and over again - Young white girls are feeling better by visiting Africa. *This is bad*.

And yes, it is, but it has delved into this issue a lot deeper than I expected from a product of the current USA culture wars.

These three episodes attempt (which is more than can be said for a lot of documentaries) to explain its subjects from a number of points of view.

Yes, it is about Africa, and it (without my personal experience) seems to represent its reality, and the reality of the people who live and work there reasonably well.

Yes, it's about US Christianity, and (maybe) presents the (in fairness) admirable traits that drive these missionaries to go to these countries that they have literally no clue about, other than the certain knowledge that the countries are in trouble and need help.

But what are these unspecial, unskilled, people really supposed to be doing (other than evangelising) in a country they know (literally) less than nothing about?

Yes, it is about how countries and cultures view each other (in general terms). If that doesn't interest you, skip it. If you appreciate that we live in an unequal world, but also that we are all humans dealing with global problems, then it is worth a watch (IMHO)