The Africa they never show you

[Perseverance 1]

It’s so nice to finally see beautiful picture of Africa!

My mother is African (from Angola) and when they show Africa on tv (here in Sweden) it’s only from the worse parts, that’s one of the reasons way most of the Europeans think Africans are not civilized.

I am so glad you made this point . When I traveled to Ghana, a man asked me to please go back to America and tell the people here that Africa is not as it is portrayed in the media. He said " We dress the same as you. We don't run around naked and wild animals like lions, elephants, and tigers aren't roaming the streets. Please tell them we are civilized people."

It angers me to see Africa and Africans portrayed as barbarians . The media chooses to show pictures only of naked starving children living in the bush and half naked men and women who only constitute a small population of that particular country.

Some one asked me when I returned from Ghana "Did you see lions and other wild animals walking about?" I responded: "Yes. In the zoo."

There are many people in Ghana living way better than myself. Beautiful homes on acres of land, a "gate man", servant/boys quarters, home helpers, etc.... And this is VERY common in Ghana and other parts of Africa.

Sorry, yall...had to let that out. Had to vent

So Funny I was asked the exact same questions about Nigeria!!!!! I must have had a confused look on my face when she asked me that, then I said wait let me educate her. Amazing that they believe it is like they see on TV.

I have had so many conversations like this.....

Them- " is it hard to communicate? how do you talk to him?"

Me- "on the cell phone or the computer..."

Them- "Wow they have cell phones and computers!" "is it hard to talk on the computer to him?"

Me- "only when he is running from lions, that makes it more difficult..."

Them- " wow that is crazy what language does he speak? How do you understand what he is saying?"

Me- " Uhhh English... "

Them- "really?"

like I am lying... come on now....

Usually about then I get pretty frusterated...Do these people not have a basic 6th grade education?? the Lion thing cracks me up you would not BELIEVE how many people fall for that

I think they pictured him in a mud hut wearing a loin cloth....

OK OK someone ACTUALY asked me if he spoke Click...

WOW really? really? come on people...

Edited July 2, 2008 by Perseverance

[Asante Maroon 0]

I have had so many conversations like this.....

Them- " is it hard to communicate? how do you talk to him?"

Me- "on the cell phone or the computer..."

Them- "Wow they have cell phones and computers!" "is it hard to talk on the computer to him?"

Me- "only when he is running from lions, that makes it more difficult..."

Them- " wow that is crazy what language does he speak? How do you understand what he is saying?"

Me- " Uhhh English... "

Them- "really?"

like I am lying... come on now....

Usually about then I get pretty frusterated...Do these people not have a basic 6th grade education?? the Lion thing cracks me up you would not BELIEVE how many people fall for that

I think they pictured him in a mud hut wearing a loin cloth....

OK OK someone ACTUALY asked me if he spoke Click...

WOW really? really? come on people...

So, ridiculous it makes me sick...

[jundp 191]

Ah, these pictures are gorgeous. Before I die I WILL make it to South Africa, Egypt and Ghana. These are just the three I've wanted to visit since childhood.

I almost applied for a teacher exchange to Ghana several years ago, but my ex-husband discouraged it. One day...one day. In the meantime, keep the photos coming!

[Kanyiri 0]

I have had so many conversations like this.....

Them- " is it hard to communicate? how do you talk to him?"

Me- "on the cell phone or the computer..."

Them- "Wow they have cell phones and computers!" "is it hard to talk on the computer to him?"

Me- "only when he is running from lions, that makes it more difficult..."

Them- " wow that is crazy what language does he speak? How do you understand what he is saying?"

Me- " Uhhh English... "

Them- "really?"

like I am lying... come on now....

Usually about then I get pretty frusterated...Do these people not have a basic 6th grade education?? the Lion thing cracks me up you would not BELIEVE how many people fall for that

I think they pictured him in a mud hut wearing a loin cloth....

OK OK someone ACTUALY asked me if he spoke Click...

