Paradise found at Sydney Writers’ Festival

Sydney Writers’ Festival 2012 took place over a week in May and since I am an avid fan of the written word I was compelled to attend this festival of books and big ideas.

Even though it meant taking an overnight flight from Perth to Sydney, I soon realised that it was going to be a weekend to remember.

Not only did I get to spend 3 days in one of the most wonderful cities on the face of the planet but I also was able to attend talks on a whole range books and topics. I was also looking forward to being challenged and exposed to many new ideas.

The first session of the Weekend in Paradise was on Capitalism where Italian Economist Loretta Nappleoni was interviewed by the ABC’s Alan Kohler.

After giving a brief overview of economic history, Nappleoni articulated many of today’s economic ideas and problems including how to address youth unemployment and the lack of economic instruments available to governments to protect their national economy.

She also compared the economic growth of China with that of the West. One interesting point that she made that while Reagan and Thatcher were  making economic decisions for the 3 or 4 year election cycle, Deng Xiaoping developed economic plans for the next 30 years. 
   

Nappleoni also spoke about Europe and how monetary union will not be effective if there isn’t a strong unified fiscal policy in place. This makes sense that if there is a common currency as well as budgets covering foreign aid, EU infrastructure and a common agricultural policy, there should be an effective common method of collecting taxes to support the EU’s work.

She pointed out that the mobilisation of labour isn’t as easy as it is thought due to the lack of a common language. Nappleoni also warns the Australian Federal Government to look towards 2050 and be wise in its management of natural resources.

The next session was with two pretty young things - Benjamin Law and Marieke Hardy who gave a funny account of writing autobiographies and how they handled the interpretation of personal and family stories. 

After a Long Mac, my sister Jacques and I moseyed on across to Sydney Theatre where we ushered into this dark auditorium (this is very bad for anyone who has been up all night, let me tell you) for a discussion between Annabel Crab and Joe McGuiness on Ex Vice President nominee Sarah Palin. While I do not share her views, it is still fascinating to try and understand why on earth she almost became vice leader of the world’s most powerful nations.



Here is to not being married and having kids

Looking back, I wish I had attended ‘why get married when you can be happy’. It was interesting to find that, on posting the info about this session on my facebook page, several of my West Australian Baptist friends immediately reverted back to their default position in promoting marriage as the ultimate way of being.

Pity they discussed this podcast without actually realising that the session was about “the diversity of life styles offered to gay people”. If marriage is so wonderful, how about we allow gay people to participate?   

After a wonderful day on the harbour, beers with a friend in Newtown were scheduled.

Sunday at the festival started off with two writers discussing some of Sydney’s famous cases. These cases were about the Judge who tried to avoid paying a speeding fine and the other was about a murder on a cruise liner. I’m not sure that they warranted having a book written about them but it was interesting all the same and shows the dramas that humans can’t seem to avoid.

Next was a panel discussion about bullying and how though it can be as well as how it can impact the choices that you make throughout your life. Someone once said that those who are bullied at school end up having the most interesting lives and the panellists were testament to this.

Mid afternoon saw a saunter back to the Sydney Theatre, Queensland Independent MP Bob Katter was interviewed by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.  Katter was promoting his new book initialled ‘An Incredible Race of People.

Boundary pusher completes Masters degree after being told uni dream was "pure fantasy"

Milestones are always an excuse to celebrate. They also give you opportunities to reflect and ponder the path that your life has taken and today was no different.

Today was a pretty special day as I graduated with a Masters degree from Monash University. While for most people this is a truly acceptable and normal rite of passage, for me going to university was never an option.

Right from my childhood I was told that I would not be going to university and this narrative continued right though high school. It was during my final year of school that I made the mistake of admitting to the “guidance councillor” that I wanted to attend university because I wanted to broadening my horizons and learn about what was happening around me.

Her response to this was to tell me that “You’ll never get into university” and such a dream was pure fantasy. But something inside of me told me that this was an invitation to walk away and do exactly the opposite.

