Probably most of you know already that generally Americans are, at least relative to most of the world, very independent and individualistic. We seem to enjoy living alone and protecting excessive amounts of personal space. Perhaps more importantly, we are adamant that "What I earn is mine." This results in a general American resistance to raising taxes or social policies of wealth redistribution. (I suspect that it also contributes to several eccentricities of American politics, including the popularity of the Tea Party, the inability of Congress to compromise, and insistence upon a foreign policy of national interest rather than human interest. But that's just my opinion.)
In contrast, many Cameroonians I've talked to are very proud of their "African Solidarity." This phrase refers to the fact that life is much more communal here, bound by familial, tribal, national, and even apparently continental ties. This is demonstrated by the Cameroonian tendency to live in large family groups, have many children, share everything that is earned with the family and neighbors… There is a culture here of giving (and asking for) gifts. If you show up unannounced at someone's house at dinner time, they are culturally obliged to feed you. There even appears to be a sort of "social contract" in which the rich give money to the less fortunate through direct gifts, road building, school support, large parties with free food at Christmastime, etc. And in exchange, the less fortunate will unquestioningly do most things the "grands" ask of them, from fetching water to carrying furniture to finding a beer…
It is a difficult transition for me as an individualistic American to live and function in communal Cameroon. I dislike being directly asked for gifts, I dislike the assumption that I am absurdly wealthy because I am white, and I dislike feeling like a weirdo for living by myself, unmarried and childless at the ripe old age of 23.
