culture comparisons – GW Blogs from Abroad

Race in Salvador

AdminOctober 13, 2014December 14, 2018

The theme of my abroad program is Public Health, Race, and Human Rights. The past three weeks, we have spent a lot of time grappling with the idea of race, of how we identify ourselves, and of how that dictates our interactions with people in Bahia. One of the biggest challenges that I have had to work through is that in Brazil, race is defined as being phenotypical- people are classified and also choose to identify by the color of their skin. Brazil is a country where the majority of the population is Black. Before arriving, I knew that many people were of African descent and that Brazil had the highest concentration of Africans outside of Africa, but I did not know that this group made up a majority of the country- 97 million people to be exact. In Salvador specifically, 82% of people identify as “not white” according to the most recent census, meaning they either identify as being Preto (Black) or as Pardo (mixed race).

In Brazil, although Afro Brazilians are the majority, discrimination and inequality are prevalent. Race and social class are extremely intertwined in Brazil and the lower socioeconomic classes are made up predominantly of Afro Brazilians. Many advances have been made in the fight for equal rights for all Brazilians, but there is still a ways to go. Because of the connection between race and social class, the lighter your skin is, the more privileged you are perceived to be. The background of students on my program is extremely diverse: African American, Hispanic, White, Sri Lankan, and Indian. What we have learned in our 3 weeks here is that our different skin tones have, whether we want them to or not, places us into very specific racial categories here in Brazil. The racial makeup of Salvador especially has made us all very aware of the color of our skin. If I am just walking down the street or on the bus, my dark hair and facial features allow me to pass as a Brazilian. The interesting thing, however, is that because of my lighter complexion, I pass as a white Brazilian. Being classified by Afro Brazilians into a minority group of elite in Salvador can be a bit weird; my identity in Brazil is no longer tied to being Mexican American like it is in the US, but to having light skin and the privilege that gives me here.

Our academic director, after debriefing our first three weeks here, asked us a question: “Did you come to Brazil to fix something, or did you come to let Brazil shape you?” The Brazilian concept of race and identity reveals a lot about the history of the country: it shows the legacy that over 350 years of slavery has left, it shows how the Black movement has some uphill battles ahead, and it shows that the stereotypical images that most people have of Brazil- of football, Carnival, and happy people on beaches- is not the reality for the majority of people in Brazil. In order to get the most out of my time here, I need to set aside my own world view and preconceptions and understand the lenses through which Brazilians, especially Afro Brazilians, see the world. When I begin my research into health care systems, conduct interviews, and interact with people who have been marginalized in Salvador, I need to be sensitive of how race plays a very real factor in the kind and quality of access to healthcare people have. Instead of being uncomfortable with how Bahianos may initially view me because of my own skin color, I need to allow Bahia and its people to teach me things about myself. I need to embrace cultural differences and use this time to open my eyes even more to the world around me. My hope is that through my time in Bahia, I will gain a new understanding of my own identity and be exposed to questions that I have not yet had to wrestle with in the US. I hope to get a new perspective on the struggles that people who face inequality and racism confront every day. Brazil still has much to teach me, and I am open to learning. I am ready to let Brazil shape me in a way that only Brazil can. Three weeks down, twelve more to go, and I can’t wait for what they have in store.

Pursuing Solidarity

AdminOctober 8, 2014

Peace UN — Trip to the United Nations Headquarters: This quotes resonates because it highlights one of the greatest challenges of our society: overspending on armaments significantly decreases the access to resources by those who require the most access.

From the last post until now, I have traveled over 6,500 miles from Sugar Land to New York City to Santiago, Chile. Words cannot fully describe the magnitude of this experience. I will try my best to convey how my travels have shaped my understanding on human rights as well as shed light on my evolving approach on comprehending power imbalances and violations of rights.

We began our program in New York City, questioning if and to what extent universal human rights exist. Is it true that universal values are shaped the forces of globalization or do specific cultures maintain their own rights? It is too early for me to answer this question as my comprehension of this idea changes with each formative conversation, lecture, and site visit. While it is difficult to pinpoint which human rights are global, I have quickly realized that global oppression of rights is in fact similar, blatantly visible and unfortunately prevalent. Even though the protection of rights may take varying forms, its denial is undoubtedly felt around the world.

