So what is the answer, bruv? Not to develop an under-developed country and wait for the governments to bring wealth and education to the people?
The Gambia...for Realz?
- Thread starter bbuzzard
- Start date
This IS not development. The first stage has to be education. No way out.
Everything follows from there. And yes, it is the job of the government,
as everywhere else, to do the thankless job of educating the people. In
the meantime, the resources need to be left alone until the local people
are educated enough to exploit them for their own benefit.
So lets talk about the government then...you see it helping when it hasn't so far, specifically in The Gambia?
99.9% of the educated Africans are in Africa. Only a tiny sliver of educated Africans
are able to move abroad. Remember, there are more than 2000 univerisities in black
Africa churning out hundreds of thousands of graduates every year. That being said,
university education is only a part of the education system, with vocational colleges,
secondary schools spewing out millions of graduates every year. This is a different
Africa we are talking about.
As for property ownership, your western notions are different from our African ones.
Traditionally, land is the communal property of everyone. To say that Africans have no
prospects of property ownership is not true. The people who propose and promote
titled land ownership are outsiders who would have no claim under customary land
ownership, who want a piece of paper according them traditional land, which they can
selfishly and exclusively make their own.
Secondly, if the people are alive in Africa, they are making it. If nothing else happens,
they are alive and making it. There is no need, therefore, for them to cede their future
to outsiders, when they can exercise patience, make progress when they are ready, and
as they see fit.
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Realistically any African country, is a poor relocation choice for a Black amerikkkan unless they are retired. The odds of you earning anything more than a pittance income are slim there. There is no surplus of money there. If there is, it's all in the hands of a very few. Then once you retire, you don't have to worry about money (for most) but now the abysmal healthcare system that prevails in most of Africa becomes the hurdle. Even expat health insurance is most times a waste when in Africa. Hospitals won't accept it. The expat life is a bitch. Not for the faint of heart. If you haven't been to Africa for an extended stay of a bare minimum of a month or two, that's to be done first. Africa is not for everybody, and Africans aren't for everybody. They are not to be misconstrued as being amerikkkan Blacks with an accent. Sadly, I found that I don't have a helluva lot in common with Africans from my experiences so far. Not saying they're bad people, they're generally not. But they damn sure dance to a much different drummer than I do and there is very little common ground I share with them in my thinking.
Unless you have some specialized skills that are universally in demand, particularly most areas of medicine and healthcare plus a few others like electrical grid work, HVAC, you'll struggle for work. And even if you find work, your wages will be ridiculous when compared to the same position in the US. You ready for that? For the majority of wannabe expats my suggestion is live meagerly, save and invest well, retire no later than age 62 when you can draw some Social Security and find ways to make money online, whereas you can live in the developing work while drawing a first world wage. You're now living as a rich man. Me, a minimalist existence is all I require. All this assumes the world won't devolve into a baron spinning ball of uninhabited shit and dust by that time. Which begins to look more and more like a realistic possibility. And Gambia sucks BTW. Yeah, it's cheap. That's cause there's barely anything there to buy. Inability to find many commodities drives me nuts even in Belize and Belize is ten times better stocked than The Gam. Just my opinion.
The only basis on which you can make such an assertion is if you are able to
show me objective statistics that Gambians are now less educated than they
were at independence in 1965.
Prior to 1999, Gambia had no universities, now it has at least 5, which is a lot
for a country with a total population of 2.4 million people, and an area of only
10, 000 square kilometers
- American International University West Africa.
- EUCLID University.
- University of the Gambia.
- International Open University.
- Legacy University.
I wish you well, and I appreciate the effort you are putting in to get knowledge.
I will be honest with you. I will not sugar coat the truth, and I hope that I do not
hide the sugar by coating it with bitterness.
Just because I disagree with what they are doing Gambia or anywhere else, does
not mean that it is not a good opportunity for you. I disagree with things in just
about every African country. The only country I agree with, on almost every issue
is Tanzania.
Please do not be discouraged by me. Research, and investigate, and invest in your
future. I would be happy if black Americans could make a sincere effort to return
to Africa.
My advice for you would be to make exploratory trips. Once you find a place you
like, do further research, particularly into ways you can position yourself to be as
successful as possible. The thing to remember about Africa is that it is the last
greatest frontier on earth. If you are able to go there and start a shoe making
company, you will be richer than you can ever imagine, because you will probably
the first and only person to do what you are doing. If you decide to go somewhere
and open a pizzeria, you will do extremely well because you will be probably be the
first person to open a pizzeria. This is an open and opportune frontier like no other
in the world.
