Zimbabwe and South Africa are not the same thing!

People like categorizing. It’s an unescapable truth. Categorizing is one of the most basic functions of human beings. We humans are obsessed with order ( humans in general I mean ) and with being able to put everything in a pretty, little box. Somehow, it makes us feel the world is safer when something is nicely labelled and categorized. I suppose it makes us feel we have a sense of power over that something. Whatever the explanation, the fact still remains:
People like categorizing.
Unfortunately, I’ve fallen victim to one of the most impifferating* types of categorization. Countrylisation.
This world is not as small as people would like to believe. Let’s face it, if you’re foreign, you’re foreign. And as the majority of the world’s population is made up of induhviduals* whose only concerns are the basic functions of nutrition, excretion and reproduction, the problem of countrylisation is unavoidable. Let me explain.
Countrylisation is the categorising of people according to the country from which they hail. There are several basic groups. The nicest ones include the rich country group ( excluding USA ). These include Britain, Germany, New Zealand and other countries along those lines. These are cool countries to come from for the obvious idea that you are automatically “ rich” and “respectable”. Even better is if you come from the East-Asian group. Everybody loves Oriental people, almost as much as they love catergorizing. The whole East Asian culture attracts and seduces people with its mysticism and ancientism. Plus, they blessed the world with the Playstation 2. Case Closed.
But not all groups are lucky enough to have positive attributes connected with them. Take, for example, the Americans. Unfortunately, because of all the stigma attached to Americans ( or more correctly, American politics ) the world kind of lifts its nose to those belonging to the Red White and Blue. Along the same vein are the French. No one likes rude people that smell.
That leaves the rest of the world in need of colocation*. To make it easier for the induhvidual race, the rest are simply tossed into the Don’t worry about them, their foreign group. That’s not a nice group to be in. Inside this group, are even more divisions. We have the Unknown country group. I’m being optomistic in my idea of your intelligence sweet visitor so I won’t explain that group. Even worse is the group on which I will focus the rest of my blog. The Unknown African Country.
Friends, the idea that the world views Africa as lions and jungles and an abscence of civilisation, is true. In my various correspondances with my other Zimbabwean exchange student friends, the following have been the most stupid questions they have been asked :
1. How did you handle the idea of Internet when you first encountered it here?
2. Were you frightened when you came here and saw all these cars?
3. How come you wear normal clothes here instead of the traditional clothes you use there?

People, despite the fact that the people asking these questions were simply looking to increase their knowledge, it is insulting to be asked. It’s come to a point where I don’t have the energy to come up with a sarcastic asnwer anymore. And for me, that’s bad.
Don’t get me wrong, the world is not clueless on Africa. For them, Africa is made up of the Northern countries and the Southern countries. Though it may seem like an obvious revelation, it took many hours to convince people that we are not one country. I was asked, “So what province of Africa are you from?” The question left me speechless. And there is no getting used to such questions.
This is not so much of a problem for the known African countries ie South Africa and Egypt. For the rest of us however, this presents a big problem.
I have been in Brasil for 4 months now and I still have people introducing me as “Kofi Zwana from South Africa”. It’s difficult when people cannot remember or even pronounce the name of your country. So I suppose it is easier for them to just say,
“Zimbabwe, South Africa, same difference” People! Stop being lazy! Take the consideration to at least learn the difference between two completely different countries. African countries are not all the same. I’ve had a hard time convincing people that North Africa has nothing in common with what I know of Southern Africa. Africa is a big place. I will not respond politely if you ask me if I know a friend of yours who lives in Nigeria. I will not respond politely if you ask me how life in South Africa is. I AM FROM ZIMBABWE!!!!!! Take the time to learn my country’s name. If you’ve got nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon, open an Atlas and find out about that large continent sitting in the middle of the world. I’ll guarantee it more interesting than any soap opera you might be tempted to watch. Unknown African countries, let us unite against the evil that is obscurity. We will no longer be slaves to ignorance. This ends now.

After all that ranting, what, you ask, is my point? That we should learn the names of African countries? No! That is far from what I want to say. My plea is that we stop categorising people. People cannot be categorised according to where they come from. I know people who live in my neighbourhood who have nothing in common with the way my family does things. The beauty of life is that God created us all unique. Uncategorisable. The problem with categorising is that it is an equation that leaves no room for variables. If you’re like this and this and this, cogito ergo sum, you must be this. But all humans have variables that contradict their status quo thus making all humans exceptions to the equation. People in Zimbabwe are not like people from South Africa, not all people from the “rich countries” are rich. The majority of American people are nice. The French don’t smell that bad! Let’s break the cycle here informed visitors. Let us not concede victory to the Induhviduals of this world. A good friend of mine named Rawlins, whenever putting forward an idea or suggestion, would say, “any additions, subtractions or multiplications are welcome. But no divisions because united we stand, divided we fall.” And it’s true. Scout Finch from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” put it best when she said, “there are only one kind of folks. Folks”
Let nothing divide what the Almighty created as one.

Thank you

Ephesians 4:3 - "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace"

*Glossary

Induhvidual - stupid person. This way, you can insult people to their face without them realising :

You : Gee Tim, you're such an in-duh-vidual
Tim : Wow thanks

Impifferating - A word that I made up. It means pissing off.

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