Clay modelling - exercises
Sunday, 16 November 2014
Saturday, 15 November 2014
EAST MEETS WEST - Cultural Challenges
EAST MEETS WEST
Cultural Challenges
Ten
hours flying time from South-Asia to Europe and the first
time traveller is suddenly exposed to a culture that has only been a flickering
virtual-reality on the movie screen.
Step from the aeroplane and reality begins!
The
emerging western culture in South-Asia is far different from the realities of
western culture as manifested in Europe , especially if the visitor is female.
Cultural
traditions continue to have a firm grip on what is expected, accepted and permitted
with regards to how a female conducts herself in the deeply entrenched
South-Asian cultures.
Gaining
the age of 18 or even 21, does not automatically bestow upon the female all the
rights (and responsibilities) enjoyed
by their western cousins; to the contrary in fact! The expectations regarding behaviour and
modest deportment become even more demanding!
Freedom as experienced in the west, is something that has to be
gradually acquired and is not served-up on a plate. One aspect of South-Asian culture is that a
female is viewed not to be a ‘responsible
woman’ until she is married! Until
such time, she enjoys what freedom her immediate family permits, especially
when it comes to associating with the opposite gender. Young women are protected and independence
is gained slowly, unlike in the west where young women enjoy almost absolute
freedom from at least 18 years of age and sometimes even younger.
So
how must it be for an attractive South-Asian woman to visit the west for the
first time and be left to care for herself within days when her last link with
her family and homeland departs? It
must come as a tremendous cultural shock to find ones-self suddenly alone and
without the support that one is accustomed to.
As a consequence, one unconsciously reaches out for help!
And
of course ‘help’ is always readily
available to a beautiful olive skinned South-Asian female, more frequently than
not from middle-aged+ patriarchal figures who see a vulnerable beautiful woman
in need of their gallant support… well
intentioned of course, with no ulterior motives! Most
South-Asian women are quite submissive with men and that appeals very much to
the older Western Caucasian male who prefers a sweet, compliant young
South-Asian woman, rather than a comparatively highly independent and
forthright Western woman that he is more accustomed to. Financially, he is more ‘comfortable’ than young South-Asian
men, and thus becomes a kind of a ticket to escape from poverty. The young
woman envisages being able to send money back home to her family. Overall, the prospects for a more
comfortable life appear better with a Caucasian man.
Not
having any understanding of the cultural background of the woman and thus not
understanding her need for ‘protective,
gentle yet firm support and guidance’ as a logical continuation of her
cultural expectations and background; it is instead presumed that her
bewilderment and sadness is caused because of her lack of ‘freedom’ as experienced by western females of similar age. The solution obviously is to introduce her
to the western concept of ‘freedom’
forthwith, regardless of consequences and without any consideration of her
cultural upbringing to-date. Surely, it
is her ‘Right’ to be ‘free’…western style! In other words: the young women is thrown in the deep-end and
expected to swim, and the only remaining traditional and stable ‘support’ is side-lined and labelled ‘patriarchal’, ‘dictatorial’ , ‘controlling’
or worse.
South-Asian
expectations of modesty are quickly flung out of the window when her beauty is
captured by the photographer’s lens within days of her ‘new found independence’.
Such attention is totally new and the subject has no way of knowing how
to respond, let alone cope with such attention, apart from enjoying being the ‘central attraction’ for perhaps the
first time in her life! Swept off her
feet by the generosity of other creepy middle-aged men who perhaps bestow upon
her never previously experienced unaffordable luxuries of new clothes, day
trips, meals in restaurants topped-off with declarations of adoration, it is
not surprising that such a young women is overwhelmed and bewildered by her new
found freedom as afforded her in her first weeks of experiencing the fabled
western culture. There is a naïve
desire to grasp at this new found ‘freedom’,
regardless of costs, consequences and with little realization of who is now
dictating how she leads her life. Her ‘freedom’ is now of course coloured by
the stance of her new self-appointed guardians.
Not surprisingly, the crunch comes after a few weeks!
