African Friends and Money Matters, Second Edition. David E. Maranz

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Название African Friends and Money Matters, Second Edition
Автор произведения David E. Maranz
Жанр Культурология
Серия
Издательство Культурология
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781556713644



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target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#ulink_a39bec72-b571-5fb8-87ac-3a624ab533aa">88 De Jong 2007.

      Some expat women working in Africa have found it to be a man’s world. When they occupy positions of authority, it is common for some African men to resent them. In such cases it is prudent for a woman to not insist that men respect her rights, authority, or equality, if she wants to build productive relationships. One Western woman describes her experience:

      89 Haibucher 1999a.

      Not all Western women have the humility to put smooth relations above what they perceive of as their rights. This example from real life shows that it is more productive to value the project’s success rather than trying to change African culture.

      90 Mani 2010.

      91 Richmond and Gestrin 1998:43.

      2

      Everyday Africa

      Introduction

      The best medicine for a person is another person.

      92 Shawyer 2009:78.

      Africans are social. It would be hard to overemphasize this fact. They believe and practice interdependence, and strongly dislike acting independently. Interdependence means depending on others, being in relationship with wide webs of kinship and friendship. In many African languages there are proverbs which emphasize the importance—even the centrality to life—of relationships with fellow humans. In South Africa the Zulu say, Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. This means that only through others can a person become complete. Humans cannot live fully except through interacting with their fellows.

      93 Sylla 1978:107–108.

      Theologian David Bosch comments on this philosophy of man as follows:

      94 Bosch 2001:96.

      The topics presented in this chapter at their core involve personal relationships. African everyday customs are centered on people. Western culture could be described as centered on things and technology much more than is the case in Africa. Even the new phenomenon of social media uses “things” as a means to interact with friends and business associates. Instead of direct human-to-human contact, technology acts as a buffer, minimizing the normal give-and-take of personal interaction. In contrast, African societies developed human relationships to an amazing complexity. Although this discussion will not elaborate on the topics, African societies were and are complex in countless ways: involving clans, polygyny, totems, taboos, relations with ancestors, gods and spirits, society in hierarchies, secret societies, and castes in many ethnic groups—the list could be expanded almost ad infinitum. Of course, modern Africans use and rely on technology and machines, for example, in transportation, and more recently in the wide use of cell phones. Still, a case can be made that “technology” has been less important in Africa than in the West, while people and their relationships have been, and still are, of utmost importance.

      95 Sylla 1978:164.

      Friendliness

      There is no one-way friendship

      96 Bryan 1999.

      I have felt welcome wherever I have traveled in Africa. I do remember an exception or two, when I happened upon men illegally engaged in cutting down a forest or other nefarious behavior. After having lived and worked in countries where a North American was not always well received, for example, where people threw rocks at those they did not want to have around, or being stopped by very unpleasant and threatening police, it was most reassuring to feel almost universally welcome.

      It is a common sight while driving along rural roads in Africa, to have adults and children wave while looking up from their endeavors, their gaze following your vehicle as it passes. I often wondered what was in their minds as they did this: Was it friendliness, or curiosity, or wonder at the spectacle, as common as it might be? I always attempted to wave back, but always felt a little hypocritical, knowing that nothing could come of this “friendship.”

      Nigel Barley, in his perceptive personal chronicle as a foreigner in Africa, describes the reaction of countless visitors: