Africa

Before we started the unit on Africa, I saw Africa as a poor continent with little technology and with extremely poor living conditions. It was very interesting in our studies of Africa to discover that parts of it are in fact technologically advanced and that it has some thriving economically strong cities. Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is an excellent example of a vast city with over eleven million people. There are many very poor parts of Africa, but that is only half the story. Frequently people think of it either as a poverty stricken continent with vast deserts, severe health issues and political unrest or as a safari destination such as Kenya in the east, with elephants and rhinos and lots of very colorful wild life. I believe that movies such as Lion King and advertisements for charities such as the Christian Foundation have helped to paint these pictures. Africa did not always have as many poverty stricken areas. In fact at one point it was one of the most technologically advanced and richest continents in the world. This all ended when European countries began to colonize Africa. They moved in, took control and stole most of Africa's natural resources. They exploited their people as slaves and then left them with nothing. When the Europeans finally left the African people had no leaders Civil wars resulted as various groups attempted to seize power and control of the country. The same struggles for power continue today with wars ragging in many of its countries. I have learned that Africa is an amazing place in our world. It has beautiful rich areas along with very poor areas and a wide variety of different cultures. I believe that a lot of the poverty and the struggles for power would not have been as extreme if Africa had not been colonized by other countries.