DOCSLIB.ORG

Emissaries of Literacy: Refugee Studies and Transnational Composition Michael T

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Emissaries of Literacy: Refugee Studies and Transnational Composition Michael T University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2013 Emissaries of Literacy: Refugee Studies and Transnational Composition Michael T. MacDonald University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the First and Second Language Acquisition Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation MacDonald, Michael T., "Emissaries of Literacy: Refugee Studies and Transnational Composition" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 133. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/133 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EMISSARIES OF LITERACY: REFUGEE STUDIES AND TRANSNATIONAL COMPOSITION by Michael T. MacDonald A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May 2013 ABSTRACT EMISSARIES OF LITERACY: REFUGEE STUDIES AND TRANSNATIONAL COMPOSITION by Michael T. MacDonald Under the Supervision of Professor Alice Gillam “Emissaries of Literacy: Refugee Studies and Transnational Composition” uses qualitative research in refugee communities and textual analysis of stories written by and about refugees to argue that the experiences of resettled refugees, as well as the experiences of the volunteers, aid workers, tutors, and teachers who work with them, do not fit neatly within composition’s current paradigms for studying literacy in global contexts. Refugee identity and experience shows a complex link between literacy and citizenship which is complicated by the economic and geographic histories of linguistic imperialism. Refugee perspectives, and more precisely the challenges they pose, can help composition scholars and teachers rethink our established modes of inquiry. ii © Copyright by Michael T. MacDonald, 2013 All Rights Reserved iii Acknowledgements First, I have to thank my selfless parents who have worked so hard for all their lives so that I could pursue work that is meaningful to me. My sisters have also been unconditionally supportive. To Fr. Frank Toste, I owe a lifetime’s worth of anecdotes about students and writing. He taught me how to treat students with empathy and to see them as scholars in their own right. Of course, I have to thank my committed and thoughtful advisor, Alice Gillam, who supported my writing throughout this entire project and taught me what it means to enact feminism in both my writing and my everyday life. Likewise, my gracious committee members, Mary Louise Buley-Meissner, Pat Mayes, Anna Mansson McGinty, and Kumkum Sangari have each influenced my teaching, research, and writing in countless important ways. They have served as models of expert teacher-scholars. On that note, I am indebted to the other feminists in my life: Kate Haffey, Amy Daroszeski, Andrew Anastasia, Molly Tennessen, Amanda Henes, Casey O’Brien, Dani Goldstein, and especially Shereen Inayatulla – all of whom have been fierce friends and colleagues. Their voices are in this dissertation just as much as my own. Then, I have to thank Adam Ochonicky for your constant friendship, Lee Abbott for our conversations on globalization, and Leah Larson for your love and patience. And, thank you so much to the Pan-African Community Association who generously gave me their time and space to conduct my field study. Not only did the workers and students there lend me their valuable insights into refugee resettlement, but they gave me the opportunity to work in the Milwaukee refugee community, which has proved to be an invaluable experience. Lastly, to Deng, who was willing to share his story with me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Introduction: Intersections of Composition and Refugee Studies …………………. 1 I: Transnational Composition: Key Terms for Global Turns ………………… 21 II: Making the Familiar Unfamiliar: Research Principles and Methods ……… 76 III: Sponsors of Literacy: The Lost Boys of Sudan ……………………………. 97 IV: Emissaries of Literacy: Fieldwork Interviews and Findings ………………. 147 V: Transnational Composition and Implications for Teaching ……………….. 196 Coda: The Lost Boys of Sudan Twelve Years Later ……………………………… 226 Works Cited ………………………………………………………………………… 228 Appendix A: Interview Questions ………………………………………………….. 237 Appendix B: IRB Approval Letters ………………………………………………… 240 v 1 INTRODUCTION: INTERSECTIONS OF COMPOSITION AND REFUGEE STUDIES The relationship resettled refugees have with English literacy is fraught with competing messages about the value of education. Take, for example, the contrasting views of Emmanuel Jal and K’naan, two hip-hop performers whose music addresses the role of education in the contexts of displacement. Emmanuel Jal, a self-described “war child,” was a member of the group of refugees known as the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” When he was young, he was forced from his home in South Sudan and joined the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army. He then went on to live and go to school in a refugee camp for ten years before being resettled in the U.S. K’naan is a Somali-born rapper who, as a child, was forced by civil war to leave his home in Mogadishu (Hannon). Jal’s songs and public speeches argue that education is the only means of addressing the kinds of devastating conflicts in which children are compelled to pick up arms. In the transcript to his TED Talk, Jal states, “the importance of education to me is what I’m willing to die for. I’m willing to die for this, because I know what it can do to my people. Education enlighten your brain, give you so many chances, and you’re able to survive” (“Emmanuel Jal”). For Jal, education is the only form of aid that the international community should provide. To him, “aid” has come to take on pejorative meanings: As a nation we have been crippled. For so many years we have fed