Cultural codes and cultural sensibility

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   Cultural codes and cultural sensibility

by  Sarah Dauphin and Servane Fouillen 

We  have all already travelled or worked abroad.
We have all tried to assimilate in another country, whether it was for a short time or not.
But who has ever been abroad and managed to avoid making any cultural misunderstanding?
Hopefully, these cultural misunderstandings often lead to funny stories you can tell your relatives when you come back!

As a crazy Erasmus student, I have already entered a Finnish sauna with my swimsuit. How dirty it must have seemed for my Finnish naked neighbors! 

As an intern in Palestine, I have already proudly told the taxi driver an address in Arabic, and ended up in a completely different place. How confusing it must have been for the taxi driver!

As an adventure tourist, I have already paid my tomatoes in Burkina Faso by giving my coins from my right hand. How non respectful it must ahve been for the storekeeper!

As a tourist, I have already entered an Italian church with a tank top. How shocking it must have been for my neighbors!

But these cultural anecdotes are not funny anymore when they illustrate a denial of one other’s culture, a refusal of trying to understand and adapt.
Unfortunately, these cultural misunderstandings can also happened at work, and in the humanitarian sector they can lead to a project that is not adapted to the context and the cultural aspects of the country.

As an expat, I have already participated in the building of concrete toilets in Africa. But what if the beneficiaries prefer their own way of sanitary and keep closed this useless white building, which doesn’t fit in between all the red-soil houses?

As an intern, I have already seen some condoms distributed by an NGO hanging on trees in Benin because people were sure that AIDS comes from Vodoun. So condoms on trees were used as protection against Vodoun.

It is not always easy to understand another culture than yours, but in the humanitarian sector, it is essential. The needs of the beneficiaries during a crisis are often the same: food, shelter, medical and psychosocial care. But each crisis is different because of its environment and its context. We often attribute our cultural mistakes to the others: they are “weird”, “savages”, “not educated”, “less regarding”, “exotic”. But just think a minute, what if humanitarian workers from Southern countries come to save lovely France and lovely French?

How about African elderlies who would arrive in our towns… naked breast?

How about Birman women who would arrive in France and try to make us healthy by putting on all our faces their green Thanaka powder?

How about people from Burkina Faso who would feed us with caterpillar sandwiches ?

This is just to make you reflect on the impact of being a cultural-non-curious tourist or worker,
… just to encourage you to think about your behavior abroad,

… just to make you aware of the importance of being careful with our own cultural approach.