WOW really? really? come on people...

I got the click thing ALL the time!!! My friends used to say his name was *click* *click* *click*

And I completely agree about the picture of Africa being naked, starving children with flies crawling all over them. Those children are definitely there, but there is another side to Africa. My students would frequently eat only a single meal every other day. Hunger is common, but they had freshly washed uniforms and ran track and farmed better than I could. Their bodies were quite efficient with that one meal.

My view of Africa is different from probably most here, and I do want to make a small point. There are many cities in Africa that are well developed and have the mansions and western pools and massive government buildings. There are many in Africa that have more money than I will ever dream of possessing. And Africa, for Americans, has been embodied by the late night Feed the Children commercials that show the naked children with bones barely covered by skin, crying for who knows what reason. Even with all these misinterpretations, the overwhelming majority of Africans do live in poverty. They wear it well and deal with it with class and with dignity. They are a proud people that take care of their family and strangers alike with the small amount that they have.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do think Africa, in general, is misinterpreted by the media. There are the rich, the poor, and the very poor in Africa. Media focuses on the very poor. The poor is the majority. They are proud and they are beautiful. They deal with the cards they are dealt. The rich are the underwhelming minority and those Africans that you meet in America and in the west are the rich. Technology is allowing more of the poor to have access to the west through cell phones and internet, but this is only a recent trend.

There are so many caveats here that I'm afraid I'm going to be attacked for this, but it was not my intention.

Lets turn the table to see how America is portrayed to the majority in Africa. They see on TV the mansions of Brittney Spears and watch soap operas where everyone lives in gorgeous homes and wears diamonds. In turn they see America is a gold mine where everyone is rich and lives in luxury. When we try to convince them that we struggle to pay mortages and the power bill they laugh and assume we have money. The majority of Americans are middle class, struggling to make ends meet. We also have our dirt poor who are homeless or living by the grace of others who provide food. We are portrayed exactly opposite of Africa.

Basically here is what I'm trying to say: the naked, starving child does not properly represent Africa and neither does the sparkling clean mansion.

[stevi1123 0]

Excellent analogy and thought-provoking points.

When I was in Africa, I could feel the pride in the air. It was as if it was a tangible thing. I observed the rich, the poor and the very poor too. I saw the Palaces of Kings in all of their sparkling magnificence. I fell in love with the different versions of Palm Trees, and the sights of the virgin lands which were untouched in the distance. I was honored to step off the plane and set foot on the earth of the Motherland. I collected some red sand and put it in a bottle to commemorate my firt voyage (of many more to come) by God's Grace.

[Zee Bee 61]

I think that no matter the country, there are always going to be misconceptions about the country. I get all kinds of comments when I tell people I grew up in Saudi Arabia ("Oh, your English is so good" "Did you ride a camle to school") and similar when I tell people I am from Ghana ("Have you seen a lion" "How do you talk to your family back home" "Do you speak to your fiance in English") and on and on.

Unfortunately the media has helped fuel a lot of this. In Ghana people think that the US is the land of opportunity, there are no homeless here, everyone has 2 cars and a white picket fence around their house. Everyone is nice. They have no clue about the poverty we have in our own backyards, that people cannot get helath care because they have no insurance, that people freeze to deaht in the winter or die from heat exhaustion, that there are still areas in the US with no running water. They do not understand that we have our own headaches.

On the other hand, America is given this whole view that (1) Africa is a country and (2) everyone in Africa lives in the same squalor and dirt and poverty. I have yet to see one of those late night "Feed the poor children of Africa that have no running water and no food with flies buzzing around their head" specify what African country they are in. All they say is "Africa" and it makes my blood boil. All the places they ever show you are refugee camps, with the dilapidated tents and dust everywhere with kids sitting all melancholy and people standing in line for food. This is only one reality.

