Their families expect them to arrive with money to buy land, a taxi or
a bus. As a result, many of them are stranded in Paris for years while
they try to save enough money for their triumphant return. This is the
same pride or dignity that all of the world’s immigrants have had. All of
us want to show that we have made it big.

Finally, the very peculiar Congolese Sape brings on a compulsory reflection: Nowadays, more that ever before, it is necessary that the Western (or Northern) countries, as the dominating culture, redefine their role in the world and recognize and acknowledge the consequences of their model of development for the rest of Mankind. This model, based on an unsustainable growth maintained by over-the-top consumption patterns, is what the rest of the world looks up to. On the surface, this model seems to be a paradise. The media and the immigrants returning to their countries, keep the myth of the Promised Land alive. In this process -consciously or not- our values tend to become myths, and therefore are considered superior (or more advanced, which is the same thing) to the traditional values of other cultures. Although this process has been greatly accelerated in recent times, the problem goes way back, and in the African case, to the times of Colonization. In this context, I reckon the Congolese Sape to be an evidence of the nonsense and terrible contradictions of our model of development.

Hector Mediavilla Sabaté