In a course I took on training and development, one of the women from my class was originally from Africa. She shared with us that after moving to the U.S., time after time, Americans would excitedly ask her if she regularly saw lions and zebras in her home country.
I still remember her face when she frustratedly exclaimed, “I lived in a city! The only time I saw animals was at the zoo!”
Author Chimamanda Adichie talks really beautifully about what happens when our perception of an entire group or country is based purely on one story. That single story can be one we’ve heard over and over, but that doesn’t make it true. And so much depends on who’s telling it.