Boadicea's Chariot

Well, it is rather like saying Americans are brash, trigger happy and ignorant of world affairs, Germans have no sense of humour, the Scottish are dour, the Irish are feckless, the Greeks lazy and irresponsible, the French duplicitous, the Belgians dull, the Italians are charming but dishonest, Koreans are hard working, Indians are intelligent, Australians are brash, the Japanese are polite but ruthless, Jews and Arabs are noble, intelligent, free-spirited people…… I defy anybody to state that they have not made similar sorts of generalisations. It does not matter whether they are positive or negative, the fact is it is often possible to anticipate the behaviour and characteristics of people based on the cultural or ethnic group to which they belong.

If you do not learn to make generalisations in Africa, you are going to be constantly disappointed. You need to know what you are dealing with, because depending where they come from, you will get a different reaction or behaviour. Banks are a classic example. If you get in line to speak to a consultant and there are 4 of them at their desks, just by looking at them you can determine who is best able to help you and for a speedy response, it can be worth letting somebody go ahead of you, just so that you get the consultant you want.

If Nigerians move into the neighbourhood, crime and antisocial behaviour will demonstrably increase. And trust me, people really do advertise themselves as Zimbabwean or Malawian, specifically because they are known to be better workers and more trustworthy than other nationalities. In Cape Town, a disproportionate number of waiters and hotel staff are Zimbabwean. They do not have the same resentful attitude to service that local black South Africans have. Just as in London, you would not hire an English plumber if a Polish one was available. You just know the latter will do a better job, do it cheaper and more cheerfully.

The fact that making generalisations strikes many as being unpleasant, it does not mean that they are not valid.

As for the carving, I am sorry Pseu, but those pieces are ubiquitous as the stuff sold to tourists in London, specifically that ‘mother and child’ design, and have been for about 40 years at least. And Malawi really does have a huge problem with deforestation as does much of the rest of Africa. As far as I am concerned, buying wood (indigenous wood, that is) carvings is as morally unacceptable as buying ivory carvings. Sorry to be so forthright, but you have to be cruel if you are going to try and save the world.