One of our stops in New York City was the UN Headquarters. It is rather naïve to say that as a world we have achieved all of the Millennium Development Goals. However, it is more appropriate to realize that we have become significantly more aware that systematic inequalities persist. The actions of developed actions disproportionately affect the livelihoods of other citizens. Solidarity is a key to identifying the mistakes of the past and present and helping redirect energy, resources, and human capital to restructure, rebuild and restore the rights of people around the world.

museo-de-la-memoria-chile-13 — Museo de la Memoria y Los Derechos Humanos-"Museum of Memory and Human Rights-Coming to this museum was the one of the most pivotal moments of this trip. It allowed me to reconsider the consequences of human suffering in the political transition of Chile.

Moreover, in Santiago, pursuing solidarity has manifested in the form a catalyst for connectivity. One of the biggest fears after the atrocious human rights violations in Chile from the 1973 coup d’état to the reconciliation that continues today is allowing those who were victimized by their respective governments to not be voiceless. We traveled to Casa de Memoria (House of Memory) to see with actual atrocities from the war were committed—excessive torture, disappearance of citizens, and indiscriminate killing of loved ones. The site presented an eerie image of the realities of the war. The damage had been done from the past decades and all we could do was join in a solemn silence with them. Nevertheless, it was this solemnity and solidarity that reinforced our commitment to being a part of the reconciliation process.

In summary, I wish to conclude with thought from one of our speakers on access to education as a way to address systematic inequality. He boldly articulated, “revolution is not only one day; it is a process. There is no day after the revolution, rather it is a life long struggle.” Similarly, solidarity is not a stoic recognition of human rights, rather it is also a struggle that motivates those who pursue it to rise to action and take charge of situations of injustice. Solidarity is an empathetic understanding, a cross-cultural dialogue, and a continually evolving strategy guided towards betterment.

Verdad y Justicia: "Truth and Justice-This engraving is located at the front of the entrance of Casa de Memoria, which is one of the sites of the torture and atrocious human rights violations during and after the Pinochet Era."

We must be aware and cognizant of our historical struggle and be mature in our belief that our collective consciousness is the precursor to our collective action as human rights activists. Solidarity, thus, identifies and understands oppression of human rights as a means to achieve and actualize these rights.

Donde Estan: "Where are they? This statement poses an important question to the leaders of the military coup. It challenges the ability of those in power to hold them accountable and fully cognizant of their actions."

Thanks for reading, and I will share more thoughts soon!

How life differs from what I consider normal: DC to Buenos Aires

AdminOctober 1, 2014December 14, 2018

By anuhyabobba

My primary motivation for study abroad was to understand how life differed from what I considered normal. In many ways more than one, Buenos Aires contrasts my lifestyle back in DC and here are a few ways in which it does:

1) In DC, I often find myself speed walking it to place to place, even when I am not in a rush. I have this sense of hurry that is attached to all that I do. In Buenos Aires, a part of the adjustment process was learning how to slow down. Yes, time is a limited resource, but I did not see it being enjoyed when you use it in a context of constantly having to be preoccupied or busy. Buenos Aires has been teaching how to relax and as cheesy as it sounds, how to take each moment at a time rather than needing to rush through it all.

2) A second major difference I have noticed between life in DC and life in Buenos Aires is in the classroom realm. I learn about Latin American politics in courses at GW and while they have provided me immense context to what I further expand upon here, it is an ultimately new experience to hear Latin American history through the perspective of a person from here and also more generally in the region itself. For example, one of my professors' family had to move out Argentina during the Dirty War because they were at the risk of being considered political dissidents in the eyes of the state and would have been harmed soon after. Studying abroad really does expand beyond the "single story" we often are taught by and provides many new perspectives we may miss otherwise to this story.

3) My program is structured in a way where all the students live in home stays. Without a gathering spot like the library or a dorm room, it proves to be difficult to make plans and meet up often times. While that does not mean it is impossible to be done, it does mean that in a lot of my adventuring, I have to take that initiative and head out on my own. This is a lot different from my life in DC, because I always am dependent on having company to make an experience. So when it is harder to gain that company because we are spread out through the city and spontaneous adventuring proves hard to execute, I am learning to deeply value my independence, which has been a quality I take for granted a lot.

4) Of course, a major contrast is the language barrier. Having learned French only throughout most of my life, it was difficult to get by in the beginning. But as soon as classes started, I picked up Spanish very quickly. I was so shy to try out what I had been learning in the start, but now I just go for it. If I mess up, I mess up. I have gained a lot of confidence in my ability to learn and improve here, it makes me grateful. Learning language back in the States lacks only one component, which is the opportunity to practice the language everyday after leaving the classroom. I have that opportunity here, and I am happy to say that I am making the most out of it.

