Reflective Writing 1
For our photo board assessment, I chose four photos
which represent my personal view on culture, identity, history and human rights,
below are my explanation on why I chose these photos.
My first photo was about Eritrean coffee ceremony; coffee
holds a special place in our daily life no day pass without having one or two
coffee ceremony per day. I grew up smelling and hearing the crack of roasted
coffee beans every morning it’s a norm that we grew up with. At first look
coffee ceremony might seem just a normal practice but if we take a closer look
we found each region in Eritrea have slightly different rules and ways of
preparing coffee in some tribes its considered as healing method, culture is an
iceberg we only see the visible part above the water while the rest part still
hidden beneath the water (Hall,1976). Thus the coffee ceremony might differ
from region to region but it’s a norm we been taught to love and respect, Ryan
(2010) mentioned that “Culture means embedded norms all obey usually without
thinking about it” (p.6).
Second photo was about my Identity this one was quite hard
for me because I don’t know who am I yet! Yes, my name is Zahra, I am African,
I am Eritrean, I am woman. But what do I Identify myself with? See I was born
in Eritrea, raised in the Middle East with Eritrean value and norm, I also
lived for couple of years in Asia learned new culture, and now I live in New
Zealand it’s hard for me to say what I identify myself with because all of the
above has influenced my behavior. The way I view the world might be different
from those who are born and raised in Eritrea or to those who grew up in Middle
East and adapted to the culture. So am I unique? Lawler (2008) says “uniqueness
is seen as something which belongs to the person in question and is nothing to
do with the social world.” I don’t believe I am unique however I do know I am
different, but I am on the journey of self-discovery.
“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.”
Ralph
Ellison author of Invisible man.
Third photo was about human right; the photo shows the
number of children effected by poverty in NZ. The reason I chose this photo is
to show that child poverty is not third world problem only, child poverty in
Africa is caused by war and economic instability. According to the UNICEF
website NZ has endorsed the child right . I think NZ government has to do more to
protect the most vulnerable member of the community.
The last photo was about history the 9/11 attack on the
world trade center. We all know the story of the four airplanes hijacked by
terrorists and how this led the US and its allies to declare war on Afghanistan
and the invasion of Iraq. Although I understand how the US might felt for
losing innocent citizen in horrible tragic. The war against the so called
terrorism resulted in wars and more distraction in world. I am against
terrorism but war won’t resolve it either, in fact it resulting in more
terrorist groups using US invasion, religion as tool to recruiting people to
join them.
Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond Culture. New York, USA
Lawler, S. (2008). Identity: Sociological perspectives.
Cambridge, UK: Polity Press
Ryan, M. (2010).
Cultural Studies: A practical introduction. West Sussex, UK:
Wiley-Blackwell.
Unicef New Zealand. Child
Right. (2016). Retrieved April 2,2016, from https://www.unicef.org.nz/learn/our-focus-areas/child-rights
