“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” I guess I threw that idiom right out the door while choosing classes for my first semester at SAIS Bologna. I had a plan and I was going to stick with it ‘til the very end. The end came quickly. A number of class conflicts, and I found myself right back at square one. To take “War, Democratization and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa”, or not to take “War, Democratization and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa?” That was the question.
Repetition made me want to stay clear of the course. I’d taken similar in college and all it did was leave me feeling depressed. Back track. Make that suppressed, oppressed and THEN depressed. Why? Because Iwas am tired of hearing about how unfortunate Africa is; wrecked with all that hunger, poverty, and disease. In my experience, Africa, or to be specific my native country Ghana, is just like any country in the West. True , it’s a mix of poverty and affluence on somewhat aggravated degrees, but the striking feature about all the Africans and African countries I’ve encountered is the spirit of resilience. We just never give up. So, bearing that in mind, why would I take yet another course reminding me of the struggles earlier generations of Africans bore; some of which my generation are inheriting? Well, for one thing, War and Conflict in SSA happens to be the only class this semester which fulfills my African Studies concentration requirement. Two: apparently I have a lot to learn.
Fast forward a month, and I’m sitting here dumbfounded, wondering how my favorite, and coincidentally, most inspiring class ended up being about the oh-so-gruesome topic of war and conflict? I certainly never saw this one coming. By the end of the first class session, somewhere between Rwanda, Somalia and Liberia, I was madly and truly overtaken. Now for the record, I’d like to point out that I am no expert on Africa. Don’t get me wrong, I am African – no conflict of identity here – I just don’t know as much about the motherland outside Ghana and maybe West Africa. Unfortunately, the Ghanaian educational system considers the genesis of our history to be colonization. When very little is said about our immediate neighbors Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, who’s thinking of far off places like South Africa?
My foray into war and conflict studies began with a desire to learn more about the rest of Africa. During our last session we watched the film Kinshasha Symphony. From the audio-visual equipment in class not working to the images of “lights off” (blackouts) and hair-braiding on the screen, I can already tell you this: I feel right at home.
Welcome to the world of conflict studies dearie! I’ve been fascinated with it for quite a while. Not b/c I enjoy hearing about the gruesome details & consequences of war, but in order to re-build after and hopefully prevent fighting from happening again, we really have to do our homework and determine its causes. I hope you continue to explore the field further as it relates to your interest in development; they’re really intertwined.
P.s. Zik & i have been saying for YEARS that italy is really just a developing country masquerading as an European country!