Lema's Blog - Others

The case for educational justice in post-COVID Africa

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 07:31:00 +0000

If generations of African youth are to prosper post-pandemic, a fundamental and vital shift in educational context and content is needed.

As is still common in the “Global South,” Affo, 29, was born in a polygamous family comprising more than two dozen children. Yet, he is the second child to have obtained a high school degree and the only one to have gone to university: A rare “progressive” family and a great “achievement” by community standards. Affo was brought up in a place where educational opportunities are nearly non-existent. His native village is more than 15 km from the closest town with a high school. Growing up, Affo had no bicycle, much less a motorbike to commute the distance. When he was lucky, a rare commodity in such a place, he would get a lift along the way.

Added to that challenge was the fact that, for the seven years of his high schooling, he had to judiciously combine studies with various part-time jobs to make ends meet, not just to pay tuition fees, but also to cover daily expenses. Thus, he faced seemingly insurmountable disadvantages at achieving a basic education. But Affo’s is not an isolated story. Rather, it’s the specter that has been haunting Benin and the wider African continent. Read more...

Young Scholars on the Silk Roads: An Interview Series

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 15:33:00 +0000

The Young Scholars on the Silk Roads interview series seeks to empower young people, by giving youth a platform from which to transmit their voices. Via this series young scholars hailing from different countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia will be interviewed to share their research and reflections on the ancient Silk Roads.

Read my full interview here with a dear friend, whom I thank for the opportunity!

COVID-19: When Crisis Unearths and Amplifies Deep-Rooted Stereotypes

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 15:26:00 +0000

When the highly infectious and deadly Ebola hit across a handful of West African countries, news of how the whole African continent was battling the disease spread quickly. Ebola would claim more than 11,000 lives in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia and the cost, in economic terms, of the outbreak in those countries alone was more $1.6 billion in losses. But the outbreak, aided by preexisting prejudices and deeply rooted stereotypes, would have incalculable impacts on the continent, its people, and far beyond. During the devastating Ebola crisis, to be “African” is to be a primary suspect, amplifying the never-ending stigmatization, discrimination, and blatant racism against the continent and its people.

What is going on today with regard to China is, therefore, a familiar story. The coronavirus COVID-19 is galvanizing prejudices and stereotypes against the Asian giant and its people. In fact, COVID-19 is even resurrecting archaic stereotypes while making light of this deadly outbreak. But there is a significant difference between these two cases. Ebola was seen as signifying Africa’s inherent helplessness while COVID-19 combines preexisting biases with the fear of a rising China.

The U.S.’s reaction, indeed overreaction, to the outbreak is a case in point. It points to the prevalent fear of a rising China that is believed to have a secret agenda to take over the world. “Xenophobia, ideology and the Western fear for China’s rise are the triple burdens that hinder the fight against the 2019 coronavirus,” David Monyae of Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg concluded in a recent piece. Indeed, a recent article, “Welcome to the Belt and Road Pandemic,” published by Foreign Policy reinforces this argument. According to the piece, “By making the Belt and Road Initiative endeavour - a multitrillion-dollar programme to expand Chinese trade and infrastructure around the world - the epicentre of his foreign and economic policy, Xi has made it possible for a local disease to become a global menace… [if only] China is now impossible to quarantine.” Such views can only help intensify the mass hysteria and anti-Chinese sentiments that have accompanied the spread of the virus. Little wonder the WHO had to promptly warn against “trolls and conspiracy theories” surrounding the viral outbreak.

But in addition to geopolitics, racism, whether acknowledged or not, is also at play as Beijing battles the deadly COVID-19. Just days ago, the US cruise ship company Royal Caribbean made it clear that would-be passengers and crew with Chinese passports would be banned from all of its cruise ships, irrespective of their travel history—that’s, regardless of when they were last in China. The message here is clear: to be a holder of a Chinese passport is to be inherently a carrier of the virus. That is the definition of racism, and it is never helpful. Moreover, in reporting on the outbreak, many media outlets with global outreach have deliberately chosen to go for “China virus” or “Wuhan virus” to make their stories. Yet, according to the WHO it is “very important that we provide a… name so no location was associated with the name… to ensure that there was no stigma associated with this virus.”

As Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister observes, “These are ugly times and the racism implicit (and sometimes explicit) in many responses to Chinese people around the world makes me question just how far we have really come as a human family.”

