Upshot

Every now and then I couldn’t help but smile at Africa. It’s a place where you can see adult men proudly riding their child sized bicycle (of course, bought second hand) or a pink girly rucksack on a gentleman’s back. 25°C are already sufficiently cold to quickly put on ones winter coat or woollen jumper, and hats of all kinds are definitely a fashionable hit (including bobble hats, night caps and plush hats) ...

Away from the European luxury and stress I found it rather pleasant to live for a change in simple conditions without standing constantly under pressure. And, somehow it was not all that surprising that people in general seemed so much happier and more balanced over there.

The one thing, though, that rather annoyed me in Africa was this constant ‘give me this’ or ‘give me that’, especially when it came from colleagues or friends. Whether money or things, true to the maxim a ‘white’ person has got anyway enough wealth and should hence be able to share some of it… surely this is also part of the culture, as also among one another they don’t seem to have a problem with asking for gifts, though if you are targeted more often just because of your skin colour, then this can be pretty annoying and of course one starts wondering: “is this now really a friend or does s/he just like you for the potential gain?”. Actually I do not mind sharing what I have, but it frustrates me to see when the things I have given are thereafter wasted (money spent on useless stuff like cigarettes or toys at the orphanage being left to the mercy of bad weather and dogs) or if I see that the receiver does only rely on others, but does not take sufficient steps to improve the own situation. Luckily not everyone is like that and even when one didn’t give anything, no bad consequences like aggression etc needed to be feared, just disappointment and perhaps the stigma of being greedy or not wanting to help.