It was like she had said NO to the wrong person because from that moment I knew that I was going work towards the opportunity to learn about politics, literature and everything about the world that I lived in. 

But as luck would have it, the educational establishment that I attended felt the need to fiddle with my final year enrolment so that, despite the hard work, it rendered my matriculation null and void.

However, by sheer hard work and tenacity, the university entrance requirements were soon met (via secretarial and art school) but when it was time to actually apply I became aware of one final challenge. The Parental Unit would never support this idea.

If they knew, they would have entered into a negative campaign in an attempt to plant the seeds of doubt that could kill any dream to gain an education.

I wasn't going to let this happen.

This meant that my uni application had to be submitted in top secret. The first they heard about it was from the massive yell fest that occurred when the offer of a place arrived.

According to their logic I wouldn’t have been admitted or let alone been able to pass, for the simple reason that disabled people don’t do well at university.

Apparently! 

They felt that my future lay in more vocational pursuits or doing manual labour such as plucking dead chickens or cleaning toilets, which is ironic but we won’t go there.

But luckily once they got used to the idea, they were wonderfully supportive and I couldn't have done it without them.

After attending my graduation this evening, a Michael Jordan quote comes to mind, 'If you accept the expectations of others, especially the negative ones then you will never change the outcome'. Just says it all really!!

I would like to dedicate this blog to my Maman and Papa who, while being the original doubters, gave me the love of learning as well as a passion for ideas and books in the first place. Also I thank them for their support and patience; I couldn't have done it without them.

Delusion of Gender debunks gender brain myth

The Delusion of Gender by Cordelia Fine is the recent offering from my Feminist Book Club.

Cordelia Fine is a Neuroscientist by training and this shows in her methodical analysis of the theories that claim that Men and Women are different because of differences in the brain and genetic makeup.

It is Fine’s razor sharp intellect that makes this book such a challenge to read. My knowledge of science and psychological research is very limited (this is not because of my gender, I assure you) so I found some parts of this book difficult to understand and rearticulate. However some of her common themes and narratives I found especially interesting.

One common theme at the beginning of the book is how context influences the role of women in society and how they are perceived by men. She begins by quoting a Joan Smith who argued that ‘very few women, growing up in England in the late eighteenth century, would have understood the principles of jurisprudence or navigation, but that is solely because they were denied access to them’ (2010, page xvii). So it is not that women are incapable to understand complex legal problems or to navigate difficult paths, it is that the cultural context in which we operate that places boundaries on what is considered acceptable activities and behaviours and therefore  limits female participation in particular activities.  

While I didn’t truly grasp her chapters on why male and female brains are not as different as what you might think, I did grasp what seemed to be 3 major themes: firstly, that the quality of research is not as good as it should be.

Secondly, it seemed that popular scientists often make a quantum leap from the actual scientific evidence to arguing that there is a difference between the brains of women and the brains of men. She does argue that this area of science is still in its infancy and we simply do not know how different the brains of women and men are.

Thirdly, she highlights how the brain isn’t a static organ that doesn’t stay rigidly the same from birth right through to moment of death. She also goes into how the brain as well as our genetics responds to the cultural context and social environment that we live in. The plasticity of the brain and how it changes and responds to the external environment growth is one aspect of neuroscience that has received quite a bit of attention.

It seems that Fine reminds the reader not to simplify a highly complex organ.

Fine points out that ‘with the right social identity for the occasion or the companion, this malleability and sensitivity to the social world helps us to fit ourselves into, as well as better perform, our current social role. No doubt the female self and the male self can be as useful as any other social identity in the right circumstances. But flexible, context-sensitive and useful is not the same as ‘hardwired’ (2010, 13). She shows that while our behaviour is strongly influenced by our context, it is not pre-programmed and installed before birth.

