While narratives over the past few decades have painted a wide range of views of Africa— a child in need of development, a rising economic power, an imminent threat, a tinderbox of terrorism, poverty, forced migration, and disease—the truth is, as always, more nuanced.
Much of Africa and the wonders of Africa is little known and misunderstood.
Most outsiders regard Africa as a dark continent, a jungle, a wildlife park. They generally see Africa as a negative place; a basket case; an area of war, disease, famine, ignorance, debt, corruption, mismanagement and dictatorship.
If people understood Africa better, they would be more likely to treat Africa and Africans better.
Wonders Of Africa
The transformation that Africa has undergone in recent decades has been remarkable. Africa is shaping its own destiny and should be referred to as the “African opportunity” instead of the “African threat” or “African disease and Hunger” or even ” an African of diabolical humans”.
The truth is; Africans are judged, based on assumptions, by their belief system, culture, spirituality and religion, which isn’t supposed to be. A man should have a certain belief system he adheres to, that’s what keeps him in check. It doesn’t make him terrible.
Most people still think in Africa, men and women still appear naked with leaves patches covering their private parts.
Yes we portray that in the movies because we are not a people to forge on and forget our past.
We have a history and we tell these stories often, it is part of us and shouldn’t be murdered. It is the same past stories that formed our culture; a way of life.
This history is the reason why we raise our children with special ethics and values. The reason you hear things like: it is “unafrican” to see a disrespectful child.
It is shortsighted to ignore that Africa has progressed greatly in different aspects and walks of life.
In Africa, life is still meaningful. Yes, There are still struggles between life and death, good and evil, heroes and villains, but these and many more are also seen in other places/ cultures.
Why is African different?
By recognizing Africa as an opportunity, rather than a threat, governments, citizens, and organizations on the continent and around the world will be better positioned to face challenges and further boost positive trends. African values may hold the key to human survival on earth!
THE 5 AMAZING WONDERS OF AFRICA
VALUES
In Africa, we tend to emphasize the importance of family and community, as well as values such as honesty, decency, sobriety, obedience, discipline, solidarity, conformity, service, dedication, respect for tradition, humility, and self-sacrifice.
2ND LARGEST CONTINENT
Africa is the second largest continent in the world with a total area of around 11.73 million square miles (30.37 million square kilometers) that account for 5.7% of the earth’s surface as well as 20% of the total surface of land on our planet.
It is divided up into five sub-sections; North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa. One of the most interesting facts about Africa is that the length and breadth of the continent are about the same.
Africa is home to the most genetically diverse people on Earth as it is the 2nd largest continent. Africa is the only continent that welcomes without discrimination. Africans are warm and receptive.
ETHNICITY
There are at least 3,000 distinct ethnic groups in Africa and about 2,000 different languages are spoken and each of them has different dialects. While Arabic is the language that is most widely spoken in the African continent, followed by English and Swahili, French respectively. This is how amazing the Africans are.
WILD LIFE
The African elephant is the world’s largest land animal, they are gigantic, in fact that they can weigh over six tons and they be up to seven meters long in size.
The world’s tallest animal, the giraffe, Male giraffes can reach up to 6 m in height, while females can reach about 4,6m.
The fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah, lives in Africa. It speeds up to around 60 miles per hour (96.5 kilometers per hour).
WONDERS OF THE WORLD
The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert and one of the harshest environments on the planet. It is third largest desert overall after Antarctica and the Arctic, which are cold deserts. At 3.6 million square miles (9.4 million square kilometers) bigger than some developed countries! The desert covers 11countries (large sections of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia).
The Nile River is the longest river in the world, approximately 4,258 miles (6,853 kilometers) long and flows northward through through 11 countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.
The oldest existing, and continually operating educational institution in the world is the University of Karueein, ( Athens of Africa) founded in 859 AD by Fatima al-Fihri in Fez, Morocco.
These are key but few facts about Africa and Africans.
When next you are told that Africa is a “dark continent”, disagree politely and get them informed, that Africa is an amazing home to many wonders of the world!
Take that trip to Africa and have your mentality renewed.
#Engee