African Discipline

Cultural context makes all the difference both in the classroom and on the volleyball court, which is where Joseph Lekadaa and I found ourselves yesterday afternoon having a conversation about how to treat people politely (and how this should be different than how people treat animals.) This is pretty much verbatim how the dialogue went:

Me: "Lekadaa, please come here."
Lekadaa: Looks at me briefly but no response...
Me: "Lekadaa, come."
Lekadaa: "Yes Madame?"
Me: "Lekadaa, are you supposed to throw rocks at goats or at girls?"
Lekadaa: "Sorry Madame."
Me: "Lekadaa, answer the question. Do you throw rocks only at goats or at girls?"
Lekadaa: (Awkward chuckle) "Only at goats Madame."
Me: "Alright Lekadaa, please do not throw stones at Ann. Show her respect."
Lekadaa: "OK, sorry Madame."
Me: "Thank you Lekadaa."

Culture Key: To herd obstinate goats, you throw small stones at them to get them moving. You should NOT throw stones at girls, even if they are obstinate and not moving.