Opinion

Africa: A Different Perspective

Heather Mupita
Editor-in-Chief

Bob Marley’s song title and lyrics, “I am only hearing bad news on the radio Africa” came to mind and captures the essence of the negativity associated with Africa.

Africa has been documented in the media as a continent riddled with disease, war and hunger. Examples include pictures of famine in countries like Ethiopia or the diamond wars of the Congo. The pictures on TV are usually of emaciated children or of places in Africa that have been damaged by war and strife.

The media never gives Africa the chance to show some off some of its beautiful places. The only places that are shown are the safari kind which then gives the impression that Africa is a jungle full of elephants and lions roaming around everywhere. There is truth in this information but the media does not give a truly holistic picture of Africa and fails to take into account success stories that do occur in Africa.

I’d like to speak to my peers as an international student and provide my perspective and experiences with Africa. My focus will be on Zimbabwe, where I was born and have spent most of my life. I have also lived and traveled to other parts of the world and to countries within Africa; I have also traveled to Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. This experience has opened my eyes to the world and I believe that if students have opportunities to travel when they are still young, they are better able to understand and appreciate other cultures and develop a broader perspective and outlook of other people and cultures. The focus will be on the socio-economic aspects of Zimbabwe focusing on issues of progress as well as the negative aspects that impede progress in my country. The experience that I have is my life in Zimbabwe; I really cannot speak for the rest of Africa as Africa is multifaceted and multicultural. Africa has thousands of languages and dialects.

Zimbabwe is a country colonized by the British in the 1800s. It was under colonial rule until the black majority gained independence in 1980. Before independence, it had a large white population. However most whites left in 1980 as they feared being ruled by the blacks. However some whites remained and one might be surprised to know that “white Zimbabweans” exist. They consider themselves as having ties with Zimbabwe rather that their historical English past. This is actually characteristic of the older generation who say that for them Zimbabwe is the only country they are familiar with, and hence they will not go back to Britain.

Zimbabwe has been graced with a good climate. Although it is sunny most of the year, it has been spared from the hot temperatures experienced by countries near the Equator. On the other hand, although it does not get as cold as Seattle, it does have fairly cold winters where the nights and early mornings can be as cold as 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather generally becomes mild in the afternoons and rises to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Zimbabwe has also been hailed as offering good education; in fact, Zimbabwe ranks high in terms of educational success. At independence, the president changed the educational system; primary and secondary education was made free for everyone. This led to an educational boom with the result that more black students were able to qualify for university and to enter into professional fields like medicine, engineering, accounting and law.

The country has good infrastructure; this includes high rise buildings, roads, the railway, sewage, telecommunications, and television including satellite television. There are some shopping malls. The biggest is a shopping mall in Harare, the capital city and this mall is known as Westgate Mall. Some of these developments came after independence.

There are some areas that are really underdeveloped and where the population lives in mud huts. However this is a sharp contrast to the cities which compare favorably with a cosmopolitan life. Some parts of Harare resemble certain cities like Johannesburg or Cape Town. The houses in the towns are made of bricks and therefore house fires are rare and almost non-existent. I have only experienced one fire incident in my life and that was in 1993. This is when an apartment building caught fire due to an electrical fault. Fortunately no one was hurt, but property was destroyed and all the inhabitants had to move from the apartment block.

The snag in Zimbabwe’s story is that jobs are few and thus the unemployment rate is high. The Government has not done enough to lure investors into the country and provide job opportunities for graduates coming out of universities and colleges.

The reason why the unemployment rate is high in Zimbabwe is because investors are not willing to invest in the country. Zimbabwe has restrictive laws and regulations that discourage investors. Some big companies like Johnson and Johnson have moved out to South Africa and hence Zimbabwe is now relying on imports. This has led to a critical shortage of foreign exchange.

Zimbabwe also has a car assembly plant know as Willowvale Industries which assembles such cars as Nissan and Mazda. This plant has not been operating to its maximum capacity. This is because of the shortage in foreign exchange and as a result workers have been retrenched.

In terms of health issues, Zimbabwe has different health concerns from the US. AIDS is a reality, and all of us in Zimbabwe have been touched by disease.

