Wednesday, April 4, 2012
My dog Egypt and I at the park
My name is Rashida Zalika Emondson and I am Afro-Caribean-American. Even though this is the case when you look at me I labeled as black, which Im fine with. Being Black makes me a minortiy here in the states which puts me in the position to have to learn about the majority and how they work in order to "earn my keep" here. What I mean by that is the majority in this country have the privilege to be oblivious or ignorant to the world around them, I on the other hand do not because it is a matter of survival. This is the sad truth when it comes to White privilege.
I love the fact that the group going to Ghana this year is so racially diversed. I believe we all will have a life changing experience while abroad if we don't forget to have an open mind and be willing to learn. Some of us are going home, others are on an exciting adventure, while others are trying to do community service. Even though our motives for going to Ghana are different I believe we will come back realizing the things that we have in common.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Standard of Living Analysis
Discuss what you think is the country’s standard of living—high, medium or low—and the reasons why the country has that specific standard of living focusing on the following 5 categories:
Ghana's standard of living is high compared to other African countries but when put up against other places in the world I would have to say it has a medium to low standard of living.
Ghana's standard of living is high compared to other African countries but when put up against other places in the world I would have to say it has a medium to low standard of living.
- Physical Geography. What is it about the physical geography of the country that creates advantages or disadvantages for people in the country? Think about climate, vegetation, landforms, bodies of water, and natural resources.
- Ghana being located on the coast is ideal for fishing, its tropical climate is good for farming which is a major source of income for its citizens.
- A disadvantage is the hot and humid weather which is favoble for maliria carrying mosquitos.
- Government System. What type of government runs the country and how effective is it? Is there corruption? What kinds of freedoms are present and/or lacking?
- Ghana is run in a democratic manner but there is some corruption.
- Wealth is unequal distributed among it's citizens and basic needs are not met for everyone.
- Economic System: How do people make money (what are sources of employment?). Average wages for different professions? What kind of economic system dominates the country? Does the country have a trade deficit or surplus?
- Major sources of income: Agriculture, industry, services
- Ghana has a capitalist system
- minimum wage- 3.7 Cedis a day...about $2
- Ghana is currently experiencing a trade deficit of -5.4%
- History. What has happened in the country’s past (distant and more recent) that impacted its current standard of living? Revolutions, wars, stability, conquest, technological advances, discoveries, etc.?
- Ghana's fairly recent independence from Britain is what impacting it standard of living.
- Colonialism is why Ghana is doing well for themselves they are still not there yet.
- Cultural Factors. What cultural factors affect the standard of living in the country? Things to consider: religion, cultural traditions, gender roles, class, food, music, and dance.
- Their cultural tradition of focusing on the group instead of the individual affects their standard of living.
- Relate the above to your project.
- In order to help students at AHS it is important to remember the tradition of it takes a village. By working together and focusing on the entire group getting ahead instead of just one golden child will ultimately make the difference.
THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN GHANA
Demographics
1. Population and profile (which age groups make up largest portion of society?)
Population: 25,241,998 (July 2012 est.)
Age Group Break Down:
0-14 years: 36.5% (male 4,568,273/female 4,468,939)
15-64 years: 60% (male 7,435,449/female 7,436,204)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 399,737/female 482,471) (2011 est.)
2. Birth and Death rate & life expectancy (include gender differences)
Birth Rate: 26.99 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)
Death Rate: 8.57 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)
3. Literacy rate (include gender differences)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.9%
male: 66.4%
female:49.8% (2000 census)
4. Top 2 major causes of death (general population)
Aids, Lack of health care
5. Major Exports and Imports
Exports: cocoa, timber, and gold
Imports: petroleum
6. Percentage of population below poverty line
28.5% (2007 est.)
7. Unemployment rate (urban versus rural, north versus south)
20%
8. Average educational attainment
total: 10 years
male: 11 years
female: 10 years (2009)
9. Typical House construction, size, and cost
cost 350,000
number of people in household 5.1
10. Prevalence of internet and cell phone users
Cell phones: 17.436 million (2010)
Internet hosts: 60,282 (2011)
Internet Users: 1.297 million (2009)
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one." - Malcolm Forbes
I am proud to say that I am apart of the Ashaiman Sr. High School (ASHS) group!! (so excited about this) With that being said I decided do some research and find articles that highlighted education in Ghana. I found two articles that interest me that touched on problems with text books and the gender gap in education.
The article that dealt with text books spoke of how English proficiency is important for a student to be successful yet text books are being printed using a poor standard of English. Text books are suppose to aid a student in their educational development. By reading one can learn new words and better understand how a particular language works or flows in written form. Having a text book exhibit a bad example of how you are to communicate can be detrimental. The author suggest that books should be screened thoroughly to make sure that the books being printed comply with the National Book and Text Book policy to fix the problem.
The article that highlighted the gender gap in education (particularly primary school) praised Ghana for its successful efforts to close it!! Unfortunately, according to the article Ghana still needs to work on other areas that still contain gender gaps. The four priority areas for policy recommendation are:
1. human capital (female mortality and education)
2. access to economic opportunities
3. voice and agency withing society
4. limiting reproduction of gender inequality across generations
Monday, January 30, 2012
5 THINGS THAT DESCRIBE MY CULTURE:
MMMmmhh this is kind of hard for me because Im trying to think of the best 5 things that would define my culture and to be honest I have no idea what to say. I guess number one would be......
