Get rid of clichés!

Prejudices, clichés, evaluations: a part of human being and not always possible to turn them off. However, I have taken it to my heart to clear at least some of them out of the way, and I try to do so with stories and experiences that I have been allowed to experience here in Kenya.

Logically, not all prejudices can be eliminated, but we can try to approach the whole a little more openly and with less prejudice. When asked what prejudices Europeans and Americans have about Africans, my friend said, like a gunshot: “Africa has no water and no Internet!” How true this statement is and how false at the same time. Even though I was constantly confronted in my travel adventures and current life here in Kenya with the fact that I did not actually have running water, water was always somewhere to be found and used.

It's similar with the Internet. Yes, it may not always work perfectly and there may be areas where the connection may seem more complicated than in other areas, yet we always have Internet everywhere. Yes, even in power outages, provided your data volume is charged. Another, no, we don't sleep on the floor. Many have beds with mattresses, as we know it, and others sleep on mattress or blankets on the floor, but we have sleeping places.

Where are we shopping? Believe it or not, even in normal shops like in the Western world. Ja. We also have shopping centres in the larger cities. Okay, honestly, I have to say that there is hardly a supermarket in the countryside and in the villages as we know it. However, there are small shops that offer quite a lot. The beautiful thing here is that we can live absolutely regional and seasonal. In the big supermarkets, of course, we also get products from other countries such as mushrooms, Aubergines, pears, salads, apples, grapes and etc.

During the last nine years of my relationship with an African, I have been able to hear clichés and prejudices over and over again. Here's a small diet sample:

Africans just like you because of your skin color and the association of a lot of money.

He's definitely married.

How many children does he have?

I know this person, and that's what happened to her African friend.

If you live in Africa, then you can clean, wash, cook, wear everything.

It's an absolute men's domain, you don't have anything to report as a woman.

Is this person real?

I never let myself go astray and always believed deep in my heart in this relationship. At the same time, I am grateful for so much wind, because it actually gave me the opportunity to rethink the whole thing over and over again. My heart and my intuition have always been in favour of this relationship and now I am so grateful for it.

Do you know who cleans and cleans at our place? Well, in the rarest cases, that's actually me. We usually cook separately, due to my vegetarian diet. When we cook together, I cook more often for both of us. Heavy bags and co. carries my friend. Logically, there are other relationships, but for my part, I can clean up with all these clichés. I am still the strong, independent European woman who knows how to defend herself and who is allowed to endure this in the relationship. I don't get a decision about myself and I'm allowed to express my opinion without paying a bad face for it. I don't have to bend when my partner comes home. I don't have to hide either. I can be me, and my culture is still a large part of me that can be lived out.

Before you build prejudices again, embark on the adventure with openness and get to know the culture and people. For ourselves, we often take these prejudices to the table and joke about them or often clear them out of the way. Never forget, every culture, every group of countries has some kind of pattern, and that's good, because a perfect world would be boring! Just be careful not to throw them all in one pot!