The Importance Of Multiculturalism In Developing Countries Using Kenya And Canada

Introduction:

Multiculturalism is defined as a way of different cultures and races coming together and respecting and learning each other’s traditions and values for the growth of ideas and betterment of lifestyle and the nation.

This idea of multiculturalism brings different communities and cultures together to share land and knowledge which has an Impact in the economy in various ways such as development and economic growth, education and it even creates creativity since the different cultures share ideas with each other.

In my research on the topic of multiculturalism I have found out that multiculturalism affects different nations in a very similar manner regardless of the geographical location, race and ethnicity, which I will address in this paper.

The purpose of this research paper is to explain the importance of multiculturalism in developing countries using Kenya, an example of my country of origin, and also Canada.

As different communities come together and value and learn each other’s ways of tradition and living, they move towards a better idea for the development of either personal or national means. For example, multiculturalism in Kenya has a got an impact on its economy as well as development after the Indians came in the late 1990s as slaves for the British and now Indians play a major economic role in the Kenyan society. Whereas developed countries like Canada have had the idea of multiculturalism adopted since 1970s and now immigrants are of great benefit to Canada.

Kenya is located on the eastern part of Africa, the official language is Swahili, although English is the official language for business. The country’s predominant religion is Christianity which is 70% Kenyan population, and the rest 30% consists of Hindus, Muslims and others.

During the British rule in the 18th and 19th century, the Indians were a major part of the slave workforce that built the first Kenyan railway line called the ‘Lunatic Line’ that linked entire Kenya with Uganda. Many of the slaves stayed back after the railway line had been built as most of them were Indian traders who opened businesses in Kenya and this led to an economic development in the country during the early days. During that process, three main cities emerged that carried a large population of the Indian slave workers and traders, the cities were Kisumu, Nairobi and Mombasa. Nairobi is now the capital city of Kenya and also a trading center for Kenya and Mombasa being the port of Kenya as it lies by the Indian Ocean. This migration led to Indians being an important role as the Indian community brought about the idea of creating businesses and other communities that developed institutions like hospitals, schools and much more.

Multiculturalism is the notion of multiple cultures coming together and contributing to the economy, Indians were officially declared the 44th tribe of Kenya in 2017 as the president of Kenya stated “Kenya’s diversity is not a cause for division, it is our greatest strength.” Which on its own is a powerful statement and action that brought the entire country together as one despite different roots of origin. The Wahindi (Kenyan-Indians) have scaled trade from small shops all the way up to big businesses that involve exporting and importing on a large scale as well as working for the government and also bringing about educational institutes and hospitals that benefit the general public of the country, two commonly recognized communities are the Aga khan community who are known for its Aga Khan school, the Aga khan hospital and the Aga khan sports complex and the shah community who are also known as the Oshwal community in Kenya who are recognized for the Oshwal lineup of schools, hospitals and recreational centers, these two communities serve as a good example on how multiculturalism has brought the entire nation together to work as one towards the betterment of the country since these institutions have provided healthcare and also education for all races from all different cultural backgrounds which in the long run have contributed to the country’s development.

Canada was one of the first countries that started this whole idea of being Multicultural, Multiculturalism in Canada was first seen after world war II when Canada started receiving many immigrant’s om Québec and Montréal, Later the Prime minister Pierre Trudeau announced the multiculturalism policy in 1971 with the goal of integration and encourage immigration. Immigrants play an important role in the Canadian Nation, the higher the immigration rate, the higher the taxes the governments collect that reflects towards the development of infrastructure.

The report notes by Karim El- Assal and Daniel Fields highlight an important note about the immigration in Canada stating that if Canada stopped immigration then the economic growth in Canada would slow from 1.9% to 1.3% annually and this would cause the labor force to shrink and weaken the economic growth which has many other consequences linked to it like challenges to fund social services which Canada is well known for, healthcare. The report also states that the death rate is expected to be higher than the birth rate and hence it needs immigration to keep the economy in a healthy state. Due to immigration rates increasing in Canada, the immigrants are making a visible impact on the working economy, for example, the amount taxi drivers have increased due to immigrants from India hence all the taxes collected from the fairs go to the government which benefit the Canadian government invest it back into developing the country.

Comparing two different countries, Kenya which is undergoing development and Canada which is a developed country, the idea of multiculturalism plays a similar role in terms of how it brings people of different backgrounds together and contributing towards encouraging development in terms of both economic and educational means. When a government pushes out laws and policies that encourage immigration and multiculturalism, the people become more open minded and learn to live together with differences, the governments benefit in terms of people starting up businesses that can help in economic growth as seen with the multiculturalism in Kenya, and it also helps the government get more tax since the immigration is high and this helps the country improve its living standards and economy which are factors that contribute to a powerful nation.

Conclusion:

Although multiculturalism helps in economic growth and development, it has a few drawbacks. A major drawback of multiculturalism is having religious differences, different religions have different views towards life and society and this can cause conflicts between people who are firmly religious and only believe their religion without giving others to share their view with them. Another drawback is lack of communication due to language barriers and since the whole notion of multiculturalism is based around communicating with each other, lack of communication can lead to lack of understanding which in turn can result in cultures not being able to live together as one.

Despite all the differences, I believe that if we take an effort to understand and value each other, we all as responsible citizens of the world can live together. Multiculturalism is a political idea that sounds simple, yet hard to implement since it takes more than just one person to contribute towards the success of this idea. It can lead to a world with no racism, or disrespect for another person’s way of living and towards his or her religion or culture which will lead to people coming together and sharing and learning together which will increase creativity that also helps towards developing countries in the long run.