Is There a McDonald's In Ghana??

Since arriving in Ghana six years ago, I have come to learn a lot of things about West African culture. One of the first things that will strike the student that is trying to understand West Africans is the way in which they interpret interpersonal relationships.

Let me try to explain: in western society as a whole one of the focuses of causal relationships is gaining information. This quest for relationship entails the trustworthy sharing and receiving of needed information. If a person has a casual relationship with someone, and finds that the information provide by that person is false, then most likely that relationship will be terminated.

For example- Jim is a contractor that buys building supplies for projects. He normally purchases these items at a local hardware store, but after meeting a salesmen named Sid, Jim discoveries that if he asks Sid if the store stocks a item that he needs, Sid will tells them that they have it, but once Jim looks around, he discovers that the item that he needs is out of stock, or not available at the store. Because Jim now sees Sid as untrustworthy he will brake the relationship and start buying his supply at the new Home Depot in the next city, where he believes they will give him proper information.

This scenario is not understood by may West Africans. Here the focus is not on the accuracy of information being relayed, but that it is being relayed. Relationships are parmount. If a person is asked for help or basic information, even if the person asked does not know the answer, an answer will be given. The African will seek to determine from body language, needs, language usage, what the person asking wants to hear, and therefore many times will give the response that they think that the person asking wants to hear. Here the focus of the culture can be seen. In the West Africa of the past, information was limited and protected, and relationships where thought to be of greater importance. In our culture here, it is thought more damaging to appear unhelpful or unkind, then it is to relate correct facts.

For example- Kofi is a foreigner that is new to Kumasi, a large city of about 2.5 million people. Kofi is a young business man that dresses according to his profession, and has come to the central market looking to buy a rare item, that he needs for his business. Because Kofi is new to the city and does not know where to find this item, he decides to ask a young man if he knows of any stores in which this item can be found. The young man quickly assures him that he knows of some places. After about two hours and ten different stores, Kofi comes to understand that the young man was just trying to be helpful, not only does he not know of any stores that sell the item, the young man does not even now what the item is. Kofi is angry at the young man for wasting his time, and as he leaves the young man is confused way the man is angry at him for being helpful. The Africa understands that even if proper information was not given he was trying to be friendly and helpful, and of course that is the most important thing.

These two examples might seem hoarse to a reader, but in truth they are an imperfect, but fair example of each cultural ideal. Now a person might wonder what this has to do with McDonald's. Well, my friend Andrew Aaron and I tried to put this theory to the test the other day. We had been traveling to the capital when the truck that we where riding in got its third flat tire of the morning, and we where stranded in the jungle for two hours. My friend had his video camera, so we decided to see if our theory was true.

Here is our theory: If a broni (foreigner) asks a local man about the location of a place that he has never heard of, he will still give him an answer, just because he does not want to offend the boni.

So with our camera in hand we set out to answer our theory. Would a African tell us there is a McDonald's in Ghana, even though they do not know what it is?

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=1138220825106

From this video a person can see that most often Africans will tell the person asking questions what they think the person watns to hear. This is very important for those people trying to give the gospel to starngers. Unless an African knows a preaching of the gospel well enough or they are confronted with a clear enough Gospel presetation that attacks their foundation thoughts about life, they will got assent to all question and follow social harmony rules. This video give some evidence to this fact, and I hope it is helpful.

Is it Broken?

When a Westerner comes to Africa and stays long enough for the initial excitement to wear off, he gets his first taste of culture shock. He sees the system, the people interacting, the daily motion of all the parts of the cultural clock, but it seems to him as if something is broken! He sees all the problems, the poverty, the inefficiency of the whole, and his western mind starts working on solutions. He thinks like I did: You know if they just had a bus schedule then ..., if the police would just arrest instead of taking bribes then... if, if, if!!! The Westerner gives all the answers that work within his world view. He thinks that if he was to be in charge for about six months, he would fix the whole thing. And, if God does not help him, that is what he seeks out to do in his circle of influence.

But the question is, is it broken?

To answer that question, I have learned that I had to go deeper. Truth is only found when you look below the surface. A friend of mine told me a Nigerian fable: A man is walking down the road, and as he passes a crowd of people they all stop him and complain that the load that he is carrying on his head is quite crooked. They keep saying that if he is not careful the load will fall off. The man just replies with a smile and says, "You all say that my load is crooked, and that is true, but while looking at my load, you never thought to look at my legs!" And as he walks away, they all see that he has one leg badly damaged by polio which causes him to lean greatly to one side. The point of the story is this: many can see a leaning load, but only those that look well can see why!

To see if the system is broken, we have to know the reason that it was built. I have found that nothing explains the heart of a culture more than its main religion. This will determine the focus of the whole; the goal that it was made to reach. In every people group, the people in that group are trying to get to their 'heaven' and trying to follow the rules that gain its enterance. Unless you know this, you will never really understand those people.

In the West we have had one dominant religion for over 2,000 years. For about 1,400 of those years, all thought, all religion was controlled by one group - the Catholic church. The rules of the Catholic church were the key. If an individual kept these rules, they gained eternal life, or at least the chance of Heaven after Purgatory. This system of belief became very deeply ingrained in us in the West. It became a core belief that what one does with a set truth (or faith) will determine one's fate.

But in Africa, this has not been the case. In Africa, from time unknown, the religion has been one without written rules. African traditional relgions have never had holy writings, but not having holy books does not mean there are no rules. It is a religion of very few but very important rules. Not to oversimplify a continent of peoples with thousands of languages and many cultures, but all traditional religions have at their heart this one truth. In Africa we are Animists. This means that we worship our ancestors. So you are thinking, ok, great, so what. Well, here is the point of it all. The key for eternity is not a written rule, creed, or faith, it is PEOPLE! People are the key to eternal life. Traditional African religious beliefs state that the only way your soul remains in this earth, in the present spirit world, is that it is venerated (worshipped) by its descendents. So what does this mean in plain English? Relationship is key. If you are my son, and you do not like me - to the point that when I die you do not worship my spirit - then my spirit ceases to exist. In Western terminology, that is tantamount to going to hell. To secure eternal hope, I must secure earthly realtionships.

This is the difference: the West has been formed around the belief that a faith or a set of rules is most important, while the African world has been set up around the belief that relationship is most important. What seems so broken to you, is in fact working perfectly for the African! You cannot, would not, risk relationships over such small things as traffic rules, city laws, and church doctrines. These are minor in the African mindset, relationship is king!

So, for those Westerners that live in this misunderstood system, it helps to know why the whole thing works the way it does. Once the missionary understands the system, he can move on to fix the real problems, not waste time on the surface. If you want to help Africa, you must reach its people, for people are the key!