Random Journal Posts #2

….Today I sat in on a different English class from Fobi’s classes. The teacher was giving a lesson about debate, and it was very interesting hearing the various debate topics he gave as examples. They were actually very culturally telling. The first one was about homosexuality, and whether gays should be allowed to marry or not. He even brought up that Obama, a man “of African blood” had made his support known for gay marriage. I have heard several people bring up the fact that Obama did this. They seem very surprised, which I can assume is because they do not have any idea about gay relations and controversy within America. Anyway, the other debate topics included whether boys or girls were smarter, if mixed gender schools or single gender schools were more conducive to learning, and –the topic for this year- if traditions are holding people back from progressing…

…For one, I fought a spider that literally could be close to being classifed tarantula if it had just a little more hair. I didn’t think it was possible, but I did. And I may exaggerate the sizes of creepy crawlers in the States, but I’ve got pictures to reinforce the validity of this monster. The same night that thing was crawling across our walls, a lizard friend also joined the part on the ceiling. And of course that was the night we did not have electricity, so all the fun happened by the light of my flashlight…

…The next day I was able to go to a wedding celebration for a woman Natalie works with at the clinic. She is a member of the Savior Church, which I was surprised to discover practices polygamy. We did not know what to expect at all, and the actual ceremony had occurred the night before, so this was like their equivalent of a reception. We sat down and waited for things to begin, and were treated to something truly wonderful. The older women wore veils, and the men wore long white robes, and one of the men started singing solo, with the others joining in with beautiful harmonizing that sounded like Muslim prayer chants. Then a small group started playing instruments, and the women began coming out for a large dance. It was a special kind of dance that used just a subtle shuffling of the feet, and the waving of a kerchief in the right hand. This dancing was joined in at different times by the men, young girls who had vowed chastity till marriage, and even us for an obruni dance! Everyone was laughing and smiling and having a wonderful time, and it really was a beautiful experience…

…However, in the ICT class, I met a very sweet girl named Evelyn. She is 20, and told me she really wanted to be a police officer. However, her father wants her to train to be a nurse, so she was in the study topic to be a nurse (home economics). She told me however, that she hated blood, and laughingly told me a story of pounding her sister’s hand while they made fufu, not being able to take the sight of blood, and her mother becoming angry with her because her sister needed to take her exams the next day. She also asked me how old I was, and like others who have asked me, seemed surprised. She said, “God has made you people special, you grow big in body, but are small in age” haha...

Places and Faces!

An A-Cultural God

We attend church in the village Jackie and Lauren stay in, Asamang. This week I had a thought while I looked around me at the beautiful members who had come for sacrament meeting. I realized that I always conceptualize God in the most culturally pleasing way for me personally - as a loving, American-cultured, English speaking, Father. I do not think anything is wrong with this; it is surely normal. However, I have not tried to think how a Ghanian young women imagines her Father in Heaven, or a Japanese girl, or a Peruvian girl. It must be so different, since their views would similarly be structured along their own socialized mental constructs. 

This led me to realize that God is an a-cultural God - at least in regards to the various cultures of our mortal world. My views about the nature of God call for a loving omnipotent Father, who can relate to any person, and who has the ability to appreciate the immense and equal worth of every individual one of His children. Therefore, His complexity in my mind has now had yet another layer added. He must be able to relate in countless ways to the innumerable variations of Man's mind and spirit and physicality and tangible and intangible experiences. He has to be able to touch the Ghanian's soul in a way that will convict the Ghanaian of the truthfulness of His existence - as well as the Peruvian's soul, and my soul, and the unimaginable remainder of unique human souls worldwide. 

This is incredible. 

I am really astonished by the miracle of humankind and its variations, and of a God and Savior who know and love even with all the difference. 

Random Journal Post #1

My English lessons went very well. I taught American phonetics, since they learn to pronounce the British way. They thought it was hilarious the way I said some words like "can" or "totally" and would repeat and laugh. We had a lot of fun. Many Americans (me for one) would be very surprised, after the way we stereotype about gender roles and education in Africa in general, to know that at least where I am in Ghana the main differences I am seeing when I attend the classrooms is a difference in aesthetics. Their buildings are crumbling, the doors and windows are open so bugs and bats and whatnot can freely fly in. They have worn out chalkboards and no electrical technology to speak of, except for a small lab at the senior high with some very old computers that do not have modems. But besides these materialistic differences, kids laugh and joke and cajole their teachers and the teachers often joke along with them. The girls are as vocal as the boys. One spunky girl, Monica, asked me to come in a class while their teacher was out. I asked her to teach the class, including me, so she went right along with the joke saying "quiet down! quiet down! I am the teacha!" She then would ask me questions like my age, if i had a boyfriend, she told me the entire class owed 2 cedi each and that I had to cough up first. It was very funny. She also brandished the stick and said "don't make me use this!" the way teachers do. She had me put out my hand and gave me a smart tap! 

