Myths About Africa

            Before moving to Namibia, I fielded a lot of concerned questions. Some were from others: will you be safe? Will you have enough food? Some were questions I asked myself: will a cobra kill me? Will I contract a tropical disease? Most of these questions, though well intentioned, were misinformed.

            Acceptance of these myths was not entirely my fault. My education completely neglected Africa. I only remember learning about the slave trade. Even then the textbook focused on the Africans’ deadly transit across the Atlantic or their dismal lives in the Americas. We paid no attention to their origins.

            The media weren’t helpful to me either. When FOX or NBC bothered to air a story on this continent, it was almost exclusively about child soldiers or AIDS (now ebola, I’ve heard). But after moving here, I’ve learned this picture isn’t fair. It’s not accurate.  There is much more happening here than a string of tragedies. For the next few posts, I’ll share what I’ve learned in my brief time in Africa. I’ll start with the grand daddy that spawns all other misconceptions.

#1 Africa is one country.

            Before joining Peace Corps, I knew in theory that Africa was a continent comprised of different countries. However, that didn’t stop me from thinking of Africa as culturally homogenous—that an Ethiopian wasn’t really that different from a Zimbabwean. Now I know that each of Africa’s 54 countries is bursting with different races, tribes, languages, and cultures.

            Case in point is Namibia. Two million people live here. My home state Utah’s population is about the same. Utah is home to mostly white, English-speaking folks, who almost all practice one religion. By contrast, Namibia boasts at least 14 distinct ethnic groups, each of which speaks a unique language (but who almost all practice one religion—Lutheranism). If I travel 40 miles south of my village, the people speak a different dialect than I know. If I travel about 300 miles in any direction I will encounter at least seven more languages (not dialects, languages). Each of these groups has their own rituals, customs, and traditions. And they don’t like being confused with their neighbors. 

            Now imagine this level of diversity applied to every country in Africa. Nigeria, with a population of 170 million, has hundreds of indigenous languages, and large Muslim and Christian populations. Clearly my referring to a Nigerian and a Namibian as “Africans” makes as much sense as referring to a Mexican and a Canadian as “North Americans.”

            So for the remainder of this series, I’ll stop talking about “Africa” and instead focus on the only country I know much about—Namibia.

            As I mentioned earlier, I had a lot of ideas about Namibia before moving here. Most of my ideas were wrong. However, a handful have proven true. In addition to discussing an inaccurate myth in each post, I’ll also elaborate on the few that are indeed true.

#2 Women carry stuff on their heads.

            When I first arrived I was amazed by this skill that everyone seemed to possess. I assumed it was an art they had honed since infancy (and I do see near infants carry bundles of sticks on their heads). I never imagined they carry buckets on their heads simply because it’s easier than using their hands.

            I learned this fact after a month of dragging my five-gallon water bucket 50 yards through sand. One day my scrawny 15-year-old host sister helped hoist the bucket onto my head. I was fully bracing for it to break my neck or at least be completely unwieldy. I even closed my eyes waiting for my sister to let go and the bucket to tumble. When I opened my eyes, my sister was walking home and I was left independently balancing my bucket.

            To be fair, not ALL Namibian women carry things on their heads—mainly just women from rural communities. I would be surprised to see a woman walking down the streets of Windhoek, the capital, balancing a basket on her head. She would more likely put it in her Volkswagen, which just underscores my original point—Namibia is diverse. In my next post, I’ll focus on this wide assortment of living situations in Namibia. Not everyone lives in huts.