Practice Cultural Awareness!!
What is culture, one may ask. What really entails culture? How does one practice cultural awareness? Why is there the need to understand and practice culture? So many questions begging for answers!
According to Geert Hofstede, a Dutch profound scholar devoted to demystify culture in terms of dimensions (Hofstede, 2013), the concept of culture can be defined through institutions such as rites of passage, taboos, religious practices among others as well as artefacts that evidently explain the meaning of life. I would define culture as habit or a lifestyle that you and I choose to live by on a day to day basis. Behavioral tendencies, values we uphold, our attires and other material objects such as ornaments, music are among a seemingly endless list of the elements that are culture.
The Kenyan culture diverse as it is, is a case in point that is worth taking note of. Tea (locally known as chai) is an important element of the Kenyan culture. In as much as tea is technically a byproduct of colonialism, sharing a cup of tea completes almost any meeting in post-colonial Kenya. Be it at a funeral meeting, an annual general meeting or a wedding, be it a meeting between two persons or a large gathering, it is culturally accepted and almost always expected that tea will be served.
It was intriguing to see my late grandmother having ‘chai headaches’ caused by a strong craving for tea that she would hastily prepare a several cups of the beloved beverage just to quell the craving. That steaming hot tea now served in a huge metal cups that have since gone out of fashion and multiple slices of white bread completed the picture of one the norms that is our Kenyan culture!
Why the need to understand Culture?
Having no idea or having no opinion about culture of a place or a people can be akin to asking a blind man if he can see something placed before him. He simply is unable to see. Similarly one without an idea or opinion of culture runs the risk of having a mindset that brews stereotypes, myths and misconceptions about the ways of a particular place or people group.
Bearing in mind the world is a diverse place in terms of culture, it cannot be emphasized enough the great need to practice cultural awareness so as to understand and more so to appreciate the way of life of various people and places in our globe.
Cultural awareness also calls for recognizing differences and similarities that exist, that further translates to embracing the diversification from what one already knows and is exposed to. Further to understanding cultural awareness, one can ask the following. What culture is practiced is this community? How is the culture practiced? Why are certain cultural practices undertaken and when are they undertaken? Who are the participants of these cultural practices? What are the origins of these cultural practices?
Understanding culture can also be done through learning a language to help achieve cultural competence. Even learning a few words or phrases no matter how badly and odd one may sound, give it a shot! It is the effort that counts. I have been making an attempt to learn the Kikuyu language and I always find myself throwing in “wì mùciì?” (means ‘are you at home’?) in the most inapplicable place in a conversation. I know a few other words but at some point I believe I will get the hang of it. Learning a different language enhances effective communication skills and gives one an opportunity to life changing exposure as one interacts with people from different backgrounds and cultures.
Cultures being distinctly unique and diverse should not be a reason to discriminate, critic or categorize inappropriately. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Article 1 outlines that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights regardless color, race nationality and the religion and culture they subscribe to. (United Nations, 2015) Understanding culture also means respecting the people that practice it.
However, there do exist cultural practices that are bizarre and morally unacceptable. An assignment given by my Intercultural Communication Lecturer on the Trokosi Culture practiced in the Volta Region of Ghana is an example of a bizarre culture that dehumanizes the physical and mental well-being of young girls. What struck me most is the cultural aspect of justice and punishment of wrong doers in the sense that perpetrators of the offence (in most occurrences) do not bear the consequences of their acts!! Instead young virgin girls in the community are forced to face the punishment for the offence as the offender walks free. And not to mention that this particular punishment includes statutory rape or sexual servitude whereby the girls are forced to have sexual intercourse with the priests so as to prevent a curse from befalling the community. This in my opinion is pedophilia and dehumanizing and cannot in any way be justified as “atonement” “communal responsibility” or “protecting the community”. The girls are robbed off their innocence and dignity. Their childhood experience completely destroyed!
Secondly, the foot binding culture that was commonly practiced in Chinese in the early 20th Century whereby young girls’ feet were bound in a particular way to make them look small. Apparently small feet were desirable and also symbolized that the family was wealthy. Foot binding? My foot!! Pun intended (Ancient History Encyclopedia, 2017)
In Summary
In a nutshell culture and its general deliberate understanding is of importance. This discourse is not at all exhaustive, the extent reaches far and wide. Each of us can do their part in understanding and embracing cultural diversification for a better world.
References
Ancient History Encyclopedia. (2017, September). Retrieved from Chinese Foot Binding: https://www.ancient.eu/Foot-Binding/
Hofstede, G. (2013). Cross-Cultural analysis. In The Science and Art of Comparing World’s Modern Societies and their Cultures (pp. 13–16). Los Angeles: SAGE Publications,Inc.
United Nations. (2015). Retrieved from Universal Declaration on Human Rights: https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/pdf/udhr_booklet_en_web.pdf
