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Conclusion:
So overall, how did things go? I think I can safely say that
while we are happy with the response from the participants in the seminar, the
scheduling and attendance shows that we still need to work on our overall
seminar structure here. This was expected, given the difference in culture
between where we come from (the U.S.), where the seminar originated (South
Africa), and the local culture priorities. One of the major advantages of
having Leonard with us is that we can ask him why various things are happening,
and he can give us a response that comes from inside the culture. In the end,
it will be Leonard[i]
who makes the final decisions on how to adapt the material to Mozambique .
One key thing we took away from this session is confirmation
that our previous seminars were not some kind of exceptional fluke – these
seminars really do have a powerful positive effect on the nationals. The
concepts they introduce, while common to many westerners, are virtually unknown
here. One example is our session on categories. We spend
a fair amount of time explaining what categories are and why they are
important. After going through the session, Leonard noted that, while the participants were having a lot of
difficulty thinking of things in this new way, they were rising to the
challenge, and excited about what they could do with what they have learned.
For those of you with strong conceptual backgrounds, I want you to try to think
of how you would see the world if you did not understand categorization—then
understand this is exactly the case in many Mozambican (and, from other
discussion we have had, many African) cultures.
It isn’t that Mozambicans can’t think in terms of categories, just that
no one has ever bothered to teach
them about it, and it is not native to their culture. This is why
we’re here—concepts like these are critical to developing large-scale economic
as well as individual personal development. Mozambique is a place full of
potential, and once the Mozambicans are able to see how to take advantage of
that potential, we expect great things from this culture.
[i] I
should mention that Leonard is acting as a kind of proxy here – we actually
have several other Mozambicans we are working with who are working alongside
Leonard to refine the seminar in Mozambique, but because of the unfortunate
schedule changes, they were not able to be here for this seminar, so I am
focusing on Leonard for this account.
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