I dream of Africa...... Neo colonialism and the niceness of it all

I want to go to Africa for a gap year......... I had a penny for every time I heard that.....

A young chap said that to me today. At which point I nearly bit his head off. He justified it by saying Africa is poor which made me more angry. He is very young however that is no excuse really. He cited the goodness of his heart and his desire to help less fortunate people. I was told this is enough and one mustn't get cynical of good intentions. Why not? It seems sentiment and emotion must outweigh rational thought. As a woman of colour I was of course the hysterical one, cynical and not a good servant. All this good will was being offered to me and I would have none of it my ingratitude was hurting someone's good intentions. 

That this persons saw Africa as a little village full of poverty stuck children waiting for his good intentions and little loose change is to be taken for granted. His feelings are of utmost importance never-mind his blatant ignorance and misguided sense of charity or should I say voyeurism. 

There are several issues here 

1 This person refuses to see the problems in his own society- Europe is a nice place but isn't exactly perfect there are lots of homeless people here. 

2 Poverty is graded with African poverty being the worst and somehow only redeemable by a good hearted white boy.

3 Good intentions are seen to be all that one needs to change the world. Sorry economists and social workers if only you sprayed fairy dust all around you.

4 Black people are seen as people without agency and dependent on the benign goodwill of white people, their opinion in this matter is non existent.

5 Africa the continent is though of as little village which is made of all poor people who would kill each other if it were not upto white people to save them. 

6 African people are thought of as all poor with very little or no insight into the inner working of their society.

All these assumptions are racist yet questioning them makes me a hysterical cynical black woman. So the brutality of past colonisers is gone instead we have young men and women with good intentions  how have things changed?