Hello to everyone!
I'd like to introduce myself before I jump into the mission statement of my blog.
My name is Anna, I am Hungarian, married to a Frenchman and I have been living in West Africa since March 2010. I lived in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire for 9 months up to December 2010 when, in the wake of the political unrest, we moved to Accra, Ghana.
I am a finance person, a quick one. I like when things go quickly, efficiently, when we don't waste time with unnecessary talks, meetings, I like when deadlines are respected, I like when people update me on their work and I don't have to paster them all the time. I am not this patient type.
And then, I have this African work experience: several months in Abidjan as a securitization project manager, then several months in Accra as VP Investment Management. Both jobs in local, small-scale, start-up companies where I have always been the only non-local.
My other passion is human relationships. I am a certified coach and I have been exploring cultural differences, as well as different tools in cross-cultural working ever since I moved to Africa. I've been trying to deconstruct the negative image of Africans and to find the optimal way of blending two different cultures together to bring out the best, together.
All these personal and professional features combined have given me very good and very tough times at my workplaces. I am the person who would love to communicate what needs to be done and then just sit back comfortably and wait for the results. This is not what's always happening in Europe, but definitely, even less here in Africa! Many situations trained my patience and my out-of-my-comfort-zone muscles, to put it in a mild way.
I have also been actively observing other expats' behaviour in a quest to find some common ground and mainly, common solutions, but to my great astonishment, not many think deeply about what's happening with them. "Thre's nothing to do about it, just accept that things are different here" is a very common answer I hear from others. This is not enough for me, because it is just the reflection of this seemingly inherent fatalism that we accuse Africans to have. Are we better then? Do we at least try to make a difference?
I have also been actively observing other expats' behaviour in a quest to find some common ground and mainly, common solutions, but to my great astonishment, not many think deeply about what's happening with them. "Thre's nothing to do about it, just accept that things are different here" is a very common answer I hear from others. This is not enough for me, because it is just the reflection of this seemingly inherent fatalism that we accuse Africans to have. Are we better then? Do we at least try to make a difference?
I'm not the giving-up type either and I'm surely not going to sink in this fatalist, passive acceptance of non-understanding. I really believe that with a good deal of observation, non-judgement, experimentation and some local knowledge, it is possible to understand and then to build upon the African way of doing. And it's definitely worth trying!
I decided to start this blog to tell my stories of trial, of failure and of success. To show that with some effort, things can be changed. I strongly believe that there's this way between our way and the African way of doing, which is the synergy of the constructive parts of both. It lies on mutual understanding and respect above all.
I'd like to contribute to the cross-cultural learning process with my stories and my tips and I would LOVE to hear yours. I believe that together we can show the world that change is possible, that people are capable of learning from each other and that it's just a question of attitude and awareness.
Join me!
Anna
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