Culture: the good, the bad, the unusual…
Culture can be a very nebulous term. To be honest, I don’t really know how I would define it myself. But, being as invasive a creature as it is, I feel it, and over the past weeks I have had both good, bad and unusual experiences with it…
The good…
The weekend before last was packed with culturally positive experiences when I h
ad the pleasure of visiting Mongu in Zambia’s Western Province to attend the Kuomboka Ceremony. Koumboka, which means ‘to get out of water’, is a Lozi ceremony where the Litunga (Lozi King, head of the Royalty of the Barotseland) leaves his palace in the flood plains and leads his people to higher ground. The ceremony only takes place in those years in which there is enough rain to flood the plains of the Upper Zambezi River, so, although I hate to say it, I was lucky that this year we had a particularly heavy rainy season.
The ride there took us through Kafue National Park, where we passed a big ol’ elephant hanging out in the late afternoon sun by the side of the road. His proximity made Dominic, a Zambian I was traveling with, quite nervous, but he was so magnificent I would have been pleased to have him wander right up to my window. The landscapes we passed were beautiful, especially the pink grasses near Mongu that burned an unbelievably brilliant pink from within the bush as the setting sun shone down on them. And of course, there was plenty of people watching to be done, from far and near, including swarms of young girls at my window with bundles of cassava and sweet potato trying their best to make an unlikely sale. Anyway, back to culture...
The next morning, long canoe-like motorboats leave the port in Mongu and travel for about an hour through the Bulozi flood plains – it’s a beautiful ride and a very unusual experience to zip through grassy fields in a boat, passing ‘islands’ of huts, people, cattle… Upon reaching the island where the Litunga ‘lives’ (these days he resides in Lusaka and only spends a short time in his native Barotseland) we stood around for a while with the crowd of locals and tourists from around the world and admired the traditional Lozi outfits (men wear skirts and bright red cotton hats that look like shower caps) while we waited for the King to emerge. I had a good spot where I figured I would get to watch him pass, accompanied by the Vice President, but as they emerged the cr
owds swarmed them and I was swallowed up in a mass of people moving towards his boat, the Nalikwanda. He boarded his boat, which is adorned with a big elephant that looks like it was made out of garbage bags, along with a host of paddlers dressed in animal skin skirts, and headed down through the plains. Luckily, they moved at a snail’s pace so we had time to race back and have lunch before we headed out to the ‘high ground’ of Limalunga. Unfortunately, the banks were so packed with onlookers that it was difficult to see much more than the big plastic elephant. Luckily a friend hoisted me up as the Litunga exited the boat so I could see him make his way to shore, donning his traditional British regalia, complete with feather-plumed hat, making it clear how much colonial influence remains after 41 years of independence.
The bad…
While ceremonies such as Kuomboka and Nc’wala are showcases of the charm of traditional Zambian culture, there are many other sides to culture here that are not as alluring. A discussion about HIV with an Irish doctor who gave me a lift to Mongu led us to analyze those aspects of culture that are contributing to the pandemic. Certainly, the culture of heavy drinking in Zambia, which is very socially acceptable, doesn’t do much to encourage abstinence or safe sex. Nor does the fact that extra-marital affairs are another socially accepted everyday occurrence. For men, that is – women of course can be taken to court for adultery. Similarly, there is a strong belief that the audacity of women who have begun wearing ‘miniskirts’ (anything above the knee) in Zambia is a direct cause of HIV transmission. Why restrict men drinking alcohol when you could ban women from wearing certain clothes (which has been proposed as a change to the constitution)? Indeed, it is disheartening how the position of women in Zambian culture affects their ability to protect themselves and others from contracting HIV. Everything from their ability to access or succeed in education, to the opportunities they have to escape poverty, to their responsibilities in the home, to the pressures and expectations of their communities, affects the ability women have to negotiate sex. It was a discussion that reminded of the importance of considering gender in the HIV work I am doing here, as its bleak relationship to both the causes and consequences of HIV is an inescapable reality
The dilemma with ‘the bad’ (which goes beyond what I have just described, but I don’t wish to dwell) relates to the sanctity of culture - while expats, especially development workers, are quick to praise and celebrate the positive aspects of culture, we avoid (openly) criticizing negative cultural practices altogether. In an effort to avoid repeating our colonial, we seem to see culture as sacred and worth preserving even when it is having a negative impact on large sections of the population. I myself struggle with how much respect I should have for culture, and how much right I have to try and ‘fix’ a culture that is not mine…
The unusual…
There are plenty of unusual cultural practices in Zambia. The problem is, as the days pass I have become accustomed to things (“I am used”, as they say here) and they have stopped seeming unusual! In fact, there’s not much at all that seems unusual anymore… Off the top of my head, one thing I discovered last week was that children are traditionally considered ready to go to school when they can reach over their head and touch their other ear! I’m still not sure what the fate of those with short arms or big heads is…
I’m not sure I’ve made much headway in terms of my discussion on culture, but hopefully the fact that it continually amazes and perplexes me is clear!