All
this unaccustomed adulation, attention, conflicting moral and cultural
differences, and expectations take their toll, and like any young person,
longings emerge for the stability that has been so much part of life and which
gave the foundations upon which the future was being built!! The west does not seem such an attractive
option after all. There is the growing
desire to return to the home country and ‘forget
all and everything’ and once more be clasped in the bosom of the
family.
++++++++
Western
culture has also had its challenges for Shanta who hails from Nepal
Without
doubt, the art experiences that Shanta is being immersed in at Emerson College
are enormously beneficial to her, not only as a training for possible career
moves in the future once she returns to Nepal, but also for her own personal
benefit. Art is a wonderful therapy for
someone who has experienced so many traumatic episodes in her short life to
date. The gifts that Emerson College
Shanta
has been supported by Social Endeavours Nepal (S.E.N.), a
one-person charitable endeavour run by a guy who has a very unhealthy bank
balance! Your help is therefore
earnestly sought to help defray some of the costs and expenses associated with
Shanta’s studies.
Every
single pound, dollar or euro helps to reach the goal of GBP 5000 needed to cover 50% of the total costs of the course (inclusive of travel, food, insurance, etc). Please consider helping! Donations via:-
http://www.youcaring.com/tuition-fundraiser/from-street-beggar-to-teacher-/240531
Monday, 13 October 2014
NEW HORIZONS & NEW OPPORTUNITES
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We, in our western societies, take so much for granted, leading a somewhat ‘blinkered’ existence as we go about our daily lives. Of this I became aware at the close of my most recent visit to Nepal when I departed the Kathmandu airport in the company of a young Nepali woman who I was escorting to the United Kingdom.
Boarding a flight after safely negotiating the officialdom of migration and security, we took our allotted seats, my companion (by name Shanta Khatri) having the cherished window seat. It was her first flight and I wanted her to experience it to its fullest. Looking out of the window was of course part of that. Strapped-in and relaxed, I awaited take-off. A rather tense Shanta sat next to me, grasping my arm as the plane roared down the runway and swiftly ‘rose into the air. Shanta managed to control her desire to scream with terror, instead digging her fingers deep into my arm!
Once in the air, we could relax and look out on the scene below, although there was not much to be seen as it was already night time. Still, there was enough light for us to look out and see the port-side wing! All was well….or was it??
Shanta: ‘Papa! What’s wrong with the wing?’
I take a quick look out the window. All appears in order. No need to panic!
Me: ‘Everything looks fine, Shanta. What’s your worry?’.
Shanta: ‘But Papa, the wings aren’t going up and down! So how can we fly?’
Naive? Yes and no! When the only experience of flight is that gleaned from observing birds, what other conclusion should Shanta come to, seeing that she lacks any formal schooling and has definitely never opened a text book on the physics of aerodynamics!?
Shanta had taken the first small step towards removing the blinkers from my eyes, enabling me to see the world and its wonders anew! I was deeply touched by her child-like wonder, an experience which was to happen multiple times as Shanta revealed to me our wonderful world. And of course, Shanta had her first lesson on the miracle of flight, with the aid of a page torn from an in-flight magazine!
She taught me to wonder at the fact that our baggage actually arrived in London! That a strong current of cool air whooshed down the escalator in the London Underground …why? More physics lessons! Or that there was actually a ‘toilet’ on the National Express coach to Exeter! Of course, it had to be used! That the streets appeared to be devoid of the garbage that is strewn willy-nilly on the filthy streets of Kathmandu. London appeared clean! The suction of the vacuum cleaner or the incredible action of the wash-machine, were added wonders that Shanta had never before experienced, including that the sea was salty! Everything was new and (mostly) wonderful, although that did not extend to the prices in the UK! Twentytwo pounds for a coach ticket from Heathrow to Exeter for a journey of a little over 3 hours? Converted to Nepali rupees that is an enormous Rs3,500! In Nepal, Shanta pays about Rs600 for an 8 hour bus ride from her village to Kathmandu! Or in pounds….just ₤3.20
Shanta began to understand that Westerners were not rich after all…as Nepali tend to believe. How could they be when prices were so high! Now alone in the UK, Shanta has to grapple with this reality herself. No Shanta! You won’t find the fabled ‘money-tree’…not even at EmersonCollege!
