If you have read my previous two blog posts on Representations of Global Poverty and The Single Story, you might be aware of the traps of posting about you experience in a development context and narrate distant suffering on social media.
Is there another way?
Periods. Statistically speaking, half the people reading this have them (don’t fact check me on this one, please). Even though my previous statement might not be one hundred percent factually correct, a large part of the population has first hand experience with menstruation. Still, the mentioning of menstruation and all things related (I’m thinking about sanitary pads, menstrual cups, tampons, stained clothes etcetera.) is uncomfortable for many and it is considered a private issue. Growing up in Sweden, I was fully aware that I one day would get my period and I was in some ways looking forward to it, thinking that would be that I was a proper grown-up then. That of course changed as soon as I got my period and the anticipation transformed in to a feeling of injustice and having been wronged in some way. And don’t get me started on the uncomfortable pads and the fear of staining my pants and the following (mainly imagined) public ridicule. Continue reading
I always remember this Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece while having to deal with an unpleasant situation from which I would rather stay away. His dolly zoom effect replicates perfectly the uncomfortable sensation that you experience when your stomach flinches and the subsequent spinning of the head begins.
Not everyone has the opportunity to share their story on social media. Access to the device itself, the platforms, decent network and a wide audience is a privilege.
A mother is helping her daughter study – Source: BBC
The educational sector worldwide has recently come under a lot of pressure, having to shift to distance learning. The Mexican government decided to close the schools on March 20th, and classrooms have not reopened since. Private schools are using a combination of Ipad, computer and online classes through Zoom in order to continue their student’s education.
Nowadays volunteering is becoming increasingly popular, which also involves projects in health care. The reasons behind volunteering are varied, from taking social responsibility, through gathering new competences till religious motivations. Similarly, the actual impact on local communities is mixed. It was explained earlier which factors we must consider if we wish to help. The lack of adequate knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and a comprehensive understanding of socio-economic characteristics of communities, unfortunately, can easily cause more harm than good. While avoiding economic harm, personal damage and diminishment of confidence should be the main precondition, volunteering in health care settings often requires medical diploma. In the meantime, there is an increasing focus on global health disparities, such as access to healthcare, health literacy, unaffordability of treatments, and ageing population.
Marta was about to finish her studies in medicine when she, along with a bundle of fellow doctors-to-be, decided to spend her summer holidays in the Philippines. Blue-eyed and blonde, short and fragile, she is my little niece and the apple of my eye. But she is also self-assured and far stronger than the initial impression that her fragile appearance conveys… And when she felt the spur-of-the-moment drive for joining a humanitarian cause, for living the volunteering experience, and finally, for enjoying two additional weeks in the paradisiacal archipelago, no one in the world was capable of stopping her from crossing the planet. Once back home, she brought her baggage full of countless emotive stories, joy and tears, gratitude from and towards the Filipino people, a worrying sunburn, and hundreds of digital pictures already posted on Facebook and Instagram.
If you are about to experience something completely new, far away from home, it is not strange that you want to share this with you family and friends; especially if it is overwhelming. These days, sharing photos is, as you know, easier than ever before. Endless apps and platforms enable your loved ones to see what you are up to wherever you are. This means that in theory, we should be able to better understand people and places far away. Digital ways of communicating does bring the opportunity to decrease the cultural distance and to connect with these faraway people and places, but it can also do the exact opposite if you are not aware of the traps.
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