Inequality

My experience in Central Appalachia was with a group repairing the home for a family. The family whose home we were repairing interacted with us on this basis. On some occasions we had more interaction with the family than on others. Our interaction however was not necessarily one of total cultural engagement because the family obviously knew what we were there to do and other locals usually could extrapolate what we were there for as well. We were certainly in Appalachia because we wanted to be there, but at the same time we were there because some of the people needed help and we had the resources to help them. The unequal access to resources is a primary example of inequality.
Before traveling to Appalachia, as a group, we addressed the issue that we may come across encounters where inequality is very present. As a group, one of our most important goals was to be sensitive to inequality. Inequality was present in both the social matrix and our individual interactions partly due to the fact that we were directly providing them with resources that they did not have. The families living in the homes we repaired, had to reach out, admit they were in need, and ask for help. Realizing you are in need and then asking for help it is a difficult task. The presence of this inequality may have influenced the cultural encounter, but at the same time since the effects inequality are so prevalent in culture, depending how you look at it, it may also have strengthened the encounter.