on aid. You see a 20-years old, 30-years-old families in a refugee camps. They only get the food that drops from the sky, from the U.N. So these people, you’re killing a whole generation if you just give them aid. (“Emmanuel 2 Jal”) Jal sees education as providing an opportunity for people to break their dependency on aid, a dependency created by the structure of aid itself. In this sense, Jal has a liberatory view of education. K’naan’s outlook on education is starkly different, emphasizing the imperialist tendencies of education rather than its emancipatory qualities. In his song “Somalia,” K’naan asks, Do you see why it's amazing When someone comes out of such a dire situation And learns the English language Just to share his observation? Probably get a Grammy without a grammar education So fuck you school and fuck you immigration. (K’naan, “Somalia”) K’naan’s expresses a combative attitude toward education, reflecting the feelings of many refugees and immigrants from the African continent who feel the colonizing forces of the English language. While these two artists come from vastly different contexts, we can learn from the distinct ways that they speak back to the message of education. The promotion of English language education on the global scale, or what Deborah Brandt describes as “sponsorship,” typically comes in the form of companies and non-profit organizations exporting U.S. and U.K.-based, English-centric brands of education to places like refugee camps, imposing American ways of learning onto the people there. Such endeavors implement English-based models of education unidirectionally with the goal of transforming the Other. Collaborations by UNICEF and 3 the World Bank are some examples of how English education standards are exported to places identified as in “need” or in “crisis.” (see “Basic Education and Gender Equality”). As educators, we typically endorse such models because we believe English language education to be unifying when used in multilingual and multicultural contexts. We see stories like Jal’s, and we feel that we have the responsibility to fix the conditions of poverty and violence into which refugees have been thrust. A paternalistic attitude that believes education can transform the Other also assumes refugee students and writers have little to offer in return or are deficient in some way. Subsequently, refugees are thought of as passive objects of aid, a construction which fails to undo the negative connotations the word “aid” has for refugees. Local interactions between educators and resettled refugee students in both the community and the classroom are shaped by these prevailing views about education in global contexts. The contrasting perspectives of K’naan and Jal illustrate the problems of promoting education and English literacy as transformative. Like K’naan, I sympathize with peoples’ struggles in the face of inequality, especially in the contexts of forced migration. My research is critical of the hegemonic power of English literacy education, which reflects the trend in composition studies to have a global perspective toward the politics of language instruction. Yet, heeding Jal’s words, my research is not a wholesale dismissal of English education in global contexts. While recognizing that the promotion of English is a global enterprise with colonizing effects, I have found that users of the English language continue to be critical and resistant. K’naan and Jal have experienced the liberatory as well as the hegemonic effects of education. My research addresses two specific problems. First, refugee students are 4 disproportionately affected by the status of the English as a language of power. These students and writers provide perspectives that address this problem because they typically speak, read, and write in several languages. They have learned language, including English, for the purposes of resettlement, a process that reveals the high stakes of language acquisition. Each of the refugee students I have met over the years speaks four or five languages.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Programmaboek Def.Indd
    ARTSFESTIVAL SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2009 pprogrammaboekrogrammaboek ddef.inddef.indd 1 115-9-20095-9-2009 222:37:122:37:12 IntrThe Other oSudanduction Sudan, the largest country in Africa, is a country of contrast During the festival period we welcome Sudanese artists in and diversity. An ancient civilisation, Sudanese society is Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Enschede and Leiden. They come also in the process of rapid modernisation. It’s many ritual from all regions: a theatre company from Darfur, dance traditions constantly interact with contemporary artistic group Orupaap from Juba/Khartoum, folk musician Abdel expressions. Gadir Salim from Kordofan and former child soldier and rapper Emmanuel Jal from Juba, now living in Londen. The Furthermore, though plagued by civil confl icts and natural Zar Mama’s share their rituals with the (Arabic) women of disasters, the people of Sudan have, in past and present, Amsterdam and weddingsingers from Khartoum mingle in shown remarkable strength and resilience. This forceful and Leiden with their colleagues from the Nubian diaspora in The optimistic spirit, as expressed in the ongoing cultural dialogue Netherlands. by Sudanese intellectuals, writers and artists, is what we try to capture with arts festival The Other Sudan. The Other Sudan also offers a series of workshops for students from both countries, seminars for experts from the Contacts between The Netherlands and Sudan have a long cultural community and exhibitions. tradition, most recently in the form of exchange-programs of an academic, social and artistic nature. Experts from these Finally, the Sudanese community in The Netherlands has programs also initiated The Other Sudan. been actively involved in the preparations for the festival.