Just like during the Ebola outbreak, these stereotyping and prejudicing will continue unabated, unfortunately. But one thing is beyond doubt: Viruses or, for that matter, any kind of disease do not see color. They do not recognize the oft-celebrated borders of nation-states or ethnic enclaves like Chinatowns. The best way, indeed, the only way to effectively defeat them is by working together, collaboratively.

The Changing African Narrative Reconsidered

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 05:51:00 +0000

To vaguely ask what the biggest development has been in the African continent this past year would most likely be meaningless, unless if one was to follow Binyavanga Wainaina’s eloquently satirical argument on effectively writing about the continent: treat it as if it were a country; keep the stories ‘simple’ and entirely episodic, be confident with sweeping generalizations, etc. It is the strategy of domination, of marginalization, of dispossession; and it has been the way most narratives on and about Africa are being shaped. Indeed, they are not unlike Karl Marx’s depiction of the masses during the French Revolution; masses who “are unable to assert their class interests in their own name… [Who] cannot represent one another, [and who] must… be represented."

When the National Interest issued an entry with an inquiring title: “Is Africa’s Narrative Changing?”, one would expect the possessive to imply an African ‘ownership’, and the interrogative to allow the continent some space to independently decide the direction, the tone, the timing, the priorities in shaping its own narratives. Only that it did not. Indeed, it needed not.

The article was mainly concerned with security and political dynamics in Africa in the past year, because “This year, the big story in Africa is less about growth rates, or big changes for better or worse in conflict dynamics. Instead, the biggest story is in the realm of politics.” Although it is nowhere close to the omnipresent negation, the traditional negative stereotypes about the continent, it nevertheless left out major issues and details that are as crucial. At any rate, if Africa’s narrative, or if narratives on and about Africa are changing, these issues and details warrant discussions. Unfortunately, Is Africa's Narrative Changing? seems to have completely missed that point.

Consider, for instance, the glaring omission of the signing and entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—the largest free trade area since the establishment of WTO—that aims to boost intracontinental trade, drive innovation, bring prosperity, and help fight the hard battle against extreme poverty. Such an omission is unconscionable, especially given that the article avowedly adopted a utilitarian framework by considering “the numbers of people affected and the trends that could be created or reinforced” to justify its choice of the “big six” countries to analyze.

Moreover, one would also expect the ongoing talks on reforming the African Union (AU) to make it as a ‘big’ story of the year. Indeed, if one story should deserve the epithet “African,” the perceptible winds of change of the AU, the push to make the continental body more effective in its activities, more efficient in its spending, and more self-reliant in sourcing of its finances should have been on anyone’s short-list. But the cut is hardly surprising: It is another reminder that writing about Africa fundamentally entails wiping out anything that does not fit into the set agenda or interests of those telling the story. Africa or African, here, is more an idea than a palpable reality.

Nonetheless, since the article is primarily concerned with “security and political dynamics” in the continent in the past year, it is perhaps warranted to specifically examine a number of omitted developments in that area.

The piece argues, for instance, that the “trends in democracy… are OK”, completely ignoring the disconcerting trajectory being taken by a growing number of countries, erstwhile promising democracies, since across the continent, and more recently in West Africa, there are growing concerns about “democratic decay,”. Benin, once lauded as the laboratory of democracy and West Africa’s model democracy, and Guinea, whose Alpha Conde has become a shadow of his old self, morphing from “democratic savior” to a lethal threat to his country’s democratic aspirations, are two examples that readily come to mind. This is not necessarily a subscription to the claims of democratic recession in the region, but it is to point out that a balanced analysis of the recent political dynamics in Africa ought to consider such developments. Similarly, the silent revolutions in Algeria and Sudan warrant a passing mention, if only because of the trends that could be created or reinforced by these developments.

Also, it is intriguing that the article failed to consider the conflict in the Sahel Region, especially in Mali, as a major playing ground for both regional and continental security. For instance, the Economic Community of West Africans States (ECOWAS) warned that the Malian crisis could spill into neighboring countries and destabilize the region. More striking, however, is the article’s complacent section on DR Congo. The authors frustratingly failed to elaborate on the country’s worrying Ebola crisis. The current epidemic in DR Congo is said to be the second-biggest Ebola epidemic outbreak since that of 2014-2016. In fact, on July 17, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a global health emergency, and the assessments mentioned fears that it might spread into neighboring Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan. These concerns were echoed by the UNSC, which observed that “the disease could spread rapidly, including to neighboring countries, possibly having serious humanitarian consequences and impacting regional stability.”

