Building Bridges

For my Anthropology of Development class we are reading "Three Cups of Tea," a book about Greg Mortenson's development projects building schools in the Middle East. So far we have only had to read the first 70 pages or so, and already Mortenson's experiences have given me insight into dealings in developing countries. When Mortenson returns to Pakistan after promising one village a school, he is almost immediately pressured by men who try to manipulate him to build schools for their own villages. However, at this point in his story he has only enough funding for one school. Then, when he gets to Korphe, the village he wants to build the school for, he is told that as grateful as the people are, they first need a bridge. Mortensen is astonished at this, as he had expected that receiving the funding would be the difficult part, and the building would be relatively straight forward once he was in Pakistan and had supplies.

This series of events reminded me of a few days ago in class, where we discussed a variety of scenarios that could occur in Ghana that may be confusing, regarding whether specific decisions would be ethical or socially appropriate. In class we talked about situations involving money, hospitality, or etiquette that might at surface seem right, but that could be problematic (for example, being asked to eat a nice dinner at a very poor family's home). Basically "Three Cups of Tea" and that class period made me recognize that things are not going to be as straight forward as I hope - ever. Various situations will cause me to have to think on my feet. Partially because of circumstances I may deem ethical or unethical, and also because of my limited understanding of the Ghanaian culture. Greg Mortenson went to Korphe with the supplies to build a school, and was first asked to build a bridge. I may go to Wiamose or Asamung with the supplies or preparation for my current project, and realize that their culture caters much better to some other topic that is more timely or appropriate. Maybe children and cocoa farming wont be as significant a topic as husband and wife relationships related to cocoa farming, or something even more different.

Basically, I need to be flexible, and realize that anthropological research is anything but straight forward. I may go with my tools to build a school and be asked to build a bridge (metaphorically of course - at least for now).