Again and again, Fine gives many examples that show how expectations and social norms influence how well we do in things such as Maths test as well as the choices we make throughout our lives. Her book could influence how we bring up children with disabilities and could empower minority groups. As she says ‘we saw in the previous chapter that social demands of a situation can change how motivated men and women are to perform well. And psychologists are beginning to uncover other ways in which the social context can change, for better or for worse, the minds power and effectiveness. There turns out to be a striking number of ways that being in the ‘wrong’ social group creates a trickier psychological path to navigate’ (2010, 29).  This shows how easy for people to be affected by social norms and kids have to be encouraged to rise above the limitations and expectations placed on them by society.  

In the later part of her book Cordelia Fine writes about how young children seem to self socialise themselves in to the gender roles without much conscious effort from their families and carers. She argues that ‘as we have seen, children are born into a world in which gender is continually emphasised through conventions of dress, language, colour segregation and symbols. Everything around the child indicates that whether one is male or female is of great importance’ (2010, 227). If you remember back to your school playground days, there were so many unspoken rules that the kids made up among themselves and there were many perennial ones surrounding gender rules and behaviour. Even as children we maintain how each of the genders are expected to behave through scrutiny and punishment.  

Even in the twenty first century when people are aware of the damaging results of stereotypes, humans seem to be naturally predisposed to perpetuating the gender roles regardless how much they try not to. She tells a story of a gender studies PhD Candidate who, on finding out that she was expecting a boy, spoke in a “less tender” way to her unborn male foetus. She also tells of a mother who despaired of her young daughter’s love of everything pink despite being raised in a gender natural environment.  

 

This review has only touched the service of Cordelia Fine’s book but I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about the science behind gender and how complicated gender roles are as well as how blurred the lines are between culture and science.    

Thank you Ghana for an interesting adventure

Having just got back to Perth, I look back on a visit that I will defiantly not forget hurry. It has been one that has been fodder for many memories.  This trip has been an unexpected 5 weeks but in many ways it has been exactly what I wanted. 

To begin with Ikando, the NGO who I organised the trip through, soon became the "I can't do" of African volunteering. It  gave me a valuable insight into NGO politics and international volunteerism. Who actually benefits when I pay to go and volunteer in another country? is it worth it? and where does the capacity building occur?


I still haven't worked out the answers!


If you haven't heard the story, when I arrived the boss said he was expecting a Sarah who was a lawyer and  he'd never heard of this Ikando Foundation/"I can't do".  When I showed him what I thought I'd be doing he said he'd never seen it before and that he have never advertised such  a position.  In short, ikando.org advertises volunteer positions that do not exist.


While I got off to a rocky start, a lot was learnt.  

Despite the mix up, I was able to see how the Red Cross works in a country that isn't not well off.  They play an equally grass roots role as in Australia but instead of teaching First Aid (probably run for profit), facilitating blood donation and  providing accommodation for Children with disabilities, Ghana Red Cross Society runs healthy living classes for kids and teaches very basic first aid for learner drivers as well as mothers' clubs. Much of it is the same but it is different in so many ways.  So during the 5 week stay, I was able to observe and participate in a few of these activities.  

Mothers' Club

The more memorable ones were the National Youth Day where 2500 kids came together in a Botanical Garden for presentations, dancing and lots of food. I really enjoyed handing out the drinks and snacks while meeting so many kids. Seeing more of Ghana outside Accra  was another bonus!!!

Apart from Red Cross activities, there was the many strange and interesting things that will stick in my mind.

Travelling in Tro-tros would have to be one of the more memorable activities in Ghana. Not only are they completely different to any form of public transport in metropolitan Western Australia (plus being totally cheap) they often provide you with a wealth of unusal memories.



Fresh meat anyone?



Undies?

Another experience that I'll never forget is walking through what they discribed as "The Slums". While I'd seen environments like that before on TV, I'd never been to one. While I could go on about how poor it is and how hard life is for them but in reality the locals just get on with it and make the best of what life has given them with as much dignity as possible. It was just sad that it has to be like that.  