And so, this is the image of "Africa" that we see. I never ever say "I have been to Africa". I hate that phrase and I cringe whenever I read/hear it. I say "I have been to Ghana/Togo/Ethiopia" I specify the country. There are 53 countries in Africa....53. Saying "I have been to Africa" or "Help feed the African children" or whatever means absolutely nothing to me.

On the flip side I have seen the poverty that can stirke hard working people in my area of Ghana. My family is not from the city, we live out in the boondocks of the bush in Northern Ghana where we still have no electricity or running water. But we make do with what we have. Not to say that running water would not be nice, buy just because we do not have it does not mean we cannot function.

I think that poverty is a subjective term, like beauty. In America, we measure poverty by wealth, how much you have in the bank, how much you make in a given year. So, when you ask people in Ghana "how much do you make" and it does not meet American standards we say "they live in poverty". Yet, they do not have credit card debt, in a lot of cases (at least in rural areas) you can still barter goods, there is no such thing as a mortgage. The standard of living is lower there than in the US. There are a lot of financial stressors that a lot of Ghanaians do not have to worry about. Even so, there are those that do live in abject poverty and do need all the help they can get.

I think that the media does not focus on all the facets of African society because it will no longer be fascinating to the American public. How many people want to watch a dosumnetary about Africans that are the same as Americans. I remember when the rioting in Kenya was going on, all that you saw were people who were out killing people with machetes going around causing havoc. Among all those stories I saw only 1 that actually spoke about what white collar people were trying to do about it. There was an excellent article in the NYT about how judges, doctors, lawyers, entreprenuers, etc, were trying to find a way to quell the violence. I bet not a lot of people knew about that because God forbid Africans can sit and try to solve something without the machetes coming out.

[Kanyiri 0]

Zee -

When I was living in Ghana and I came home and people asked me where I had been I would say Ghana. They would reply, "Whhuu?" Then I'd say it is a country in Africa, and they'd say "You were in Africa?!" Yes, Ghana to be specific!

Where in Northern Ghana is your family from?

[Zee Bee 61]

Zee -

When I was living in Ghana and I came home and people asked me where I had been I would say Ghana. They would reply, "Whhuu?" Then I'd say it is a country in Africa, and they'd say "You were in Africa?!" Yes, Ghana to be specific!

Where in Northern Ghana is your family from?

A small teeny tiny village called Tambokurugu It is near the border with Togo. Until last year there was no road to it. You had to walk 2-3 miles from the main road, to get to it. Now we have a shining clay road.

I really need to post pics

[Ta Ta 1]

LL got some Dakar pics ?

[LovinLiberia 0]

It’s so nice to finally see beautiful picture of Africa!

My mother is African (from Angola) and when they show Africa on tv (here in Sweden) it’s only from the worse parts, that’s one of the reasons way most of the Europeans think Africans are not civilized.

I am so glad you made this point . When I traveled to Ghana, a man asked me to please go back to America and tell the people here that Africa is not as it is portrayed in the media. He said " We dress the same as you. We don't run around naked and wild animals like lions, elephants, and tigers aren't roaming the streets. Please tell them we are civilized people."

It angers me to see Africa and Africans portrayed as barbarians . The media chooses to show pictures only of naked starving children living in the bush and half naked men and women who only constitute a small population of that particular country.

Some one asked me when I returned from Ghana "Did you see lions and other wild animals walking about?" I responded: "Yes. In the zoo."

There are many people in Ghana living way better than myself. Beautiful homes on acres of land, a "gate man", servant/boys quarters, home helpers, etc.... And this is VERY common in Ghana and other parts of Africa.

Sorry, yall...had to let that out. Had to vent

I have deja vu after reading this, lol.

I have had so many conversations like this.....

Them- " is it hard to communicate? how do you talk to him?"

Me- "on the cell phone or the computer..."

Them- "Wow they have cell phones and computers!" "is it hard to talk on the computer to him?"

Me- "only when he is running from lions, that makes it more difficult..."

Them- " wow that is crazy what language does he speak? How do you understand what he is saying?"