We always tell you to do everything to assimilate, and most of you think we are
crazy. Just remember, if you don't accept this advice, you proving that the Chinese
are smarter than you. When the motherfuckers first came, they humbled their asses,
and inserted themselves in society at the lowest humblest levels, selling peanuts and
oranges in the markets.. Now motherfuckers are running factories...
Again, target a place, do your research, have an idea what you want to do, go there,
look for yourself. Talk to the locals as well as any black Americans who may already
be there and get the lay of the land.
Remember, the son of the legendary Jackie Robinson has been a successful coffee
farmer in Tanzania for decades
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Truth is Nzinga possesses a wealth of helpful info, but he is so damned arrogant and offensive much of the time. Lately he's seems to be more settled and accommodating of differing opinions than in the past. I attack him at times only because at first meeting he attacked first for no warranted reason. He "claims" to have me on ignore. I call bullshit, cause if I say something inflammatory enough, he tends to respond. LOL Whatever floats your boat, zingie. To have claimed in the past that I "know nothing" about Africa still rings at a sour pitch in my head. Am I an Africa scholar? Hardly. But if there IS a member of this board that knows the continent better than I, it's you and you alone, zingie and that is still quite debatable. I've seen nothing from ANY other poster that seems to come close to my level of knowledge of the continent. I've enjoyed two extended stays there in multiple countries, ...... you gotta learn SOMETHING during that time, plus I'm a voracious reader of anything I get my hands on that's Africa related. He really should have interpreted my efforts as commendable, inasmuch as so many amerikkkans (Blacks included) belittle the continent and express contempt or mockery toward anything Africa related. I do have something to offer despite his intemperate criticisms and attacks. Just my opinion.
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No reason to be beefing on these types of threads,IMO. We got enough interlopers on this board diverting our attentions. I truly believe we all can do better than Amerikkka and some may want to keep the battle going here but as you get older, you value your time left as oppose to sticking to what the others have fed us as the norm. I tell my kids that should not limit their goals and aspirations to the USA. It's been a setup from the get...ask your parents about when they first got a real credit card, not store charge cards. They probably remember the date. What probably needs to happen is a Bank based in the African that is borderless within the continent. Europe's model is inspiring somewhat but with the resources being leeched from Africa is and has been obscene. South America is very interesting to me but there's a language gap for me thanks to the our education system letting us down from the get. I'm still learning...
There is no unsurmountable language gap in S. America. Learning the bare essentials of Spanish and/or Portruguese takes only about 6 months of fairly intense commitment. You'll, at that point, be able to mangle your way through the language to the extent of being understood, in general, for most common thoughts you're trying to convey. And you'll understand the replies as long as they keep it slow! Your catch phrase will be "Habla despacio, y usa palabras pequinas, por favor." (Please talk slow and use small words) Now, if you're trying to get to the point of speaking grammatically correct Spanish or speaking on technical or complicated subjects, then a much greater and longer commitment to study is required. And probably some amount of immersion. But to just speak to the level of general friendliness, (tourist quality) or getting the drawers to fall is no big challenge in Spanish or Portuguese. Drawers tend to drop in Latin culture even quicker and easier than U.S. culture, if you can imagine that! That's all I speak and it's been useful on many occasions. I have tried to get to the next level, but it's simply not gonna happen without some level of forced immersion, and Belize really doesn't provide that. Almost all in Belize speak decent English or better. BTW, another thing that took me by surprise is Latin comfortability with nudity. Not kidding, much like in Africa, women don't seen to have much issue of sharing nude photos of themselves with you, or allowing you to snap some. Having their photo taken in the nude doesn't generally have the same stigma attached as in U.S. culture. TIP: If you're reasonably young, rather than trying to achieve fluency from there, you'll like get more lifetime benefit from adding more languages, learned to the minimum standard level. Maybe French, Portuguese, Twi or Swahili next.
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My dad is from Accra, Ghana I lived out there for a whole year in 2005. It was a wonderful experience to get to know other cultures. My dad is very popular amongst the people of Ghana so I was treated really good. I loved it out there I enjoyed the different foods I even learned how to prepare Fufu. The females there were very attractive too I went on some dates with some cute young ladies. I plan on going back soon cause we having a family reunion so I will get to see my aunts and uncles I know they gonna feed me well I come from a family that likes to cook.
What's going on with Akufo Addo's expat repatriation promises? Are they doling out citizenships to expats or was it more bullshit like when Rawlings first announced it. If I can't get healthcare there's no point in considering Ghana for anything more than a vacation. And what was the visa extension process like? I have heard nothing but horror stories ESPECIALLY in Accra! I never dealt with it cause I never exceeded my initial stamp.
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I don't know of anything you spoke on I was just a visitor there I didn't get caught up in what was going on there politically.
