Day 34 Cultural Competence – 40/40 Lent

The 40 Developmental Assets over the 40 days of lent.

Search Institute has identified the following 40 Assets as building blocks of healthy development that help young people grow as healthy, caring, principled, and productive people. Over lent we will be posting an asset each day to reflect on over lent. To explore the developmental assets more visit The Search Institute.

Internal Assets

Social Competencies

34 Cultural Competence – Young person has knowledge of and comfort with people of different cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds

Isaiah 11 – The Branch From Jesse

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

 

Age’s Angle: A friend of mine like to talk about ‘cultural tales’ He speak of his cultural tale to Samoa that stretches back for generations. That we all have them and sometimes when we get together they whack the other person in the face.  Being aware of your culture and the difference or even existence of other cultures is important. It

is important so we don’t ‘whack each other with our tails’.

I often think it is better to begin assuming you have nothing in common than risk assuming someone else is like you.

In my last trip to Timor Leste (East Timor) we drove around a conner into a welcome dance for us. A dozen kids in tradition dress drums, gongs and lots ofd smiles. The elder was dancing all over the place in bliss.  We did not join in the dance as we couldn’t work out if we were aloud. We went with the cautious don’t offend approach.

After the welcome & our conversations I went outside and they gave me the drum. I started to play and lots of laughing continued and the elder came and dances around me.

Then he said something. I didn’t understand Tetum and smiled.

Then he got louder and began shouting something.

Oh crap! I thought – now I have offended the elder.

I call over someone to translate.

He is saying “My people have danced on these hills for generation”

long pause

“and there is nothing you can play that I can’t dance too!”

 

When have you enperienced the mixing of culture and an awareness of your cultural tail?