Shanta sailed through immigration…well, almost! There was one slight hiccup, with Shanta believing I was about to be arrested! It just happened that Shanta mentioned to the immigration control officer that she was being escorted by an older English man! Ooops! Wrong thing to say! She was taken to a secure detention area and I was approached (I’d already passed through immigration) and asked to accompany the officer elsewhere! I was quizzed! Thinking that Shanta was having problems with documents, I cooperated as fully as possible and asked what her problem was! There wasn’t any…not with her! The problem was me!! It evolved that the officer had concerns that I was ….eh! yes! ‘Trafficking girls from Asia into the UK for ‘questionable activities’!!’ Oh dear!! Fortunately, with the help from our first host in Devon (via telephone), the officer was finally satisfied that we were kosher and let Shanta enter the country…..with me as escort! What a trauma for Shanta! She broke down in tears, but a ride on the London Tube soon put those experiences behind her! Ten days of touring the UK followed, before arriving at Emerson College on the 20 September for enrolment!
I cannot say just how deeply indebted I am to Rudolf Kaesbach (course turtor) and Yvette Dellsperger (accommodation & meals) for their immense generosity in granting Shanta a FULL tuition, accommodation and meal (lunch) scholarship for the 6 month duration of her participation in the ‘Visual arts Course’. This scholarship is valued at ₤6535! Although it has been granted with‘no-strings-attached’. I have nevertheless agreed with Rudolf that efforts will be made to ‘fund-raise’what we can to repay this scholarship or a portion thereof. Any donations will be shared 50/50 with ‘tution’ and ‘accommodation’. ₤6535 is a great deal of money to raise and I have thus decided to aim for ₤3000 at the outset!
In addition, there have been other expenses at considerable cost. Shanta is without any reserves whatsoever, neither does her blind mother (father was murdered) have any savings. So there is a need to ‘fund-raise’ for a further ₤2000 (actual cost is closer to ₤3000). That makes a total of ₤5000 to fund raise over the next months!
Perhaps you would like to help? Shanta has written about herself and her hopes for the future, information that can be accessed at ‘From Street Beggar to Teacher’
that accepts donations to PayPal. Please share this link with your friends for ‘crowd-funding’ attempts!
Alternatively, any donations can be made direct to Social Endeavours Nepal through the PayPal account via socialendeavoursnp@gmail.com (Label: APPEAL 4 SHANTA)
WELCOME to the 'APPEAL for SHANTA' Blog
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| Arrived at Emerson College after the long and tiring journey from Nepal! |
Thank you for taking the time to look at 'Social Endeavours Nepal' (S.E.N.) special blog 'APPEAL for SHANTA'! A new experience and challenge!
On our S.E.N. blog, we intend to share Shanta's progress on the 'Visual Arts Course', at the Emerson College, Forest Row, Sussex, UK.
S.E.N. works independently of any NGO or other organisation in bringing positive change into the lives of just a few individuals, in the belief that by helping just one or another person, one sows a seed for social renewal in the heart of that person that my grow and spread forth into the community.
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S.E.N. works independently of any NGO or other organisation in bringing positive change into the lives of just a few individuals, in the belief that by helping just one or another person, one sows a seed for social renewal in the heart of that person that my grow and spread forth into the community.
S.E.N.'s contribution is, admittedly, but a small, struggling seed in a vast desert waste, strewn with poverty, malnourishment, poor health and care, sexual discrimination and exploitation, child trafficking, child labour, illiteracy, etc.,.
S.E.N. and registered non-government organisations (NGOs) need all the help, support and encouragement they can get.
S.E.N. is a one person voluntary, unregistered effort to plant seeds in the desert that will one day grow tall, burst into flower and bring forth fruit!
S.E.N.'s Blog shares with our readers some of the seeds that have or are taking root and bringing forth the first shoots.
Follow S.E.N.'s efforts and share with your friends and on social media.
Even the mighty Oak or giant Sequoia grew from a humble seed!
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| Shanta engrossed in clay sculpture |
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| Shanta putting the finishing touches to her first piece of wood carving! |
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| The final result! A carved wooden egg! |
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