I have relatives that have died from the disease, and I have seen them suffer to the end and witnessed the burials. Now tears have actually dried from my eyes and it has become a matter-of-fact issue rather than a tragedy. It is a way of life and people have learned to look the disease in the face and try and do the best they can. Some people have changed their behaviors; others continue to believe that AIDS is a myth and that it will not happen to them.

On the other side of the coin, Zimbabweans rarely experience illnesses such as depression, cancer or heart disease. I think on the whole, depression is rare because the family unit encourages togetherness rather than individualism. For example, when a member of the family experiences financial hardship, the whole family will usually assist in any way they can.

Zimbabwe is a country of contrasts; you have the rich who live in affluent and plush suburbs in mansions with swimming pools in areas labeled the “northern suburbs”. These people drive the latest cars on the market and generally only see and know about their type of life as they hardly frequent the townships and the rural areas. It is quite possible to live in Zimbabwe and not be aware that there is poverty and disease in the country.

Poverty is on the rise. Most people are now desperate to survive, and petty crime is on the incline. Some people are surviving on one meal a day as they cannot afford to have three meals per day. The political situation is also volatile, although I must point out that Zimbabwe is not a country that is riddled with violence. It is quite peaceful. I also had more peace because it is rare in my country to hear of murders and disappearances of people. I think though at the moment, there is calm before the storm. This is because the government is trying to redress the land imbalance created by the white settlers who owned the majority of the land although they were in the minority. The government has failed to solve the problem and made the situation worse by grabbing the land themselves. With no experience in farming, the land has become underutilized and unproductive leading to serious economic setbacks and sporadic food supplies. This has led to food shortages and the rise in the cost of living. Food can be available but the poor are unable to buy the food as it is expensive, and the prices are on the increase daily leading to inflation which is now at about the rate of 500 per cent. For example in February this year , it cost $5000 Zimbabwe dollars to go to a musical show, now it costs about $50,000 to go to the same show.

I have come to realize that each place one lives has its pros and cons. A person can be extremely happy in Zimbabwe depending on the socio-economic conditions they are living under. I miss my life in Zimbabwe as I was a professional, a lawyer who had a good job and income. Therefore, I had the financial means to travel within Africa and abroad. If my situation had not been so, I would not have a good account of the country.

I think America is a great place to live as the majority of the people are financially secure, but I still see people who are hungry and destitute on the streets. I am still thankful for some of the good experiences I have from Zimbabwe. I liked having the supportive extended family as they were always there through the good and the bad times. I have come to the realization that you can be happy or sad in any place or country and that life is what you make it.

Construction around Shoreline Campus

Carol Brocker
Web Master

Fall Quarter started at SCC with construction just getting underway all around campus.

Everywhere I looked there was large earth moving equipment blocking off already limited parking spots. I wondered, Whose bright idea was this? Why not do it during the summer quarter when there weren’t as many students attending? I thought this was just another example of upper management’s incompetence.

Like many of us, I just tried to deal with it and cussed out the construction workers as I drove around trying to find some place to park in an already to small parking lot.

I thought I would go and talk to the person that was in charge of getting the constructing done. That person was Director of Facilities, Capital Projects, Safety and Security, Randy Stegmeier. He's a nice man whose office is in the PUB, room 910. I found him very pleasant to speak with. He answered my questions about the timing on this construction.

Stegmeier was all too glad to explain the chain of events that lead up to the late start date. “We had planned and sent out our project for bid, but to our surprise, not one bid came back," said Stegmeier. The next step was to rewrite the project. This time it was divided up into two different projects and resent out for bid. This time we received several different bids.” Now the work can start.

Strider Construction was the wining bidder. Construction had been scheduled for completion by the end of December. But guess what, it's already done. If you have noticed we have our parking lot back, still too small, but no construction equipment blocking the parking spaces.

Good job Strider Construction and many thanks for the early completion of this project.

Part two of construction is due to start in December and will have very little impact on us as far as parking goes. Good job Randy Stegmeier, director of facilities at Shoreline.