I made good friends with the teacher staff at the junior high. One sweet girl named Pat had her birthday yesterday. This morning I woke up and made crepes to bring to her as a present. I filled one with nutella, one with peanut butter, and one with jam, then cut banana slices over them. She was very happy and grateful, and tried to eat the. She said they were nice, but that she could not take bananas haha. The other teachers tried bites, but did not like them and would not eat any more, they were obviously too sweet. It was funny because they were crinkling their noses at yummy crepes, but right after were eating a whole fish, head, tail, scales and all, and could not understand why I thought it was so disgusting. They also showed me pictures of a field trip they had taken the kids on to Cape Coast. One of the teachers was dressed very nice, and I said, "Oh I love his outfit!" His wife apparently was one of the teachers looking with us and she said "you cannot have him! I will beat you with this stick" Which made me laugh and I tried to explain I did not mean it like that at all. 

Last night, I Natalie and I headed up the hill to the village square because some Presbyterians had come to have a big religious save-your-soul-type thing, and I had been invited by some university girls who could speak English very well. When we got there, the children would barely let us be, grabbing our arms and hands, so we try to high five or shake hands with each one so that they do not feel left out. There were people singling gospel songs, and a whole band set up and speakers. However, the ominous thunder rolls and lightening started, which always means there will be some very hard rainfall. They started packing up everything, but the people singing stayed put. All the villagers started running to the outlying shops and the power went out, leaving things pitch black. I had my flashlight, and Natalie and I took shelter under some shop covers with some of the villagers. Kids surrounded us, waiting out the rain, and one fell asleep on Natalie's shoulder. It was really an experience standing there in the dark and thunder and rain with the villagers. The university girls I had met said they would still pray, so I followed them out into the rain, into the middle of the square where a small circle of Presbyterians stood praying. Some had their arms raised to the heavens, and some were mumbling their prayers, while one man yelled out praising God. Another man even dropped to his knees in the mud. It was quite a moment to see, standing there in the mud in Wiamoase, Ashanti, Ghana, hearing my brothers and sisters raise their own types of prayers to God while the rain and lightening came down. I realized these types of moments are of the sort that I will rarely have again. 

A Day in the Life

Finding my Footing, and Musings about the Variations of Man

The past week has provided me with ample opportunity for adventure and anxiety while plunging into my ethnographic fieldwork. I am learning to be flexible, to throw the usual structure of academia I have experienced in America out the window, and to attempt to enjoy my amazing time here simultaneously.  I am learning so much each day, and cliché as it is, beginning to love and become attached to the amazing community and friends I interact with routinely.

Regarding my project, my aims have already started to become largely modified, as several former field studies students warned me they would. My new project title is, “The Influence of Formal Education on Cross-Generational Perspectives about Cocoa Farming.” Here are a few brief things I have been able to do since starting my observation and research:

-I have visited a couple cocoa farms, accompanied by the farm owners. They look nothing like I expected, and it has been quite fun tramping through the jungle and bush, especially when it rained. Local villagers got a kick out of the crazy obruni in her bright blue rain poncho.

-I have started to gain insight into the forces of formal education and government shaping the younger generation’s hopes for the future and career pursuits.

-I have started to sit in on junior high and secondary school classes, and get to know the students. It has been a blast visiting with younger kids, and seeing the fun ways their teachers interact with them.

-I was able to sit in on a school staff meeting that was as exciting as full court of law, with yelling and laughing and demands for votes. I also will start teaching a few English classes tomorrow with the help of a Ghanaian teacher at the secondary school

-I have scheduled my first official interview for Wednesday, and am excited to start hearing the opinions of teachers, students, cocoa farmers and others on relevant issues surrounding education, careers, and agriculture here in Wiamoase.

Note: If you ever find yourself following a 75 year old man into the forest to see his cocoa farm, and he is shuffling along, practically dragging his machete, do not doubt that he can lift that machete in the blink of an eye and whack a tree blocking your way right in half. Haha!

