“All of the people there were extremely impoverished, but they had such a significant value and they really shaped my life. That culture raised me. We need to recognize that they are people too, ” says Junior Sara Ott.
Growing up in the depths of Africa's dry, beautiful heat, Junior Sara Otts’s childhood formed. The first few years of her life she was immersed in the lifestyle and culture of Chad. She and her family resided in an extremely impoverished country thrumming with life and an abundant amount of culture. During her time there Chad was labeled as the 5th poorest country in the world, the encounters that she had while navigating her early life molded her into the strong individual that she has become.
“Me and my mom were going to market one day, and we saw two groups of guys in different tribes and well, they were having a knife fight… a few of the guys from the fight came into my mom’s clinic the next day,” Sara recounts one of her earliest memories from Africa.
Witnessing tribal encounters and violence was a frequent occurrence. It was simply a part of daily life during her time there. Tribal encounters were nothing out of the ordinary, it wasn’t something that was talked about for days after taking place. They simply happened and then they ended just like that.
Being raised by her mother, a doctor with an overwhelming passion to help others, Sara quickly inherited the same traits. Her family had a desire to venture to Africa, into one of the poorest and most desperate locations in order to provide some level of medical assistance. Sara recalls Chad as being very unestablished and underdeveloped in many different aspects, especially with medical care.
“We got our water from a tank. The water [the village] had was really dirty and gave them worms and it was extremely unsafe. Our house was a really small concrete square with an outdoor kitchen, there was no city electricity either. You either had a generator or used solar power,” Ott recalls, comparing her previous lifestyle.
Although there are many evident differences and advantages to living in the U.S., something about Sara’s life in Africa was unforgettable to her. The people she met and the experiences that she had shaped her. Even after living in the very privileged United States, her love for African culture and the countries of Chad and Sudan will never cease. She says confidently, “I miss it, I would go back to live there in a heartbeat.”
The differing amount of people living on the continent of Africa is very widespread. There are many different tribes, classes, and beliefs in African culture. Sara recounts one woman in particular who she deems as an honorary grandmother. Unfortunately, the way that they met isn’t something as light-hearted.
“She was a lady in a remote village, and she had breast cancer. I remember seeing how it was literally eating away at her flesh. I would go with my Mom to change her bandages every day.”
Sara witnessed and formed many connections with people coming to her mother or to their health or food clinic. Her “grandmother” was one of those memorable people. She gained a close bond with her and appreciated their time together. As time passed she wasn’t able to compete with the breast cancer and lack of medical resources and unfortunately, she passed away because of it.
Normalcy in Chad culture has little similarities to normalcy in American culture. Speaking with Sara made these differences immensely more apparent to me. By the time Sara’s friends were just pre-teenagers they were already getting married and having children with men much older than them. While this was shocking to me, Sara says, “It wasn’t weird, it was simply part of the culture.” While we frequently view such occurrences as wrong and unethical, in Chad and Sudanese culture this was perfectly normal, and not something to be looked down on.
The similarities between Chad and American culture appear to be very minimal, but a lot of the time there are drastic misconceptions made about these cultures that make these misconceptions seem more intense. Being one of the only white families in her village Sara grew up already accustomed to diversity. Her friends in the village were predominantly black, and she was practically born into the culture of Chad and Sudan, therefore she saw no pressure to separate herself from it. Especially considering it was a huge part of her life.
Sara remembers her village friends admiring her hair and offering to do box braids for her. Box braids were very common in African culture, and in Chad, there was no harm in wearing them. Sara mentions how wearing her box braids in Africa was accepted, but wearing them in the U.S it was seen as cultural appropriation and she felt like she no longer could wear them without being judged.
The people of Chad held such a significant value to Sara’s life. She witnessed hard work, copious amounts of culture, and experiences responsible for creating her childhood. Many of us who lack proper knowledge regarding the culture of Chad and other third-world countries often resort to seeing the people that live there as helpless or in need of our constant assistance. While help in some aspects is beneficial, the people that live in third world countries are not helpless and uneducated and in no way need to resemble American culture.
“All third world countries aren’t just deserving pity, they [people of Chad] can do anything for themselves. They work so hard each and every day for their families,” Sara finishes.
The culture is different, not wrong. These differences should be praised and celebrated, and the ignorance surrounding African culture should be resolved. All it takes is a simple conversation to obtain knowledge and understanding for cultures that differ from your own.
Written by: Abby Graham
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