Portuguese Seminar Report

Last week we conducted the first Insight Seminar in Portuguese. I am pleased to report the seminar was a resounding success! During the feedback session (and really throughout the entire seminar), the participants related their interest and enthusiasm for the material. They told us it was some of the most difficult work they had ever had to do, but they believed it was well worth it. Several participants implored us to continue to conduct the seminars in Mozambique. They believed these seminars could transform the economy and standard of living for the entire country, if enough people could participate. It was interesting to see 1) how difficult working with this material really was for the participants, and 2) how quickly they were able to absorb the new concepts and information presented.

I must emphasize that the participants in this seminar included a wide range of very intelligent people. Education levels and occupations ranged from elementary education to trained professionals. The issues encountered were not intellectual, but cultural – the concepts and ideas we discussed were, in many cases, literally brand new. This was expected; after all, how can someone be familiar with concepts that are not part of their culture? Yet the participants, once they understood the basic principles we were presenting, were eager to learn and develop these ideas. Moreover, they did not seem to evidence any need to conform to western idioms regarding the implementation of these principles. That is, they planned to apply these principles as Mozambicans within the context of Mozambican society.

This is not to say we did not encounter obstacles during the seminar. In fact, part of our goal was to identify issues in translation and communicating content, and we encountered both. Our translation was done very well, but the material was translated into European Portuguese, which is noticeably different from Mozambican Portuguese. During the seminar, we were able to identify several vocabulary differences which we will address as we update the seminar material. In addition, we discovered which presentation methods were particularly effective as well as what impeded communication of our basic concepts.

Our third seminar will be held in South Africa, where the seminars were first developed. This seminar will be in English, and should give us a chance to apply some of the lessons learned during the first English seminar. Given the success of the previous two seminars in Mozambique, we are eager to see how the material is received in its place of origin.

Seminar Report: March 7-11 2011

The first seminar in Mozambique was conducted last week. I am pleased to report that both the participants and the presentation team concluded that the seminar was a success! Our first seminar was English-speaking and consisted of 10 participants, one presenter (that's me), and two support staff. The participants were a diverse group comprised of Western missionaries (from English-speaking countries such as South Africa and the US), one African missionary (from another African country), and Mozambican nationals. All the participants responded to the seminar positively and provided excellent feedback on ways we can improve the presentation and seminar material. 

When we set up the seminar, we initially wondered how the diverse set of backgrounds possessed by the participants would impact the learning environment. As it turned out, there were several differences due to the participants' experiences, education, and cultures, but those differences didn't create any substantial barriers or hindrances to the seminar experience. Everyone found the seminar challenging – since it is designed to be challenging, we consider this a success – but in different ways, depending on their backgrounds. 

The clearest lines of difference can be drawn between the Western/Mozambican cultural backgrounds previously mentioned. The Westerners found the seminars to be challenging exercises that expanded and reinforces core principles and assumptions they understood as important to personal and professional development. One participant described the seminar as "common sense in a different way". Another noted that while the principles were familiar, the seminar pushes you to get out of your "rut". The Mozambicans, by contrast, found much of the content to be unfamiliar, if not completely new. They were very excited about the material, as it provided new tools and ways of approaching problems that they had not considered before. One Mozambican described the experience as a huge opportunity to change the way [Mozambicans] think, to change the way they impact their environment and how they can change their environment as they go out into their community."

This was exactly as we had expected and reinforces our theory that part of the difficulty facing Mozambicans in their interaction with Westerners is not so much cultural procedures (customs, dress, moral codes, etc.) as conceptual approaches – the two groups quite literally think differently. Note that this does NOT mean that one group is smarter than another – all the participants evidenced a high level of intelligence and insight during the seminar. It only means that the cultural difficulties experienced in Western-Mozambican relations are as much conceptual as linguistic or procedural.

