Culture and communication

Ibaloi Tribe

Our  CULTURE
                is our Identity....

Every individual, have its own unique culture. I myself belongs to the Ibaloi tribe known  for  being shy and peaceful loving people of cordillera.

I consider my culture  as collectivist because it emphasize family  and work group goals above individuals needs or desire. We usually have the culture of helping together  called “Bayanihan”. Unlike in the other countries like in western Europe where they mainly focused on their own achievement regardless of the expenses of the group goals ,resulting in strong sense of competition. The individualist are realistic ,very rational and extremely matter of fact people. In contrast with collectivism category, where rules promote unity,brotherhood and selflessness. Working with others and cooperating is the norm, everyone supports each other as a community,family or nation than as an individual... Having this culture,I thought I was so lucky with the blessings brought about it . It is  in this culture that I was able to succeed in life and improved my personality in acquiring more knowledge for the benefit of my family, community and country. The culture that was taught to me ,will be within me always.

Working in  an agriculture office, needs too much energy, determination to attain goals and strong imagination for improving and serving peoples needs especially the farmers.

The developing culture that I observed in the office is the way how we entertain other people, attending to their needs, respecting their  own point of view and  a helping hand to reach their goal especially the farmers and other individual.  We usually see to it that our client are satisfied and comfortable with all the services being rendered in our office. One thing to consider also is the showing of hospitality and concern to any individual who is in need of help..
 Another culture to consider is getting together of all employees and setting up a party for refreshment , and to gain more  friendship and understanding to each other. In the Philippines, Christmas is  the most common  culture being celebrated and enjoyed  by most us. There is the coming together of every family and  relatives.

Canao on the other hand is being practiced in Benguet Province where old folks , man, women and children are gathered together to celebrate a bountiful harvest, victory and others. Its a practice of butchering a pig as a sacrifice to the gods and goddess whom they believed to be the creator of all that is happening on this earth. A thanks giving beliefs for more blessings to come and unity among the people.I consider this in collectivism  category for we can see the involvement of high ranking respective elders and leaders of the community helping together for the improvement and development of province as a whole..we can see the unity, respect  and understanding in every individual.

Understanding more about  our culture needs research and documentation for the  benefits of the coming generation. It is a learning process to understand more to where we belong to and where we will be headed to. . Going to school is one way to understand and accomplish individuals desire and dream to reach a certain goal. Benguet State University school which includes the open university  had the mission to help others to accomplish this goal. I observe that most teachers are willing to share their knowledge and ideas in the progress of their student. They are accommodating and render some of their time in the success of a certain study. I think The success of every student is the success of the School… The open university is of great help not only to us but to all individual who wishes to pursue their studies . We are all leading to one direction  focusing  on improvement, development and success towards the coming millennium.. Hand and hand regardless of culture we should all be of great success…..

COMMUNICATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

We live in communication era, with rapid expansion in the reach of media and improved technique for interpersonal exchange of ideas,.

In rural population, and women in particular find it difficult to cope with rapidly changing social condition which often lead to the development of unsetting lifestyle. Communication can focus on the long sensitive process of changing behavior and lifestyle.

I do agree that communication is very important  no matter where we are. It is the most important thing in every transactions and mingling with other people  . Communication can change someone’s lifestyle and behavior.

Based on my experience, I was sent to Japan to learn technologies on cut-flower production for six months. One important requirement is to learn the basic language of the country which is Nihongo.

Learning their language  and culture is the only way to interact  with japanese ,since they don’t know much about English language.  During my time of study , my co- trainees from Brazil,Vietnam, Peru,China,Mogolia and Indonesia have one language in common inorder to communicate is  the English language.

We all know that this country have  their own culture and language but through the help of the universal language we were able to achieve  our mission despite of the difference in  language and this made us friends of friends. I consider myself to be lucky for I can speak English (carabao English)  that made me gained confidence . There are some instances that  my friends from  Mongolia , Peru , and China   cannot understand each other because they don’t speak common language as their means of understanding. Sometimes this will lead to inferiority complex to us trainees and miscommunication may even occur. Secondly , we learnt to speak in Japanese  language and learn their culture lifestyle , beliefs and tradition. It’s a great previledge  to be in the Land of The Rising, Japan.

As I said earlier, I was raised in a rural area , far from city belonging to a shy  type tribe, little by little Im gaining my confidence and pride through the interaction of different races . I wont deny that communication has given me much that improve my personality and character (behavior).  After the training, communication among us are still ongoing up to this date. Its exciting having friends around the world. I consider it, communication has a great impact  to individual for social change. Communication is essential because there is the interaction between two different things , knowing ones culture which is different from each other. Take for example in mass media, this actually is changing peoples life. Since its objective is to entertain, and educate. I really gained a lot of experience and have change myself from it.

 CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

I don’t really know what brought me to enroll in this course , I just followed my desire to go studying  and refresh my mind from stress .

Long before I studied Devcom, I already have an interest in knowing different culture cause this is my first thesis conducted at Domolpos Tinongdan Itogon Benguet. I have already been dealing and asking about culture., At first I have to communicate with all the people incharge within the community.Without communication I wasnt able to finish my thesis in due date time.
What I appreciate much about this course is the topic itself. It refresh my mind to recall the things Ive observed within our community and  desire to document about our culture. Learning is a continous process and every experience learned should be a part of lesson added in our life.
Im happy that I was enrolled in this course that I was able to share the pictures I have taken and wrote down the ideas that are kept in my brain through my blog. I hope that I can improve my blog and can even share ideas to everyone.

CULTURAL COMPETENCY

On my own way of understanding, about cultural competence is that it refers to the ability of individual to effectively  interact with different people and culture . If we try to see the world around us especially the coming ASEAN integration wherein open trade is very much expected.. From this point of view, we will mingling with different people with different culture thus adjustment of behavior and style is needed in order to effectively interact with people especially in terms of communication. I believe that though we have different cultures we still can interact with each other through good communication and acceptance of our dissimilarities as an individual human being. Respect to one other  and open minded person can be of great help.Measuring our own cultural competency can shed light on the depth of our knowledge about cultures different from our own. It can also reveal what more we should learn about a specific population's beliefs and values. Cultural competency is the ability to understand the within-group differences that make each individual unique, while celebrating the between-group variations that make our country a tapestry.

Intercultural relation .

Individuals who deal with people from other cultures want to learn how to improve their performance through improving their communication skills.

Working in a global team and dealing with business partners or customers across cultures raises challenges and demands new attitudes and skills. Our experience shows that without the right approach, cultural differences greatly reduce effectiveness in the early stages of a relationship. But active management of the internationalization process and a conscious effort to acquire new skills will release fresh sources of competitive advantage.
Cultural competency is very much important because it can help us to succeed in life. It can also encourage us to enhance our skills and improve our knowledge . Understanding  and respect of others beliefs,customs and traditions can be a good kit for achieving success and peace around the world or in our own country.
Difference in culture is not the hindrance for us to achieve success... In every human being, we are given the opportunity  to achieve our desire and dreams only if we can broaden our knowledge and open our hearts to the world. Through communication social interrelationship with others will be a success.... Culture and communication goes together...