Thus, rather than simply wondering if Africa’s narrative has changed, perhaps the real questions should be: how are narratives on and about Africa changing? Could there be a room for Africa to claim their ownership? And how to best do that? The task is not to replace one single story with another. Rather, as da Costa Peter eloquently argues, “There is a need to push the boundaries, to find new ways to communicate about [developments], to represent Africa in all its complexity and contradiction…” Only then could we have in-depth and informed analyses; and only then could we offer balanced perspectives about the complex dynamics unfolding in Africa. The real challenge, in a nutshell, is to provide balanced and substantiated perspectives, rather than catchy titles with hollow contents.

Getting the Question Right: What’s Really Changing? Is It Africa's Narrative or the Narrative On and About Africa That’s Changing?

Mon, 29 Jul 2019 09:26:00 +0000

Most discussions on Africa: its development challenges, its poverty, its raging wars, its intractable conflicts, its booming population, its economic growth, its security issues, its unstable political landscape, etc. constantly reminds one of Karl Marx’s observation in “Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte”. They are indeed reminiscent to his observation that "they [the masses in the revolutionary France] are unable to assert their class interests in their own name, be it by a parliament or by convention. They cannot represent one another, they must themselves be represented." Simply substitute Africa for “the masses” and you pretty much get the answer the questions posed above.

Yet The National Interest, an American bimonthly international affairs magazine associated with the realist school of foreign policy thought, seems unaware of this plain reality. Just a day ago, it published an entry wondering whether Africa’s narrative is changing: “Is Africa's Narrative Changing?”, it asks. The possessive clearly implies an “African ownership” of the narrative, whereby the continent independently decides the direction, the tone, the timing, and everything in-between of the narrative(s) on and about it.

Yet the magazine is quick to decide that “This year, the big story in Africa is less about growth rates, or big changes for better or worse in conflict dynamics. Instead, the biggest story is in the realm of politics.” Who decides what the “big story” is for the continent—what matters and what does not? Based on what is such decision made? And where is the purported “African ownership” the title so conspicuously brought forth? One is left, to say the least, perplexed with these questions; but their answers are plainly obvious enough to require mere hard thinking.

Apparently, the signing and entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the largest free trade area in the world since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, isn’t important enough to be a big story, for instance; nor is the conflict in the Sahel Region, especially in Mali, despite the recent warning from the Economic Community of West Africans States (ECOWAS) that the crisis could effectively spill into neighboring countries, thus potentially engulfing and destabilizing the whole region. The list could go on and on. What is undoubtedly true is that for the National Interest, like so many others, all these developments are not big stories simply because the magazine decides so.

Thus, shouldn’t the real question be: What’s Really Changing? Is It Africa's Narrative or the Narrative On and About Africa That’s Changing?

Democracy, Why it Matters a Lot

Fri, 21 Jun 2019 13:57:00 +0000

It is not uncommon to hear and read about or even witness the tragic stories of human sufferings in many corners of the globe, in both near and far distant places. It is not also uncommon that they are, more often than not, Man-made tragedies: political repressions, violent social strife, armed conflicts, rebellion, to name but a few. If gauged by their immeasurable and profoundly enduring consequences on human lives, the urgent need to fathom their root cause is beyond any shadow of a doubt. And only then could humanity genuinely answer the yearning calls of the helpless and powerless victims.

Across space and time, political repressions, violent social strife, armed conflicts, etc. are either generated or intensified by mainly three factors: a lack of strong and independent institutions, a high and persistent degree of concentration of powers, and a lack of institutional transparency and accountability.

Yet it is not enough to just identify the causes of these enduring tragedies. After all, the pressing task is to identify plausible measures and workable solutions to deal with them; that is, the real challenge is to unearth the ways in which the aforementioned factors could be mitigated if not entirely eliminated. The aim here is exactly to undertake that task.

