Absence makes the heart grow fonder. For those of us who live away from the hustle and bustle of Dar-es-salaam, or anywhere else that we may call home, we constantly look forward to the day we step on home soil. I, like many other Tanzanian youth, left home years ago to pursue a higher education, with the aim of coming back home and helping my country and continent. It is the sense of patriotism that inspires us to want to make a difference somehow in some way. But how realistic are we being? The more I am away from home, the more I wonder, can we actually solve the problems that our continent is facing? How many of us will actually go back to make that difference and how many of us, will stay afar, because we feel our contribution won’t make an impact?
When you live abroad, especially in North America and Europe, the media constantly reminds you of the problems facing Africa, particularly, disease, poverty and bad governance. This is also the case living at home; you cannot escape from the reality of these issues. Whatever the case, when you start thinking of solutions, you consequently find yourself limiting your solutions to these sorts of issues, telling yourself, I must find a cure for HIV/AIDS, I must find a way to help the poor, I must be a leader…but is this it? Why aren’t we challenging ourselves to think more broader, to explore solutions for challenges we may not see and do not hear about in the media?
For instance, Africa, as you may know, the continent that contributes least to greenhouse gas emissions, is the continent that will suffer the most as a result of climate change. Living in America, I hear a lot about creating a green economy, creating green jobs and exploring ways to consume and produce in a sustainable manner. But back home, this is not something you hear much about. Also, when we think about the deforestation that takes place in Africa, how many of us understand the impact it poses on our present and future? The same goes for the loss of biodiversity and our water system… why are we not talking about these things in the mainstream media as much as we should?
Is it because we think poverty, disease and bad governance are more important than the impact of climate change, deforestation and so forth? Are they all not interconnected? When are we going to realize this interconnectedness and challenge ourselves to address some of these problems in a multi-faceted manner by realizing that addressing one of these issues impacts all of the other issues?
But now let’s be realistic, as leaders of tomorrow, when I personally think about this interconnectedness, I first feel inspired to make a difference, but immediately after, I feel overwhelmed and disempowered. I know like many Tanzanians and Africans out there, we all feel like we need to do something. But the problems seem so grand and so complex, so I ask myself, how can I make any kind of difference? But then I realize that there are ways that each of us can contribute, but we each have to find our own way. The question is, how do you find your own way without getting discouraged by the enormity of the challenges facing our people and our home?
When Africa calls (and Africa has been calling since we gained independence in the 1960s), how are we going to respond?
That’s the question.
