Jambo!

 Did you all enjoy a summer vacation to escape the hot summer sun and the heat? Every summer, my skin would easily burn and darken in the hot sun that people used to say to me "Wow, you're so African!" since I was young. BUT! This is a very obscure thing to say. There are around 3,000 different tribes in Africa, which is a continent with the most genetically diverse people on Earth. This huge continent is home to a wide range of different races with different skin colors from Afrikaners in Southern Africa with very light skin to Hausa with very dark skin. Even among the foreign celebrities that appear on Korean TV programs, there are Africans with different skin tones. A few examples include the South African Bronwyn Mullen who appears on , the now very well-known Ghanaian Sam Okyere, and the Libyan Amira who passionately talked about Muslim culture on .

 If I were to start explaining all the different types of tribes in Africa, a continent that is home to a diverse range of races, you might not be able to go home today trying to read this column at work. So, let's take a look at a few famous figures who represent Africa.

 Nelson Mandela is one of the most well-known peace activists and was the President of South Africa.

 After the end of the Second World War, when fighting against racial discrimination was a worldwide trend, the Republic of South Africa was going in the opposite direction. The whites who were the minority in the African continent feared losing their power and introduced the ideology known as the Apartheid. A legislation that sanctioned racial segregation was introduced from 1948 to 1994. All citizens of South Africa had to declare their race when registering their birth, which was what defined how they were treated in the country. People who faced unjust treatment based on the color of their skin established a congress to fight against such discrimination. And around 1949, the African National Congress(ANC) led by Nelson Mandela began its peaceful resistance. He led a movement of people who would ride 'white-only' buses, use 'white-only' restrooms, and broke curfew rules, violating every law that existed in South Africa to break down the system by overflowing the prisons. This movement did not work, however, and he was arrested and imprisoned for 26.5 years from 1962 to 1990 being accused of participating in the violent overthrow of the government.

 After his release, Nelson Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his contribution to the movement against racial discrimination. In 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected president and the first black president of South Africa. Since he took office, President Mandela carried out his political activities with a focus on policies that eliminated racial discrimination, poverty and inequality and improved the understanding among different races. He introduced a Constitution that eliminated all discrimination based on not only skin color, but also language, religion, disability and sexual orientation.

 As such, Nelson Mandela fought against discrimination he faced for the color of his skin and dedicated his entire life to eliminating all types of discrimination. He is a hero and a great man to many Africans. His non-violent path in advocating peace greatly influenced and contributed to different races across the world living as happy and friendly neighbors.

 Wangari Maathai was an environmentalist and the first Eastern African woman to receive a PhD.

 Maathai was born into an ordinary home in Nyeri District, Kenya and graduated from elementary, middle and high schools with outstanding academic achievements. At that time, as the end of East African colonialism approached, there was active movement towards achieving reconciliation between the West and Africa. As part of that effort, John F. Kennedy launched a program called the Kennedy Airlift. Maathai got the chance to study in the U.S. in September of 1960 through this program. She majored in biology at Benedictine College with minors in chemistry and German. She received her master's degree in biology from the University of Pittsburgh and a PhD in life sciences from the University of Nairobi in 1971, becoming the first Eastern African woman to receive a doctor's degree.

 Since then, Maathai taught at the University of Nairobi as a professor while continued to work for civic organizations including the Kenya Red Cross Society. While working with the National Council of Women of Kenya, she developed the idea that village women could plant trees to provide fuel source and to slow the processes of deforestation and desertification. And in 1977, Maathai established the Green Belt Movement(GBM). The GBM successfully planted more than 30 million trees by the early 21st century. In 1986, leaders of the GBM established the Pan African Green Belt Network in order to educate world leaders about conservation and environmental improvement. As a result of the movement's efforts, other African countries began similar environment protection activities.

 In addition to her conservation work, Maathai was also an advocate for human rights, AIDS prevention, and women's issues, and she continued to demand for the resolution of these issues at the United Nations General Assembly meetings. She was elected to Kenya's National Assembly in 2002 with 98% of the vote and was appointed as Minister of Environment & Forestry in 2003. In 2004, she won the Nobel Prize for her 'holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women's rights in particular' through various activities.

 Maathai was dedicated to advocating the environment and human rights until her death in 2011 due to cancer. She greatly contributed to Africa's environmental conservation, women's rights and their social status.

 Didier Drogba is a retired Ivorian footballer.

 Didier Drogba, who joined the semi-professional club Levallois as an apprentice in 1993 at the age of 15, signed his first professional contract with Le Mans FC he joined in 1997. Drogba was quickly recognized for his skills and was recruited by Ligue 1 club Guingamp in 2002. He scored 17 goals in 34 appearances and moved to Olympique de Marseille at the end of the season in 2003. After switching teams, Drogba scored 19 goals in 35 national games and 11 goals in the UEFA Cup, leading the team to the finals. He moved to UK's Chelsea FC the very next year in 2004, quickly becoming a footballer recognized for his performance.

 Chelsea won the Premier League Championship for the first time in 50 years after Drogba joined the team, but he did not win the hearts of the fans because of his inconsistent performance and mistrust in his quick temper. During the 2006-07 season, however, Drogba hit 33 goals winning the FA Cup and Football League Cup(Carling Cup) and received love from Chelsea fans. Drogba, who confused fans with his quick-tempered personality, played in Chinese, Turkey, and the U.S. leagues before announcing his retirement in 2018.

 Drogba joined the Ivory Coast national team in 2002 and captained the team in 2006 at the Africa Cup of Nations. He played a critical role in leading the team to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He later helped the Ivory Coast to the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups until he announced his retirement from international football.

 Sports is one of the most influential activities that help unite the people of a country. As Korea experienced at the 2002 FIFA World Cup how it brought Koreans together that surprised the world, Cote d'Ivoire also achieved peace through Didier Drogba. In 2002, a civil war broke out in Cote d'Ivoire targeting foreigners in Ivory Coast and Ivorians of somewhat recent foreign descent. The civil war resulted in more than a million refugees and nearly 4,000 deaths. On the day of the World Cup qualification took place in 2005, the civil war in Cote d'Ivoire continued. And as soon as it was announced that the Ivory Coast national team qualified for the 2006 World Cup, the entire team kneeled pleading for peace. Drogba asked for peace saying that all Ivorians can live together through reconciliation like how all Ivorians came together and cheered for the Ivory Coast national team to win. This led to the country finding stability by signing a peace agreement in 2007.

 Since then, Drogba continues to help his country through the Didier Drogba Foundation and uses his influence as a person representing a country in a good way.

 People I've met on my travels are what I remember the most. They may be locals or travelers like myself, but that one person I met during the journey is what defines how I feel about what I remember of the new place. It doesn't matter how beautiful the scenery was, a place where people were friendly to a lost traveler and a place where people were unkind are what makes a place somewhere you would like to revisit and someplace you wish not to go again.

 While I was writing this column on famous figures of Africa, I also felt a new feeling about Africa. And that is, that we are all people with warm hearts. Africa may have a lower Internet penetration rate and a higher literacy rate than Korea and our skin color may be different and the weather may be different, but there are also many people in Africa who love their country and love their people and the environment, just like us.

 Hakuna Matata☺