Intercultural Training

A couple of weeks ago Dave and I attended an Intercultural Training put on by Newmont’s Learning and Development Department (one of Dave’s areas). Although he’s extremely busy with his new job, he felt it was important that he take part in the training. It’s a good thing, because we were the only expats in attendance! In addition to us, there were six other Ghanaians and the instructor.

Newmont’s African Region brings together a variety of people from multiple cultures and countries. Even within Ghana there are many differences between regions and tribal customs. One of the goals of the training was to better understand differences in the workplace resulting from the various cultural values. The idea translates to living in Ghana, which is why I was invited.

Our pre-reading included a quiz, just to see how much everyone knew about Africa, in general. It’s an easy one…so, here goes.
1. The non-insect creature of Africa that takes the most lives per year is:
a. Lion
b. Snake
c. Elephant
d. Hippo
e. Baboon

2.Which part of Africa is geologically drifting away from the rest of the continent?
a. East
b. South
c. West
d. North

3. The largest religious group in Africa is:
a. Hindu
b. Zionist
c. Muslim
d. Zoroastrian
e. Christian

4. Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, is in
a. Tansania
b. Kenya
c. Rwanda
d. Ethiopia
e. Chad

5. Africa is approximately what percentage of the world’s landmass?
a. 10%
b. 20%
c. 30%
d. 40%
e. 50%

6. The most common cause of human death in Africa today is:
a. HIV/AIDS
b. Malaria
c. Smallpox
d. Yellow Fever
e. Cholera

I’ll include the answers at the end of the blog…so don’t cheat!

We had a pretty lengthy conversation about the various differences between cultures, and that’s when Dave and I were both surprised to hear the many differences between Ghanaian tribes. In fact, I think even the Ghanaians were surprised!

Ghana men, in particular, have a unique handshake that entails a finger snap. Dave is quite good at it, and in fact, had to prove that he knew how to do it in the class. I think the men were quite impressed! I have seen some women do it with men, but more often it’s a “man” handshake. Ghanaians really like when expats try and learn their culture. Even learning the most simplest of words in the most common local tribal language (Twi) can take a person a long way!

Public displays of affection are not socially accepted in Ghana, although we were told that it’s not unusual to see two men holding hands…and they are not gay. Neither Dave nor I had seen this until right after the training, when we saw two men holding hands right outside of the Newmont office!

The use on one’s left hand in the Ghanaian culture is generally unacceptable as it is considered dirty. Due to lack of sanitation in older times, people “wiped” themselves with their left hand. Children who are naturally left handed basically have it beaten out of them. Guess you just don’t see lefties in Ghana. The people use their left hand to do dirtier work – pick up trash, clean a toilet, etc.

It was rather entertaining to watch the Ghanaians from different tribes discuss their varied traditions. Many of their traditions, from funerals to weddings, differed quite a bit.

The Ghanaians in the room also seemed confused about what many expats (or probably Americans, in particular) say. An example that I can remember is “swearing” vs “cussing.” Swearing, by Ghanaians standards, is completely different from cussing. “I swear on my mother’s grave.” They simply don’t understand why Americans consider profane words as swearing.

There is a fairly large group of Muslims in Accra, one of whom was in our training. She also happens to be Dave’s assistant, Ramatu. The Muslims have a cemetery right next to the Newmont office, and it’s a little creepy because the graves appear to be above ground (you know, humps of dirt like in the old westerns). They appear to be a peaceful society in our city, and are accepted for who they are. I have seen no instances of bad blood between the Muslims and Christians. In fact, the Muslim population complained recently that if the government acknowledges Christmas and Easter, Christians most important celebrations, then the country ought to also celebrate and recognize the Muslims most important period of Ramadan. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex with their partners during daylight hours. It is intended to teach Muslims patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God. Ghana now officially celebrates the last day of Ramadan, and I think even Newmont is giving all workers the day off.

OK….now for the answers to the quiz.
1. The Hippo takes the most lives in Ghana. While there are many more snake bites, doctors are adequately prepared to treat such bites. Even the villages have adequate supplies necessary to treat the bites. By the way, Americans and Ghanaians pronounce the word Hippopotamus differently. Ghanaians say “hippo-puh-tay-mus.”

2. The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone in eastern Africa. The rift is a narrow zone in which the African Plate is in the process of splitting in two new tectonic plates. There was only one person in our training that got this right. He was a geologist – not fair!

3. Although there are many Muslims in Ghana, particularly in the Northern Region, there are slightly more Christians in the country.

4. This was a trick question for the locals; some said Tanzania while others said Kenya. In fact, the mountain straddles the border of the two countries. Tanzania actually gets to claim the mountain as most of it is located within her borders.

5. Africa is approximately 20% of the world’s landmass. It’s a very large continent!

6. Malaria is the most common cause of human death in Africa. It was a little disturbing to hear the facilitator talk about HIV/AIDS. It wasn’t too long ago that the diagnosis was a death sentence. From what she said, it seems like now it’s just another disease for which you can take drugs to control.

Just a sidebar about malaria. Every Ghanaian is likely to contract malaria, most multiple times. The malaria disease is a mosquito-borne infections disease that weakens ones immune system. Over one million people die each from malaria and as many as half a billion people are effected to some degree by the disease. Don’t worry about us, though. Dave and I are both on Malarone, a medication that is used to treat and prevent malaria. Also, anytime we travel we take a Malaria Travel Pack with us. It includes malaria advice for expatriates & travel, a letter for doctors (since U.S. docs don’t normally see malaria), and emergency standby treatment medication in case we can’t get a diagnosis confirmed and treated within 8 hours of the onset of symptoms. Ah…the joys of living in Africa!