Why Growing Up In Tanzania Was The Best Thing Ever.

If there’s one thing that living abroad has taught me, it’s that being born and raised in the melting pot of African, Asian and European cultures that is Tanzania was certainly the best thing that could have ever happened to me. There certainly aren’t a lot of countries in the world where people from 120+ cultures and a plethora of religions live together harmoniously, i must say that we certainly have the US beat in that department. Now i know some of you reading this must be saying “but Dar is boring, it’s humid, and we have to deal with Tanesco and that god awful traffic”, and yes sometimes that may be a pain in the butt but just bear with me for a second;So since i’m currently doing my Masters in the Psychology of Intercultural Relations (wasn’t that a mouthful), my courses have helped me realise that we, as Tanzanians (and i’m sure other African people can relate) have been exposed to so much more of the world’s history, cultures and languages – be it in school or in our society. We take for granted the fact that nearly all of us can speak more than three languages (at least in the major cities), we take for granted the fact that it’s so easy for us to live together harmoniously, to understand the differences between our cultures and just embrace them. It’s quite sad to see that people in the West (mostly – I don’t know about Asia, let me know in the comments below) know so little about African history, can barely mention like ten countries situated in Africa, and have so many biased opinions about African people in general. I never thought i would say this but, Mzizima, thank you, clearly your education system is 10000x better than the education systems in the Western world. #AgaKhanAlumniandproud

Now to all the Westerners, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to bash you in any way, i’d just like to open your eyes to the fact that most of you (i don’t mean the ones that have been to other continents or even have friends from other cultures) live in a sort of unfortunate bubble. Because of this, you do fall prey to stereotypes about African people quite easily. (To all my mzungu cousins, you know i love you to bits but admit it, it’s so true, you have noticed it)

Anyway, i’m so grateful to have been raised in such a diverse, multicultural environment. No matter how much the traffic may make us grind out teeth, Dar es Salaam truly is a “haven of peace” and let me be biased by saying that Tanzania is the best country in the world (sorry not sorry Canadians, i know you have Trudeau but we have Zanzibar so yeah)

Happy Sunday!