I already heard it in 1997 when I came here (it was DM then), and also today.

What exactly do these two euros do? What does it mean for those involved, for the givers and for the recipients?

In this context, I recently spoke with my brother Geno about the hidden “Black Tax”. Do you know the term?

According to Wikipedia “Black Tax […] describes (originally) the outflow of money from well-earning Africans. They use the money to support family members, sometimes also tribal members or neighbors.”

The first person who earns well is hit the hardest.

I also observe this phenomenon in myself, in my acquaintances, both abroad and in Kenya.

I am aware that everyone is responsible for this. But the expectation that you care for others is enormous.

Due to the distance, those who are far away tend to send money quickly, because “two euros can make a big difference.”

It cannot work if only one or two people care for everyone and for a long time. Everything does not mean, as here on average 1.5 children, but maybe you have 7-10 siblings, etc.

If the bucket still has a hole? If you trust your family blindly and they systematically “lie” to you to squeeze even more money out of you, it hurts even more.

While you do without your needs abroad, you will find that everyone else in the village of origin makes life easy for themselves, because “You are in overseas.”

Why should they make an effort when you’re sending money anyway? And because you have “Zungu friends”, you can send even more.

And once you have the courage to say no.

“What if they don’t like you anymore?” – my half-sister, who was also studying in Germany, once asked me when we talked about this dilemma.

And that’s exactly what they play with. The need for belonging controls us
enormous. The fear of being excluded is there. At this time, you will also fight for this affiliation in your adopted home. So hardly anyone dares to say no.

Ubuntu (not the operating system :-)) is praised in German articles. It is a collective and not individualistic approach. I am very skeptical, perhaps because this collective approach is “abused”. Here
a holistic view is required. We may ask ourselves:

What exactly does the approach mean for the individual people?

Who really benefits from it?

I have learned to appreciate individualism in this country. I trust in Stephen Covey’s approach that “private victory” should be strived for before “public victory”.

I am convinced that hashtag#Eigenverantwortung is a clean basis for collectivism.

Do you practice the individualistic or collective approach in your family?