Namibia as a Pleasant Surprise on the African Continent
Tourists coming to Namibia often have a complete misperception of what
it is like here. Most tourists expect to be greeted by half-naked
savages, brandishing torches and knives and dancing about a campfire,
the women sitting and grinding maize, whilst the lions prowl around
the perimeter of the settlement. I have seen numerous people disembark
from luxury ocean liners in the port of Walvis Bay with looks of
absolute astonishment on their faces, as if they expected to be
ferried out on a rowboat on to a deserted beach. We are actually quite
civilized here, but it seems as if most of the rest of the world do
not realize it.
Namibia’s peaceful and fairly successful multi-ethnic society has
succeeded in maintaining a very stable economy in the twelve years
since independence. Economic development during this period has been
steadily positive since the bloodless and peaceful transition to
independence, standing in sharp contrast in this regard to many other
similar African countries. Freedom of press and speech also play an
important part in our society, and several successful newspapers and
one relatively successful television channel bear testimony to this.
Regrettably, it does happen that our media broadcasts the wrong
message to the audience locally and internationally. Often an image is
sent out of darkest Africa, of people living in poverty and dying of
diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis, and compounded by predictions
that Namibia could be heading the way of Zimbabwe in terms of land
redistribution and economic ruin. This is the main reason why tourists
often have this...
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...ralia has almost exactly the same weather patterns that we do, and
I told him so, but he only shrugged and changed the subject. I did
some research on the internet, and it seems to be a fact that hundreds
of people have already emigrated all over the world, to Australia,
Greece, Canada, America and the United Kingdom to name a few, and
hundreds more want to go. But it is also true that one out of every
five emigrants returns to Namibia, claiming to have been unable to
adapt. I think that they are just covering up for the fact that the
move had not quite reached their expectations, and they realized what
a mistake they had made. As far as I can see, there is absolutely no
reason to move from Namibia to anywhere else in the world, as we have
everything one could possibly want from a country, except maybe a
space program.
either be because they want to get away from the violence going on in their country, or because
In history, social norms have not been fully established.
Although the !Kung San of southern Africa differ greatly from the people in the west African nation of Mali, both areas share similar problems. Both suffer from diseases, illnesses, malnutrition, and having to adapt to the ever changing and advancing cultures around them. What I found to be the most significant problem that is shared between both areas is that the people suffered from a lack of education. In the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine A. Dettwyler, there is a lack of education in proper nutritional practices, taking care of children and newborns, and basic medical knowledge and practices. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi have recently started putting in schools to help children receive an education to help them have better success with the surrounding peoples and culture, but there is a lack of attendance in these schools. There are also many education issues in proper sexual practices that would help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS, in a place in the world were theses illnesses are at surprisingly high levels.
What does ‘civilized’ mean? What qualities would a civilized person possess? If you were to ask a group of people what they believed civilized meant, you would get varying opinions. There is debate as to whether or not the two main characters from “The Most Dangerous Game” are civilized or not. General Zaroff and Sanger Rainsford both have civilized and uncivilized qualities. I’m going to present the reasoning behind my choices.
Throughout the history of man. one can see many changes in customs, and customs is what defines our idea. of what is civilized. The word civilized is one of the most relative concepts. The.. Time and distance are what have shaped our customs for thousands of years.
Most cultures do not have a reason to believe that their fellow members are out to poison them with black magic. In fact, it can be assumed that even those cultures whom share such a belief do not have any reason to. It is, however, difficult to find an underlying unique factor that is shared by all cultures and that would drive a culture to hold that specific belief. Ruth Benedict is quite correct in her analysis of the differences between cultures. There are a few attributes of societies that are not based upon any widespread good code. There is no rule that expresses that ethical societies must submit to such a code, and that any society that does not will be not moral. There are some essential good codes that each society must comply with to survive, for example, the fundamental judgment of homicide (exemptions, for example, self-protection, aside) and the valuation of the youthful however as Benedict states, profound quality varies in every general public, and is a helpful term for socially sanction propensities." indeed, societies are just guided by extremely essential all inclusive good codes needed for survival. As a rule, silly murder is to be viewed as a negative activity that is impeding to the advancing of society. Along those same lines, it is basic that the youthful of the general public be watched over so
Society can be very diminishing and very hurtful. I say hurtful by the way many people criticize one another by the way we walk, talk, and act with others or even alone. As we grow older we fall into different categories such as community, religion, and the list goes on. In between all that there is certain norms and values to follow. There are certain types of norms and values we have to follow in our community to not get harassed. First, before I committed a norm violation and making an observation I had to be able to understand what values, norms, folkways, sanctions, and mores were. “Values are ideas of what is desirable in life. Values underlie our preferences, guide our choices, and indicate what we hold worthwhile in life” (Henslin,
had made the mistake of creating a way around it. It is now commonly referred
middle of paper ... ... This is because I am aware how society tries to control what should be seen as normal, but as humans we are all individuals and there is no 'norm' there is only an ideal self, how society would like everyone to be and conform. Works Cited Ferrell, J. (2004). Boredom, Crime and Criminology, Theoretical Criminology, 8 (3), pp. 287-302.
