Dear,

Dear Africans,

You too are human,

you too need to breakdown sometimes.

We are human,

we cannot control the way we feel and respond to situations all the time,

we are just human,

so please just be human,

fail, trip, fall, cry,

and get back up,

because you too are human.

In a typical African society,

we glorify happiness, and sadness is not spoken much of,

we celebrate our wins together, but hide our problems from the world.

The bravest soul is one who manages to pull a smile on always,

whilst breaking inside.

Yes I acknowledge the braveness,

yes I respect mothers who give the world to their kids with a smile,

yes, yes, I respect the fathers who work so hard without complaining,

who hide so much emotion, in pursuit of being 'strong for the family'

yes I respect you both,

I respect the kids who struggle in an African household for approval,

I respect those who battle with anxiety, depression or any mental illness alone,

I salute a child who hides her pain and only breaks-down in the corners of her room,

I salute every African, every child, every mother, every father, grandparents, every single African,

who recognizes only joy but refuses to acknowledge pain.

I acknowledge your bravery, I respect you.

But,

Dear Africans,

are you just not human,

are you not allowed to break, and fall,

are you not allowed to mess up,

are you not allowed to share your pain with each other and console one another,

are you not only human, like the rest of the world.

Why ?

why must you carry the weight of this world alone,

dear, are you not just human?.

We need to stop bottling things inside,

we need to stop pushing the pain away,

sometimes all you need to do is speak up ,

we need to know how to communicate better,

we need to express ourselves!

We all have become so accustomed to silence,

so familiar with with suppressing our emotions,

but dear strong African, you are not meant to carry the weight of this world on your back.

Dear dads,

Men too have emotions, men too cry, men too are overwhelmed,

we see your struggle,

we see your hardwork,

it doesn't make you any less of a man to speak,

its doesn't make you any less of a man to show emotion,

because you too are human.

Dear mums,

You are brave!.

You carry the families problems and burdens on your shoulder,

you run to care for everyone, and you do it so effortlessly.

Taking breaks, speaking up, communicating well

and simply showing emotion or saying how you feel,

doesn't make you any less of a good mother,

it does not decrease your value,

It does not change how your kids will view you,

if anything they will just respect and honor you more,

because you too are human.

Dear African children,

we too matter,

we too are just like any kid from across the globe,

we too feel, we go through pain, we fall and make mistakes,

and that..

that doesn't devalue us in anyway,

suppressing what you are going through, only hurts deeper,

we are so orientated to always keep quiet,

to 'try to be happy',

but the pain only goes away once you tackle it,

like problems need to be solved to go away,

we too need to acknowledge every pain and stop bottling things inside.

Dear Africans,

Depressions does not only exist outside the scope of Africa,

depression, anxiety and other sort of mental illnesses exist !

they are real,

they exist in Africa, we are not resistant to it.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying 'sadness = depression"

but we need to acknowledge that mental illnesses exist.

It is not black magic, it is not something that Africans cannot get,

because we too are human.

Dear Africa,

I have not seen brave people, braver than your people,

you are filled with raw talent, beauty worth awing at,

and a nation that always stands as one.

and I am so glad that I can say "I am African "

side note -

Being African, specifically Gambian, is a great blessing,

I love the culture and I am honestly so glad that I was raised there.

I am specifically targeting the Gambian society, so maybe I shouldn't generalize all Africans,

because Africa is too big of continent to speak about.

However, not only Gambians experience such, thus why I used Africa.

Thank you.

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A letter to my homeland, throwing a bit of poetry instead on Day10.