To leave or stay, that is the question.

Last weeks’ class discussion about diaspora and migration/immigration really intrigued me. As mentioned in the group discussion during class my parents and I were immigrants from West Africa, coming to Canada to settle and create a better life and future. My recent trip to West Africa last summer really got me thinking of returning to my roots with the knowledge and experience I have acquired from the Western part of the world. I would return back to the home land to not only share but put to use my skills to help better the lives of those who are less fortunate. This notion of returning back was something that was thought of during the class discussion last week. It wasn’t until last week when I really started looking into the possibilities of going back to West Africa to work and contribute to that society. Currently I have been looking into a lot of CIDA internships just to get a feel for it before I actually go ahead and make the big decision. Looking at the bigger picture I am trying to see how the transition and adaptation would be. I remember during Christina’s presentation she talked about identity transition as far as establishing or identifying your nationality when going back and forth to home land country. For example when I went to West Africa last summer I kept referring to myself as a Canadian even though my entire family continued to correct my ethnical identity. When I found myself back in Canada as usual I referred to myself as a Nigerian. I am not sure what type of role this will play or how I will be accepted if I choose to go to Africa. A lot of people have gone back to settle in Africa but have exploited and taken advantage of the peoples lack of education, therefore giving people down there a reason not to trust people who are actually there to help. I believe that it is easy to help a country when you have gained their trust and the only way to do this is to identify yourself with them, but how do I do that without losing my own sense of identity?