Another teacher - I had spent the night in her thatched mud house. The smell of thatch and cow dung made me miss my grandmother. In the morning we set out to be introduced to the local chief because we were about to start a community project in the village. When we got there, I decided to be her follower, literally and figuratively. She greeted the Council of Elders with a short praise, no handshakes, she used their clan names, and she looked down when she addressed them. We were then invited to a meeting place, there were enough chairs for the men and none for us to sit on. I got the message real quick - the women were expected to sit on the ground. I did that happily. After being introduced, I explained the nature of the project, I did the same thing, I did not look the men in the eye. In the middle of my presentation, one of the men got up and handed me his chair. I thanked him but said I was okay on the ground. In my head I thought how do I now sit on a chair and leave other women sitting on the ground. The meeting went very well, and we got their support. After the meeting they are the ones who came to greet me with handshakes, direct eye contact, and they asked about my background, where I am from etc. In subsequent meetings, they always brought enough chairs for the women.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 04:03:37 +0000
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