Citizens of the World

I dream of a world without borders, without limitations, without the “you are a Canadian and I am a Nigerian”. What does it matter? Why is your nationality so important? The passport you have…

There are a lot of people out there who are really a citizen of the world; they don’t see nationalities, they see human beings. I am so grateful and happy to have met people like that around the world.

The hard part is that the old system and political divisions are still there, and we have to be reminded of it each time we travel. You are reminded of it when you are looking for a job; it is amazing how the job’s posts specify the nationality they are looking for. Yes maybe the education system is different in each country but the nationality is not going to tell you how hard working that person is, how motivated and trustful that person is, how loyal, how intelligent or how honest.

It is a hard reality for those who are looking, dreaming AND building a New World.

I talked to a girl from Holland the other day who is living in Spain, and she told me the story of a friend she has from a specific African country; a hard working, good person, good friend who was not able to go to Europe to visit just because she was from that country. No visa, the only way was for the girl from Holland to personally fly to this country to sign a paper so that the friend could come to Europe… (it sounded like a joke to me…)

People from certain nationalities, specifically “undeveloped countries”, have to prove that they are not criminals, that they are a regular human being traveling to another country. They have to prove this each time they go through an airport, every time they have to go and ask for a visa whether is for visiting, working or studying… just because they were born in a specific country or they have certain passport.

Regular citizens from many different “developed countries” who are open minded and have never had to go through any discrimination because where they were born, cannot care less about what is your nationality. They are interested to know about your culture and about you as a person. They have no idea that citizens from “developing countries” or “undeveloped countries” go through discrimination just because of their nationality. They just know that they have met many people from different “undeveloped countries” who are friendly, hard working and honest people…

At the end of the day, we all share the same World and when you have an open mind and an open heart, you can see the person in front of you as another Citizen of the World just like you are, regardless of what nationality/race/color/religion/appearance the person is.

I keep dreaming and focusing on creating that New World free of borders, just like those I know are doing the same.

Thank you ALL