Difficult Cultural Differences

August 2, 2017

The most striking difference between Lusaka and the USA is how foreigners are received/treated by citizens of the country. In America, it is common to meet people of different races and nationalities, and for the most part these people are treated just like any other person. In Lusaka, there are some prominent racial dynamics that I experienced during my time here. It is very uncommon to see a white person in Zambia, and thus it is an event when a Zambian person does see one. Different people have different pre-conceived notions of white people, but not for one second when I was in public was I able to forget that I was white, that I was “other.” I recognize that people’s reactions to me and my group were not their fault, Zambian people are simply not exposed to westerners very often. However, this gave me a pervasive feeling of discomfort during my Dialogue. When I would walk through a community with a local person, every person on the street would stop what they were doing and look at me. Many adult women would greet me and welcome me. Young children would point and shout “muzungu” meaning “white person” in Nyanja. Older children would come up to me and hug me or shake my hands, some would even follow me if I was walking with a group of Northeastern students, attracting even more attention to us. It seemed that children, even though they didn’t know me, thought I was superior because of my skin color. Even though the attention in the case of women and kids was neutral or positive attention, it still made me uncomfortable that my first impression and the basis of people’s judgement of me had nothing to do with who I was. Zambian families at Victoria Falls asked to take pictures with some of my peers. All in all, I felt more like a spectacle than a person.
My experience with local men in Zambia has been extremely troubling and difficult. While adult women were kind and welcoming, adult men would frequently be hostile, making comments about us and screaming at us if we didn’t respond to their greeting, even though we were being bombarded by greetings in every direction and just wanted to get where we were going. While walking in the market with my local friend, boys around my age would yell greetings and snap in my face if I didn’t respond. I really struggled with the discomfort this brought me and the fact that I couldn’t escape this unwanted attention for even one day. I never got used to this culture shock. While I adjusted quickly to the lack of internet and hot water and sleeping under a bed net, this was one aspect of Zambia’s culture that I never adjusted to.

Written By

Maegan Cross

My name is Maegan, and I couldn't possibly be more excited to be embarking on this once-in-a-lifetime journey to Zambia with my peers and some truly incredible faculty members. I am a second year Politics, Philosophy, and Economics major with a minor in Human Services. My program on this DOC is Driving Social Change. Although I someday hope to work domestically in the fields of economic policy, income inequality, and human rights law, I know that this is going to be an invaluable experience for me because I will get hands-on experience in third-party intervention strategies. I, like so many other Northeastern students, want to work for the federal government so I can incite positive social change that will benefit the least-advantaged, oppressed, underrepresented members of our society. However, a huge factor in my ability to accomplish my goals is that I, as I am not myself a member of many of the populations I will be working to serve, am limited in my understanding of the needs of these people. This is why learning foreign intervention strategies is so important to me. My work developing programs for youths in a Zambian nonprofit will teach me best practice for understanding the needs of a community and implementing programs that will fulfill what the people need, not just what I, or any other person coming from a place of privilege, think they need. The skills I learn in Zambia will fuel my ability to advance the social and economic well-being of minority communities in my own country, and allow me to be the most positive ally I can possibly be.