I have started trying to do a deeper reading and analysis of Clifford Geertz’s classic Interpretation of Cultures than I have before done for classes. His writing and explanation of anthropological inquiry and the ethnographic research and inscription process is nothing short of genius.

I was especially impressed in the last couple days by his theorizing about how those in the fields of social science choose to go about trying to define human nature. While here in Ghana, I have often pondered to myself how it is that humans are connected biologically, but can vary so drastically in so many other ways. I just kept trying to wrap my mind around how I would be a different person if I was born a Ghanaian, or even into the family living in the next house over from my own family I was actually born into. Geertz helped me realize that the reality of this incomprehensible variation is actually one of the most breath-taking and spectacular parts about human nature.

He states that in the past, especially starting in the Age of Enlightenment, philosophers have tried to understand human nature through universal commonalities. They have searched for the constants between peoples, the mainstays of cultural and social systems – “consensual man”.  However, he points out that theorists may want to consider that more can be learned from studying the phenomenon of human variation instead, because if we known anything, we know human nature is variable.

His musings culminate in the conclusion that, “Out of such reformulations of the concept of culture and the role of culture in human life comes, in turn, a definition of man stressing not so much the empirical commonalities in his behavior, from place to place and time to time, but rather the mechanisms by whose agency the breadth and indeterminateness of his inherent capacities are reduced to the narrowness and specificity of his actual accomplishments. One of the most significant facts about us may finally be that we all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds of life but end in the end having lived only one” (1973, Geertz 45).

Studying culture could possibly be looked at as a way to honor God for his miraculous creation. The fact that, as Geertz says, we have the inherent ability to be shaped and molded to live a countless number of lifestyles is proof in itself of the beautiful and unfathomable creature God has created in the human being.

As I attempt culturally immersive research methods while living here in Wiamoase, I am trying to remember and apply the insights I am gaining. I am so grateful for this experience, and even now realize that I will be forever indebted to each and every one of the kind Ghanaians who have provided love, encouragement, and assistance already in the first two weeks  to an undeserving undergraduate who is trying to “find her footing,” as Geertz would call it, in a culturally foreign context.

PS: I will start posting a few photos, and selected parts of my journal entries each Tuesday, as well as insight posts like these, so watch out for those! 

Good Times in Ghana

First Impressions

Skim through parts of my journal entries from my first three days in Ghana here:

http://anthroprep21.blogspot.com/p/ghana-journal.html

Update: I am starting my official research and note taking tomorrow, and am anxious and excited. I will start posting insight entries once a week starting next Tuesday! So far, I have already had some incredible experiences!

Email me at: faezer@comcast.net

Fighting Fears

So, I have to confess, amidst the feelings of excitement about flying off to Ghana for a quarter of the year, I have been experiencing my share of anxiety. Of course when people ask if I am feeling nervous or excited about the trip, I respond yes to both. However, in all honesty, lately it has been mostly nervous. But, so as not to risk looking like a wimp I usually do not expand on this sentiment, but keep it to myself.

My biggest fear so far is not the sweltering heat. It is not the risk of getting malaria or some other taxing illness. It isn't my cultural or lingual incompetence. It's not even a fear of sleeping in a strange bed, in a tiny village, in a foreign country. All of these things are enough to singularly make one nervous, but I have experienced them in some degree in Peru or Japan and know that they can be survived and overcome.

My number one biggest fear is maintaining courage and emotional health as I exist in an isolation I have never really known for an extended time period. I am a social person by nature, I love my friends and family and the daily interactions I share with them. This is part of the reason I love anthropology - I am thrilled and fascinated by the bonds that can be forged and perpetuated through human relationships. In Ghana, I will have one American roommate with whom to relate. I am confident I will love the Ghanaians in the village, and will strive to create meaningful relationships with them. However, for my own selfish purposes I will not have constant communication with friends and family who share my culture and context and can comfort me in the ways I am most familiar with. This loss will be compounded by the fact that I live in the year 2012, and have a quite possibly unhealthy dependency on things like my texting and Facebook.

Recently, I was blessed to receive some needed comfort to help assuage my fears to some degree. My friend Lindsay and I were out to dinner and had some time to talk about things. Lindsay recently returned from a Spanish speaking mission to New Mexico, where she spent a lot of her time in El Paso, Texas very near the Mexican-American border. She commented that with my lack of means of communication and with such a culturally immersive experience I was sort of headed into a mini-mission situation. Realizing that Lindsay could probably identify with some of the fears I have about isolation because of her mission, I expressed how nervous I was. She began to describe some of her mission experiences and related that there were times when she was basically forced to her knees because the one person she could turn to was the Savior. She went on to explain that when all of the layers are stripped away - the sources I would usually turn to in a time of need (friends, family, or even other superficial means of escape) - all that is left is God.