Namibia

AdminSeptember 19, 2014

I’ll be honest in saying that in going abroad, I knew little about South Africa itself. I knew even less about other countries in Africa. The fact is, I learned most of what I know now through research directly before leaving, being an avid news-reader, and by being here and just listening to people talk. In light of this, by the end of my first couple months in South Africa I grew more and more aware of its neighboring countries- their quirks, stereotypes, politicians, former colonizers, and economic statuses. One of these countries is Namibia.

Namibia borders South Africa to the north-west and used to be named South-West Africa. It was originally colonized by the Germans who retained it until the end of WWI. After this, the League of Nations gave the territory of Namibia over to South Africa, who at the time were practicing apartheid policies. With the transition of land rights came sweeping reforms to life in Namibia.

Namibia is super small, population-wise, however large by land. It has a population of 2.1 million, yet is about the size of Venezuela. Though colonized by the Germans, the white population is only about 6.4% of the population. The black population is split by tribe between the Herero, Himba, Ovambo and Damara. The differences between the tribes was a unique part of apartheids influence specifically in Namibia. As opposed to in South Africa where black was just black, in Namibia ethnicity was split among the black population as well. When the Group Areas Act separated ethnic groups into designated locations, they split the blacks by their tribes as well. This was clever, for lack of a better word, of the leaders of apartheid, as they gave slightly different living standards to each tribe. This pitted tribes against one another, as some were given shacks with no water, while living across from another tribe given a stone one story building for a family home. In this way, tension was created between the black ethnic groups, which drew away attention from the whites living in standards incomparable to blacks and coloureds. White people lived in town, in houses resembling those once seen in West Germany.

Much like South Africa, the divisions of apartheid have remained mostly unchanged geographically and economically. Although laws do not prevent the movement of people “into town” as they say in Swakopmund, or rather just out of the township, it is silly to use that as proof that the system of apartheid is entirely over. The townships are literally entirely black/coloured, whereas in anything resembling a middle-class neighborhood it’s almost entirely white. There is little chance for mobility after generations of people growing up in extreme poverty as if even water and bread are hard to bring home, and if even building a shack on land costs you rent, you will never be able to move upwards. Namibia has a program going on that is similar to South Africa- building nicer and more stable homes in township areas- it does little to address the problem as rent is then that much more for that specific new home due to its higher quality. To avoid the rent, many move onto land and illegally live there in shacks until the government kicks them off.

This being stated, there are noticeably better race relations in Namibia vs. South Africa. Our first culture shock in traveling there was at a gas station- seeing a white man and black woman, middle aged, carrying their coloured child. I could not tell you the last time I saw a mixed race couple in South Africa, and it was rare enough that both my roommate and I stood in shock of what we were seeing after living in South Africa for 8 months. The shocks kept coming as in restaurants, coffee houses, clubs, and malls- we saw black and white hanging out like it aint’ no thang. Had I come straight to Namibia from the States I would have never given these scenarios a second glance, but I suppose after 8 months in a country still highly self-segregating, I forgot what it was like to live not side-by-side, but intermixed among races.

While in Namibia, I went to both Swakopmund and Windhoek. Swakopmund is a small coastal town that is “predominantly” German-speaking, at least in the town, but predominantly Bantu-speaking everywhere else. Though the town itself is chilly and cold, it is surrounded by hot desert. Windhoek, on the other hand, is the capital and more inland- meaning a good ten degrees hotter. The other major cities are Oshakati and Walvis Bay. Namibia is incredibly eco-friendly- as water is a precious commodity and much of their tourism comes from nature-related activities.

The most touchy issue in Namibia is the mines. Mining is Namibia’s largest business, whether it be uranium, diamonds, or copper- providing 25% of its GDP. But mining isn’t just a business in Africa. It’s politics, its health-care, it’s employment, its…everything. For example, all fresh water in the area of Swakopmund is first used by the mines- as they can only use fresh water, and then is recycled for drinking water for the population. This means a lot of chlorine in the water, which makes a noticeable difference. On the other hand, the mines also employ a lot of the population and pay for a lot of the infrastructure development going on in the country. Volumes could be written about the effects of mining in Africa but I’ll leave it at being a touchy issue.

Ultimately, Namibia has a lot in common with South Africa, and was an interesting place to visit and a nice break from my studies. Certainly worth the 54 hours in transit!