Capitalism has paved the road for multiple states of development in the world. In hindsight, capitalism has motivated the usage of exploitation as a tool to build capital at the dismissal of humanitarianism. The temptation of building capital has inherently concentrated wealth and created cultural immersion. Eastern Africa, however, has untapped cultural immersion activity and development.
Scholars
Joshua Charles, Morgan Alexander, Safali Libia, Ariel Williams, Caroline Richter, Lily Conroy, and Patricia Annan
Significance
A globalized world relies on high levels of cultural engagement. It is important to understand the significance and impact that cultural interactions have on various groups. Cultural interaction can be found through several methods. In some cases, the lack of proper and effective cultural exchange harmed the host and visiting groups. Spreading awareness of how to approach cultural exchanges and interaction can improve global citizenship and real understanding of the world.
Research Goals
Examine the impact of cultural exchange through all relevant lenses.
Assess how GLI should measure its emphasis on cross-cultural collaboration & empathy
building.
Determine how GLI can better capture the impact of its immersion programming and
similar areas.
Our research investigation falls into four categories: (1) Cultural Implications, (2) Virtual Exchange, (3) Economics, and (4) Leadership/Organizational Behavior.
Cultural Implications
GLI’s mantra of Listen. Think. Act. aims to facilitate cultural exchange on equal footing between participants. Through its various exchange programs, GLI brings American students and professionals in their fields to Uganda to engage in reciprocal exchanges of ideas and experiences. Natural power dynamics have remained from periods of colonialism and neocolonialism (Guo, 2014). Therefore, when entering these exchanges, in order to create sustainable and lasting change that genuinely helps the community, there must be power-conscious discourse to promote genuinely reciprocal relationships.
Listen: Preparation is Essential for Successful Exchange
In order to reverse ingrained power dynamics, preparation is essential. Before every program, GLI fosters connections between participants and prepares them to engage in conversations through reading material and discourse. During our interview with Tom Karrel, the Director of Operations in East Africa for GLI, he shared that the most successful exchanges are attached to a course. Students with a semester’s worth of preparation to learn history, study colonialism, and research development were able to engage in more in-depth conversations and had more successful exchanges. Preparation is important for the host community as well. Two Entusi Resort Staff members, Reagan Nowamaani and Raymond Bokua, shared that to prepare for these exchanges, they create an environment in which all participants feel comfortable and are judicious about which community members they choose to connect to the students.
To maintain equal footing, participants must be empathetic and listen. The “Listen” portion of GLI’s mantra is a critical step of cultural exchange. Cultural exchanges should make participants feel uncomfortable and challenge how they view the world. Therefore, perspectives might be changed, and participants need to be able to see complexities and nuances in issues and be flexible in their thinking to accommodate new ideas.
Think: Self Reflection on Power Dynamics
After listening, self-reflection allows participants to receive more benefits from the exchange. “Think” in GLI’s motto encourages participants to put these conversations into context and question the broader implications of development, exchange, and the globalized world. When looking at development work, few people ask the question, “what is my role here?” and “am I taking the place of a local person that can do this job?” (Interview with Tom Karrel, 2020). These questions are inseparable from cultural exchange because negative historical exchanges from colonialism directly impact them. The power dynamics that have been passed down through colonialism and neocolonialism shape the way Westerners are viewed today in Ugandan society. In their joint interview, previous GLI exchange trip participants William Lively and Sarah Howerton shared their experiences of receiving special treatment due to their perceived status as a result of being American. GLI makes a point to address these imbalances when preparing for the trip. However, students must also take time to reflect on their experiences to understand and contextualize the impact of these power structures. Therefore, these exchanges are an important time to reflect on the role American’s play when coming into Uganda and how that impact is informed by culture and history (Student Interview, 2020).
Act: Outcomes from Cultural Exchange
When genuinely reciprocal cultural exchange occurs, the outcomes form stronger bonds between those communities. Cultural exchange establishes trust and forms sustainable relationships (Entusi Interview, 2020). The most significant impact of cultural exchange is the network developed among the participants. Those relationships lead to mutually beneficial, creative solutions. For example, GLI runs a Mental Health Summit to connect US Mental Health professionals with Ugandan professionals to compare practices and grow from each other and build lasting relationships to continue collaborating (2021 NBCC Institute, 2020). This summit is a perfect example of bringing together professionals on equal footing to help a community and listen to their needs while comparing expertise. When solutions take into account the needs and wants of the community while actively involving them in the process, the exchange eliminates dependency and promotes sustainable development.
