American Dream or Illusion?
Have you really enjoyed a holiday, say “Christmas” here in the diaspora, like you did back home?
Regardless of how long you have lived in the diaspora, don’t we all rush to get that “double-time” or “time and half” on Christmas, New Year and every other holiday we can possibly get? Quite the contrary to the dreams and expectations that filled our imaginations prior to coming. Illusions of streets littered with money, jobs easy to come by, a very merry Christmas, you name it. These illusions and ideas quickly fade once we get engulfed in the requirements for “success” in the diaspora. The definition of success here is relative as each person has a unique criteria by which they measure it.
MOST of us, once overseas, had to overcome, are still overcoming, and will need to overcome certain fundamental challenges in order to build the foundation needed to attain “success”, regardless of the definition we ascribe to it. What are these?I am glad you asked! For those already in the diaspora, I know I am preaching to the choir here.
Legal status – Not much else needs to be said about this! Such things are only learned through experience.
Employment and Credential recognition challenge – Who is not familiar with SpanTran and the other transcription evaluation services? How much time and money do we spend to evaluate the credentials you brought along? Did we ever get to use them?
Child care & Accessing essential services – Do you have children? Most of us do. And if you do, how many? Don’t bother answering, you only need to have one child for this to apply. Does your legal status make you eligible to receive childcare assistance? If not, do you have childcare money? I think we get the picture. There’s no family, neighbor or community to help with the kids like when you were growing up. It’s pay-as-you-go!
Language problem – Bottom of the list for obvious reasons. Other than our exotic accent(s), most of us from English-speaking countries don’t see this as an issue. It is, however, an Achilles heel for our non-native English-speaking brothers and sisters.
The above list is by no means exhaustive, but I can bet EVERYONE has had to face at least one of these barriers.
How long does it take, or should it take, or will it take, to get some of these fundamentals secured and foundation built? There is no science to it. There is only a process which, if we are being honest, requires at least five to ten years, everything being equal, to withstand the gestation period needed to have finally “fallen bush”.
Needless to say, in the course of doing all the above, you are still providing for the family you have here, if that applies, and supporting the family you left back home. Slowly but surely, all the goals to return home and contribute to improving the community you grew up in begin to seem unattainable or farfetched. At this point, it is tempting to throw in the towel and be content with complaining.
A question for YOU back home, now you see the entire picture, are you still considering leaving your job, selling your home, auctioning your assets, and borrowing money in order to secure a visa and plane ticket? I am sure you will say, “Hell yes!” I would too. But experience is the best teacher!
Through all this hustle and bustle, empirical evidence abound to support this, WE are known to excel and succeed. WE are acclaimed among the most educated of immigrants. WE are often applauded and commended for the richness in our culture. OUR sense of “family”, “community”, “support”, and “unity”.
WE are an asset, as a people. WE should contribute rather than compete among ourselves. WE can rewrite the proverbial narrative of “African brain drain”, learn a thing or two from the successes of our sister countries Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda, and TOGETHER embark on OUR own movement; “Cameroonian brain recall”.
Are you a healthcare professional, IT professional, agricultural or mechanical or electrical engineer, philanthropist, community organizer, social welfare professional, media professional and above all a son and daughter of the soil? How can you contribute? The time to start sowing seeds is now!
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great” – Zig Ziglar