    [Show full text]
  • Yödu* (South Sudan)
    YÖDU* (SOUTH SUDAN) “Education is the key to the future.” See Mary’s Refugee Learner Narrative D 24° 26° 28° 30° 32 34 in 36° ° ° de for another perspective and additional En Nahud r information on Sudan. 12° Abu Zabad SOUTH 12° SOUTH SUDAN Ed Damazin SUDAN SUDAN Al Fula Renk Ed Da'ein Tullus Nuba Mts. Famaka Life before Canada Kadugli Umm Buram Muglad Barbit Kologi T Talodi Kaka Paloich B e a l y h i ba r A 10° N Junguls 10° Birthplace and Family e Radom l Riangnom e 'A it ra Kodok h Boing b W Abyei Fagwir UPPER Malakal Kafia Kingi WESTERN Mayom Bai War-awar Bentiu NILE Daga My name is Yödu and I was born in Kajo Keji, BAHR Wun Rog Fangak Abwong Post EL GHAZAL NORTHERN The boundaries and names shown Central Equatoria, South Sudan, on January 1, 1992. BAHR Wang Kai Kan and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or Malek Jur l Nasser Kigille Gossinga EL GHAZAL UNITY Gumbiel a acceptance by the United Nations. n Gogrial Raga f a Akop a Aweil C I identify myself as a woman of the Kuku people r i a Kuacjok Leer e Z l g z n Waat 8 Adok e Fathai 8 ° WARRAP o ° and I speak Bari. At home in South Sudan, I and my J r S Bisellia S h oba Deim Zubeir Madeir a t l B o u Duk Fadiat Akobo grandmother, Yaya, spoke both Arabic and Bari. CENTRAL L Wau ETHIOPIA Bir Di Atum d P i AFRICAN Wakela JONGLEI b o Tonj d r o LAKES Kongor g Akelo REPUBLIC n Bo River Post W Peper I lived with my Yaya since the age of two, when o Rafili h P Rumbek ite Jonglei N Pibor o Akot i Ukwaa m Yirol le O my parents divorced.
    [Show full text]
  • Reading Emmanuel Jal's War Child As Spiritual Autobiography
    Reading Emmanuel Jal’s War Child as spiritual autobiography Nick Mdika Tembo Reading Emmanuel Jal’s War Child as spiritual autobiography Nick Mdika Tembo Department of English University of Malawi Email: [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0002-9572-9763 ABSTRACT Emmanuel Jal’s War Child: A Boy Soldier’s Story picks up on the tail end of the politicisation of Sudan’s North/South ideological divisions. Its historical setting is the Second Sudanese Civil War, during which the southern part of Sudan fights to secede from the Khartoum-led govern- ment. In this paper, I focus my reading not on the reasons for the outbreak of the war, but on the ways in which Jal’s narrative is retrospectively predicated on the conversio narrative trope. I anchor my argument on what I term the text’s imagination of the transformation of all Suda- nese people from a faulty ‘before’ self to an enlightened ‘after’ self, following Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson. I am particularly interested in how Jal inflects religion and spirituality in the text and how his own self-identity lends itself to what I term the text’s conversion narrative leitmotif. I also aim to show the sense in which Jal uses his change from the indoctrinated ‘bad’ child to someone who turns to God and uses religious hip hop music as a mode of preaching the message of love, peace and unity to his compatriots. Keywords: Emmanuel Jal, War Child, Second Sudanese Civil War, conversio narrative trope religious indoctrination, spirituality This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
    [Show full text]
  • UNMIS Media Monitoring Report, 02 January, 2006
    أﻷﻣﻢ اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SUDAN UNMIS UNMIS Media Monitoring Report, 09 January, 2006 (By Public Information Office) NOTE: Reproduction here does not mean that the UNMIS PIO can vouch for the accuracy or veracity of the contents, nor does this report reflect the views of the United Nations Mission in Sudan. Furthermore, international copyright exists on some materials and this summary should not be disseminated beyond the intended list of recipients. IN THE NEWS TODAY: • UN - UN SG promises to have elements hindering implementation of UN resolutions in Darfur to be held accountable - SRSG Pronk expresses disappointment towards Abuja Talks results • Government of National Unity - GoS demands international community to carry out commitments made towards peace - President Al-Bashir issues decree on re-formation of constitution commission • Darfur - DR Subcommittee & Darfur Network Sign Agreement - Northern Darfur Legislative will start