 

Moving Along:

As we move into the Portuguese seminar, we have two distinct challenges ahead of us. First, we must be able to communicate the concepts of the seminar in another language. Anyone who has done translation work knows the difficulties involved in such a venture. Second, as the Portuguese participants will be entirely Mozambicans, we need to make sure that we do not run ahead of our audience. As evidenced in the first seminar, Westerners tend to treat many of these ideas as assumptions, where Mozambicans see them as new information. The tendency, then, will be to assume certain concepts or ideas are already understood. In this context, I think such assumptions would constitute a critical mistake. I am currently working with our translator to determine the best way to communicate our concepts and pace ourselves so that everyone is able to keep up with the material.

Only time will tell if our approach is successful. If we are, then I think we have a great platform for revolutionizing education and training in Mozambique. If we are not, we will need to reassess based on our feedback from both sessions, and try a new approach based on the input we receive. It is always a learning process, even when we are successful, but that's part of the fun.

Arrival in Mozambique

After approximately 20 hours of travel time (not counting my layover in Johannesberg, South Africa), I finally arrived in Mozambique. I have several pictures that I plan to post later, but for now, let me give some initial impressions:

• Mozambique is different - you might think this is an obvious statement, but that's probably because you've never been in a country like this one. If compared to US concepts of wealth, Mozambique is clearly poor. Once you get past the superficial differences, though, you can see the kind of lifestyle the people here live isn't intended to match up to western norms. It will take me a while to disentangle my conception of prosperity and poverty from my impression of Mozambique's people, but in order to understand where the real points of concern are for the people here, I will have to try. If you try to help with a problem that is only a problem for you, you don't end up helping much.
• I am a definate minority - this isn't the first time I've been a minority, but it's always a little disorienting at first. Right now, my most important task regarding the people here is to get to know them. Most don't trust Americans in general, though my hosts, Al and Vel Corson, seem to have a pretty good relationship with many of the people here. It will be a bit difficult getting to know people myself, due to my lack of Portugeese-speaking power, but there are enough English speakers here that I think I will be able to get to know people fairly well before I leave. I have a couple of guys here who have already informed me that I will know at least a little Portugeese before I leave.
• I have already met several people who are coming to the seminars, and interest is high. I look forward to the experience of presenting the material, as I am sure the feedback and questions will be much different from what I have recieved in the States.

That's all for now - more information to come later!

Off to Africa

I'm off to Africa!

I have been asked to present three Insight Seminars in Africa. Two in Mozambique and one in South Africa. This is a tremendous opportunity, both for developing the seminars and for me, personally.

For the seminars, these pilots will help us develop and refine our presentation, especially in the context of Mozambique's people and culture, which is very different from the culture of the U.S. and South Africa (though in different ways). These seminars provide a great opportunities to show the seminar in action and demonstrate the impact it has on the participants. As we continue to hold seminars, we will accumulate a ever-increasing amount of data to use in defense of the seminar’s principles, and to facilitate partnering with other organizations to develop additional seminars. Contextualizing the seminars to address the specific interests and needs of the people of Mozambique will also prove both stimulating and challenging.

On a personal level, I believe that this experience will help me to understand the core principles behind the seminars better, as well as giving me a broader perspective on the human condition – that is, how people think and live. The more cultures I interact with, the more I can understand how people, in general, are put together. While in Mozambique, I want to spend time with the locals who Safari Insight Mission is working with and get their perspective on the situation in Mozambique. I would also like to get their perspective on Americans, especially American missionaries, and find out not only what they think of us, but what they want us to know about them.

Marginal Notes:

As I review the previous paragraph, I notice far too many usages of “us” and “them”. It is, I think, an unfortunate necessity that requires such phrases. At the end of the day, there is really just “us” whether we mean those of us in America or those of us in Mozambique. Without a clear understanding of the differences between Mozambique culture and American culture, however, we will never reach the point when we can comfortably cease to talk about “us” and “them” and instead talk about just us, in our various locations and cultures. It is my hope that this upcoming trip will help us all to learn more about each other and how to work together. Accomplishing this will provide some basic tools to help combat the racism and apathy that creates so much hardship in our world.