The Hidden Beauty in African Legacy

To many in the west, Africa means poverty, corruption, barbarism, dirt and flies. Most of the television documentaries show a world of hunger, disease, great suffering, and hopelessness. However by closely observing the African lifestyle, it is possible to see that all is not always as it seems. Children brought up in a western materialistic society, surrounded by divorce, alcoholism, drug abuse and worse, do not necessarily turn out to be better off.

Living in Nigeria for six years, I came to understand what keeps the African people striving for better days, even though many of them do not have the opportunities they would enjoy if they were born in the western world.

One of their greatest advantages is that they are great believers in destiny and acceptance. As the sun rises high and bright each morning, the general attitude amongst the masses is “what will be will be.” However, this is not a defeatist attitude. Their upbringing leaves no room for being depressed or wasting precious time being suicidal. They do not believe that they are just victims of circumstance. From childhood they are taught certain principles, such as, where there is life, there is hope. It is better to be positive and to always look for the things that are good. Never give up the fight no matter how hard life turns out to be. I wonder if we in the west could take a leaf out of their book. Maybe we could pause in our busy pressure filled lives, long enough to see that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

By the time an African child becomes a teenager they are no longer encouraged to be childish, but are expected to behave as adults. Young men are expected to help provide adequately for the family, and young women to be mature enough to help run their homes smoothly. Neither sex have time to be preoccupied with things that really won’t matter in fifty years time.

A young lady blushes and smiles at the compliments made by the young men passing as they hurry off to work hoping to find the best trading spot in the market. She knows that before long her time will come. Her father will begin arranging the discussion of the possibility of the joining of her family with that of a potential young man’s. Excitement flows through her body, as she pictures herself as the centre of attention in her bright clothes and jewellery. There is much disagreement over the “bride price” (dowry), until finally there is a compromise. The father of the young lady wants only to ensure that his daughter is well provided for. When what he deems as a reasonable price is placed on her head, only then will she be given away.