With regards to roads what you are forgetting is that in Britain in the Middle Ages there were relatively small distances between settlements and villages, certainly only in the tens of miles rather than hundreds of miles.  Whilst the majority of people in Britain never left their village there were traders and large land owners who did and for whom communications were important.  It was the feudal system which set the routes for many of today’s roads.  These roads weren’t built for the villagers’ benefit but for the land owner’s and were mostly constructed by virtually forced and unpaid labour. 

As for your driveway, likewise we have one that connects to the main road.  This is only about a quarter mile long and as you did with yours we are able to maintain it.  If however the nearest ‘main’ road was 50 miles away then that wouldn’t be possible.

Sewage systems weren’t introduced to much of Britain until the Victorian age when population densities made them necessary - sewage is not a problem in rural Africa and systems such as you describe are in common usage.

Many of the problems in rural Africa come about because people are living on the edge - small changes in climate, such as droughts or floods can dry up water sources, divert rivers and ruin arable land.  Small communities don’t have the resources to bring in outside expertise to help in times of emergency as modern society has killed the barter system without providing a monetary replacement for communities that are generally self sufficient.

All they can do when things go wrong is to trek huge distances in the hope of finding help - to suggest that these appeals should be ignored is on a par with suggesting that food banks and benefits etc. should be abolished as people should learn to stand on their own two feet.