I am a part of all that I have met

A half year later, a half year closer to the greater plan. A half year of falling, getting up, dusting myself off and going on. Wise lessons indeed. Everything happens for a reason. This saying has been manifesting itself for some time now in my life.?

As the holder of a combination scholarship (Yurtd??? Türkler Burslar? (YTB) scholarship holder?and?Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Scholarship), I can tell you that when you apply for a scholarship, you will experience that you’ll have to repeat your personal data over and over again. This is exactly what happens when people want to know where you’re from, just out of curiosity or interest. The beauty of it is that people who know about soccer do know Suriname, because they always mention the name Ryan Donk. And the best thing is when visitors from Singapore can link you as a Surinamer with South-America and?Anthony Nesty. Because I have experienced it myself, I feel more appreciation for people who know Suriname.?

What I do find odd and sometimes also very unfortunate is the following:

• Turks and other non-afro people believe that every ‘black’ person comes from Africa.
• Many Afro-Africans (Marocco is in Africa, but there are mainly ‘white’ people there) think that 'black’ people speak French.
• When I tell them "Surinam Güney Amerika'da", which means ‘Suriname is in South- America’, they enthusiastically start mentioning some states in the USA. When I find myself in such a situation, I wonder what they were taught at school when they were children.

This brings me back to some moments in Suriname, when I didn’t understand why people made such negative comments about the curriculum of the school system of Suriname. As a pupil in the fifth grade of elementary school (glo) I had to learn the names of all the countries of South, Middle- and North-America and the Caribbean with their capitals or major cities. In the third grade of junior high (mulo) you learn that the United States has 50 states, not 51. In secondary school, in my case Algemene Middelbare School (AMS), you get acquainted with the atlas of the world. That’s why when people utter these reactions, I want to tell them "Know the difference between The America's and America".

Cumhurba?kan?n?n?Afrikal? Gen?lerle Bulu?ma

Cumhurba?kan?n?n?Afrikal? Gen?lerle Bulu?ma?means President's Meeting with African youngsters. This is when students of African origin and descendants from Africans meet with President Recep?Tayyip?Erdo?an in the presidential library, which is called?Cumhurba?kanl????Millet?Kütüphanesi. I was quite familiar with the pattern of answering questions related to one’s future plans, so I knew exactly when to give an applause and when to be silent. Hopefully it will not be a repetition of the history of all Caribbean (is)lands. The only difference this time with Turkey as the great power. As for natural resources, Suriname is smaller than Africa, so it will be much worse if the plans are not to the advantage of Africa. I was quite impressed when I learned that European countries focus on one country or a few islands (such as the Netherlands and Suriname), while Turkey is befriending a whole continent.?

And not just Africa alone, but the Caribbean as well! According to the?Erasmus+ Inter-Institutional Agreements?with the Ankara?Hac??Bayram Veli University, Suriname is not considered a Latin-American country, but is put together with Africa and other Caribbean islands as 'Africa-Caribbean-Pacific Countries-ACP'.

Not alone even in solitude

It all becomes easier when you realize and accept that you’re not the only one experiencing 'difficulties'. In Turkey, I am daily confronted with the fact that not everybody can speak English. As a student from Suriname, I will continue my studies in Turkish, while some students who come from Turkem states will have to do their classes in English. The Turkem states are states where a more or less similar version of Turkish is spoken. And some of them have quite some problems with English.?

In spite of all these situations, I am pleased to continue this more or less similar journey together with other people. It is similar, because they always have a country fellowman closeby, at a distance of less than one meter. I can only be happy that at least?they have that. After I have officially been told that I am the only Surinamer in the new department of the Gazi University, Ankra Hac? BayramVeli University. All this is a lesson. It teaches me that:

“I am not alone even in solitude.” --?Debasish Mridha

because

“I am a part of all that I have met.” --?Lord Tennyson