Hi everyone reading my blog,
My name is Rhiannon Yanush and I am going into my fourth year of an Honours Specialization in Sociology at Western University. Before fourth year begins in September however, I am embarking on a three month internship in Mwanza, Tanzania and I am as excited for the adventure and possibilities as I am nervous for the unknown.
I am hesitant to write this blog because of the permanence of words and the possibility that I may publicly display my own (unknown) ignorance. That being said, I want to document the upcoming three months so that I can express my feelings and experiences somewhere other than in my head. My three month adventure to Mwanza, Tanzania is thanks to an amazing internship I applied for with Western Heads East. Alongside multiple other interns from Western University, we will spend three months collaborating with different organizations in Mwanza, Tanzania and engaging in an international learning experience. I will be hosted by the Saint Augustine University of Tanzania, working with Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization, and their efforts to create a balance in power dynamics in order to minimize gendered violence and its relationship to the spread of HIV/AIDS. We will be conducting a program evaluation of the SASA program (an anti-violence initiative). They are using the SASA empowerment model which looks at raising awareness, support and action. SASA is about rethinking power – it is a Kiswahili word meaning now – now is the time to prevent violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Before I leave for Mwanza, I want to acknowledge a few issues that have resonated with me throughout my pre-departure training. I want to create a base to illustrate where I am currently at and what my blog will be aiming to do. In pre-departure training we discussed many obstacles that come with being foreign in any culture, and we also discussed the problem of voluntourism. Voluntourism is very common in our Western society – I am sure many of you have participated in or seen voluntourism on a friend’s social media page. The issue I have with voluntourism (and I am very guilty of this i.e. 2010, 2012 high school trips to the Dominican Republic to build houses and ‘change the world’) is that although filled with good intentions, voluntourism brings to the table oppression and the Western ideology of the white man being the saviour. It is common to hear others speaking of how they are going to Africa (usually referred to as Africa as a whole, not the specific country or region) in order to help others. This idea of helping others brings with it ideas of white supremacy, Western ideas of modernity, and the degradation of the people of each specific country into Africans in need of saving. I do not want to put forward the idea that going internationally to help others is a bad thing – it really is grounded in good intentions. The issue is that when we do this, we create stereotypes and a single story to share with our friends via our stories and social media. For example, countless Instagram pictures of : i.e. girl playing with African children who are filled with immense happiness at being able to learn to read from a white tourist who is changing the world in just one week. As I said above, I have been completely guilty of this and I cringe at my high school view of myself as a saviour to poor communities.
For my upcoming internship, I want to keep all of this in mind. I am going to Mwanza, Tanzania to work with an established women’s group and to collaborate with them as well as learn from them and hopefully share my knowledge as well. I have a university background in Sociology and volunteer experience and interests related to issues of gendered violence and power dynamics. However, I only know a portion of what there is to know, and I know it from my own Canadian university experience. I want to be a part of this internship because the organization I am interning for interests me and relates to future career goals I have. I am also interested in learning more about other cultures and broadening my world view.
I recognize that I have privilege and that getting to go on this internship is not something everyone is able to do. I also recognize that during my stay in Mwanza, others will be aware of my privilege and I will easily be identified as an outsider. I want to use this self-awareness to be conscious of what I do and how I react to others/how they react to me. I am exceptionally excited about this experience because it isn’t something that happens every day, and I am so incredibly grateful that I am able to go.
There is a tumblr blog called gurlgoestoafrica.tumblr.com and it is a tongue in cheek satire which shows the ethnocentric views the Western world often brings to the table when speaking about Africa as a whole. As well, I read and I urge everyone to read a controversial yet important article “The Problem with Little White Girls” found at : http://pippabiddle.com/2014/02/18/the-problem-with-little-white-girls-and-boys/
“Be smart about traveling and strive to be informed and culturally aware. It’s only through an understanding of the problems communities are facing, and the continued development of skills within that community, that long-term solutions will be created.”
As well, in pre-departure training we watched a parody on voluntourism called:
If Volontourists Talked About North America:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8GZjZTZrWA
This video is hilarious because it really highlights the ridiculousness of some of our good intentions “I heard that obesity is really a problem in North America, so I’m thinking about teaching them Zumba for a few weeks, you know, really make a difference.”
And finally, I attached an excerpt from a Ted Talk on the Danger of a Single Story which emphasizes the ignorance associated with listening to and believing only one story/stereotype about a person, a culture, a country, a continent.
The Danger of a Single Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODzwb90b5qE
To conclude, I don’t want this blog to appear as if I think my trip to Tanzania is a bad idea – I really do think it is an incredible learning experience and opportunity, especially since I will be there for months and working in a field that I have passion for. I just want to bring to the table that I am nervous and apprehensive because of my own lack of knowledge about what to expect and how to behave without imposing myself on others. If at any point during this trip I find myself having a better than though attitude, I will work on unlearning it. The Earth is enormous, yet in the scope of the universe, it is largely insignificant. The same goes for me – as an individual I see myself, my values and my experiences as my whole world, yet in the scope of the billions of others living on this world with different values and experiences, mine are consequently insignificant. A major goal I have for this trip is to learn many stories, not just one consistently repeated stereotype. As well, my other goals for this internship are to work with my partners in Mwanza, Tanzania, particularly Kivulini, and collaborate to create the best possible outcome for the desired goals and needs of the projects we work on.
I found this little blurb on the gurlgoestoafrica blog and I want to conclude with it because I think it is important:
“Traveling is supposed to be finding out how truly insignificant you are. It’s supposed to be about discovering how little you know. In a foreign land, you are the ignorant one. And people will laugh at you for it. If you go as a tourist, do not be expected the same treatment as an invited guest, nor as a prodigal child. When you are the tourist, you are a visitor, uninvited, with no knowledge of the mores, and these people owe you no confidences. No matter how much you try to fit in.
If you want to make it about yourself, then make it about how you manage to love yourself despite knowing how worthless you are in the face of a very, very, large world, and how you manage to love others for making you see this truth.
Being a tourist, being able to visit countries abroad, being able to expand your horizons in this way… these are hallmarks of privilege. These are opportunities only certain people have, usually those with some power in the world that enables them to open these doors. And if you open these doors and breeze through them into rooms not your own, expecting everyone to simply accept you, then you really have a special flavour of ignorance that deserves to be mocked.”
I am leaving for the airport in a few hours (it’s currently Monday), and will be arriving in Mwanza on Wednesday morning.
-Rhiannon
#QEScholars
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