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By Cameron Douglas After reâ€"reading what I had written in this section last week, I thought perhaps that my focus upon the average West African‘s lack of "opportunity" in day to day life might leave the impression that most of the people that I met during my eightâ€"month experience were unhappy. Certainly, if the "right" to make choices (regarding such things as education, career, voting, entertainment/recreation, food, lifestyle, etc.) were to be denied to a Canadian (as I realize someâ€" times is the case), malcontent and frustration would be the usual outcome. But in Canada, we are used to being surrounded (or perhaps swamped?) by choices and "happiness" (for lack of a better word) seems to be based more upon how we stack up compared to those around us and less upon more or less satisfied with their lot in life. I feel however, that there is a larger, more profound cultural difference that explains their happiness in what we allâ€"tooâ€"often characterize as miserable living conditions. Forgive my generalization but while we strive to surround ourselves with "stuff" (for comfort, aesthetics, convenience and status), an African surâ€" rounds him/herself with people. Or, as another Canaâ€" dian volunteer friend of mine put it, they are while we do. "Busyness" is a sign of success in our society and to a certain degree in the West African context as well. But one of my strongest impressions was of the communities of people who drew so much strength enjoying whoever and whatever happened to be around them. Sometimes it would be a group of chilâ€" dren pushing and chasing a tire rim through the streets, other times young men chatting at the side of the road or women around a fire preparing food, girls braiding each other‘s hair, older men sitting under a palm tree drinking palm wine or an extended family sharing a meal and evening together. There was no ily â€" family was family. And, after a month of thinkâ€" Can they be happy? a tL>*" neighborhood kids to school. From what I saw, famâ€" ily/community and "social assistance" were one and the same. This is not unlike the basis of our own Aboâ€" riginal peoples here in Canada. Neither is the strong role that tribal tradition plays in most (albeit a decreasing proportion of) African‘s lives. The many celebrations, initiations, customs and beliefs appear to provide much strength through identity, continuity and spirituality. I am fiot pretending that my African family and friends have chosen their "support system" over ours or would not jump at the chance to be busy earning money and surrounding themselves with stuff. To a greatly varying degree and thanks to the notâ€"soâ€"realâ€" istic Hollywood movies that surface in their tiny cineâ€" mas, they have an idea about what our lives are like and most of them want what they think we have. My attempts to explain to them the hollowness of our materialistic culture and the richness of their commuâ€" nities, families and traditions were not only futile but perhaps rather misleading and paternalistic as well â€" given the choice, I would choose to live in Canada and so would many of them. My feeling is that we in Canada (and everywhere else around the globe) have some very tough times ahead. Perhaps an inadvertentlyâ€"taught lesson from :\;Afrhnbmthenmdsimwghthelpusalong way. Cameron Douglas, a University of Waterloo graduâ€" ate, recently returned after spending eight months working in, and travelling through, Africa. He will be sharing some of his experientes and thoughts in a series of articles in the Waterloo Chronicle ing that every African had at least 30 siblings, I realâ€" ized that the words sister and brother meant a friend of similar age from the same village a subtle but proâ€" found difference from our own connotation. Many men (but by no means all) who were earning better than average incomes would be supporting perhaps 20â€"30 family members and sending, in some cases, 40 o . nc 7 x paCIOW_, s w X waATERLOO 888â€"9166 @O®PD srmww . * yCY °C 30 3§C °C 3iC 300 3}C 3KC 30 C 340 34 C I(AUTO GLASS ) & J 00° 1 Z&ML _ LJILSS KING ST. 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