After talking to Lindsay, I felt a comfort I had not really felt before. I could almost physically feel my anxiety lessening. I am still pretty scared, but I know that God will not leave me in complete isolation. I am excited for an opportunity that will challenge me, and even my current lifestyle. I hope to grow closer to my Savior, and build a more familiar and reliant relationship with Him while in Ghana.

Medicine

Yesterday I got my immunizations finally, and picked up my typhoid and malaria pills. Throughout the day I was feeling fairly good, except for being abnormally achey. However, by the time I went to bed I felt extremely achey and tired. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. with violent chills and feeling extremely cold even when I piled on layers of clothing and blankets. I could not fall asleep and just lay shivering for a long time. I must have finally dozed off, because the next thing I knew I woke up basically sweating and extremely hot. Thus, so far I have had a lovely time facing the yellow fever shot symptoms.

This small burden of feeling sick from the shot just made me think about one more thing that I often take for granted as an American - the fact that our country provides extensive medicine and immunizations that prevent against disease and illness. In the U.S., some might feel bad for themselves when they contract a small cold, while malaria is just as prevalent and common a sickness in Ghana.

These are the types of things that I think make development practices worth it. The point of international development should not be to make a people conform to behave or live just as Americans, but it should be to help provide opportunity and options for things such as advanced medicine that improve quality of life for all humans in general.

I think it would be interesting for me to talk to Lauren and Natalie a little more about their projects. I am very ignorant about medical studies, and my project does not include any medical application. I want to ask them what their research has taught them about third world medical situations, and what may be some appropriate development practices within the field of medicine.

Coming of Age

It is so crazy that I have less than a month left in the States, and then off for a three month residency in Wiamoase, Ghana. Looking back, I am fairly satisfied with the progress I have made thus far. Of course, I could always try a little harder academically, but I do feel a lot more anthropologically capable. This year has been a unique couple of semesters at college. Freshman year I floundered around in generals, hating my science classes, and wondering if I should teach American Literature to high schoolers (good thing future students of mine missed out on that fate - they probably would not have appreciated my burning passion for The Grapes of Wrath, which I would have undoubtedly made required reading), or if I wanted to enter the Humanities, another passion of mine, but one with even less career opportunities than the social sciences seem to offer. It was not until my Freshman Academy mentor asked what I liked, and I likely responded, "to travel," and she told me about her sister in a major where all she did was learn about worldwide cultures.

That pretty much had me sold. I even got through Anth 101 with a certain professor who I wont name out of courtesy (but I will say has a nicely cultivated faux British accent) - this is usually the first ring of fire for potential Anthropology students - the department really should reconsider how the opening course to the major is presented. However, the next obstacle was my theory class. With one dry (and i mean DRY) professor and my first 20-pager due, it's a wonder I continued to feel passionate about anthropology. Finally, after Buonforte taught a linguistics class I had randomly signed up for, I no longer had any lingering doubts. My mind was probably opened more by the two classes I took from him than it had been for my 4 years of high school "education."

Anyway, the point of this post is to say that it all brought me to where I am right now. Studying methodologies and becoming excited as I realize what practical applications await me in the field of ethnography and development. Ghana will be sort of like an anthropological "coming of age" as I attempt to conduct real field work and apply the theory and methodology that has been pounded into my head. Hopefully the Ghanaians will be able to forgive me of my many, many inevitable blunders. I am sure by the time I am through, I will forever be grateful to my new friends for allowing my intrusion as I attempt to learn the ways of the anthropologist.

Zion in All Corners of the Earth

The other day in Twi class, we accumulated gospel vocabulary words, and then put together our testimonies in Twi. It is comforting realizing that we will be attending church in Asamang. I guess for my own selfish reasons, I am just excited that among the culture shock and misunderstandings will be an aspect I can relate to. Not saying that LDS culture is anywhere near the same in Ghana as it is in America; however, foundational elements are the same, such as our belief in a Savior who atoned for mankind and a boy who restored the gospel. There was just something cool about hearing the Savior's titles in Twi, and realizing that church members there have some of the same deep running veins of belief as I do. I cannot wait to learn from the branch in Asamang, and to feel the fellowship of sisterhood and brotherhood the gospel provides, with people who live in an entirely different cultural world than me.

