Each quarter we receive a newsletter from the US Embassy, an impressive structure that is visible from our home here at BTS. In the issue we received today was a very poignant story which speaks to the challenges of cross-cultural learning.
It is a story about an Italian aid worker [Ernesto Sirolli] who lived in Zambia in the 1970s. He recalled that when his Italian aid organization visited the Lower Zambezi, they were surprised that local Zambians were not farming in the fertile river valley. Amazed at the lack of development, the aid workers brought vegetable seeds from Europe and guided the reluctant Zambian villagers to plant and cultivate crops.
A few months later, he excitedly showcased the impressive tomatoes and zucchinis to the locals and remarked how easily these vegetables were growing in the Zambian soil and were even bigger than Italian ones. But just as they were getting ready to pick the ripened crop, a pod of hippos emerged overnight and ate everything. In complete shock and dismay, he asked the Zambian villagers, “Did you see those hippos?!” And they replied, “Of course. That’s why we don’t farm here.”
The point of this story is that nationals are crucial to our cross-cultural learning and understanding. In the minds of Zambians, Westerners come with all the answers, and out of respect for us, they refrain from correcting us. This hippo story reminds me that as a visitor, I need to be asking questions more, and listening. Westerners have a lot of answers, but not all of them. And, I definitely don't!
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