I shall contend that a functioning democracy, understood as a political system or a form of government that promotes strong and independent institutions, guarantees the separation of powers, and invariably ensures transparency and accountability of state apparatus, is the ultimate solution. It is absolutely true that I am adopting a functional definition of the concept of democracy; but it is equally true that these are the central goals of a functioning democracy. I shall explore how it achieves best each of these goals and how it is thus better equipped to alleviate the above mentioned tragedies.

To be sure, however, democracy is not an infallible system—it can in fact often be messy, frustrating, and most of all unstable—perhaps the Brexit farce and the Trump White House epitomize best what democracy can entail if or when taken for granted. Nevertheless, a functioning democracy, as described above, works better than its alternatives; and there lies its particularity: “Democracy”, Winston Churchill asserted quite pointedly in 1947, “is the worst form of government except all the other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

First, a functioning democracy is more likely to better promote strong and independent institutions. For instance, unlike authoritarianism and dictatorship, both of which succeed only by weakening or dismantling institutions, democracy is based on the core tenet of building and strengthening them. Indeed, both authoritarianism and dictatorship are built around strong leaders, who quite simply strive to project personal strength and guts by amassing political powers at the expense of institutional checks and balances. Quite sadly, however, the fall of these regimes is more likely to bring the country into chaos, state failure, and even armed conflicts as different factions compete for state power—with the rules of the game usually being the law of the jungle; this is particularly true for countries that have witnessed long years of authoritarian/dictatorial rule. Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and today Sudan (amongst others) offer illustrative cases in that regard. Likewise, undemocratic regimes are more prone to chronic instability since they often lack legitimacy beyond rentierism. Though they might manage to stay in power despite popular discontents, these regimes usually succeed in doing so through recourse of coercion, persecution, and constantly manufactured fear of repercussion and oppression for disobedience.

Moreover, to succeed in consolidating power, authoritarian and dictatorial regimes invariably endeavor to centralize and concentrate political powers with the aim of having control over the entirety of state apparatus. The danger, yet again, is that such regimes are more liable to social and political grievances as they are inherently exclusive and blatantly discriminatory. They must, therefore, have recourse to brutal force and political wickedness to remain in power; no wonder coups and counter-coups are likely to become ubiquitous as the military becomes politicized, and politics militarized. By sharp contrast, however, a working democracy functions best through a separation of powers (executive, judicial, and legislative), thus not only promoting institutional independence and broader social inclusion, but also, and perhaps more significantly, allowing for checks and balances of the state apparatus. Moreover, democracy is better equipped to allow broader and more inclusive political participation and social engagements through party competitions, popular elections, and demonstrations.

Finally, by allowing strong and independent institutions to flourish and by permitting the separation of powers and checks and balances, democracy ensures transparency and accountability. For instance, a corrupt or incompetent government will surely be voted out of the office either through (peaceful) protests or through ballots. By the same token, the independence of institutions would also ensure that corrupt leaders are fairly and transparently held accountable for their misdeeds. Undoubtedly, the principle that democracy guarantees transparency and accountability renders it ever more stable and more enduring both as a political system and as a form of government.

In a nutshell, in promoting strong and resilient institutions that have the capacity to resist and absorb shocks (both internal and external), a functioning democracy helps foster the stability and security of the state. Likewise, in preventing the concentration of powers in the hands of despots, democracy ensures that even the most vulnerable social layers—children, women, elderly people, and disabled—would not be encroached at will by the mighty. Indeed, in addition to protecting the most vulnerable from political oppression and persecution, it allows for more inclusiveness and more political participation; thus ensuring that people can express their grievances without having recourse to violent strife, armed rebellions, or revolution, as the system ensures that no one is above the law or immune to transparency checks and ushering in the required accountability.

According to Andrew Heywood, democracy can play an even greater role in alleviating Man-made human tragedies through sustainable peace and security since it fosters the legitimacy of the ruling regime through consent (of being ruled); it also allows rival interest groups to live together with relative peace through compromise, conciliation, and negotiation; and finally, democracy “operates as a feedback system that tends toward long-term political stability” and human prosperity.

If the utility of any political and social system is measured by its ability to protect and improve the wellbeing of its population; and given that the more capable a system of government is in playing a positive role in social and economic developments the more legitimacy it gains; and, above all, given that the value of any form of government must be gauged by its ability to promote independent and resilient institutions, ensure an effective and equitable distribution of powers, and guarantee the accountability and transparency of the state apparatus, there are, undoubtedly, solid enough reasons to argue for democracy to be the worst of all, except for all those that have been tried from time to time.

