Introduce Myself - Steemiting in Africa! – My Country and I!

A Big African Hello to The Steemit Community Around The World! I am very excited to now officially be part of this new Global Movement. I heard about Steem and Steemit for the first time a few days ago, while watching a live broadcast of The Dollar Vigilante (Jeff Berwick @dollarvigilante). On this occasion he was also giving away a bit of Steem and Bitcoin to few lucky viewers. The most valuable thing, that he gives away freely, is knowledge and in this case an introduction also to Steemit.

In the past few days, while waiting for my account to be approved, I have enjoyed much of the well written articles and content created by the ever increasing members of this thriving community. I look forward to watching this platform develop and grow into the preferred, trusted and up-to-date source of information that it has the potential of being.

I am from South Africa, a country that has eleven official languages and even more different cultures, subcultures and customs. We often refer to ourselves as a rainbow nation. This is not just because you can probably find every color and every shade among our diverse citizenry, but also because of our ability to find the positive or humorous in almost any situation. Despite the many adversities faced by the average South African on a daily basis, we remain united and focused on the great potential of our people and our country.

Along with the friendly people and the natural beauty of South Africa, our ever depreciating currency (South African Rand) makes it a very attractive tourist destination. Current 1 US Dollar will buy you 12.75 South African Rands. So you get a whole lot of bang for your buck when you holiday in Dollars, Pounds or Euros. In recent years South Africa has also become quite popular among international freelancers seeking a change of scenery. Our ever improving infrastructure, the national roll-out of high speed fiber internet and the abundance of talent makes getting to work and finding the right people for your project quick and easy. Added to this you can live quite well here on roughly $2,000 (US Dollars) per month. That’s about R25,500 (South African Rands) and quite a bit more than the average South African earns from full-time employment. If you decide to spend an extended period of time here, I would recommend one of the many beautiful coastal towns, as your money will probably buy a bit more there and you can walk on the beach every day.

I assume that most people on Steemit know about Bitcoin and Blockchain technology; so won’t get into that too much for now. I will say that the potential and need for this technology in South Africa and other African countries is astonishing. Despite receiving occasional coverage in our mainstream media, most Africans have never even heard the word Bitcoin. For most Bitcoin is seen as either a currency or investment asset, but in Africa Bitcoin is Freedom. Bitcoin is choice. On this continent that has the highest percentage of unbanked people in the world, often with no real form of identification, Bitcoin has the potential to validate and give purpose to their existence. (More about this in future articles.)

South Africans have, like most of the world, in recent years become painfully aware how little regard our government has for the well-being of its people, how fraud and corruption at the highest levels of our centralized institutions aim to enrich themselves at the expense of society. Despite the fervent efforts of those in power to divide us against each other, we remain a country united and a people resolved.

Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings, many more to follow on various different topics. Please follow me on Steemit and feel free to comment on this or future articles. Together we can make Steemit a Great Platform for Change and Enlightenment.