Colorism Epidemic in Egypt

While visiting Africa, I found out how easy it is to lie. To pretend. To live a life that's not true through pictures, videos, and captions... From my instagram, many people dm'ed me assuming I was having a good time in Africa. One of my childhood friends even said "Africa must be a dream". All in all, I left Africa feeling traumatized, tired, and unheard. In reality, my blog is all I have to express myself because nobody cares for the problems that take over Africa. When I landed in Abuja Nigeria, I was completely overhwhelmed. I saw things in Nigeria I wouldn't wish on another human being's eyes. I would never. I saw children being trafficked, the disabled suffering greatly with no resources, and so much hopelessness. Hopelessness. Despair. Desperation. I saw hurt. I was so overwhelmed by what I saw that I couldn't stop crying the first days I was in Nigeria. If someone would've told me it would be like this, I don't believe I would've wanted to go in the first place. I was completely humbled. No matter what I've been through, I have always had options to survive. I always had God. I always had prayer. To see a country so in shambles with no options, no help, and no concern... It broke me down. I was devastated. Even my marriage reminded me of a place that needed help, but the people do their absolute best. Good people. People with heart treated in inhumane ways. Then came Egypt... To get to Egypt, my newly wed husband had to go through a procedure to get clearance to even land in Egypt, because of his Nigerian nationality. When we got there, they reluctantly stamped my passport. Nobody wanted to interact with us? Us as in BLACK PEOPLE. They ignored us, walked away, looked down at their shoes, and scowled at all of the black people. We were left to our own devices in the airport as we tried to navigate an unfamiliar place. It was so.. unsettling? So strange. Then, when it came down to stamp our visas, the lady behind the desk stamped mine with an attitude... She then took one look at the skin color of my husband and just said 'office'. She refused to stamp his passport. My heart was set on getting our luggage and was anxious to pick it up from the carousel downstairs, so I became so annoyed when the lady kept repeating 'office'. We looked everywhere for an office and could not find one. It was so strange, and yet very upsetting. Me and my husband then decided that we would split as I get the luggage downstairs and he goes to the 'office'. I was thinking this 'office' visit would be quick and we'd be reunited downstairs at the carousel. When I went downstairs to get the luggage, someone who I assume was a worker snatched my ticket out of my hand and I had to chase the man down to let him know I'd be retrieving my own luggage. I sat for about 1-2 hours searching for our luggage with my husband heavily on my mind. I couldn't find my luggage and my husband was nowhere to be found? I started to panic and left the luggage carousel downstairs and ran upstairs to try to locate my husband. The airport was empty... I held back tears as I tried to show people pictures of my husband and ask them 'Have you seen this person?' The airport workers in the Cairo International Airport just laughed at me. They laughed at my panic. My husband didn't have any data in Egypt and there was no wiFi, so panic set in. Oh my God, where's my husband? Are they hurting him? Are they torturing him? So many thoughts ran to my head as my mind went back to my brother Sidney braindead in the hospital and how helpless I felt in that moment. I felt so helpless in that airport. Everyone laughed at me, refused to help me, and just walked right past me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to fight. I was on the verge of calling the police, but didn't want to get in trouble. What was happening was so inhumane and so disgusting. If you were Nigerian or of a darker skin complexion, they thoroughly REFUSED to stamp your visa. They just sent you to an area of the airport with hundreds of other Nigerians and darker skinned travelers. No water, no food, no restroom. They just let my husband and others sit there while demanding a 'visa'. My husband had a visa and was cleared to get a stamp upon arrival in Egypt. They still wouldn't stamp it. Children, elders, and disabled person(s) were also all grouped together because of their nationality and skin color. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever experienced. How inhumane could you be? Even writing this feels like I'm writing something so absurd. Me and my husband had no way to communicate as my panic and blood pressure rised. I had just gotten married and was scared that my husband would be deported or that I would never see him again. What would I tell his family if he got detained? How would I explain the seperation between us? If he gets detained, what do I do? After about 4 hours of mental torture, someone with a heart finally explained in Arabic to the ones in charge of this colorism epidemic in the Cairo Airport that the alleged are actually eligible for a Egyptian stamp/visa. They were let go. I can't explain how I felt when I saw my husband coming down the stairs. I never thought I could love someone this much. I felt relief. I felt peace. The rest of the trip we were left uncomfortable as my husband recieved many bad stares. Even walking down the street was dangerous because of all the attention we'd get. I didn't like Egypt, but as I mentioned before, you can't really tell from the pictures. I was elated to leave, needless to say. I love my husband's skin and I could never treat someone less than because of their appearance. It's just horrible.