My First Day at PKU

Mon, 15 Oct 2018 13:24:00 +0000

From Beijing Capital International Airport, I was to take a taxi to the campus. Though I got the necessary instructions on the available options, picking a cab was the most convenient; that’s particularly true if one takes the financial cost out of the equation. And on that particular day, the cost of taking a cab to the campus was not of great concern anyway, not because I was rich enough to care less about the price tag to be paid—I am, like many students are, highly responsive to price fluctuations; rather, it was, literally, the only assuring means to get to the university. Safe?

After a five-hour delay in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, my flight was long and tiring; and in a city I’ve neither been to nor understood the language, opting for public transportation, though much cheaper, was not the wisest thing to do. Even time seemed to have conspired against that option. The plane landed at 4 am; that’s, long before the daybreak. I knew that the inner city public transport in Beijing stops at 11 pm. So I assumed (fairly reasonably) that it resumes at 6 in the morning, but I couldn’t and didn’t try to find out. The truth is, the idea of endeavoring to find out never actually came to my exhausted mind.

From a long line of awaiting taxies, I picked one. I’ve hoped to find a driver who could speak English. But I soon realized that I may have to wait there in vain, eternally. I’d learned some useful Chinese phrases; or, to be more precise, I’d learned Chinese phrases my online sources said would be enough for a traveler to China. Yet, once in the airport, I found myself unable to use them. First, I could not recall many, and those that came to my mind I could not say properly. And with the only one or two I got correctly in asking for direction, I couldn’t understand the reply either because, to say the same thing, my interlocutors used different concepts than they ones I’d memorized or because they spook so fast that I could barely hear what they said. A disaster. I should have known better that, by relying on those phrases, I was simply deceiving myself, for it requires a lot more than that to survive a language barrier.

When I decided to pick the cab, I realized that I couldn’t say my destination, Peking University, in Chinese. I haven’t thought of that before, and having no Internet connection, Google “father” was useless. It took some time before we (the driver and I) could sort it out. And believe me when I tell that you really don’t need to know how!

*****

It took us less than I’d expected to reach the campus—the roads were clear, and the traffic stream absent. Once on the campus, however, it took us much longer than anyone could believe to get to the right destination, our residence. The driver could not map the address on the campus, and asking by-passers did not help any more than my own ignorance. They would give conflicting information ant led the driver to go back and forth, turning around the same spot. Even those who did not know the place the driver was asking for would say something and indicate one direction or the other in giving instructions to follow. At some points, I was expecting the driver to start shouting angrily for the lost time. Instead, I was deeply impressed by the maintained cool temper. Yet I’d a vague idea of Chinese people always being in a hurry, impatiently rushing around as if chasing some historically lost time…

If that idea is true though, the driver was an obvious exception, an outlier? Eventually, we found the place we’ve been looking for. More impressive to me was the fact that the driver did not ask for any additional fees as I got off and only took the normal fare when I paid.

My hope and expectation though of getting some rest before the scheduled activities of the day, were squashed by the delays starting from Kiev. Therefore, I had no choice but to proceed with the administrative formalities, as scheduled for the day. I’d had a long and tiring journey, and now I was to have a similarly long and tiring day of activities. But I could blame no one since that was exactly the price I was to pay for deciding to come later than the sated dates of arrivals! Yet still, what a disappointing hope and a clearly unsuccessful plan I’ve had!

But I’m an aspiring student of von Goethe, and like his young Werther, I’ve long known that “All men are disappointed in their hopes, and deceived in their expectations.”

On My Way to Beijing’s PKU

Fri, 07 Sep 2018 04:09:00 +0000

As I prepare my journey, cheerful friends and curious classmates wonder why I’ve chosen to further my studies in China. It is a reoccurring scene.

The truth is, it is neither the first nor the last time I (or any international student) would encounter such queries; that is, the questions of why one has decided to pursue his/her studies in this or that country, city, and university. To be sure, the wording usually differs, but the content, the idea is always the same. Like many other students, it’s become a first-hand experience for me, too.

Interestingly, however, I often find myself giving different answers to different people (or to the same people who happen to ask more than once!) depending on the circumstances, for some people would ask with a genuine curiosity, some with a mocking smile, and still others with an unhinged indifference.

