Beauty is everywhere in Africa. The variety of ecosystems is staggering, each individually breathtaking in it's own right. Most of the time when Africa is mentioned it's spoken as if it's one homogeneous topography. Netflix has an African documentary from the BBC which is more captivating than any anything made from Hollywood. It focuses on the beauty and the radically different ecosystems; deserts, forest, and grass plains. We miss the beauty, vastness and differences of Africa when we categorize the continent into one lump. BBC doesn't focus on the cities but all over the continent I could go to vibrant, modern cities. It has in it the difference one would see in North America from New York City to a small town in Nebraska. North America isn't just cattle on a lone prairie plain. Neither is the continent of Africa zebras and lions walking through flat, grassy plains.
We also miss the riches of Africa when we portray only her insufficiencies.
I grew up in the era of the Ethiopian famine. Our TV screen revealed the vast camps of people starving and needing help. The last several decades the media has been filled with the AIDs crisis, the need to have access to water and displaced families due to wars and genocides. So when we see the continent of Africa on our screens or in an article, it is usually the face of needy orphans. I understand the ad campaigns trying to elicit emotion in me as I sit in a nice house on a nice couch with my snacks and drinks in hand. They are trying to get me to put down my excess food and donate to people who truly need help.
It's true the AIDS epidemic decimated areas and countries in Africa.
It's true there are an abundance of orphans.
It's true gathering water absorbs too much of the day.
It's true areas need better access to schooling and health care.
But that is not all there is.
On my first trip to Zambia, I was embarrassed how much those images seeped into my mind as if that was all there was in the entire continent. I was shamefully shocked I can go into a modern mall: what??? I sat in a cute coffee house and ordered an overpriced specialty cappuccino with my mind blown. At the end of the day, I can go into a newly built five star hotel-whoa!! As an American, I feel right at home. I can sit at a café and discuss the latest technology with a native. I met successful businessmen and women. I talked with people about my love of traveling because they were traveling to different countries! This is not the image portrayed to me.
Areas of Africa need us to come along side and help. “ALONG SIDE” Those are the crucial words. I need to understand our similarities. I need to love them and desire to want to walk along side them with understanding. The people needing help are intelligent, capable, creative and strong. They don’t need us to tell them how to solve their problems. They just need a helping hand.