My parents have lived during the colonial era in Africa, and can tell the most interesting stories of that time. I've probably written about it here before, but I'll do it again...
It was a period were German, then French administration had modernised the administration of the country, allowing several whites from the working class (Europeans mostly, but also Americans, and Lebanese) to settle in the country and develop businesses. For instance, the oldest bakery in our capital is called "Kalafatas" and was created by a greek settler.
It was a multicultural country, my parents went to the same schools as white kids, to the same parties, and my grand-father, who had made a fortune during those times, despite having no formal education, belonged to that upper class and traded with the white settlers. For the first time in African history, social mobility was possible, if you were smart.
These were times were you could travel to France without a visa, and I believe even without a passport.
Then came the rebellion and the war of independence, resulting in the mass exodus of all the white middle class, and the country has never recovered from it. No one until today sees the link between their presence and the relative prosperity we had, and why since then the country has never recovered.
The pe9ple got a worse deal, a corrupt puppet administration, a long war of independence until the early seventies, and twenty years after the French left, the country was broke already. Today, it's even worse...
After the whites fled, now the locals are fleeing the place too. First they went to France and then Germany, but now that these countries are "full", Canada is the new hot place. Canada is actively recruiting people with education, and everyone is leaving, or want to leave.
My parents have lived during the colonial era in Africa, and can tell the most interesting stories of that time. I've probably written about it here before, but I'll do it again...
It was a period were German, then French administration had modernised the administration of the country, allowing several whites from the working class (Europeans mostly, but also Americans, and Lebanese) to settle in the country and develop businesses. For instance, the oldest bakery in our capital is called "Kalafatas" and was created by a greek settler.
It was a multicultural country, my parents went to the same schools as white kids, to the same parties, and my grand-father, who had made a fortune during those times, despite having no formal education, belonged to that upper class and traded with the white settlers. For the first time in African history, social mobility was possible, if you were smart.
These were times were you could travel to France without a visa, and I believe even without a passport.
Then came the rebellion and the war of independence, resulting in the mass exodus of all the white middle class, and the country has never recovered from it. No one until today sees the link between their presence and the relative prosperity we had, and why since then the country has never recovered.
The pe9ple got a worse deal, a corrupt puppet administration, a long war of independence until the early seventies, and twenty years after the French left, the country was broke already. Today, it's even worse...
After the whites fled, now the locals are fleeing the place too. First they went to France and then Germany, but now that these countries are "full", Canada is the new hot place. Canada is actively recruiting people with education, and everyone is leaving, or want to leave.