Community Mindset

In the United States we say "Time is money" and we talk about "losing time" as if it has some sort of power over us. In Senegal they say "time is us" signifying a synergistic fusion between what the West often views as competing forces. This also points to a subtle but overwhelming difference between my world view and that of my Senegalese friends: individualism vs communalism. To illustrate here are some examples:

• In the English class I am teaching we asked students to make acrostics with their names to describe themselves. Instead of explaining how each adjective related to who they were, every student related the adjective to how their community works. "In Senegal we like to show people Hospitality" "Senegalese people like Soccer" "I choose the word Patriotic because we like to show patriotism to our country"...
• When talking about Senegal's Independence day, of which the 50 year mark will be celebrated on April 4th, my friends never gave personal answers about what this day means to them. Instead they talked about how their country really isn't Independent because it relies on France and other countries still for aid in this Neocolonial age. And when we talked about at what age a Senegalese individual gains their independence, the concept seemed non-applicable.
• My French African Lit professor likes to tell us about how Senegalese people are always considered children when they are around their mother. He has recounted to us more than once a story about how he laid his head in his mother's lap as a grown, newlywed man because the family ties are that important
• In a recent paper that I wrote for class on development, I said that students need to be taught critical thinking skills at school and University in order to own the legislation and initiatives that seek to improve the country's development. A day after turning the paper in, it dawned on me that kids here develop critical thinking skills at home in the debates they have over ataya (black mint tea with lots of sugar) with their family and friends. Voilà individaul world view slapped in the face with community world view workings.
  
• Yesterday at a friend's house I noticed how often the conversation turned to comparing the people in the room to each other. "This one is the fattest" "This one speaks French/Wolof the best" "This one has the most energy" "This one is lively" "This one is reserved and timid" "This one dances the best"... Such talk would be rude and is taboo in the U.S. but I guess because its understood that we are already in community, its ok to point out what the strengths and weaknesses are of each person so that the community supports each other most effectively. I think a Senegalese acquantance (not to mention an aspiring professional basketball player) made a better, truthful evaluation of my personality after knowing me for three hours than any Myer's-Brigg's test ever could.

So what does this difference mean? For me, it means that there will always be an underlying difference in world view that guides our actions, words, and reactions between me and those who grew up in Senegal. For development initiatives and foreign aid groups it means that solutions and initiatives need to be formed with a community mindset as their foundation. For the modernization of the country it means technology and laws are going to be applied differently here than they are in an Individual based society. For anyone experiencing a collision between the two, it means refraining from placing value on one way of life more than the other.