It is always a source of deep pride for me whenever I come in contact with Africans here who are professionals and doing very well. What is often downplayed, perhaps out of a sense of modesty, are the immense struggles that took place to achieve a certain level of success out here in the West.

Take a dominant category; physicians. They come here, usually after successfully passing a series of exams-that’s the easiest part apparently because what then has to occur is to get into a residency program which is equally being hotly pursued by just about every other foreign trained physician in the world (and I mean that seriously). The interview process is complex, competitive, and sometimes is the first time a few of these eager physicians get a sense of what it’s like to be interviewed by their American counterparts. I recall now something a friend relayed to me about one such incidence. The young man, fresh out of Nigeria was asked after a half hour interview whether he had any question for the panel. Believe it or not, he was curious to know if the hospital had a type of ‘quota system’ they used in hiring. I guess he momentarily forgot where he was. Sorry pal! No godfather system for ‘omo third-world.’ 

For those who get lucky to be accepted into a program, it’s the first taste they get of what the whole capitalist system is about. The hours are horrendous; the stipend cannot support their family; they have no life for at least three years. In all this time, relationships can get strained with the Naija front especially due to the very sparse communication that they can barely manage to sustain, no thanks to the long hours of work. Another factor which perhaps helps further create a strain is the unrealistic expectations from folks in Naija. They expect that a month after work starts, Western Union should begin to flow like water. That is often not the case and when that happens, palaver starts and sometimes a rift occurs. But I cannot blame folks back home totally for if some people didn’t give the impression that dollars flow freely like honey on the streets of America then perhaps there would be no such expectations.

By the time residency is completed, they usually get a job and it is at this point that they can begin to breathe and even live a little. It is again at this point in their very physically exhaustive careers that a lot of people get to meet them and naturally assume that it’s always been that way. The truth is, even though it appears to be a comfortable life, it’s, mostly in small towns and most of the spouses are bored out of their minds-this will be food for discussion another time.

Another category I meet often is the attorneys. They, sadly in my opinion, have a more difficult path they have to walk and a lot of times, half of them switch careers and pursue nursing degrees or teaching as a way to make ends meet. For those who can afford to, they get into law school -three years by the way- and pile on some heavy loans in the process. The remainder however, try to sit for and pass the state bar exams for either New York or California. From my understanding, this is a pretty tough exam and not for the faint of heart because the pass rate for first time foreign trained attorneys is always dismal. You therefore need to have courage and sheer determination to forge ahead. As with physicians, it takes a lot of diligence to even get the first interview with any respectable law firm out here. Since waiting won’t pay the bills, they register with job agencies and start off working as contract employees reviewing legal documents for big law firms. It can be in a lot of cases a very long road and something that winds up becoming less of a temporary solution to paying bills to taking on a more permanent state as a full time source of income and virtually the only type of work experience available. It’s easy for five years to go by without any serious break.

Therefore, these days it comes as no surprise to me when I meet someone who tells me how many decades they’ve been out here and how long it’s taken to get to where they are now.  If there is a silver lining in all of this, it’s the fact that there’s always room for excellence and reward in this society. All one needs are the proper tools, courage, and the motivation to take it a step at a time.

Comments

Add New Search RSS

gary   |2008-11-15 03:21:05 Well said. Reply | Quote 0   0

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Website:
Title:
UBBCode:	-color-aquablackbluefuchsiagraygreenlimemaroonnavyolivepurpleredsilvertealwhiteyellow -size-tinysmallmediumlargehuge
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.26

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."