In this assignment we were to give our response to the following:
Scenario
A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the
infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the
surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries
willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors
of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the
final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your
host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you
might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to
one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to
take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture –
(Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).
The three items that I would take with me include:
My Bible – This represent the foundation of my Faith
My Folklore “Medicine Chest”- This is a symbol of some of the
traditional medicines the have been used for some sickness in our family
My CD-On this CD is a mixture of folksongs, songs of
celebration for our independence, religious music and poetry of THE HON. LOUISE BENNETT-COVERLEY O.M. O.J. M.B.E. DIP R.A.D.A., D.
LITT (HON), cultural icon and JAMAICA 'S FIRST
LADY OF COMEDY.
The Bible is the first item that I have chosen because it represents
the foundation of my family culture. It is our motivation for every situation
in life. In our Bible too we have photos of our family members situated at
different places in the Bible with a promise for each person. We would also
need the Bible to anchor and support our family worship which is the first and
foremost family ritual/ custom that has been keeping us together. Christian (2006, p.19) knows this is true when
she cites (Fingerman &Berman 2000) in saying that “rituals and customs often
keep a family together during times of change and stress” (p.19).We would need
our Bible to sustain us in our tragedy.
In my folklore “medicine chest,” one would find packets of
Cerrase tea, Fever grass tea, charcoal powder, Ginger tea packets and a tincture
of garlic in coconut oil. All of these items are samples of what we use as
basic remedies for illnesses at home. In our culture, we are taught how to use
the items I have outlined to relieve gas pains, diarrhea, insect bites/stings
and fever among other ailments. Therefore, in a new environment I would want my
family to have access to these items in case of an emergency.
The third item is my CD. As I have explained before this CD
has some invaluable items that help us to stay connected to our roots as
Caribbean people and since I will not be living in my country again, this memorabilia
would be important to us to keep forever.
As I continue to explain these items, I would hope that my
host country would understand their importance and significance to our “way of
life,” our “sense of identity” and to the “nest of things” that we would
actually like to keep that would be “familiar” to us to give us a “sense of
connectedness” to our home culture as we seek, as a family, to rebuild our
lives from this devastation (Laureate Education, 2011).
However, since I am asked to choose only one item to keep, I
know that I will choose my Bible. My Bible represents the means through which
we as a family communicate to our Creator, and connect to our fellow human
beings on earth and even though this may not be acceptable in another culture,
I would hope that my host country would understand my need to take my Bible
with me.
As a result of this
exercise once again I have learnt that acceptance, respect and an awareness of
the value of another person’s culture is very vital to understanding who they
are and these will certainly help to
nourish and build stable relationships in a world that is growing more and more
diverse. Louise Derma-Sparks & Julie Olsen Edwards (2010 p.55) sustain this
idea when they state that “in a society as diverse as ours, maneuvering through
its multiple cultures can be complex and confusing, as well as rich and
delightful” (p.55).Therefore, the more we value the richness of each other’s culture
the better we will be able as professionals to embrace the many cultural
experiences in our classrooms.
References
Christian, L. G. (2006).
Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to early childhood
practice.
Young Children, 61(1), 12–20. Retrieved from:
Derman-Sparks, L., &
Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves.
Washington,
DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Family
cultures: dynamic interactions
[video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3398176_1%26url%3D
Like you I take my religion very serious and with out a doubt take my family Bible. I never even considered taking music. I would have to give that a thought as well because while I do like so gospel groups I also listen to other music genres as well. All music ties back to culture.
ReplyDeleteThank you Quandra for visiting my blog. Listening to the music from my culture has certainly helped me to reconnect to my roots in times of nostalgia.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading.
Sharon
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteI see we both stated that we will take our bible. Religion is important to me as well and this is a must have.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Sonia.Our faith in God is still our sustaining force.Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteSharon.