Is there no place like home?

This afternoon I sat across from my friend Bacha as he explained his goals for the next five years of his life. I leaned back in my plastic chair at the bar and listened to his plan of how he was going to leave his current life behind.

He’s spent the last three years of his life as an English teacher and speaks some of the best English I found in this country from someone who doesn’t work for the US government. He wants to leave Benin for a position teaching French in an Anglophone country for the chance to perfect his English and earn more money than he believes he would be able to do in Benin. His plan involves returning to Benin only after he has his Ph D and enough money that he feels he will be able to “be of use” to his country. 

This is essentially the same plan that everyone I’ve talked to has: Get out of Benin. Go to another land (usually the US) where it seems easier to get what you want out of life.  I have yet to talk to someone who believes what they want for their future is available and attainable by staying here.

How do you convince people that, while it may be harder, the grass can be greener on this side?