Here is my testimony in Twi:

Me nim sE as0re no yE nokware

Me gyedi sE Jesus Christ ye me odimafo

M'Egya a 0w0 soro te ase

Me de aseda ma onyame sE m'abusua betumi nya bEkyebo bra

Me gyedi sE Thomas S. Monson yE 0k0mhyeni a 0 te ase.

Medaase sE Jesus Christ ab0 af0reE

Me nim As0re no nkyerEkyerE yE nokware esan (as a result of) Homhom kr0nkr0n no.

Ew0 Jesus Christ din mu

Amen

Jihad vs McWorld

I had to do a book review of the book "Jihad vs McWorld" for one of my sociology classes. In it the author argues that the duel spread of globalism and technological uniformity (McWorld) and tribal separations and hostility based on religion, ethnicity, race, etc (Jihad) combats democracy and is a threat to the sovereign national state. Barber begins by defining globalism by giving a myriad of examples of capitalism and technology that have become uniform nearly worldwide. This includes the trade of natural resources, the global advertising of companies such as Coca Cola, and the international television broadcasting of American based media such as MTV music videos. He then goes on to discuss what he calls Jihad, the boundaries and separations caused by international tribalism. He draws examples from places like Islam, China, Russia, and the Pacific Rim. Throughout, Barber emphasizes that McWorld and Jihad are inevitably linked and dependent, globalism spawning from colonialism, and tribalism the backlash of the same. Both McWorld and Jihad threaten democracy, the former making nations dependent and weakening their sovereign power, and the latter splintering nations into sects, which then become more dependent on McWorld.

The book made me recall a conflict I have thought about before: the beauty of diversity vs the hatred and resentment it seems to cultivate. Often, I have felt extremely depressed about the seemingly natural proneness humans have towards ostracizing those different from the majority, and assuming that the way they live/look is by default the "correct" way of living/looking. This has led to inconceivable amounts of sadness and suffering throughout the world in all areas - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. However, some of the moments in my life when I have felt the most exhilarated have been the times when I was experiencing new culture, different from my own. The beauty behind the variations in human existence is mind-boggling, and provides for an inexhaustible way of looking at things and behaving. So, what would be better? Living in one giant, homogenous world to prevent against the pains of negative group mentalities that foster ethnocentrism, tribalism, racism, etc? Or continuing to encourage diversity and cultural differences because of the massive benefits they bring to humanity?

In my opinion, although the world is far from ideal, diversity is worth it. I am so excited to visit Ghana because I feel I can learn so much from a new experience of place, time, behavior, materialism, etc. New doors will be opened in my mind that would have remained locked while remaining only under the American ontology. Cultural exposure opens up new spiritual, psychological, and even physical routes. I think it is one of the most significant and effective ways of gaining an education.

Group Relations

First and foremost - my IRB has been approved!! YES! So glad that stress is finally over.

So this post will be somewhat similar to the one prior about beauty perception. It is about an issue I have encountered time and time again here in America, and I am wondering if similar issues exist in Ghana. I think comparing and contrasting between what I known and what I will discover is effective in better understanding a foreign culture.

Actually, my post is about race relations, which is not a singular issue, but encompasses a world of issues that have perpetuated in America since its conception and remain today. Racism and related problems are basically always on my mind, but have been brought to the forefront of a lot of my news reading lately with the whole Trayvon Martin case. Although I realize it is often bad to come to hasty conclusions about murky scenarios, like what happened in Trayvon's gated community the day he died, the official information about the case is still enough to make me feel sick.

Basically, Trayvon, a black boy in a hoodie, was on his way back to his house in a gated neighborhood after walking to the store to buy skittles, was followed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, and eventually shot dead by the man before making it to his front door. The shooter claims he killed in self defense, because he was attacked, although witnesses claim they heard the boy yelling for help. The shooter says he had initially followed the boy because he looked suspicious, although he was just wearing a casual hoodie and tennis shoes, and the only things in his hands were skittles and iced tea. The shooter, although a neighborhood watch volunteer, did not have the legal authority to even be armed. When the boy's body was picked up, the shooter was not arrested, and the victim remained unidentified, some speculating because authorities could not believe a black boy in a hoodie actually lived in the gated community.

Now, a huge nationwide backlash has occured against the police department of the boy's city in Florida, criticizing the way the case was handled since the shooter has yet to even have been arrested, let off merely because he claimed self defense. An online petition gained over 800,000 signatures calling for justice for Trayvon's death. Many say had the shooter been a black man, and the victim a white boy, or of any race for that matter, he would have immediately been arrested, and harsh legal action would have been attempted against him. As much as I hate to say it, I basically agree.

