Firstly, you never need to apologise for writing a long reply. Thank you for sharing about your plans and your passions. I was happy to read about them.

I think what I love the most about reading your reply is that it challenges the things I've been taught since childhood about Africa and people from Africa.

I love that I am a white 43 year old white woman in a rich country who has soooooooo much in common with an 18 year old black man in a poorer country. I was taught to think we were so different due to our age differences, our ethnicities, our countries of origin, our spiritual beliefs, etc. And yet, I see that you and I are so similar in so many ways.

We both love learning, a lot! We are both open minded and forward thinking and willing to challenge ourselves, by being on a platform like Hive. We both care about our family, a lot. We both have a belief in something bigger than ourselves. And we are both willing to dream beyond the current limitations of our lives.

I was also brainwashed into thinking that Africa (as an entire continent with no differences between countries!) is full of helpless, starving, poor people.

But every time I meet another person from another country in Africa who has studied at university and/or writes English as well as I do and/or can have high level conversations about psychology and other things that interest me, all while maintaining a job that feeds them well enough, I realise I've been taught a lie.

And when I read that you're going to study AI at uni (when I wasn't even sure if Cameroon had universities!) I am blown away. This is my own ignorance and it is WONDERFUL to have it challenged.

THIS is why I'm so excited to be on Hive and to meet people like you in countries I've never been to; I get to learn, first hand about people around the world and what their lives are REALLY like instead of the rubbish I'm fed through my society, media, etc.

Phew! Hopefully, this level of honesty was revealing and helpful, rather than upsetting! I think in countries similar to mine (English speaking, predominantly white people) will be full of people who also have a really limited, warped and out dated view of countries in Africa. So perhaps it's good to know how much we've been brainwashed. So if you meet people on here who aren't as friendly or encouraging, don't take it personally. They just haven't looked beyond their own subconscious programming!

Meanwhile, let's pray for a laptop for you! That sounds essential for your work. Hopefully, God can see that and I'm sure you'll take the necessary steps to help make that a reality.