A very eloquent post. I'd offer that most travelers would struggle without study, which is a great place to start understanding any conflict. With our amazing capacity for human empathy, it's ironic that we rarely leave our "comfort zone" of perspective. I say this of myself as well, as I'm often wide-eyed with wonder when traveling, and usually return home to study more about what I've seen while abroad.

I learned most about the roots of the African nations various challenges from an extremely rigorous course back in college entitled "European Colonialism & the 'Third World'". Any westerner who has difficulty understanding Africa's challenges has likely not spent a great deal of time studying the past several centuries of imperial chess that has been played there by the western nations. This is by no means a scapegoat, but a vast logistical & cultural issue. Each nation has inherited borders that were not drawn by them, but by outsiders. This is an extraordinary challenge in and of itself. Then, in the wake of empire, dictatorial leaders were consistently favored by the west throughout the 20th century for their ability to "maintain control", often at huge cost of life & liberty for local people.

Perhaps a more recent and identifiable conflict for westerners would be South Africa's apartheid system, which was clearly not an African institution, but had everything to do with control of labor & resources. For at least an intro to positive developments in the southern nations, I'd recommend South African journalist Alistair Sparks' "Beyond The Miracle" for one. The success stories are, given the history, almost always the fruit of years or even decades of committed effort to right past wrongs. For that reason, many NGOs stories are a great place to gain insight as well. For example, my mother's NGO combatting the spread of HIV & its social repercussions is detailed at http://graceusa.org/mainpages/wherewework.html.

Please do! Thanks again for your very well-said post & hope this helps.