Me- " Uhhh English... "

Them- "really?"

like I am lying... come on now....

Usually about then I get pretty frusterated...Do these people not have a basic 6th grade education?? the Lion thing cracks me up you would not BELIEVE how many people fall for that

I think they pictured him in a mud hut wearing a loin cloth....

OK OK someone ACTUALY asked me if he spoke Click...

WOW really? really? come on people...

I know, right!...I grew up with those questions and now I still battle them whenever someone learns about my husband. It's really insane. Grrrr.

Kanyiri and Zee, thanks for adding those perspectives.

LL got some Dakar pics ?

I'll look for some of those tonight.

[Kanyiri 0]

Zee - Is that Yendi district area? I stayed over there for about a week doing Guinea worm education stuff. I loved their greetings! I mostly remember the responses "Nnaa" "Nnaa" and the deep bowing. I felt so bad when I walked by an elderly person on the road because custom says we have to greet and deeply bow but it looked so hard for them and I felt guilty that just by walking them we would have to greet. I wanted to say, it's ok, I'll bow enough for the both of us and you rest your poor back! And the chief in the village we were in had a horse! The horse lived in his compound and there was hay everywhere but he was really lean. They said it was because he was a really old horse. And I had to chew on the kola nut when we met the chief. That stuff is digusting!! My students used to chew it to stay awake and study.

Sorry for rambling.

[Zee Bee 61]

Zee - Is that Yendi district area? I stayed over there for about a week doing Guinea worm education stuff. I loved their greetings! I mostly remember the responses "Nnaa" "Nnaa" and the deep bowing. I felt so bad when I walked by an elderly person on the road because custom says we have to greet and deeply bow but it looked so hard for them and I felt guilty that just by walking them we would have to greet. I wanted to say, it's ok, I'll bow enough for the both of us and you rest your poor back! And the chief in the village we were in had a horse! The horse lived in his compound and there was hay everywhere but he was really lean. They said it was because he was a really old horse. And I had to chew on the kola nut when we met the chief. That stuff is digusting!! My students used to chew it to stay awake and study.

Sorry for rambling.

We are north of there

Yeah, our village chief does not have a horse, I need to talk to him about that

But I HATE kola nuts. They are so bitter but they are really important in Ghana so I deal. I remember the first time we went to visit a chief my mom gave this long lecture about how, if we are offered the kola nut we have to bite and chew, she knows it is bitter but it is our custom, we had better not disrespect the chief blah blah blah. When kola nut was passed around I bit, did not chew and as soon as we were out of the chief's pavillion I spit it into my handkerchief. I turned around and my mom was doing the same

[Kanyiri 0]

Zee - LOL about your mother spitting the kola nut out! I spit that kola nut out as soon as the chief couldn't see me! I didn't feel as bad because the Ghanaians with us did the same thing.

And here is the only pic that I had of Fido available. This was in my house (ignore the huge Texas in the background. I painted my walls with the familiarities of home so that I wouldn't get homesick. The bench is covered with my HIV/AIDS pamphlets, Gabriella's homework, and a ludu board. And the baby on my back is one of the many that Gabriella would come home with so that I could babysit for a little while.):

[Ta Ta 1]

I have actually gotten used to kola nut and chew some once in a while.

When I brought some back home and went through customs they sliced some open looking for drugs and thought it was highly unusual for

me to come back with that stuff.

[Mrs. BB 0]

Beautiful photographs! Africa is on my list of places to go.

I always tell people that if you want to know what a place is really like. Go there! See it for yourself. Meet the people and eat the food!

The questions we get about Australia! I can relate with the ones you get about Africa. My husband gets asked if he's ever wrestled a crocodile all the time.

Every country, state, city, its going to have its good points and it's bad points and there will be all kinds of misconceptions in between. I live in California. When traveling within the US I get asked all the time if I go to the beach everyday and how often I see a movie star....etc. People also think if you live in California you're automatically rich. That couldn't be further from the truth in my case.