Finally, the kindness of strangers is something that I'll always remember and to them I say a big thank you. Accra can be a scarey experience for a small white girl and these strangers  had no idea how nice it was for them to show me where to go and to make sure I was ok.

This trip to Ghana was an experience that I'll never forget. While it didn't go as first planned and I couldn't contribute as much as I had hope to, I learnt so much about life there and met so many cool people. Travelling to Ghana has made me want to see more of the world especially in a volunteer capacity.     

Another Ghanaian adventure at Boti Falls

Today was time to enjoy my last weekend in Ghana and I thought it was a good time to visit Boti Falls which is a few hours from Accra by tro tro. Luckily, I had a friend to help to navigate the unfamiliar transport system.

Riding in a Tro Tro

It was really nice to see more of Ghana than just the capital city and going up to the hills behind Accra brought some welcome relief to from the intense heat. After four hours and the usual drama of travelling in Ghana we finally got there. 

We paid our money and off we went on what we thought was a leisurely walk but how wrong we were!! 

The walk soon turned in to a serious jungle climb over these rocks and up some steep slopes. Being not in to sport or serious physical exertion of any kind, I was not impressed - especially before lunch. but luckily, something possessed me to buy a Snickers Bar before I left town so all was well and a hypo meltdown was avoided.

While we enjoyed our Snickers we were able to see an amazing rock that was perched on another as well as the awesome view from our horrendous climb.

No far from this rock was we got to see a rather unusual tree - one trunk but with three heads so to speak.

As I was climbing down, I was dreaming that if I had a few million dollars I would turn the place into some massive Eco Tourism and sustainability education venue where kids could learn to appreciate the natural environment and the importance to taking care of it. As a tourism attraction it is very under developed but I guess that tourism is not one of one of Ghana's priorities right now.  

Boti Falls

After a long climb down we finally got to the falls, which was amazing!!! Unfortunately it wasn't the rainy season so there was not much water but it was still very beautiful. While we were there, a group of excitable children became so fascinated by the two Obruni (white people) that they just gathered round to watch them swim, which would have put me right off but it didn't seem to bother them.

Visiting Boti Falls was well worth effort and would recommend it to anyone. Apparently you can stay the night as well as visit some other water falls near by but don't let the distance from Accra stop you from going as the experience is well worth it. 

An Obruni's impressions of Ghana

Oburni is the term that Ghanaians use for white females and it is something that us white girls get quite used to hearing. I have been here for almost four weeks and have observed many things about the country where I have been volunteering. 

Firstly, their commitment to education is impressive. Obviously, like so many in developing countries, Ghanaians see it as a way to achieve social mobility and a tool to escape poverty. I just hope that the standard of education is good enough to ensure that they are able to use it to provide for themselves and their families as well as the wider community. I also hope that the government is able to facilitate economic growth so that there will be a demand for all those new graduates.   

Secondly, I noticed a collective sense of lethargy in Ghana. You cannot walk far without seeing a person sleeping on the pavement/bench or slouched over a table with their head in their hands. Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the malnutrition. It seems in conflict with their drive to become better educated and to move out of poverty.  

A couple of evenings ago at the Ikando House (where I am staying) my room mate and I were both chatting about the state of things in Accra and we both had noticed a simmering tension that seemed to be blubbering under the surface. Despite Ghana's obvious commitment to Christianity and Islam, people seem to get angry and tempers seem to blow over really quickly. I don't know, but such displays of anger seems to be in contraction with the Christianity that I grew up with. One idea that we had that all it would take would be a suicide bomb to cause ciaos but I'm thinking more of a struggle as a result of water, food and employment insecurities, but we shall see.....          

Also, mobile technology is so far more advanced from Australia and in many ways it is to make up from the lower levels of computer ownership. In Ghana you can send credit to one another, access your bank account, etc etc and all from a non-blackberry/iphone type of phone.
  