I could go on and on about the deeper issues this story and similar ones say about the long, LONG way America has to go before it becomes post-racial, but this post is meant to relate to my project. This is where this post becomes similar to the beauty perception post. I am very interested in whether racial or ethnic differences affect society and culture in Ghana in the same large ways it does in America. Do Ghanaians treat others differently based on various racial, ethnic, or tribal identities? Are some groups faced with a perpetual perception as guests in their own country, or the fear of being viewed in the negative light of suspicion or condescension? How do these issues affect social classes, community structure, government, etc? These are some other issues I would like to at least passively keep in mind and observe during my time in Ghana.

Here is a fairly unbiased version of the updated story of Trayvon Martin, as of today:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/27/justice/florida-teen-shooting/?hpt=hp_t1

Beauty Perceptions

Last week I was talking to my friend Katherine who had the privilege of visiting Tanzania, Africa for three weeks for an observational study. She shared some of her experiences with me, and expressed how excited she was for me to live in Ghana. One of the things she related was simple yet thought-provoking. She said I would be surprised how much I would stop thinking about my external image, my clothing, my body shape, etc. I do not believe she meant at all that I would not care about being physically healthy. More she meant that with the absence of Western media saturation and the affects this takes on young minds in relation to body image, I would not worry so much about how my physicality was being perceived. This led into a conversation about the detrimental affects of American media shaping the way youth, and especially women, think about their bodies. Girls think they must conform to a certain body type/skin type/hair type/dress style etc, an impossibility for many, which leads to eating disorders and low self-esteem. Boys think that a certain body type/skin type/hair type/dress style is the epitome of beauty or should dictate attraction. I told Katherine about how I had felt the affects of this here at BYU, being one of the few students of African descent, I simply cannot fit in with many of the mainstream traits esteemed as beautiful in Provo culture. Even if I was as healthy as I possibly could be, I will never be as stick thin as some others of a different ethnicity. My genes give me irreversible curves and thickness. My facial features include a wider nose, and fuller lips. My hair is extremely curvy, and my skin is dark. Maybe I am overly sensitive, but I have often felt almost ashamed of some of my differences in relation to my homogenous surroundings, especially since the media glorifies the beauty of tall, white, stick-thin women, and I can see the affects of this on the way beauty is perceived in my own community.

I wonder how this will change in Ghana. How will beauty be perceived differently due to a very different racial and ethnic majority, as well as due to the lesser prevalence of Western media influences? How do these differences affect the way females in particular view themselves, and how do they affect courtship and attraction? This is something I would be interested in observing although my project does not address these issues.

There is definitely a lot to think about when you realize that beauty and attraction are so relative, that just by moving to another location you could be viewed as either less or more attractive according to cultural influences.

Here is a somewhat harsh site that really brings up some relevant issues about the recent onslaught of white indie culture in the U.S. that has pushed the prevalence of rail thin, retro white girls - think the type of girls you would see the majority of the time in Urban Outfitters advertising -

http://www.carefreewhitegirl.com/

Symbolism

I loved our class today on art and symbolism in Ghana. After taking Symbolic Anthropology, I became fascinated by symbols as they are one of the foundational elements of human existence. We literally could not function without symbols - even our words are merely metaphors for our imperceptible mix of thoughts, emotion, and impulse that can never be flawlessly conveyed to the external world. I love symbols like the blatant ones we encounter through art - Katie showed a spiral on the side of a religious structure in Ghana, and told us it represented eternity - like this example, symbols can convey mass meanings full of history and complexity with just one image, that sometimes abstractly relates to whatever it is representing, and is sometimes completely arbitrary, but recognized through tradition.

In my symbolic anthropology class, we discussed the extensive symbolism behind the LDS sacrament ritual. I realized how religions use so much ritualism and symbolism for highly effective purposes. Religion poses intricate theory and inspires feelings and emotions that are hard to put into words and difficult to interpret even when they occur inside of us. Symbols create a route of expression to allow a group to form a cohesive union surrounding such complex beliefs and meanings. No wonder many Mormon kids are so knowledgeable about their religion at such a young age, they are taught the doctrine largely through relatable symbolism that especially helps in conveying religious messages that might usually be thought too mature for children to process.

