Monday, October 29, 2007

Methodology

One of the most valuable parts of the experience was interacting with the people of Appalachia and encountering their culture. The methodology utilized was an ongoing cultural encounter with the region, but the encounter with the family was mostly limited to the time spent working on their home. In most instances the families would interact with us while we worked on their home and almost always eat lunch with us. On one occasion the father and some of his children helped us make repairs, which allowed for maximum interaction and teamwork. Spending time with the families was always fun. We had the opportunity to make new friends, learn about their values, and way of life.
One family we worked for played horseshoes together every day. As you can probably imagine they were very good. I have essentially no experience playing horseshoes and I had a great time learning how to play the game from experts. Each week the group we were with had a picnic for the volunteers to invite the families to. This family brought their horseshoe set to the picnic and I will never forget the exciting camaraderie we had. Another man’s whose home we repaired was very involved in the competitive cock fighting circuit. I had never heard of cock fighting before, and I learned that it is essentially 2 roosters fighting each other in attempt to kill the other. One afternoon, this man displayed his valued roosters some of which had one him a significant purse. It is unlikely that I would come across similar experiences in other contexts, but they were both mind opening and fulfilling.

Tour of a Holler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyah2tijAHE

This video was found on youtube.com, illustrating some cultural aspects of the region, such as language, dialect, and the natural surroundings of the homes. The word holler is generally used to refer to a home.

Notes on Culture

As noted in the previous entry, about a quarter of the people inhabiting the Central Appalachian region are living in poverty and they do not have material items and luxuries that others, myself included, are used to. Just because they live in poverty, does not mean that they do not know what else is out there. They watch TV and they know they do not have what so many others do. Rather than focusing on what they do not have though, they focus on what they do have and they fully appreciate it. They feel blessed to have what they have.
Culture, which can be defined by the ways in which people make sense out of their lives. It is part of the culture in Central Appalachia to appreciate what they have. They find meaning and value in being able to wake up to the beautiful mountains that surround them every morning. Culture is also defined by economic realities. In the case of the people living in Central Appalachia who are restricted economically, they are forced to find meaning in their lives outside the realm of economics. They find meaning through their families, friends, nature, etc… They are able to value a rainbow in the sky after a storm flooded their home. In the culture I am most familiar with, we value are families and friends in much the same way the people in Central Appalachia do. We do not however value nature and our surroundings the same way as evidence by the damage force upon out environment on a daily basis.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Description of Culture Site

The sites of my cultural encounter are the towns that I visited for one week each during the summer and the families who lived in the homes I helped repair in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. This region regularly experiences extremely harsh weather conditions characterized by harsh winters and severe storms year around. Storms often get trapped in the mountains resulting in heavy precipitation, flooding, and damage. The communities where I repaired homes have poverty rates above the national average. In some cases, poverty rates are up to three times higher than the national average.
The people living in this region live in all kinds of homes varying from typical double floor homes to single floor homes, to trailers, all of which may be in good repair to those in need of much repair. In some cases families with three to four children may live in a single trailer in need of repair. Some homes lack adequate kitchens, foundations, roofs, electricity, plumbing, and other luxuries, which many people tend to take for granted. About 25% lives below the poverty level, including “…more than 50,000 children, 90,000 adults, and 15,000 elderly” (Appalachian Service Project.)
Despite the poverty and poor living conditions that some families lived with on a daily basis, they always expressed how blessed they felt for having what they had. I could not help but think of how easy and even likely it could be for someone in living with such extreme poverty might give up, but based on my experience and the people I interacted with they never gave up.

Appalachia Service Project. Electronic document, http://asphome.org/index.html, accessed October 27, 2007.

Introduction

In past summers, I have spent one week in the mountainous Central Appalachian region of the United States, where Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia join, repairing homes for people who cannot afford to make the necessary repairs to their homes. The weather in this region of the United States is so severe that homes are damaged. Some of the people inhabiting the region generally do not have the economic ability to make repairs to their homes, let alone properly equip them for the severe weather conditions they experience. I initially chose to engage in this culture because I figured that I was young, able, and would definitely learn something new and probably have fun as a result. I engaged in this mission with a group, so in a sense my cultural engagement was often, but not always, limited to the group, however my experiences were always new, illuminating, and valuable. Essentially, my cultural engagement is different than someone who engaged in this culture alone.
I have lived in the northeast of the United States my entire life. I have been fortunate enough and have had the opportunity to travel both in and outside the United States on a number of occasions and the culture I encountered in Appalachia is markedly different from my own culture. One of the most obvious differences between my culture and the culture of Appalachia is the economic means of each. I chose this cross-cultural encounter because I am interested in learning how something, which is seemingly arbitrary, like money, affects people and their culture.

Appalachia Service Project. Electronic document, http://asphome.org/index.html, accessed October 27, 2007.