One week of classes down, many to go. My classes so far have been fascinating, though. The lectures keep tying in with one another in themes and ideas, but never so much that the classes are boring. Most of all, they've left me asking questions, which I love. Some of the questions that have occupied my mind the most have been:
1) Are ethics solely religiously or culturally based, or are they universal, or does it depend?
2) Can cultural comparisons be made or are such things inherently ethnocentric and therefore wrong?
3) What are the causes and solutions to the current problems in Africa?
4) Whose perspective is being taken in understanding history and shaping the present?
5) Do we have a right or responsibility to interfere when cultural practices are harmful?
In short, my classes have forced me to consider things differently than I ordinarily would have, and I appreciate that.
The other great thing about my courses is the schedule. I'm not sure how things worked out so well, but I don't have any classes before 10 a.m. and I'm finished every day by 1 p.m. That leaves my afternoons open for research, homework, and work on my service-learning capstone.
I visited the offices of SAEP (the NGO I'm hoping to work for on my service-learning capstone) today. I got to hear more in-depth about the sorts of projects they do. SAEP has education and social work programs on many levels. First, there are the creches, which are daycare centers for infants and very young children in the townships whose parents are working and need childcare. Second, the program hires interns who have completed their high school education but failed one or two of their exit exams. The interns work for SAEP on various projects and recieve tutoring and wages in return. SAEP also organizes after-school tutoring and journalism programs at high schools in the townships. The organization seems to me to be an excellent one. I'll probably be involved mostly in the administrative aspect, working on a database for an outside evaluation firm so that SAEP can continue to recieve funding and creating a brochure to inform potential volunteers and community members about the organization. I may also work in the creches or something, but I'll have to see how time goes.
1) Are ethics solely religiously or culturally based, or are they universal, or does it depend?
2) Can cultural comparisons be made or are such things inherently ethnocentric and therefore wrong?
3) What are the causes and solutions to the current problems in Africa?
4) Whose perspective is being taken in understanding history and shaping the present?
5) Do we have a right or responsibility to interfere when cultural practices are harmful?
In short, my classes have forced me to consider things differently than I ordinarily would have, and I appreciate that.
The other great thing about my courses is the schedule. I'm not sure how things worked out so well, but I don't have any classes before 10 a.m. and I'm finished every day by 1 p.m. That leaves my afternoons open for research, homework, and work on my service-learning capstone.
I visited the offices of SAEP (the NGO I'm hoping to work for on my service-learning capstone) today. I got to hear more in-depth about the sorts of projects they do. SAEP has education and social work programs on many levels. First, there are the creches, which are daycare centers for infants and very young children in the townships whose parents are working and need childcare. Second, the program hires interns who have completed their high school education but failed one or two of their exit exams. The interns work for SAEP on various projects and recieve tutoring and wages in return. SAEP also organizes after-school tutoring and journalism programs at high schools in the townships. The organization seems to me to be an excellent one. I'll probably be involved mostly in the administrative aspect, working on a database for an outside evaluation firm so that SAEP can continue to recieve funding and creating a brochure to inform potential volunteers and community members about the organization. I may also work in the creches or something, but I'll have to see how time goes.
posted by Lauren at
3:00 PM
1 Comments:
Lauren,
In response to:
"2) Can cultural comparisons be made or are such things inherently ethnocentric and therefore wrong?"
->yes they can be made
->yes they are ethnocentric
->no they are not always wrong
It is a function of your hermeneutical lens to see things like cultural comparisons ethnocentrically; therefore they are inherently ethnocentric-- how else are you going to be able to view the world? It is important to ask the question thou, because it shows that you are able to recognize that there is more than one view point at work in any given situation.
However, you must have a grasp of your own culture before any comparison or relationship with another culture can be honestly and openly approached.
Cultural comparisons cannot happen within a vacuum. For instance, even if you know the best possible solution for a situation involving the clients of the crèches, you alone cannot decide what is best for them. You can however collaborate with them by entering into relationship with them, sharing yourself with them and perhaps, together be able to find the best, most suitable answer, not what the white woman from America says we should do.
Don’t forget as you are knee deep in brain work: cultural comparison at its best is in the field. Just like mission work. I think you may have learned at ASP that it wasn't always about getting the work done; stopping to share lemonade, being in relationship with the people you were working with, often trumped hammering 1,000 nails and building a deck for a home.
In other words being in relationship with someone who is “other” (not white, American, woman) when attempting to make a solid cultural comparisons is really important. But never loose sight of who you are in the midst of it either. You may not always be right, but you will not always be wrong either.
My two cents for a Monday morning.
I’m enjoying keeping up with you via this blog!
Peace,
Rev. Sarah
By
Rev. Sarah C. Evans, at 8:30 AM
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