The good…
The weekend before last was packed with culturally positive experiences when I h
ad the pleasure of visiting Mongu in Zambia’s Western Province to attend the Kuomboka Ceremony. Koumboka, which means ‘to get out of water’, is a Lozi ceremony where the Litunga (Lozi King, head of the Royalty of the Barotseland) leaves his palace in the flood plains and leads his people to higher ground. The ceremony only takes place in those years in which there is enough rain to flood the plains of the Upper Zambezi River, so, although I hate to say it, I was lucky that this year we had a particularly heavy rainy season.The ride there took us through Kafue National Park, where we passed a big ol’ elephant hanging out in the late afternoon sun by the side of the road. His proximity made Dominic, a Zambian I was traveling with, quite nervous, but he was so magnificent I would have been pleased to have him wander right up to my window. The landscapes we passed were beautiful, especially the pink grasses near Mongu that burned an unbelievably brilliant pink from within the bush as the setting sun shone down on them. And of course, there was plenty of people watching to be done, from far and near, including swarms of young girls at my window with bundles of cassava and sweet potato trying their best to make an unlikely sale. Anyway, back to culture...
The next morning, long canoe-like motorboats leave the port in Mongu and travel for about an hour through the Bulozi flood plains – it’s a beautiful ride and a very unusual experience to zip through grassy fields in a boat, passing ‘islands’ of huts, people, cattle… Upon reaching the island where the Litunga ‘lives’ (these days he resides in Lusaka and only spends a short time in his native Barotseland) we stood around for a while with the crowd of locals and tourists from around the world and admired the traditional Lozi outfits (men wear skirts and bright red cotton hats that look like shower caps) while we waited for the King to emerge. I had a good spot where I figured I would get to watch him pass, accompanied by the Vice President, but as they emerged the cr
owds swarmed them and I was swallowed up in a mass of people moving towards his boat, the Nalikwanda. He boarded his boat, which is adorned with a big elephant that looks like it was made out of garbage bags, along with a host of paddlers dressed in animal skin skirts, and headed down through the plains. Luckily, they moved at a snail’s pace so we had time to race back and have lunch before we headed out to the ‘high ground’ of Limalunga. Unfortunately, the banks were so packed with onlookers that it was difficult to see much more than the big plastic elephant. Luckily a friend hoisted me up as the Litunga exited the boat so I could see him make his way to shore, donning his traditional British regalia, complete with feather-plumed hat, making it clear how much colonial influence remains after 41 years of independence.The bad…
While ceremonies such as Kuomboka and Nc’wala are showcases of the charm of traditional Zambian culture, there are many other sides to culture here that are not as alluring. A discussion about HIV with an Irish doctor who gave me a lift to Mongu led us to analyze those aspects of culture that are contributing to the pandemic. Certainly, the culture of heavy drinking in Zambia, which is very socially acceptable, doesn’t do much to encourage abstinence or safe sex. Nor does the fact that extra-marital affairs are another socially accepted everyday occurrence. For men, that is – women of course can be taken to court for adultery. Similarly, there is a strong belief that the audacity of women who have begun wearing ‘miniskirts’ (anything above the knee) in Zambia is a direct cause of HIV transmission. Why restrict men drinking alcohol when you could ban women from wearing certain clothes (which has been proposed as a change to the constitution)? Indeed, it is disheartening how the position of women in Zambian culture affects their ability to protect themselves and others from contracting HIV. Everything from their ability to access or succeed in education, to the opportunities they have to escape poverty, to their responsibilities in the home, to the pressures and expectations of their communities, affects the ability women have to negotiate sex. It was a discussion that reminded of the importance of considering gender in the HIV work I am doing here, as its bleak relationship to both the causes and consequences of HIV is an inescapable reality
The dilemma with ‘the bad’ (which goes beyond what I have just described, but I don’t wish to dwell) relates to the sanctity of culture - while expats, especially development workers, are quick to praise and celebrate the positive aspects of culture, we avoid (openly) criticizing negative cultural practices altogether. In an effort to avoid repeating our colonial, we seem to see culture as sacred and worth preserving even when it is having a negative impact on large sections of the population. I myself struggle with how much respect I should have for culture, and how much right I have to try and ‘fix’ a culture that is not mine…
The unusual…
There are plenty of unusual cultural practices in Zambia. The problem is, as the days pass I have become accustomed to things (“I am used”, as they say here) and they have stopped seeming unusual! In fact, there’s not much at all that seems unusual anymore… Off the top of my head, one thing I discovered last week was that children are traditionally considered ready to go to school when they can reach over their head and touch their other ear! I’m still not sure what the fate of those with short arms or big heads is…
I’m not sure I’ve made much headway in terms of my discussion on culture, but hopefully the fact that it continually amazes and perplexes me is clear!
posted by ash at 9:49 AM
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