DON'T WORRY, AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER, I WAS FED ONE OR MORE OF THESE STEREOTYPICAL IDEAS, BUT this is nothing to feel ashamed about. instead, we should all try to be AWARE and INFORMED!
Africans are not helpless, impoverished people living in the slums. They do NOT need us to “save” them and many urban areas and people are quite civilized.
In Zambia, I’ve already been able to eat cross-cultural food, attend a shopping mall, and find almost all the same commodities and food as in America at a grocery store. See this grocery store in Lusaka below:
In Zambia, I’ve already been able to eat cross-cultural food, attend a shopping mall, and find almost all the same commodities and food as in America at a grocery store. See this grocery store in Lusaka below:
- Usually perceived as war-torn and crime-ridden, lots of countries in Africa are not as dangerous as you may think. In fact, Zambia is one of the most peaceful countries in Africa.
Since it’s independence in 1964, Zambia has had 6 presidents and over 70 ethnic groups, but it has not resorted to violence for disputes or presidential turnovers. - Although many Africans still lack access to reliable electricity, almost everyone has a cell phone of some sort and SMS/internet services are widely available, which allows social entrepreneurs to take advantage through mobile money or information dissention.
Zambia has four main networks for cellular service: MTN, Airtel, and Zamtel - Many Africans know and speak English. In Zambia, almost everyone can speak English, but everyone also speaks their native tongue, which could be Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, and Lozi.
Zambians also learn a variety of other languages, and I’ve also been able to speak Mandarin and French to a few Zambians who are learning to speak these languages. - Many Africans are educated. While the public education system may be faulty, many Africans have received higher educations with better technology helping to accelerate this process.
I met a woman who went to university in Russia then Germany to study Ecology and Management of Natural Resources. We had an incredible talk about environmental issues in Zambia and climate change, and I even found out her father was a Mechanical Engineer. - Wild animals don’t wander around in the streets and sadly, due to illegal poaching, most animals can only be found in wilderness preserves.
- Even though the Sahara Desert occupies a large portion of the continent, many other parts of Africa, especially sub-Saharan (like Zambia) have rich, arable soil for vegetation, but deforestation and slash-and-burn agricultural (chitemene) has led to negative effects on the landscape.
As a side note, Africa is also not always crazy hot. Weather in Zambia ranges from low 50s to high 70s (Fahrenheit) in the winter right now.