When I was first assigned this research paper on Voodoo, the first thing I thought of was Voodoo dolls, zombies, and evil magic. I think Voodoo is an evil religion which sacrifices humans as well as animals to demonic gods. I think it has been around for thousands of years, but is little left today. I believe that Voodoo is nothing but evil and the work of the devil. Voodoo originated in Western Africa by the Yoruba tribe. The Yoruba religion has about four hundred lesser gods called Orisa. This is not the actual Voodoo religion as we know it today, but plays an important role in it. Voodoo believes that the Grand Master or God rules over all things, but pays no attention to human affairs. This is why they believe in lower spirits or Loa to whom they worship and make sacrifices to(Belgum 14-28). When the slave trade started, people of the Yoruba tribe were captured and brought over as slaves. when the slaves arrived, they were baptized into the Catholic religion. The slaves continued to practice their native religion in secret which over time was mixed with Catholicism to create the Voodoo that we know today (Introduction 1). Over sixty-million people still continue to practice Voodoo worldwide (Vodun 1). The main center of Voodoo in the United States is New Orleans (3). About fifteen percent of New Orleans practices (Voodoo 1). The Voodoo religion contacts the spiritual worked Quite frequently. They believe that spirits help people in all that they do (Belgum 30-1). The Voodoo religion believes that true communion comes only through possession of the body by a Loa or spirit. Possession is very common during rituals for it is how the Loa give instructions to or help the people. They believe they get possessed for certain reasons. Such things as protection, cures from illness, or even to give warning to an individual or to the whole community of worshipers (Possession 1). When a person gets possessed, they show struggle moving and jumping around like crazy people. Then all of a sudden they go blank and motionless. They then come out of that trance a totally different person. While a person is possessed all bodily functions and gestures take the form of the Loa which possesses the body. While the Loa possesses the body it will often smoke, drink alcohol, and eat.
An Image of Africa Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad has been depicted as “among the half-dozen greatest short novels in the English language.” Chinua Achebe believes otherwise. In Chinua Achebe’s An Image of Africa: Racism is Conrad’s Heart of Darkness he simply states that, “Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist” [pg.5]. Achebe argues that the racist observed in the Heart of Darkness is expressed due to the western psychology or as Achebe states “desire,” this being to show Africa as an antithesis to Europe.
Your definition of normal depends on where you live or what kind of place you live in. Every culture around the world has set traditions and expectations that are considered to be normal. There are some tribes in Africa that still do traditional dances, ceremonies and religious practices that our American society deems as abnormal. In our country we are fortunate to have freedom for all, but in other countries those simple liberties are not given. In Yemen, women are not allowed to leave the house without permission from their husbands also in Saudi Arabia and Morocco female rape victims can be charged with crimes. I read an article about a Moroccan girl who committed suicide after a judge forced her to marry her rapist. In another case I read about, a young female adolescent who was sentenced by the court to receive ninety lashes for being in the same car with a man that she was not married to. Though how shocking...
powerful regimes were formed in Europe and China, since there was flat land bounded by rivers
An overwhelming majority of African nations has reclaimed their independence from their European mother countries. This did not stop the Europeans from leaving a permanent mark on the continent however. European colonialism has shaped modern-day Africa, a considerable amount for the worse, but also some for the better. Including these positive and negative effects, colonialism has also touched much of Africa’s history and culture especially in recent years.
Africa My Africa by David Diop is an excellent example of a post-colonialism piece of work. After researching the author of the poem, I thoroughly understood and enjoyed the text more than just reading it over, without knowing his personal biographical information. David Diop is an African poet, who was born in France. His parents are of the West African descent (Poets.org). Diop emphasizes the problems of Africa that were brought about by colonialism, and shares a message to Africans to bring about change and freedom through his poem, Africa My Africa. Colonialism is the political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power.