As a woman hailing from a continent that is so often looked down upon, it is rare that I find an article or anything masquerading as literature that speaks of the good in Africa. More often than not, people choose to highlight the negative: the Ebola epidemic, HIV/AIDS rates, corrupt governments, poverty, lack of infrastructure, civil wars, and the like. When some poor soul attempts to write something vaguely positive about Africa, it reads like an excerpt from Christopher Columbus’s diary entries about the Americans whose land he “discovered.” The messages about the continent are condescending and misguided, and paint it as a place that should be avoided at all costs. My Facebook Timeline is often inundated with photos of wide-grinning, dark-skinned African children accompanied by some caption praising the kids’ ability to “smile through adversity.” Something that—as the authors behind these foolish attempts at social awareness point out—people in the Western world with all of its advancement and civilization could learn from.