Like Katie said, this will be a great for us in Ghana. It will be important for me to inquire about the representations and symbolism I see - having even a limited knowledge of what deeper meaning lies behind images, words, or behaviors will allow me to have a better understanding of the culture as a whole. Symbolism in language, actions, art, etc are the very fiber of a society and its cultural makeup.

IRB

I have recently been working on IRB classes in 3 of my 6 classes. Joy. Two of them have been for my project in Wiamoase, and one was for my class with Professor Bibb, where we have been planning a pretend development project in Apamea, Syria.

As much as I have hated the IRB process, I have also appreciated it. Besides agreeing that it is necessary to prevent unethical study practices (although I think there is room for improvement especially for the social sciences, whose studies are completely different from something like a medical experiment), I also think the IRB application has allowed me to get a better grasp on my project, and what I will actually be doing in Wiamoase. For example, writing out my research aims and questions, and a literature review, has helped me to solidify what research I will need to collect, at least initially. Also, writing about mundane things such as how I will gain consent, if I will use a translator, how I will maintain confidentiality, etc, has helped me better understand what measures I will have to take in the field to conduct my research. I have realized how important it is that I will be organized, with my notes, and audio recording, and any other tools necessary. I also have been impressed with how much I will need to learn to successfully connect with the people, and how fully I will be dependent on them. If I want to talk to someone who only speaks in Twi, I will need another Ghanaian friend to translate, for example.

Anyway, I turn in my new and improved IRB draft on Tuesday. Although I have learned from the application, I have my fingers crossed it will become approved. I may have learned from it, but I definitely not in love with it.

Power Dispersion

For my Anthropology of Development class, we have been reading development books by Nolan and Escobar. Although I enjoy Nolan's because of its practical advice and simple outlining of concepts behind development, I enjoy Escobar a lot more. He is somewhat cynical with his view of development, but he brings up facts that cannot just be ignored by Western students going into development.

The chapters that I read for Wednesday were about power dispersion. Escobar argues that the power Western countries gained and continue to hold after colonialism has affected development in detrimental ways. When development projects occur, or even the framing for these projects, they evolve out of a Western-dictated context. Since international power is unequally dictated, the countries in need of "development" do not get a significant say in what happens to them, while powerful Western countries get almost all of the say. Escobar states that this does not lead to sustainable change or sound judgement about these countries, but instead can aggregate third world issues in some instances.

Additionally, the way the West conceptualizes developing countries can be damaging to the way development is enacted. For example, Escobar points out that development rhetoric can be dehumanizing and objectifying towards third world inhabitants. A mother, who is a human being with thoughts and emotion, is reduced to an illiterate starving body, with way too many children, and an unseemly dependency on men. Or Western developers will point out the apparent flaws of the developing world, but because of the power dispersion that allows them ultimate say, they are saved from having their own similar issues pointed out. Such as when Western developers state that the problem in third world countries is there population growth, which must be curved. However, they fail to point out that some of these countries have larger human populations than some in the "developed" world, but actually consume less. So what does that say about the developed world?

I think this whole issue of the dispersion of power relates to my project because it might give me more insight into how I might mentally conceive of or envision countries in Africa, and Ghana specifically. I have been consuming the Western rhetoric we are all fed throughout our lives through school and the media. How has this affected the way I view inhabitants of the "third world?" Have I objectified the African people, or dehumanized them through some sort of "social imagination" about the way they exist? Have I thought about them as some intangible glob of people needing assistance or reform and failed to recognize them as individual human beings with the same capacity for thought, feeling, and action as myself and my American counterparts? I probably have been guilty of all of these things. However, as I increase my understanding of anthropology and development I am working towards erasing these negative habits, and attempting to view humans in the humanistic way they all deserve.

Kony Captivation

This last week I was extremely interested in the phenomenon of the Kony 2012 viral video that popped up on my Facebook and Pinterest repeatedly. I do not think an NGO has ever created quite a stir with a video campaign, and the wild spread and success of the video definitely creates new implications for development and the advertisement of social causes. For me this event showed highly positive and highly negative illuminations about contemporary social projects.

The Positive:

I think the Invisible Children organization is brilliant in its advertising. It realizes the power behind trending media in today's culture, especially among the younger generation. The video played right to America's current young adult mainstream of indie pop culture along with the empowering sense that we have the power to change the world. Heart wrenching scenes of Ugandan youth were slapped right next to scenes of hundreds of Toms-clad college students running around and yelling for change, led by the ultimate hipster/Non-profit manager himself, Jason Russel, which are overlayed with emotional alternative music form the likes of The Naked and Famous and Mumford and Sons.

