In Africa the integration of the tribal lifestyle into modern society is an everyday reality. There is no such thing as a modern society in Africa without the influence of the tribal lifestyle. Africa is developing extremely fast and in many places you could walk by and not see any signs of a tribal lifestyle if you don’t know what to look for. Most native Africans, who live in modern society today, at one time also, lived in a tribal setting. These habits, traditions, and beliefs don’t die fast. How a person is raised affects the way they live, the way they work, and the way that they will raise their children. Just because a person moves to a city doesn’t mean that they will leave their own culture behind. So Africa is unique in that it has the biggest immigration of people moving from a tribal lifestyle to the modern society. This obviously creates many complicated situations as modern society in Africa tries to find the balance integrating their old culture with their...

  The practice of polygamy has been around for thousands of years and is far from dying out. Even though many people are opposed to its practice it is still very common in many third world countries. The issue of polygamy is neither as simple as some people would like to think nor is it understood by many who do not live in a country which practices it. In this article we will discuss how it still exists in our modern world and some of the reasons which make it so unpopular.Many people think that polygamy is simply brought about by a man’s desire to have sex with multiple women and therefore, he takes many wives to get this satisfaction. Even though this may be one of the motivations for polygamy it is not the greatest. The reason being is that in most cultures people do not only have sex within a marriage. This is true even if the moral standards of their culture would have sexual relations be bound solely to a marriage relationship. Even if a man has multiple wives this does...

  There are a myriad of things that influence cultures to change but we will discuss only some of the main ones. Cultures are fluid they shift and change to adapt to their environment. Since cultures are *“the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious or social group” they can be changed with something as simple, yet powerful, as an idea. When people hear a new idea or see a new way of looking at things it can change the way they think, essentially it can change the way they believe. They begin to think about things in this new light and if they are convinced that this new idea is better than the old they begin to change their beliefs in this area. Beliefs are the base of a person’s culture. They influence how a person acts and dictates what they do or don’t do. When the beliefs of someone change they begin to undergo a change in every area of their life. It affects their social forms which in turn can change the material traits of their...

  Africa is rapidly developing in this modern world that we live in and yet there are still strong ties to the traditions of the past. There is no clearer example of this than the influence that witchdoctors still hold over Africa. Witchdoctors are a unique group of people whose influence expand the boundaries of countries; the influence of political parties; major religions, and even go as far as to supersede family ties. There is no other group of people who have so much influence over the people of Africa. Even though many people throughout the world think that witchdoctors are something of the past, the majority of African people still strongly believe in their powers. Witchdoctors are the most powerful group of people in Africa. The reason for this is that witchdoctors have the widest range of influence. Presidents for example or generals, judges, religious and village leaders all have a great amount of influence over the people in their specific area of power. However, the...

  Living in a foreign country can be quite a difficult experience but it can also be very rewarding if one is prepared for the challenges. Many people try to prepare for living in a foreign country by taking as many things as they can which remind them of their home country. The thought is that if you take into this foreign country everything that you had in your home country you can create and environment that feels like home. The problem with this is that it is very tempting to stay in this comfortable environment all the time and neglect getting to know your community. If the only time you feel at home is when you are inside of your house you will feel even more estranged when you venture out into the neighborhood. It is absolutely vital that a person interact with the people of this new country in which they moved. The more you isolate yourself the less you will feel at home or apart of the community in this foreign country.   Being able to communicate with the...

  It can be very challenging to make your house a secure place to live when you are living in Africa. The objective is to make your house so difficult to break into that thieves don’t consider it worth the risk or their time to even try. The way to do this is by making your defenses seen. Even a failed attempted robbery can be fatal to you or your guards so it is always best to make your house look as secure as possible to prevent any attempt in the first place. You need to put into place several layers of protection which will increase the difficulty of robbing your house. Each layer of protection that we will be talking about is by itself easy to get passed but when they are all put together they become quite impassable. The first, and one of the best, lines of defense of your house is your neighbors. It is possible to build your house like a fortress and block everyone out but that would only cut you off from your neighbors and would rob you of some wonderful relationships...

  A woman in Eastern Africa is selling lettuce at a market. The baby on her lap has finished nursing for quite some time yet the mother leaves her breast exposed to the public in case her child should decide to nurse again. She feels no embarrassment and no one in the market takes notice. In the same market another woman is looking for some vegetables to buy. She is wearing a nice blouse which completely covers her chest and yet everyone in the market is staring at her. Why? Because she is wearing a skirt that comes well above the knees. Here we see a situation of how strongly beliefs affect cultural behavior such as in this case modesty. This example is an accurate portrayal of the changing culture in Eastern Africa. The belief of what modesty is drastically changes the culture and forces it to conform to those beliefs. These two women represent the collision of two beliefs and two cultures. What the lady selling lettuce believes is that the breasts are meant for feeding her...