top of page

Welcome to the Blog! 

Search
Laura from Shamanic Self

Life In A Third World Country...



It's been a month since returning from the Middle East. A month of slowly adjusting back to the normality and safety the Western World likes to sell to us as "standard." Also a month of dealing with the shock of being back in my "old" world and nothing being like it was before. If you are thinking your life sucks because you don't have the latest iphone or gaming pod - you are clueless as to how the majority of the world still lives nowadays. If you are privileged enough to own a passport in the US, EU or any other Western country and you are still complaining about it or wanting to give up your citizenship - you are oblivious as to how good you really have it.


I've seen Africans waiting for days to enter Morocco, not even granted the privilege of a kind word or bath to go with their everlasting stay at the border. Sprawled out on the airport floor with their one suitcase - wanting to enter yet another third world country but being told they didn't have the right passport to do so. I've seen people with absolutely nothing to their name help me out or offer me a cup of tea whereas the richest of this country can't even lend a helping hand to their own homeless population, traumatized veterans or disadvantaged and disabled.

You have no idea how far your citizenship, nationality and "privilege" gets you outside of the Western world. This has nothing to do with skin color. No matter if you're white, black, Asian or Latin in this country, that US or EU passport of yours will open doors to worlds you didn't even know existed. The majority of this "cushioned" Western world is truly blind to how the majority of the real world still lives nowadays.


Out of around 200 officially recognized countries, there are 152 emerging or third world countries in this world. Overall, they make out two thirds or more of our world population. This means most of our globe qualifies as emerging or third world at this point. Unreal but true. If you are ignorant enough to show your phone in public in a third world country and then wonder why it gets snatched up, perhaps you've never felt the type of hunger the thief has felt for himself and his family. We cannot ignore the fact that the majority of our world is poor, struggling and in need of having basic necessities met.

Being in underprivileged areas and countries activated an array of emotions inside of me. All of a sudden topics evolved around how much I can pay for an item I never wanted and how much I can tip the tour guides or people in the streets. Conversations with locals barely evolved around how much I have in my head, what my educational background was or what dreams and visions I can bring forward to this world. Mostly, the people I interacted with had nothing else to think about other than food, money and hunger - and it's a true eye opener to what may be our own future in this country if the forces at hand succeed in flooding our country with the garbage politics and other immigration standards that seems to be emerging right now. It makes you appreciate where you are so much more after experiences like that.