An alternative story of Africa
Stop for a minute. If we say “Africa” – what immediately springs to your mind? Be honest, don’t feel you have to go for a politically correct answer. Famine? AIDS? War? Poverty? Aid? Hunger? Pot-bellied kids? Nelson Mandela? Sunsets? Wildlife? Chaos? Disorder? Dictators? Try it with friends, especially those who don’t have a direct experience of Africa. A page would probably fill up with words like those listed and more, which is generally consistent with all the research on popular perceptions about Africa.
What most people are saying about Africa
© AFFORD
None of the words is necessarily untrue when applied to “Africa” (remembering that Africa is a continent of 54 countries). Many Africans are indeed poor, suffer from acute hunger, have to flee civil conflict, suffer from HIV/AIDS, are ruled by inept leaders, and so on. But at the same time, our minds play tricks on us. Rather like a David Copperfield illusion, once we have these associations fixed in our minds, the next time we look, that’s all we’re likely to see. In fact, sometimes we go looking to confirm our expectations.
However, we can short-change ourselves with this approach. And engaging with an increasingly complex, interconnected world on the basis of partial understandings or even distortions isn’t a good idea.
What most Africans are saying about Africa
© AFFORD
How about instead getting to know different sides of Africa, right from the comfort of your own computer? How about talking directly to and hearing from Africans themselves? We might think Africans are clamouring for more aid, or we might think that we’re trapped into a demeaning relationship in which we’re constantly giving out aid. Actually, poor people in Africa (and elsewhere in the world), when asked, believe that having a job is the quickest route out of their poverty.
Is that so different from, say, the UK? London may in effect transfer resources to Newcastle, but we don’t define Newcastle simply in terms of being an aid recipient. So, why not let’s get to know ordinary and extraordinary Africans, some working and looking for a job with better pay and conditions, others looking for work, and hear from them how they see things? After all, we’ve had centuries of seeing them through other people’s eyes!