You had to get visa extensions to stay a year. Was the process fucked up? I heard getting an extension in Accra is nightmarish. I never heard it was any better in Kumasi, Tamale or Sunyani, but the subject at the time was Accra and there was a litany of obstacles described to me like bribes, long queues, and all day waiting for things that normally might take an hour.
I think we are having a very cordial discussion. I do not think that we are beefing
at all.
Speaking of Tamale, never been there, but from my reading, you can live there for less than half the price of Accra life. Accra can be pricey by African standards. I paid over a thousand dollars for one month at Frankie's Hotel in Osu! I didn't know any better at the time. There were better options, unbeknownst to me. Live and learn. There'll be a lot fewer amerikkkans and it's hot as summertime in hell, but there's much to say for living on next to nothing. And you'll surely be a celebrity there!
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No the process was swift for me I guess since my dad is already a citizen.
I've been to Tamale it's cool but I prefer Accra better.
Oh, I'm good with casual Spanish speaking as I live in the DMV but I have a hard time understanding it. I purchased some translation earbuds which in testing seem to help a lot. I didn't have that issue when in in Europe back in the day, dealing with German and French mostly.
I don't know much about the German language. I was there 20 years ago for 2 weeks but it was with a group of amerikkkans. In Ludwigshafen. All I remember is tsvai pilz and sprechen kien deutch. Likely spelled very incorrectly. At least Spanish is mostly phonetic. I'm taking French now on Duolingo. Still in elementary level. The grammar is easier than Spanish but the pronunciation is the killer. And there's the fact that half the Germans I encountered spoke some level of English. This chick I met at a bar called the Scala Club where the Black amerikkkan soldiers tended to frequent. She spoke so well that she could do convincing accents, ..... southern, New York, Valley Girl etc.. Not sure I'd feel compelled to even bother with German. But women love to hear you speak French for some reason. Maybe I'll have enough time to get fairly competent with French.
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I'm somewhat the same. Do you know what causes that? It is the result of learning from books rather than interfacing with native speakers, or at very least other students learning the language. Believe this .... you will NEVER be able to speak confidently and effectively ANY foreign language without some degree of immersion. You have to either go to a Spanish speaking country for at least a couple months or get with a wife, girlfriend or fellow student of your same approximate level of understanding (or better) and have days where you ONLY speak in Spanish. Gotta start watching directed shows like Destinos along with the workbook. Otherwise you'll just hit a wall and remain there without regard to how much you study. You MUST use it!
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She was thinking all those guy were just friendly ... hell naw, they all wanted to hit that. She's adorable.
Shit, has any country in Africa ever had a presidential election that wasn't contested? I guess maybe Paul Kagame, .... hell, he gets like 98 percent of the popular vote. (deservedly) When Barrow initially got elected that was contested too. So much so, that Jammeh, the incumbent at the time, was purported to be conspiring to have Barrow "neutralized". LOL, Barrow had to go into exile too! Man, Africa is such a goddamned clown show. They're my people, and I love 'em, but a shame that I must keep ignoring and/or making excuses for their transgressions, shenanigans and buffoonery. All their bullshit gets a tad tiresome. No shock that Nzinga is such a certifiable asshole. That's the cloth so many over there are cut from.
But, in their defense, one must ponder what Africans and Africa would be like today had the european conquest and all it historically involved and resulted in had never taken place. Wish I knew, but until someone can convince me otherwise, I believe almost every ill that socially afflicts both the African and the African amerikkkan results from what we have endured for multiple centuries at the hands of the murderous beast-people.
Still trying to figure out why Lord Jeebus didn't bother to come save us from the slaughter like these knucklehead "kneegrow" christians claim he can be depended on to do.
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Just keeping the current news available to the "unaware"Shit, has any country in Africa ever had a presidential election that wasn't contested? I guess maybe Paul Kagame, .... hell, he gets like 98 percent of the popular vote. (deservedly) When Barrow initially got elected that was contested too. So much so, that Jammeh, the incumbent at the time, was purported to be conspiring to have Barrow "neutralized". LOL, Barrow had to go into exile! Man, Africa is such a goddamned clown show. They're my people, and I love 'em, but a shame that I must keep ignoring and/or making excuses for their transgressions, shenanigans and buffoonery. All their bullshit gets a tad tiresome. No shock that Nzinga is such a certifiable asshole. That's the cloth so many over there are cut from.
But, in their defense, one must ponder what Africans and Africa would be like today had the european conquest and all it historically involved and resulted in had never taken place. Wish I knew, but until someone can convince me otherwise, I believe almost every ill that socially afflicts both the African and the African amerikkkan results from what we have endured for multiple centuries at the hands of the murderous beast-people.
Still trying to figure out why Lord Jeebus didn't bother to come save us from the slaughter like these knucklehead "kneegrow" christians claim he can be depended on to do.