Sessions on 23rd of current month - Ambush in Sudan's Darfur region kills Senegal peacekeeper, wounds nine • Sudan, Chad relations - Chad accuses Sudan militias of three attacks UNMIS, P.O. Box 69, Khartoum 11111, SUDAN. Tel.: (+249) 183- 794013 Fax: (+249) 183- 794041 • East - Some Biga Congress Members demand quit of six leaders from Organization • Other Developments - Kiir congratulates SPLA & SSDF forces for merger - New SSDF Leadership May Declare Today - Garang helicopter crash parts sent to US for testing - Sudan peace still fragile year after north-south deal - Clandestine nuclear deals traced to Sudan - Ex Lost boy Jal performs at UN’s CPA celebrations HIGHLIGHTS: UN UN SG promises to have elements hindering implementation of UN resolutions in Darfur to be held accountable (Al-Ayaam, 9 Jan, 06, Khartoum) The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Reel U Films™ Presents 1 WAR
    Reel U Films™ Presents www.warchildmovie.com WAR CHILD, an award-winning feature documentary film directed by C. Karim Chrobog, chronicles the tumultuous, shocking, inspiring, and ultimately hopeful odyssey of Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier of Sudan’s brutal civil war and now an emerging international hip-hop star with a message of peace for his war- torn land and his beloved Africa and a mission and a plan to make that possible. Jal’s life story, in many ways, mirrors his homeland: tragedy and terror mingling with hope and restoration. In the early 1980s, at the age of seven, Jal was swept into Sudan’s civil war, becoming one of 10,000 child soldiers conscripted on both sides of the two decades’ long conflict. After being forced to many horrible things that now seem unimaginable to overcome, he escaped the soldier’s camp and trekked for four months through Africa. He was eventually found and adopted by the now legendary British aid worker Emma McCune; McCune had married Sudanese guerrilla commander Riek Machar whom she convinced to not employ child soldiers. Shortly after she adopted Jal, McCune died in a suspicious car crash, leaving Emmanuel “orphaned” once again. Jal rises from ruthless child soldier to refugee to rap star. He finds his own redemption and life mission through a message of peace that represents one of the 21st centuries’ most inspiring and hopeful journeys, and a metaphor for the broader African predicament. Emmanuel’s journey is, in many ways, just beginning. His dream of Gua, peace, in Sudan, and prosperity in Africa, is threatened by corrupt leaders, genocidal warlords, and Western indifference.
    [Show full text]
  • Fragility, Conflict Violence Forum
    Fragility, Conflict and Violence Forum FEB 11–13, 2015 PROGRAM 1 PARTNERS For full description of events and updates go to www.worldbank.org/fcvforum2015, or use the Blippar app and scan the Fragility, Conflict and Violence logo. THIS EVENT HAS HIDDEN CONTENT! Scan the front of this program, or the forum logo to view additional event materials. Brouht to ou b Gnrl Srvics 2 Fragility, Conflict and Violence Forum FEB 11–13, 2015 Let me extend a warm welcome to all of you to the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Forum 2015. Achieving the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity will require significant progress on many fronts in those countries the World Bank considers most vulnerable due to repeated cycles of violence and conflict. The evidence is clear—poverty is closely correlated with fragility, conflict and violence. In the 33 countries classified as fragile by the World Bank, out of half a billion people, 51 percent live in poverty. Using a wider definition, over 1.2 billion people live in areas affected by fragility. No matter the measure, if extreme poverty is to be eliminated by 2030, focused attention must be given to these countries. This year’s Forum aims to do exactly that: focus on what we—as a community of practitioners working on fragility, conflict, and violence—can do to better to support these countries. During the Forum, we will look at how we can strengthen our practice by exploring new trends, exchanging insights and experience, and looking at the challenges and opportunities that are available to us in helping to deliver development results in fragile, violence and conflict affected countries.
