It’s a different world out here! That is what I say to myself when I hear some advice from someone not from Africa.
It’s fascinating to see how similar all humans are and how connected we are but at the same time how different we are based on our geography.
One of the most common pieces of advice you will hear from virtual assistant coaches is “start with your family and friends,” which is advice that we all know is irrelevant to you if you live in Africa.
I watched a documentary recently about poverty in one of the Western countries, and some of the things I saw in the documentary made me feel sad about Africa.
I saw how a homeless family found shelter (a place to live) for free under a government program. I saw how people who had nothing to eat got free food for their families.
One thing that stood out the most to me was when a mother went to a government office to find shelter, but the person she spoke with added her to a roster and promised to get back to her as soon as they found a place for her. But before the mother left, she got bags of food items that she could eat with her children for a few days.
I imagine what would happen if that were Nigeria. What do you think would happen if the government budgeted for shelter for the homeless? And what do you think would happen to the free food that the government put in place when someone is in need?
I don’t need to say what would happen, but I am sure you know exactly what would happen to the government budget and what would happen to the free shelter and the free food items.
I watched a show where people gave their DNA, and it got tested, and they found their family tree or family history, I guess — and most people had roots in different continents going back hundreds of years.
Looking at how every person has 2 parents, 4 grandparents, and 8 great-grandparents, and the numbers keep growing, you can see how if we go back hundreds of years, we are all connected.
I guess that is why we are so alike in many ways.
I used to think people in Africa were not as smart as people in the West until I started dealing with people from all over the world, and I realized that is not true.
I used to think many things that turned out to be not true when I started dealing with people from all over the world. I eventually came to understand we are all the same but live in different worlds!
I came to understand that, of course, people will behave differently if they are thinking of how to afford the next meal. Of course, they are going to behave differently if they grow up eating one meal a day. Of course, they will behave differently if someone they love died because they couldn’t afford proper medicine. Of course, they will behave differently if they live in different worlds!
But despite all that, we have a responsibility to do every little thing we can to make our world a better place.
I made it my responsibility to educate and inspire! What little thing can YOU do to contribute to making our world, our country, our continent a better place?
Everyone is different, so I will let you figure out your answer to that question.
Cheers 🥂
