Assumption Busters

When I first arrived in Tanzania, I tried my best to leave, what another volunteer so adequately put as, my "cultural baggage" behind me. I gave it a good honest shot, trying to keep an open mind and remembering all that I had learned in the many books I read for my thesis. Needless to say, I still had a few cultural assumptions when I arrived here. Although it is embarrassing to admit them, I think that it is important to recognize them. One of our first lessons in the afternoon was about the culture here, and about our assumptions as westerners of the Africans, and about the Africans assumptions about westerners. Throughout my first two weeks, I have seen many of these assumptions fleshed out in a variety of episodes. Assumption #1- The African is not good at organization and lacks the skills to run a business. I never really thought about this assumption until I got here, and I realized that to some degree I had this idea engrained into me. I found myself surprised at how well run the program is and how organized and competent the staff is. Looking back, I should not have been surprised. They are just as capable as me of planning and running an organization. It is embarrassing to realize that I was operating under this assumption. I think that often Westerners blame the lack of development on the lack of organization skills, dedication, or experience in planning. After two weeks of living here I can truly say that this assumption is not true. The cultural differences that may attribute to this assumption are that nothing operates in a structured fashion in respect to time and that most people are not as educated. For example, today we had a meeting with all the women in Kiwodea. We arrived at 2 pm, the time for the meeting to begin, sweating a bit because we arrived 5 minutes late. We forgot one important thing- this is Africa, baby! We operate on TFT! Tanzania flexible time! By the time that the van arrived to pick us up at 3:15, 8 women of 25 had trickled in and the meeting was about to start. While this would be completely unacceptable back at home, everything operates like this here. The meeting will happen, the business will be taken care of, but talking with the members and being late because your family needs you takes precedence and needs no explanation. Secondly, most of the organizations are run by people with little classical education. They are simply people who want to help their community in some way. I met a woman today who ran an orphanage in her own home, which meant that she had 10 orphans living with her in addition to her own 6 children. There was no organized activities, meals, or sleeping arrangements for these children. While this may not constitute as an organization back at home, this woman, with no more than an 8th grade education, is helping her community. Assumption #2- White people have all the answers, especially in the business realm. I found this one out on day one, when we were asked for money for the dying pigs. Then again when we were told to teach on the spot. We are traveling to different businesses around the community and at every place we are greeted with complete enthusiasm and gratitude, as if by simply being there they will sell a few more chickens the next day. Each woman explains her business, raising 10 chickens or selling 4 cups of hot tea a day, and then they look to us. The first question is always asking for money, the sting of which will not fade. I know that the answer is not giving them money, even if only 5 dollars to buy 5 more chicks, but it is the hardest thing not to hand them a bill. Then they look to us to fine tune their business. We give them as much advice as we can possible come up with and then leave. The women always invite us into their homes and introduce us to their families as royalty, an answer to their prayers. Surely now their business will flourish, with just a bit of advice from the mzungus and a little money to help them through the week. We are being asked all over the place to give business seminars on how to run small businesses. This is where I feel totally lost, as I have no experience with running a business, regardless of a business in Tanzania that is focused around subsistence living. Instead we try offering new advertising techniques and tips on how to save money. But the rub is this- how do you encourage a woman to save when there is not an extra penny around and all of the money is spent on food and bills? These are just two of the new cultural assumptions I am learning about through my time here. Although they are difficult, especially the latter, I am still grateful for learning them and recognizing them in myself and in those around me.