Finally, so many Ghanaians that I've spoken to have relatives overseas in America, Europe as well as Australia and so many of them are so desperate to join them. I don't blame them really as life here is tough and being exposed to media that makes the west look very appealing. But in reality, adjusting to a culture that is so different and establishing yourself in a new culture makes moving to the developed world not that easy and not all that it is cracked up to be.      

A noisy finish to a slow working week

It was a noisy Friday night last night when two local Nima churches decided to broadcast their services via load speaker while the local mosques' were calling followers to their Friday night prayers.  It was a cacophony of styles and values but this didn't stop the members of the Ikando house from adding Reggae to the musical landscape and enjoying a beer while watching the sunset.

This week continued to be frustratingly slow due to my boss being away on Thursday/Friday so I was at a loose end. But I did eat a bit of local food and do a spot of shopping as well as make progress with my "holiday reading".

 

I did become a typing queen on Tuesday and helped Management to type pages and pages of text and on Wednesday I help to register people for their mandatory First Aid Course as part of the drivers' education.   

Yesterday was spent providing hand washing services for a wedding reception. It was nice to see a local wedding which wasn' t too wildly different to the ones in Australia. Lots of food was eaten by the guests and the kids seem to have a great time.

Today, eating and reading are on the cards which are a great way to spend a gray and overcast Sunday.   

Ghanaian weekend adventures

This weekend was thankfully very busy and quite intense  - how I like them really.

Saturday was spent at the Red Cross National Youth Day at a Botanical Garden outside of Accra.Getting there, in true Ghanaian  style, took  ages with lots of waiting in a long line for Tro Tros in a dusty paddock.When we finally got there we found hundreds of kids running around enjoying the outdoors and taking part in Red Cross activities. My job was to help handing out the juice which was totally fun.  

Although, one big difference between Ghana and Australia is that here they have no problems in leaving litter. Partly because there are hardly any bins but... I don't know. My bag becomes full of my own rubbish that I just can't bring myself to let drop.   

Getting back involved taking a shared taxi with four strangers to an unknown location. The driver thought it would be funny to drive at about 100 KPH into on coming traffic, but we made it out alive.

With the blessing of my Boss, I got to go to Cape Coast for two days. Cape Coast is famous for its connection with the slave trade. It was a strange experience walking through the "door of no return" and also the church directly above the male slave cell - seriously, how could they?   

But looking out over the beach that is below this Door of No Return, it was nice seeing people enjoying the beach and local boys having a casual game of football. Which, considering, their passion for football, they took very seriously. It was nice to hear that in 2008, either some the descendants of people that were taken as slaves or their remains were taken back through the door as a symbolic gesture. Breaking the chain so to speak.

The rest of the day want spent walking around and hanging out, although the constant interest by the local men began to get a little annoying. They are often so insistent to "take me as a friend" or to get my number.



waiting

This morning began by waiting for the bus what didn't seemed to be coming but suddenly a Tro Tro appeared out of no where with a kid hanging out of the door shouting "Accra, Accra". Awesome, I thought as I managed to score a seat. 

After finally getting home, I enjoyed a coffee and started doing the washing - by hand. 

It is now the half way point of my Ghanaian adventure, I starting to get into a routine such as to doing the laundry by hand and not using the water out of the tap. Finding the right tro tro to work from Nima Markets has long stopped being a challenge!!           

Nima Markets

It is sad to think that there is only two and half weeks left before the long journey home but I am sure it will be an awesome couple of weeks.    



Football fever, mothers' clubs and Ghanaian food

I was privileged to spend my first weekend in Ghana at a Vodafone Corporate Challenge where many Ghanaian companies played against each other while the Red Cross provided the first aid. It was amazing to see their passion for football and their skill even if they were just doing it for for fun. It was a hot as well as dusty two days but it was filled with music and football and a great way to spend the weekend.

      

The Band

One of the highlights ways finally trying local food. While it wasn't visually very pleasing, it soon became apparent that looks can be deceiving - this carb filled dish with rice, bananas, beans and pepper was amazing and kept me going all day. 

