Tag Archives: culture

Team Celebrates Holiday in Hospital

From a worker in Central Asia

Every year, starting about a week before New Year’s, various families and groups of friends set off fireworks, culminating in a grand display all over the city at midnight on New Year’s Eve. I’m not sure where the people get the money to personally buy such impressive fireworks, and I’m certain it is quite dangerous, yet it’s more impressive than anything I’ve seen in the US. Fireworks aren’t sent up in only one location, but rather from thousands of yards all over the city. Then, in the wee hours of the morning, the family (including the youngest children), sits down to a feast. Continue reading →

Firsts

A blog post from Emily, a WEC Trekker

  • I was called “Sir” for the first time in my life a couple weeks ago, and it wasn’t someone trying to be funny; he was actually trying to be respectful. In Mandinka (not sure about all the other languages) there is no differentiation between he, she, and it. Those pronouns are all the same word. For this reason, men get called “her” and women get called “him” on a very frequent basis. I usually hear this mistake several times every day. Continue reading →

A Baby’s Blessing

By a worker in Asia

Our new sister has given birth to a healthy baby boy :)

According to the culture of this country it is appropriate to have a special ceremony to bless my friend’s baby and her family. Usually families will wait until the baby is one year old, then a naming ceremony is done. But, we have seen that when a new baby is born, many prayers and offerings are made at the temples. Mothers are encouraged to call on Mother Earth and heed beliefs that include the wearing of talisman to ward off evil. Continue reading →

West African Vignettes

Jonathan

“Kevin and I traveled across to the Gambia to pick up some bikes. The journey became quite a prayer experience! The public transport was an old Peugeot estate car with seven seats. Apparently this vehicle can hold ten people, plus the driver, plus two people on the roof! In front of the passenger seat sat the fuel tank; a bottle with pipes leading from it. Wire held the car doors closed and their windows had no glass. The bonnet [hood] had to be opened at every stop to add water and something that took the place of oil. The car had to be pushed to start its engine. When asked if the wire he kept pulling was in fact the brake, the driver, who looked to be under 16, calmly let us know that the wire was to reduce the revs as there were no brakes. We prayed!” Continue reading →

Mourning Sunshine

From a worker in East Asia

Many mornings my wife and I awaken to the doleful droning of the suona, an incredibly loud horn used at funerals. Our fifth-floor apartment is next to the hospital, and we can see the morgue behind the hospital from our bedroom window. The suona players come to accompany the body as it is carried from the morgue back to the village for funeral and burial. Back in the village mourners wrap their heads in strips of white cloth and don ragged white clothing—white is the color of sorrow. Some wail and faint, having to be carried, as they walk along with the bier. It’s quite a vivid visual and auditory picture of loss and hopelessness. Continue reading →