I couldn’t help but nod my head as I read this post. Having come out of Zimbabwe, a country a lot of people have tried to save, myself included, I understand how real and seductive it is to reduce other people’s problems. This now apparent trend has its roots, not in the flocks of young people on the move; but in the governments, corporations and other leaders who fiddle in the affairs of the countries in the “Global South” and give an impression that such problems can be solved overnight. They set the example.

Just recently, the U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, announced how he would put my country’s leader, His Excellency President Robert Mugabe, into prison, if he were elected president. In his head, he probably thinks by doing this, he will be doing Zimbabweans a favor, but is he? Is that what the people of Zimbabwe want? What has stopped them from doing it themselves if that is truly what they want? Which issue would he actually be solving by this act: corruption or climate changes causing droughts? If he puts this man in prison, who will rule after him? Would he even succeed in solving Zimbabwe’s problems or create more for its people?

Underlying most of the problems in the world (The Global South and Global North included) is a network of systematic challenges. The problems are seemingly the outcomes of the system in place, a system that may be imperceptible to foreigners. There are locals, however, who have a clearer view of this system, who may know a thing or two about solving it. It is therefore important to “listen to voices unheard and recognize potential where others see despair” as I’m learning through the @Acumen Global Fellowship. As one of many on this journey, I am realizing it requires “the humility to see the world as it is, and the audacity to imagine the world as it could be” — and to understand before you respond, listen before you speak and research before you act. We need this “saviour mentality” to die out and a “collaboration mentality” to arise. The “Global South” needs saving as much as America and the “Global North,” — just in different ways. There is a lot that the “Global North” can learn from the “Global South,” from the young and full spirited to the old and weary, from governments to companies and from person to person.