I look forward to trying more of the local food over the next few weeks. 

  

On Monday I got to attend Mothers’ Club meeting which was a great opportunity to see the grassroots work of the Red Cross in local communities. These Mothers’ Club  empower women to provide First Aid to the communities in which they live. They also play a vital role in Disaster Preparedness as they educate local people on how to prepare for disasters including pandemics. Mothers’ Clubs also provide assistance during times of emergency in that they are the “eyes and ears” on the ground and can provide valuable information on the number of individuals effected by the disaster as well as what assistance is required. While  the meeting was conducted in the local language, it was an experience that I really enjoyed. 

Tuesday was Ghana's Independence day and it was a great opportunity to spend it at the day at the beach. After a bit of drama getting there and having to paying 5 cedes (yes, here you have to pay  - a bit of a shock for an aussie) for access to the beach, I settle down with a local beer and enjoyed some reggae, plus some of the local personalities.   

Wednesday was spent at the office waiting.....

Today, I got to go on an errand with a co-worker which was a good way of seeing more of the Accra. We had to hand deliver a letter which is the way of delivering important documents and it when we got there we realized that it needed some editing and so we had to go back to the office. Later I got to see the central markets in Accra which was intense because of the number of people and new sights and smells.

They really wanted me to take a photo of the head of this beast

Tomorrow, they have told me to "rest" even though I soooo wanted to do some work (I can rest when I am dead, seriously) but what can you do? I'll probably go to National Museum and try and see more of Accra. The Red Cross National Youth Day is on Saturday and I'm off to Cape Coast on Sunday. Awesome!!!

  

Not so much a fish out of water anymore

It didn't take long to settle in and to find my feet in Ghana, even if it was after the help of Quashie, the volunteer support person.  

This week has all the hall marks of a true volunteer project in a developing world. When I first  arrived at the regional office of the Red Cross, they had no idea of who I was or why I was there and what I thought I was going to be doing went out the window. 

As time went on,  I found that there were no schedules and when I thought things where going to happen, they didn't. Plans often changed with no warning.

    

In many ways this isn't an unusual experience in the world of volunteering and it is very common when working in developing countries for there to be differences in expectations  and differences of pace. It has been a slow process to try and find something useful to do that is beneficial for everyone. But it is been a little frustrating trying to get anything going, to get answers to question on when will things happen, etc, etc but that's how they do things here. The culture a lot more vague here and things happen in their own good time  but it's a learning process and that's why I am here. Hopefully next week should be better. 

Last Tuesday I spent a really interesting day with one of the Red Cross people. Much of the day was spent  at the car and driver licencing place where the Red Cross runs mandatory First Aid classes as part of their Drivers' Education.

While I was waiting for classes to begin I was told that "the boss wanted to see meet". Oh dear, I thought!!!    

I was ushered into this room where I was met by two middle-aged gentlemen who proceeded to interrogate me on why I wasn't married and seemed really keen on setting me up with a local. I had to explain to them that in no uncertain terms that I didn't want to get married but if I changed my mind I would know where to go.

In the afternoon, I sat in on a health class in a primary school, which involved going over the basic concepts of  healthy living, such as drinking clean water, washing hands before touching food etc. The kids seemed to love learning about how to stay healthy.    

Today, I finally got to do something. I worked with them in setting up a blog so that they could promote their programmes and keep people informed. Since 70% of the Red Cross members are young people, it makes sense that they is something on the web.  It was one of my ideas that seemed to get their attention and maybe because blogs are free and are easy to use and, like their website, it doesn't have to be run out of head office.   

It has been fun taking the "Tro Tros" everywhere. Tro Tros are old minibuses that go around he city and are usually packed with people. I try and get one from Tema Station which is this large area packed with Tro Tros as well as market stalls and finding one to go to Nima (where I am staying) involves going around and finding it as there are no specific location where they pick people up from. 

     

Anyway, I wonder what the weekend will bring and what exciting things will happen.