    [Show full text]
  • September 2016 Rev3.Qxp September 2016 8/29/16 12:00 PM Page 1 AAPL Newsletter American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
    166980 AAPL News September 2016_rev3.qxp_September 2016 8/29/16 12:00 PM Page 1 AAPL Newsletter American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law September 2016 • Vol. 41, No. 3 AAPL at the APA Awards excellence in forensic psychiatry through its core principles of being Ryan C.W. Hall MD dedicated to enhancing practice, teaching, and research. It was noted that we currently have more than 1,800 members in North America and around the world and that through our annual meetings, we frequently facilitate the exchange of ideas and practical clinical experience through publications and regularly scheduled national and regional meetings. A separate newsletter article will cover the Guttmacher Award, but again we want to acknowledge and recognize Dr. Kenneth L. Appelbaum, Dr. Jeffrey L. Metzner, and Dr. Robert L. Trestman for receiving this honor at the 2016 meeting. This year’s winner of the Isaac Ray Award was Dr. Elissa P. Benedek. The Isaac Ray Award was At the recent APA meeting in the US Department of Justice. He established in 1951 to honor one of Atlanta, Georgia, several AAPL has also been involved in the Nation- the original founders and fourth Pres- members were recognized at the 60th al Prison Project and was involved in ident of the APA, Isaac Ray, and hon- Convocation of Distinguished Fel- the first and third editions of APA’s ors psychiatrists who have made out- lows, as was the AAPL organization guidelines for psychiatric services in standing contributions to forensic as a whole. Current APA President, correctional facilities. psychiatry or to the psychiatric and former AAPL president, Renée Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Grade 7: Module 1 Overview This Work Is Licensed Under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License
    Grade 7: Module 1 Overview This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Exempt third-party content is indicated by the footer: © (name of copyright holder). Used by permission and not subject to Creative Commons license. GRADE 7: MODULE 1: OVERVIEW Reading Closely and Writing to Learn: Journeys and Survival In this 8 eight-week module, students explore the experiences of people of Southern food. They are also challenged by political and social environments.). As in Unit 1, Sudan during and after the Second Sudanese Civil War. They build proficiency in students will read this literature closely alongside complex informational texts using textual evidence to support ideas in their writing, both in shorter responses (focusing on background on Sudan and factual accounts of the experiences of and in an extended essay. In Unit 1, students begin the novel A Long Walk to Water refugees from the Second Sudanese Civil War). Unit 2 culminates with a literary (720L) by Linda Sue Park. Students will read closely to practice citing evidence and analysis essay about the theme of survival. Unit 3 brings students back to a deep drawing inferences from this compelling text as they begin to analyze and contrast exploration of character and point of view: students will combine their research the points of view of the two central characters, Salva and Nya. They also will read about Sudan with specific quotes from A Long Walk to Water as they craft a two- informational text to gather evidence on the perspectives of the Dinka and Nuer voice poem, comparing and contrasting the points of view of the two main tribes of Southern Sudan.
    [Show full text]
  • The Interrelationship Between Testifier, Author, and Reader in Dave Eggers's What Is T
    “THE COLLAPSIBLE SPACE BETWEEN US”: THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TESTIFIER, AUTHOR, AND READER IN DAVE EGGERS’S WHAT IS THE WHAT A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English By Allison Moore Correll, B.A. Washington, D.C. April 24, 2009 Acknowledgments First, I am indebted to my family and friends for their unwavering support and encouragement. Thank you for allowing me to discuss my thoughts passionately and freely and for taking your own interest in the work of this thesis. To my graduate school colleagues Kimberly Hall, Michelle Repass, and David Weinstein, I am beyond grateful for the many discussions we had that enabled me to trace out my ideas and intentions for this thesis. This project would not have been completed without those conversations, your suggestions, and more simply put, your friendship. This project would have been impossible without Dr. Patricia E. O’Connor. Her enthusiasm for the subject, along with her probing questions, helped me complete a thesis of which I am both passionate and proud. Professor Carolyn Forché served as a source of inspiration both inside and outside of the classroom. To all of my professors who guided me (and inspired me) along the way, thank you. Finally, thank you to Valentino Achak Deng and Dave Eggers for their tenacity and commitment in completing the project that became What Is the What . This book reaffirmed my faith in the power of literature—that a book can not only be good, but it can do good as well.