Basically, the guys of IC knew how to capture the attention of America's youth and celebrities, and they did it with high success. And Facebook friends of mine who had never posted about an official social cause, probably in their life, were now a little bit more educated about one of the horrendous problems facing people in another part of the world, and felt excited to be apart of stopping these problems. So that right there is a plus - in a self-gratifying, ungrateful American culture, it is a plus to get kids excited about aiding other people's problems, especially other people not in their direct vicinity.

The Negative:

Some of the positives about the campaign video could also be looked at as negative. I have read several critiques of Russel's documentary being overly catered towards American youth and lacking a central focus on the actual Ugandan youth, as well as critiques of its seemingly Westernized, savior-like depiction of changing the world. However, that is subjective, and though I partially agree, there is a lot of gray area.

However, one scary thing this viral vid did make evident was the power behind a trending topic. I am almost positive most of the kids who shared that video did so as a knee-jerk reaction right after viewing it, and did not take the time to research IC, research the actual history of Joseph Kony, the LRA, and the US interference that has already occured, nor any other relevant information. No matter how innocent a cause or organization looks, this is vital. Because sharing a viral video like that, or contributing money, or whatever is not like donating to your local community service project. People who do this for Kony 2012 are now backing one viewpoint about Uganda, and one method of solving the problem in Uganda. Do those who shared the video realize that they are supporting Ugandan military intervention when they support IC, which has controversial implications? Do they realize that past attempts to stop or kill Kony have resulted in violent retaliation that has caused the death of hundreds of more people? Do they know that in the past year, IC used only about a third of their incoming funds on direct help to Africa, and that their financial accountability rating is presently a 2/4? I would guess a lot of American youth who shared this video on impulse do not.

Fundamentally, the loudest message that came across to me during the few days of viral spreading and media received by Kony 2012 is that if one has the means of producing a glossy, professional documentary/campaign video, complete with American pop culture tie-ins, they could probably get millions of hits and thousands of people to share there video, even if their organization in actuality was doing some pretty questionable things outside of the spotlight.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I felt this issue related somewhat to my project just because it is a contemporary event in social development - the field I am aiming to head into. It is interesting to see some of the Western views or limited global perspectives of Americans highlighted in a viral video - things I learn about everyday in class.

Here are a few of the links I found interesting while researching Kony 2012

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/taking-kony-2012-down-a-notch/

http://justiceinconflict.org/2012/03/07/kony-2012-the-invisible-children-advocacy-campaign-to-catch-kony/#more-2862

http://demandnothing.org/making-the-invisible-visible/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=making-the-invisible-visible

http://9gag.com/gag/3212157

The last one is just for laughs.

Methodological Possibilities

In both my field study prep class and my ethnographic methods class for anthropology, I have recently been really noticing the value behind different methodologies. When I first began to hear about methods in anthropology, I often felt skeptical about the practicality or usefulness. In the "hard" sciences methodologies such as experimentation or the use of numerical formulas are concrete, and it is fairly easy to see how these could be put to use to further a hypothesis. However, when one is doing research qualitatively, things are expected to have error, and to include guesswork. At first, I considered whether this could indicate inaccuracy or worthlessness. However, as my understanding of anthropology deepened, I realized qualitative work is, in fact, very valuable, and with the methods practices I have been doing this semester I have become even more solidified in this opinion. Questions or exercises patterned specifically to know better the human mind and human emotions are just as significant as the scientific experiments that can test biological samples.

For example, I have noticed that my methods practices have especially helped me to see how I can use informants to define specific aspects of their culture, and to map out where people place value. Since I will be unfamiliar with the culture I am studying, this is vital. When I practiced free-listing, pile sorting, and ranking methodologies, I asked a friend to list every type of education should could think of. This led to follow up questions about how she defined education, which was further specified when she sorted her list into categorical piles. Furthermore, when she ranked her list from most important to least, I was able to see where she placed value in a specific part of her society. Similarly, when I used scale inquiry on BYU campus to ask about gender roles and education, specifically through the scale question "It is more important for males to graduate from college than for females - strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree," I was able to infer social value through the answers my subjects gave.

I am beginning to see the possibilities a variety of methodologies hold for information gathering within the field. As Professor Hawkins has been emphasizing, sometimes even one observation, or a particular pattern from one question, or a specific reaction can already garner enough analysis-worthy subject matter for a large part of a senior thesis.