Surely, each student, in deciding to study abroad and in choosing a particular country, city, or university, has his/her distinct motives, which may include the availability of scholarships and targeted programs, the quality of education, amongst others. But it is not always easy for one to make such a decision; indeed, it is a curiously exciting task to think about: embarking on a new journey, a new adventure; the opportunity to discover new places, meet new people, make new friends, encounter new cultures, and have a new lifetime experience.

Now, before me is a new page, a blank page on which I intend to write a new chapter of my life. There is no doubt, it can be an exciting moment as well as a period of undeniable anguish, ambiguity, and uncertainty.

****

To be sure, I’ve never been to China before, and that nourishes my curiosity even more; and writing about my yet to be lived China “story” is akin to writing a fictional story to satisfy my youthful fancies. And like a fiction, what matters isn’t so much how ‘truthful’ the story is as how close to ‘reality’ it presents itself. My China story is, therefore, a way of expressing my hopes and potential fears.

The partial truth is that I’ve chosen China as my destination to carry on my graduate studies because Yenching Academy (YCA) has offered me a uniquely generous scholarship to attend a prestigious and groundbreaking program at a globally renowned university, Peking University (PKU). It feels like a dream come true, a liberation, a site of boundless possibilities, and I intend to make good use of it.

What is more, the program neatly meets my projected career objectives, as I aim to broaden and deepen my understanding of the African International Affairs in this era of pacing globalization. Today, when one talks about the African international relations, China is highly likely to come first to our mind, given the ever-growing prominent role it has been playing in the continent in recent years. In order to fully fathom the Sino-African relations, what better way could there be than being an inside/outside observer for clear insights, objective analyses, and impartial conclusions? YCA provides me with that unique opportunity, and I’ve decided to take it.

Furthermore, it is almost impossible to resist the international environment YCA provides its students; similarly, its interdisciplinary curriculum that fosters cross-cultural understanding through constant interactions and exchange is nearly irresistible to a young and curious mind! I need not mention China’s vast and historically rich culture.

But that is not all there is to my decision to pursue my studies in China. My experience in the last two years of studying in Turkey has not been the most memorable episodes of my life. In fact, I wish it were a blank and unfilled page, an empty memory. Instead, it was overloaded with a perpetually agonizing despair, a disheartening helplessness, and a stormy sea of infinite troubles. My journey to China, I hope, will provide me with a fresh start, a different and better experience, and a catalog of vividly memorable souvenirs.

My hope? It is that my China story will be that of further academic accomplishments, a cultural enrichment, an ever-expanding network, etc. I hope the blank page before me, the new chapter of my life will be a new (personal) discovery, the end of the restless sea of troubles, and a sound refuge from haunting memories. That is, a respite and an opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive...

Looking Back II

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:01:00 +0000

Indeed, their journey from the very beginning could have been smooth—that is, enjoyable—had they had the needful administrative experience of traveling overseas or, at least, if they were skillful enough in many foreign languages; but they lacked both of these crucial skills.

If the audacity of hope has been the defining force for Barack Obama’s impressive life story and his uncharacteristically remarkable and triumphant political career, it can be said that the audacity of defying obstacles was the driving force for these young men not just throughout that adventurous journey, but it was and still is the single determinant pillar, the raison d'être of their lives. It is often said, with good reasons, that what does not kill us makes stronger to mean that we learn better and grow stronger through experience, usually through bad experience. But for these young souls, the seemingly insurmountable daily challenges of their lives do not just so much make them stronger and better and wiser as that, by learning from those struggles for survival and betterment, they have come to embody a sense of conscientious readiness for whatever may come, for they know that life, in essence, is always comprised of tops and downs, just like each hill must have its downhill. That reality they’ve understood, admitted, and embraced it; it is wisdom in disguise!

They were driven not by the general false belief that life is somehow readymade over there, but by the fact that it was a precious opportunity for them to realize their potential; that is to say, their decision to travel was perfectly entirely based on the undoubted desire to seek knowledge—it was a mission, a self-appointed mission. As such, they did not leave their fate, as so often happens with many African youths in recent years, to mere chance or to some dubious circumstances of good fortune: theirs was a well-thought-out journey. It was not a journey of despair undertaken by desperate souls, but that of deserved accomplishments by young and enthusiastic boys full of undeniable potential.

