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Nobody Is Coming To Save You
I learned a great deal in 2023, not only in technical terms, but also personally. One of the important lessons I learned in 2023 is certainly this one: ‘No one will come to save you.’
We all feel the need to be saved. In difficult situations, the child in us, who is used to being rescued by Mom or Dad, comes back out again. We hope that someone will lend a hand, understand our value, and provide us with opportunities, or simply rescue us from the challenging situation we are in. For those who want to start a business, we hope to be validated by venture capitalists, selected, and funded. The reality is that we don’t need all of that to start and thrive.
I was born in Cameroon, and my feeling is that this approach, the constant waiting to be saved, is deeply rooted in our culture (as in many other cultures, in many other countries, it is not Cameroonian-specific, I am just using my personal perspective to elaborate a theory). Some of it can be explained by the perverse effect of colonization on the mindset of the dispossessed. The enduring aid system makes it seem impossible to overcome underdevelopment without external funding. Even if the funding is used inefficiently because of corruption.
Religion may also have an impact. Christianity is the main faith in Cameroon, which accounts for 60% of the population. Christianity is founded on the…
