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By: Adan Makina |
For many Africans who come to The United States, education is an important
factor in determining their future, while for others; it is nothing but
amusement and play. The number of African students in colleges and universities
is great though the number who have chosen to drop out or never attempted to
set foot a campus outnumber those already in campus. Education in the United
States where the focus of this paper is a tremendous undertaking for the
African student which demands greater attention and better coordination among
family members if class concentration, better grades and stable living
conditions are to be achieved. For many, failing to do the right thing at the
right time due to outside influence, pressure from families in need of
financial resources, being tied to bogus friends and acquaintances, failing to
abide by the rules of the institutions like plagiarism, theft, soliciting, drug
abuse, procrastination, making sexual advances and other criminal activities
within or outside of the institutions create obstacles for the potential
student.
The United States is guided by a strong constitution that guarantees equal
treatment for all regardless of age, race, gender, national origin and
religion. It is a constitution designed by learned men with keen foresight and
clear vision and it is also one presently in the hands of men and women who
hope to create better judicial amendments for posterity. For example, Title IX
states: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal
financial assistance. America has the best system of government, outstanding and
indomitable secular education and prides to parade the best teachers in the
world.
Being a professor or lecturer in an institution of higher learning takes
many years before one can be conferred on with the required degrees and
academic credentials to qualify to teach students yearning to become leaders
and professionals in all fields pertaining to diverse educational foundations.
A great number of these professors and lecturers are Africans of dissimilar
origin, culture and religion who have traveled far and wide in search of
dignity and with intent to disseminate knowledge in an environment where
educational expertise, academic integrity and high degree of confidentially are
the norm. They have brought with them humility, integrity, justice and brand new
supplemental knowledge profitable to the amalgamation of students from distinct
backgrounds. These breed of luminaries from mother Africa, had been, prior to
leaving Africa, besieged and mortified and had their rights compacted by their
respective governments just because they advocated views and ideas that opposed
the jungle law of the land–a law that subjugates even the basic rights of
humankind.
Statistically, there are approximately 500,000 Africans in the United States
mostly students pursuing degrees in colleges and universities of advanced
learning. Freedom of speech and the right to assembly has seen many persecuted
and even executed as was the demise of human activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa
who was a keen advocate of the minority in Nigeria. African students in the
America have portrayed great sense of responsibility in their pursuit of
education despite the difficult living conditions and biting weather. For them
it is a race against time thus the many restrictions placed on them by the institutions
and the immigration need not be overlooked or else the consequences could lead
to legal action including deportation to country of origin. Besides, the
overwhelming burden of paying monthly bills including utilities, rent, and car
insurance and frequent remittance to families back home further complicates
their stay.
Regardless of how agonizing life may seem, the dark-skinned men and women from
Africa live in harmony with other races, eat and drink, party and drive and
observe the rules of the road. The African culture, the main artery that binds
these students, has found a new place that invites every race out of curiosity,
demand for labor and the need to have a heterogeneous society. The display of
African curios and other African artifacts in American homes and open-air
markets is testament to the uniqueness of the African culture traversing
boundaries for many centuries. The number of dedicated African professionals
holding high offices in America must be enormous if only we had the right data,
statistics and applied economics. In addition, Africans are known for
multi-lingualism; attained through colonial infestation or by way of schooling.
Many who skipped meals or walked bare foot to school crossing boundaries
legally or illegally; are today holders of multiple degrees enjoying positions
of prestige and honor in corporate America.
The youth who escaped the jaws of crocodiles while swimming in the meandering
rivers of Africa, those who escaped rampaging elephants that devastated their
yearly harvests, and those who fell accidentally into wild-traps laid by
poachers are healing old wounds with educational medications.
Immigrants from beleaguered, impoverished, and war-ravaged Somalia who have
been the latest arrivals in the last decade after the overthrow of Major
General Mohamed Siyad Barre’s junta have a lot to be desired. Majority of
Somalis, who are concentrated in the cities of San Diego (CA), Minneapolis-St.
Paul (MN), Atlanta (GA), and Columbus (OH), have a large number of students in
high school, colleges, and universities that are hard to ignore. The number of
female students in the Somali communities is skyrocketing and is expected to
outnumber the number of males.
Furthermore, free government financial assistance is never available without
strings attached and that is why even the elderly and single-parents have to
enlist in English as Second Language (ESL) classes or else all benefits will be
withdrawn. Many who oppose the use of educational loans because of interest
charges have no option but to seek other means to attaining educational
enrichment.
Among Somalis, the saying goes this way: either make money or get honest
education. Returning home with a large family without money and education is
deplorable to the relative in Hargeisa, Mogadishu, and Eastleigh. That is why
many are either holding two jobs or studying hard for degrees. Somalis are more
multilingual than any other nation in Africa today. Speckled all over the
world, the return of a million Somalis speaking Queen’s English, American
English, Ebonics, Pidgin, Creole, Dutch, Swedish, French, Arabic, Swahili,
Mandarin, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Hindi, Gujarati, Hausa, Finnish, Danish, Russian,
Hebrew, Portuguese, Spanish, Kikuyu, Kinya-rwanda, and few other languages must
be a blessing for the dozens of foreign embassies and international aid
agencies when peace is finally restored to the fullest. The many
Immigrants from Africa who cross difficult terrains heading towards the west
have a lot to give mother Africa in the future.
Those who failed to overcome the trials and tribulations even after having
perspired enough hope and resilience is their tool to achieving the best life
in the near future.
Adan Makina
E-Mail:adan.makina@gmail.com
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