Their trip took place in late September, that is, in autumn 2013, and it was their first time to ever experience such a season. More than the differences in seasons, however, they didn’t fail to notice the glaringly perceptible contrasts between what they left and everything that was mow about them. From the skies, for instance, they could see how immense their city of destination was; and the airport where they landed was as big and crowded and busy as they could never have imagined.

They were also quick to realize that, here, almost everyone smokes almost everywhere. Not soon had they left the airport to see that smoking was a—natural?—habit, and they had to gently request their taxi driver to stop smoking on their ride. As if it were the most common thing to do, as if it were a universally approved behavior as that of greeting, the driver lightened his cigarette as soon as he started the car. But that was not the most socking thing about him. As though he intended to make them share the disturbing and disconcerting exhaled smoke, he started to chatter about everything with them. (That too—chattering with strangers—was a common, most natural thing here.) While in contrast to where they left—that is, their homeland—gusts are met with greetings and friendly smiles and fresh water, not with bad smoke and unworthy questions. And so they had to courteously ask him to stop smoking, but even that did not induce him to stop bantering too!

Also perceptible was the dramatic change in the weather. They left a rainy season with a fairly hot weather; they are from a tropical country and have nothing to do with either the yellowing leaves of autumn or the naked trees in winter. Here, it was raining too, but the weather was much colder. To them, even more fascinating was to see the denuding trees despite the frequently pouring rain…

While enjoying what they could enjoy and adapting to what they could adapt to their new environment, they started what they came for: study. The languages, they were quick to learn and to integrate into their hosting society. And despite the undeniable daily challenges, everything seemed to go fairly well. They were quick, too, to establish themselves as diligent, committed, and engaging students in their academic environments. But then came the summer of 2016.

Before then, they had nothing and were living with nothing, yet they never complained. But that summer made sure to leave them with less than nothing. Everything about it is a blow to these miserable souls, an agonizing despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, a haunting memory of a flowing sea of troubles. It was in that summer that many of them became school-less and homeless—that is, destitute! And it was during that cursed summer that they all saw their dreams shuttered, their hopes squashed, and their lives become not dissimilar to that of Victor Hugo’s Jean Valjean and other miserable souls of his Misérables.

But they managed to survive the storms and resist the unsettling waves of the stormy sea of troubles. And slowly, but surely, they are rebuilding their confidence, determination, commitment, and diligence for a better future. Against all odds, they have surmounted the insurmountable. And once again, they have defied the insuperable obstacles of their incontrovertibly hazardous adventure.

They have now graduated. And proud of themselves and relieved, they certainly are. But are they happy, and can they be said to be happy?

Looking Back I

Sun, 08 Jul 2018 07:19:00 +0000

Five years ago, five young men—amongst whom was the author of these lines—were embarking on an adventure in unknown distant territories. It was in 2013, and they were to pursue their higher education abroad. It was, they recall, their first time to travel abroad or, to be more precise, it was the first time they ever embarked on an overseas journey, an adventure across seas to a place they have heard of so little and to a culture they knew almost nothing about, except that, as they found out after a laborious search, over there people always drink milkless tea and use a lot of bread in their daily meals.

Back then, what did they look like? In a nutshell, they were young boys of average heights, serene at varying degrees, curious by nature and naturally intelligent and industrious: they were travelling overseas to study on scholarships. They were, in their specific ways, highly distinguished students, about which they would pride themselves and boast about how immensely competitive they have always been and how little their doubts were about their abilities to surmount challenges they may encounter on their adventurous journey. Oh, miserable souls, how confident that sounds! Yet one can hardly blame them. Could they have known what was awaiting them? Could they have imagined the daunting challenges they were to face? Could they have had an idea of the daily struggles, of the hardships they would have to endure? Could they have known that they were travelling not to make history, but to face its brutal and naked ignominies?

They could not have had any idea of what was to haunt them in the years to come; nor could they know that life sometimes makes us pay dearly the price for events we know nothing about, and about which we could barely understand. But they were to face that horrifying reality… A lot was awaiting them and they would have a lot to deal with, since, as if the whole world was against them, as if history had condemned to misery, and as if they were to bear the burden of the whole humanity, the journey on which they so happily embarked was rift with ineffable obstacles, unfathomable challenges, and indescribable hurdles.

Life, it seems, is a learning journey from which one never graduates…