The Danger of Passivity: Reflections From Running a Non-Profit Helping African Students Study Abroad

For those of you who do not know yet, I have been running a small non-profit organization called the Study Abroad Research Institute for quite some months now. The organization's mission is quite simple. First, it collects information about academic programs open to foreigners from universities in Japan and hopefully soon, other countries where students may be interested in studying abroad. Then, it takes the information and shares it with students in Africa (and hopefully soon, other parts of the world) so that they can apply to the programs directly if and when they are interested.

As part of sharing the information the study abroad information with students that may be considering studying abroad, I have had dozens of opportunities to speak directly to students currently located in various African countries via video calls. The ostensible purpose of these calls is to introduce the very idea of studying abroad in Japan and what may be benefits for them to consider the option. But while gauging their interest, I was also interested in understanding how they would react to a complete foreigner telling them to go to a faraway land that they know next to nothing about.

Some of the conversations turned out to be surprisingly deep and engaging. Many students were interested to know about how they, as Africans, are perceived in a country where they will be a visible minority. Considering that the vast majority of the students I have spoken to have never been outside their home country, much less Africa, it is completely valid to doubt how welcoming locals in Japan and other non-African destinations can be, and how much they, as people from completely different cultural backgrounds to the local majority, would fit in and simply live their day-to-day lives.

But unfortunately, the vast majority of questions concerned the immediate need for money. As some attendees put concisely, most students are interested in studying abroad, not because they are interested in Japan or any other country as a destination, but to get out of where they currently are, where stable jobs and opportunities for professional growth are scarce. Yet, they hit a chicken-and-an-egg question of how to finance their way out of poverty when they are stuck in poverty in the first place. To study abroad, they will need to find the money even to consider applying to, not to mention attending a foreign university.

While financial hardship is clearly understandable, the way some students expressed their financial concerns was not. Unsurprisingly, scholarships to attend foreign universities are relatively few in comparison to the number of interested applicants, whatever the source of the scholarship happens to be. Those who earn scholarships have to go through many hoops to get there, proving not only that they are worthy, but persistent in following through. Many students I spoke to, however, were ready to give up upon hearing that money is not set aside from them.

Unfortunately, this attitude of expecting foreigners to hand over money for them to get on with their lives is simply too common in many African countries. From "bumsters" asking tourists for money in the Gambia to farmers in rural Tanzania expecting giveaways when foreigners come to their villages, I have seen too many people across all walks of life simply demanding foreigners to pay up because, in their minds, the rich foreigners are supposed to have them, the poor locals because the rich owe the poor money for day-to-day survival and to furnish them with the opportunities to earn more money.

This mentality of simply waiting on foreigners to give them money is especially damaging for students seeking opportunities to go abroad. Scholarships will just be the first step to a successful academic experience and professional career in a foreign country. Even if they somehow find the money to pay for education in a foreign country, they will need to navigate daily life and the local job market to sustainably live after graduation. There will be plenty of things they do not know due to a lack of language skills and local information. Often, no one will be there to assist.

Being passive about one's fate is dangerous in a poor land. Too many young people are born in the more unstable parts of Africa, many of them innately intelligent. Yet, they are trained to be helpless, seeing themselves as impoverished and deserving of outside help that may or may not arrive. While compassionate foreigners should indeed assist, a bigger solution would be for these young people to develop the mentality that they need to do their own research to find opportunities. Learning, by themselves, opportunities to study abroad, and how to finance it, would be a good first step.