Ambassadorial Stories Pt. I

By learning about customs in Ghana, I completed half of my role in spreading goodwill and understanding. With understanding come respect and acceptance. If I could come to understand that country, my discussions of Ghana back home would also spread understanding through fair and truthful stories. But understanding is two-way; it must be two-way in order to spread goodwill and peace. This meant that my interactions with people there also needed to increase their understanding of me.

 I have contributed to this in many ways. The most obvious ways were through interactions with friends and peers who asked questions or listened to my stories of home. The less obvious methods were through one-time interactions with acquaintances or strangers. For instance, countless taxi drivers have pleaded, “Take me to your country! There are jobs there. You do not have to be poor like here.”  In these instances I usually smiled and said that yes, I love the United States, but life can be very difficult there. Even many Americans have difficulty finding jobs. It is never as easy as it seems. 

An example of an encounter that stands out in my mind occurred one day when I was studying in my department. Another student sitting behind me said hi, introduced himself, then asked me why America thinks their form of democracy will work for everyone.  "Why do you think your democracy is the only democracy?" he wondered. To give context, this was just a few weeks after Gaddafi was killed, and the young man explained why he thought Gaddafi was a good leader. He said Gaddafi made Libya a prosperous nation- much more prosperous than Ghana. Perhaps his most intriguing point was that the United States did not start out having everyone in the country vote. The poor, uneducated, blacks, and women, were all kept from that "right" as it would later become. Likewise, he believed, the illiterate in Ghana also should not vote. Such people were bringing in leaders who were unfit to lead. Ghana was not ready for the United States' democracy. I had never heard an argument like this before and as such I took quite a bit of time before responding. Essentially, I said that I do not think America has one form of democracy with which every one agrees. The US has over 300 million people and you would be hard-pressed to find two citizens that share the exact same collection of political beliefs. In fact, some of the worst schisms between neighbors occur because of disagreements on government. What we do generally agree on, I emphasized, are basic things like human rights and individual freedoms. Though I have never been into government or politics, I tried to give him my (relatively uncontroversial) view on the US. This incident made me think. Standing up for your country is like standing up for a family member: you can recognize when it has done something wrong, but hope it changes and love it all the same. As an Ambassador, I pray my interactions with others have increased understanding about my home in a positive way.