    [Show full text]
  • JANUARY 2015 Newsletter - Inclusion Day Conference Edition!
    JANUARY 2015 NEWSLEttER - IncLUSION DAY CONFEREncE EditiON! HAPPY NEW YEARS! The Centre for Human Rights would like to wish the entire York Community a safe and prosperous 2015! FOR A SNAPSHOT OF thE IncLUSION DAY PROGRAM…tuRN thE PAGE OVER! jANUARY 2015 NEWSLETTER - IncLUSION DAY CONFEREncE EditiON! Lunch Keynote Lynn Keane “Mental Illness & Stigma: Continuing Conversations” 11:30AM - 12:45PM Underground Restaurant Lynn Keane is an author and former broadcast journalist. Since the sudden passing of her son Daniel in 2009, she has dedicated her life to sharing her family’s story, educating about the underlying causes of depression and the importance of treating mental illness. At the heart of Lynn’s work is a belief that talking about mental illness can reduce stigma and save lives – especially our youth. She argues educating the public about mental illness experienced by thousands of students throughout the country can decrease casualties from this disease and create better outcomes for future generations. Lynn is creator and producer of the popular anti-bullying videos, Good Sports Don’t Hurt: Harassment Does, shared with schools across Canada. Lynn’s work has also been featured in The National Post, The Globe & Mail, and Moods Magazine, CBC, CTV and TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin. By sharing such a painful story, she hopes to increase understanding of the universal relevance of mental health awareness, and provide support to families who have experienced suicide. Lynn’s recently published memoir, Give Sorrow Words, has been widely praised by psychologists, parents and the mental health community alike. Interweaving memories of the last months of her son’s life with lyrical explorations of the grieving process, the book unflinchingly documents warning signs in depression and asks pressing questions about how our society treats mental illness.
    [Show full text]
  • Working in Challenging Environments: Risk Management and Aid Culture in South Sudan
    Working in Challenging Environments: Risk Management and Aid Culture in South Sudan Field report South Sudan Diana Felix da Costa December 2012, Juba 1 Index 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 4 Aidland in South Sudan ....................................................................................................... 4 2. Normalisation of a restrictive security environment .................................................... 6 Institutionalisation of a restrictive security agenda ........................................................... 6 UN DPKO/UNDSS setting the tone ..................................................................................... 8 3. ‘How to Stay’ in an evolving security risk management agenda ................................. 10 A context presented as an emergency or as recovery ..................................................... 11 ‘Stay and Deliver’? ............................................................................................................ 12 Decision-making: when to stay, when to leave ................................................................ 14 Friction/tensions over when to stay ................................................................................. 15 Rogue officers or enablers? When aid workers find ways to stay ..................................
    [Show full text]
  • ECFG-Sudan-May-19.Pdf
    About this Guide This guide is designed to help prepare you for deployment to culturally complex environments and successfully achieve mission objectives. The fundamental information it contains will ECFG help you understand the decisive cultural dimension of your assigned location and gain necessary skills to achieve mission success (Photo a courtesy of flickr © Rita Willaert). Sudan The guide consists of 2 parts: Part 1: Introduces “Culture General,” the foundational knowledge you need to operate effectively in any global environment. Part 2: Presents “Culture Specific” Sudan & South Sudan, & focusing on unique cultural features of Sudanese & South Sudanese society and is South Sudan designed to complement other pre-deployment training. It applies culture- general concepts to help increase your knowledge of your assigned deployment location. For further information, visit the Air Force Culture and Language Center (AFCLC) website at www.airuniversity.af.edu/AFCLC/ or contact AFCLC’s Region Team at [email protected]. Disclaimer: All text is the property of the AFCLC and may not be modified by a change in title, content, or labeling. It may be reproduced in its current format with the expressed permission of the AFCLC. All photography is provided as a courtesy of the US government, Wikimedia, and other sources as indicated. GENERAL CULTURE PART 1 – CULTURE GENERAL What is Culture? Fundamental to all aspects of human existence, culture shapes the way humans view life and functions as a tool we use to adapt to our social and physical environments. A culture is the sum of all of the beliefs, values, behaviors, and symbols that have meaning for a society.
    [Show full text]