Breaking Stereotypes

For my academic requirement, I went to the Current Events Conversation with Sam Stelnicki on Stereotypes and Current Events of Africa. This event took place on October 26, 2018 at 4 pm. This event started off with a game of Kahoot based on African stereotypes. We then watched a video parody of organizations that raise money for children in Africa. To finish, Sam then went through a PowerPoint of facts about Africa and we discussed what we thought.

During the Kahoot game, I answered most of the questions incorrectly, which showed that I believed the stereotypes that I have heard about Africa. For example, one of the questions asked about what the highest cause of death is, and I answered Malaria. The correct answer, however, was upper respiratory infection, which really surprised me. Towards the end of the game, I started to think against the stereotypes and answer the questions correctly. Many people believe that the continent of Africa is really poor, so it would be believable that only a small percentage of Africans have cell phones. The truth is, however, that around 85% of Africans own a cell phone. This was one of the few questions that I answered correctly by ignoring the stereotypes surrounding the poverty of Africa. The Kahoot game made me realize that we, as people in a first-world country, only recognize the problems faced by our country. Just because there are countries that are economically behind does not mean that the people who live there cannot afford the same luxuries as us.

The video that we watched seemed like a legit commercial fighting against the poverty in Africa until the star of the video, who is an African child, started making fun of the script. When he was given a Danish pastry by the woman doing the charity appeal, he took a bite and then spat it out, exclaiming that it tasted poorly. The woman stated that we can “save Africa,” but it is shown that the kids are fine and do not need saving. It is clear to see that most charities She also asked the viewers to “please reach into [their] hearts and dig into [their] pockets.” It is sad that most charities just want people to donate money; that there is no reason behind their cause.

Going through the PowerPoint, we learned some interesting facts about Africa that I did not know before. In fact, I never realized that before coming to this event, my knowledge on Africa was very limited. One of the facts that I learned during the PowerPoint is that a majority of Kenya’s power supply is geothermal. After learning this, I asked Sam if when compared to countries such as the United Kingdom or the United States, Kenya’s power supply is more earth-friendly because they do not use as much. Sam said that was a good point to consider, but many people believe that cities in Africa are not as developed as cities in other countries, when really Africa has cities very similar to Columbus.

I was worried about coming to this event due to my lack of knowledge on Africa, but I am glad that I went. I definitely know more than I did, and I feel like I broke the stereotypes I had in my mind, but there is definitely more for me to learn about Africa.