Chapter 7: The World As We Know It, the World As We Make It
A few weeks ago my close friend Benedicta invited me to her
father’s one year memorial service. I thought about being surrounded by people
I could not understand and hearing nothing but the Ga language all day and was
really hesitant, but I knew I wanted to be there for her. I went to this long
church service in a language I don’t even know ‘hello’ in and had to dance in
what is pretty much the equivalent of a Ghanaian conga line- what the heck was
I doing? There were points in the day where I felt so singled out and a little
too noticeable; I was the only white girl in the entire village and I couldn't even defend myself as I had no idea what anyone was ever saying. I felt
discouraged, lonely and so vulnerable. I knew I had a choice to make: I could
either shut myself off, acting in fear, or I could laugh along and challenge
myself to connect with people in the most unlikely situation. I thought to myself,
“they may never change the way they look at me, but I can change the way I look
at them.” So I did, and I had such a wonderful time. I stuck close to the women
in Benedicta’s family and that must have been my saving grace. After momentary
discomfort, I opened up and suddenly they became so helpful translating
sentences here and there and making jokes about marrying off women to my
brothers (I could not get the image of my brothers in traditional wedding attire
out of my head- hilarious). I was made fun of numerous times but actually found
it interesting and silly rather than remotely offensive. I decided to
understand them rather than disregard them; this made for smooth sailing.
After picking Benedicta’s mind about African’s and their
views, I have a new awareness I never would have had before. Throughout the
entire day people were beckoning and calling me from afar; the children kept
shouting and running circles around me and asking me to take pictures.
Benedicta and her family would just look at me and say, “Pay them no mind,
okay. You pay them no mind.” At one point they were shooing children away from
me and shouting at men things I didn't understand. I was so thankful for their
support. Benedicta told me how they just don’t understand, how they don’t see
new things like me every day. I understood that completely, but for some reason
it hit me just how important that statement was.
In the United States we are a melting pot; we see every
color, every religion, and every scale of wealth every day. We have been
desensitized to the differences of one another much more than we give ourselves
credit for. Africans, however, can usually count the number of “different”
people they see their entire lives. Yes, this is changing. More people are
reaching out; the numbers of traveling students are increasing, as well as the
number of students all around the world. We are not nearly as blind to one
another as we have always been. No matter, unless you’re in South Africa where
populations of white people reside, you will be gawked at constantly. It does
get annoying and frustrating at times, but the more I try to understand the
less it bothers me. I am able to look at the people who find me so intriguing
with compassion and tolerance now. I know that their world and views are
entirely restricted by their daily environments. They see only what is right in
their faces and what can be noted as a temporary gain. This keeps them all in a
constant state of struggle; Africans want immediate reward, they want to work
and ware themselves down to see instant gratification. What they lack sight of
is the future, of how their decisions create their tomorrow. This is all
because they are restricted and patterned by their day-to-day, same-old-same-old
encounters. This is the same all around the world. If we do not reach out to
see more, or even try to understand, we will be the gawkers- the ones being hit
in the face with information we never prepared ourselves for. It’s more
important now than it ever was before to understand this world as a whole
rather than where we find relevance.
I may get annoyed with being ripped off at markets and sized
up every second, but I can now be thankful for that roll rather than bitter. We
westernized countries see and connect with different worlds and cultures every
day; we can find a China town a few blocks away, an Italian restaurant next
door, various subcultures just on one high school campus and mixed couples
across the continent. Our minds are much bigger and understand more than we
could ever fathom. Why aren’t we taking advantage of this? Because no matter
where you stand in this world, your mind will only reach as far as you allow it
to. With all the resources and means to education and travel, now is the time
to break the mental restrictions we apply to ourselves. Being an American, I
hear complaints and frustrations about policy, government, pharmaceutical companies,
industrial corruption, and public health just about every second. We all have an
endless list of all the things we do not want in our country and world, but we
lack the vision to write the list to replace the unwanted one. In Ghana, I see
people who are suppressed in their own world because they only see the things
they do not want and the things they are accustomed to; they do not,
unfortunately, think of all the things they could replace the negative with-
they do not write a list of things they do want. For an American there is no
excuse; our education has come too far and our people are too motivated and outspoken
to not make our reality exactly as we want it. My message to myself, and to the
entire world, would be:
Use your ‘unwanted’ list to create a ‘wanted’ list. You
cannot complain about something without having a plan, structure, or idea to
replace it. Those who have a common ‘unwanted’ list can surely assist in
writing the ‘wanted’ one. We get to make this world exactly what we want it to
be.
When I was in Australia I met many people who told me this
same saying: “When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.” If
this statement is true, then it’s time to twist the words- it should go a little
something like this: “When America stands, the rest of the world walks.” There
are more middle class citizens with common goals than there are rich industrial
men. How are their words and ideas more important than all of ours? Well, they
are not; we simply allow them to be.
I know I've used this quote before, but it never gets old:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
-Margaret Mead
Nante Yie, friends.
Emily Chamberlain
