Razor Blades, Soap, and Cultural Differences

I thought I would begin the end of our blogging hiatus with a recent example of handling issues in a cross-cultural setting.

Before we left the United States, one of the BEST things we did was attend three weeks of cross-cultural training at MTI in Colorado.  We have many verses in our song of praise of MTI, and I won't sing them all here, but I will hum a few bars with regard to how they taught us to handle differences.  Here's a poster from one part of our training:

 
It says, "Remember:  We judge and interpret the behavior of others from our own frame of reference from what we think of as normal, natural, right, or good."  In other words, if you encounter something in your new culture that you think is abnormal, unnatural, wrong, or bad, you probably need to think again.

Here's an example fresh from this week.  Our oldest three kids (Jesse, Georgia, and Lucy) go to one of the local schools not far from the bottom of our hill.  Daily they encounter a stream of cultural differences as they are educated in a very different culture with often very different ideas of what is "good" education -- curriculum, discipline, recess, lunch fare, hygiene, even how to sharpen pencils.  Especially how to sharpen pencils.

So around the dinner table one night as we share our "highs and lows" of the day, Georgia casually mentions how one of her friends got cut by a razor blade while sharpening her pencil.  Umm...what was that?!  As the story unfolds, we learn that each table of kids is given one or two single-sided razor blades (they call them "surgical blades") to share throughout the term so they can sharpen their pencils.  Can you imagine how thrilled we were to hear that?  Our initial reaction:

• That's not normal!  That's not even smart!  That's so unsafe it's stupid!
• In fact, that's not even natural.  Here they spend so much time teaching the kids about safety, and they're handing out razor blades?
• That's just plain wrong.  What are they thinking?
• What a bad idea...what bad teachers!

We had a similar reaction when we heard that school doesn't provide soap for washing up after going for a "short call" or a "long call" (i.e. going to the latrine to...well, you figure it out).  That's stupid and unnatural, especially for an educational culture that puts so much emphasis on cleanliness (kids are disciplined for having fingernails dirty or too long, and their teeth are even checked each day).  And that's wrong and bad!  Think of all the hygienic complications!

Oh wait.  This is where we're supposed to stop and think again.  And we should do that before we go roaring off to the headmistress...again?  What was it we learned at MTI?

#1 says, "Expect difference as the starting point."  Ah, yes.  We cannot assume that we know what is going on here.  Not only are we hearing about it from a kid's perspective, but it's in a different culture!  It IS going to be different.  Let's begin with that acceptance.

#3 says, "Don't assume you understand familiar behaviors."  Oh.  We can't assume that we understand what is going on here with the regard to blades and soap.  We have our own theories (The blades are cheaper than sharpeners?  They only give lip-service to hygiene?), but...well, heck, they're not even theories, they're hypotheses.

#7 says, "Most people do behave rationally or legitimately."  Right.  They aren't crazy.  Especially at this school.  The headmistress consistently has demonstrated herself to be thoughtful, caring, and rational.

The other statements on this poster apply as well, but reoriented by even these reminders, the moms (Leslie and Wendy) drive down to meet with the headmistress to discuss these issues.  And, guess what?  There were rational, understandable reasons for what our kids were encountering!

Pencils in Uganda are of notoriously poor quality, and the quality has lessened even in the past year.  No pencil sharpener will sharpen them; the lead breaks every time.  For a while the school was being supplied with double-sided razor blades for teachers and kids to sharpen the pencils.  The headmistress made the wise decision to purchase single-sided blades instead so that pencils could be sharpened with greater safety.  She is already budgeting for next year to import pencils so that sharpeners can be used instead.

What about the soap?  Well, the school has been providing soap, but many of the kids in the school, particularly the younger ones, just aren't familiar with soap.  When they find it, they play with it!  They create puddles of suds, or throw it around, or toss it into the bushes.  Very few were actually using it, many were actually losing it.

Now, of course, we still have concerns about both of these issues.  We have to choose how to adapt in a way that cares for our kids (e.g. teach them how to use a one-sided razor blade properly, or instruct them to have a friend do it for them; send them to school with hand-sanitizer).  But we've shifted from labeling the situation (and the people involved) as abnormal, unnatural, stupid, wrong, and bad.  The situation actually makes sense -- when we stop judging from our own frame of reference and enter into the lives of the people we're called to love. 

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Now, just because it's been a while since we've blogged, here are a few photos for the fun of it:

Travis with the students he has been teaching since January 2011.

Jeremiah, son of one of our workers, cooling off during the hot dry season.

Julia Rose as THE cutest Cinderella servant girl (costume made by Grandma).

 

 

Micah and Jesse -- need I say more?

Gracious, our regular Saturday visitor, receiving a Christmas surprise of items he needs for boarding school.

Mallory, Wendy, Lucy, and Leslie during Advent 2011.

Georgia, Lucy, & Julia during our Christmas vacation.