“I am because we are” emphasizes the strong collectivism that many African cultures embrace. People do not feel that benefiting the individual is rewarding, because they would live with the knowledge that the others in their community would not have the same. Hofstede defines collectivism as defining self image in terms of “we” rather than “I” (Hofstede, 1984). The African word “ubuntu” ties those strong feelings of collectivism into daily practice, making it something that is passed from person to person, and from generation to generation (Moran, Abramson, Moran, 2014). Ubuntu can be seen through early child development in many African cultures. It is very common for American babies to cry, expected, and encouraged even. For African babies, it is quite the opposite, African babies rarely cry. This is a cultural difference, that links very closely to the collectivism and styles of infant development in Africa. Africa is a very large Continent filled with many different cultures and backgrounds, I would like to avoid generalization, and focus the attention of this piece to Kenya.
“Why African Babies Don’t Cry”, a post by Claire Niala a Kenyan writer outlines her coming to terms with how to raise her first child. She had spent equal parts of her life in Kenya and in the United Kingdom, so she was exposed to two very different cultures regarding infant development (Niala, N.D). She writes that she knew she wanted to raise her children in Kenya, but also found herself reading Western and European-centric literature about raising infants. She observed the mothers and fathers, and noticed that babies were almost always strapped to them, and covered to protect them from the outside world, and when she finally gave birth she realized her baby did cry (Niala, N.D). The big difference was in Kenyan culture, when babies did cry, there was an immediate reaction, an immediate attempt to soothe the baby- offering the breast to feed the infant and keeping high attention on what the infant needed at all times. A focus on what was happening in the moment (Niala, N.D).
It is important to emphasize that crying is normal, and all babies do it to communicate their needs regardless of the culture. The Kenyan culture focuses on being observant and hyper reactant to their babies needs, and go above and beyond to keep them protected from elements and fed at all times. Niala quotes her grandmother’s 5 Rules for raising infants, which I have posted below (Niala, N.D). They all focus on keeping the baby well fed, and the mother well hydrated and rested in order to provide the best nourishment for their infant. The reason this is so important, is because it introduces the infant into the collectivist mindset of their culture from birth.
The mother’s teach their infants about the importance of “we” and humanism. The idea that you are only as strong as your weakest, and you must do all you can to protect and encourage them to grow as a community. Instilling this as a part of culture from infancy keeps the collectivism at the forefront of their society. It is important to remember that not ALL people will be as collectivist in nature, and abide by the cultural standards of ubuntu, and that it will differ from culture to culture within Africa. While there is so much variation, I believe this is an important connection that really influences the idea of humanism for the entire culture by implementing it at infancy.
Hofstede, G., & Bond, M. H. (1984). Hofstede’s culture dimensions: An independent validation using Rokeach’s value survey. Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 15(4), 417-433.
Niala, C. (n.d.). Why African Babies Don’t Cry: An African Perspective. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/claire_niala.html
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences (9th ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