1. Music!! I am Caribbean (50% Guyanese and 50% St. Lucian, making me 100% Guylucian and proud!! lol) so music is a big part of who I am and our culture. The genre's in particular that come from the islands are reggae, dancehall reggae, calypso, soca, and chutney. Carnival's and party's where people can come together, eat and drink and just have a good time is important to West Indian culture. Music is a must at these events, put on the right song and everybody, young and old, is up on the dance floor.
2. Food!! Now all my best buds know I can eat! lol...I love food, cooking it, smelling it, but most of all devouring it. The food of my culture is unique and tasty. Spice is very important so most of our dishes have a kick to it. Important flavors include various peppers, curry, cumin, and cassereep just to name a few. Its a big thing in my culture to cook and feed people. When your offered food it's rude to decline. I was totally born into the right family because it's hard for me to say no to good food :). If I had to pick a favorite dish I honestly could not pick just one do Roti and curry, pepper pot, cook up rice, brown stew chicken, stew fish, rice and peas, soup with dumplings, chow mein, salt fish and bake, macaroni pie, Guyanese/Jamaican patties, and pine tarts are some of my favs!!
3. Language!! On my Mom's side we speak Kweh-yol or pat-wah which is a native language in St. Lucia. Unfortunately Im not fluent :(, but can understand common words and phrases used my my family and say a few things. Its a work in progress. As for my Dad's side the native language is English but their is a dialect that is unique to Guyana and its hard to explain but I understand it and can speak it.
4. Traditions!! There are so many, some of which are so normal to me that I did not realize that everyone did not live that way until I came to college. I guess the traditions that may be looked as weird are the things that we do that are considered superstitious like not being able to throw away bread the "normal way". I mention this because it reminds me of a story. When I first started living with my roommates I was constantly asked questions and one of these came when my bread in the fridge went bad and I yelled NOOOOO!!! when my roommate tried to toss it in the bin. I had to explain that in my house the only way we are allowed to throw away bread is if we wet it first. Weird I know but things like bread and salt are important and you can not just waste these things. And here I was thinking that my roommates are the weird ones but they will beg to differ lol.
5. Beliefs!! This is another thing that I believe is unique to our culture. Most of us are Christian but we practice it a little differently I have come to realize. How I usually describe the difference is sometime my cultural beliefs and "normal Christianity" but heads. Its hard for me to explain this so if you wanna know more its best you just ask. :)
Welp! That's my five things!! Hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed typing them out. Now how did this influence me to apply for this program?...Well first and foremost different cultures interest me. (my favorite part being food but that because I just love to eat and try new things lol) Being of African decent I have always wanted to visit the continent where it all started because I know a lot of my culture was created from African traditions. Getting a chance to not only visit Ghana but to also engage in its rich culture and learn about it first hand attracted me to apply to the program.
MMMmmhh this is kind of hard for me because Im trying to think of the best 5 things that would define my culture and to be honest I have no idea what to say. I guess number one would be......
1. Music!! I am Caribbean (50% Guyanese and 50% St. Lucian, making me 100% Guylucian and proud!! lol) so music is a big part of who I am and our culture. The genre's in particular that come from the islands are reggae, dancehall reggae, calypso, soca, and chutney. Carnival's and party's where people can come together, eat and drink and just have a good time is important to West Indian culture. Music is a must at these events, put on the right song and everybody, young and old, is up on the dance floor.
2. Food!! Now all my best buds know I can eat! lol...I love food, cooking it, smelling it, but most of all devouring it. The food of my culture is unique and tasty. Spice is very important so most of our dishes have a kick to it. Important flavors include various peppers, curry, cumin, and cassereep just to name a few. Its a big thing in my culture to cook and feed people. When your offered food it's rude to decline. I was totally born into the right family because it's hard for me to say no to good food :). If I had to pick a favorite dish I honestly could not pick just one do Roti and curry, pepper pot, cook up rice, brown stew chicken, stew fish, rice and peas, soup with dumplings, chow mein, salt fish and bake, macaroni pie, Guyanese/Jamaican patties, and pine tarts are some of my favs!!
3. Language!! On my Mom's side we speak Kweh-yol or pat-wah which is a native language in St. Lucia. Unfortunately Im not fluent :(, but can understand common words and phrases used my my family and say a few things. Its a work in progress. As for my Dad's side the native language is English but their is a dialect that is unique to Guyana and its hard to explain but I understand it and can speak it.
4. Traditions!! There are so many, some of which are so normal to me that I did not realize that everyone did not live that way until I came to college. I guess the traditions that may be looked as weird are the things that we do that are considered superstitious like not being able to throw away bread the "normal way". I mention this because it reminds me of a story. When I first started living with my roommates I was constantly asked questions and one of these came when my bread in the fridge went bad and I yelled NOOOOO!!! when my roommate tried to toss it in the bin. I had to explain that in my house the only way we are allowed to throw away bread is if we wet it first. Weird I know but things like bread and salt are important and you can not just waste these things. And here I was thinking that my roommates are the weird ones but they will beg to differ lol.
5. Beliefs!! This is another thing that I believe is unique to our culture. Most of us are Christian but we practice it a little differently I have come to realize. How I usually describe the difference is sometime my cultural beliefs and "normal Christianity" but heads. Its hard for me to explain this so if you wanna know more its best you just ask. :)
Welp! That's my five things!! Hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed typing them out. Now how did this influence me to apply for this program?...Well first and foremost different cultures interest me. (my favorite part being food but that because I just love to eat and try new things lol) Being of African decent I have always wanted to visit the continent where it all started because I know a lot of my culture was created from African traditions. Getting a chance to not only visit Ghana but to also engage in its rich culture and learn about it first hand attracted me to apply to the program.
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