Intercultural Communication

Learning to communicate in a cultural context can often be difficult. And if you are not especially conscience of the difference in how you live, then the point you are trying to communicate might never be understood. In one of my sermons at a Youth Camp in Entebbe, I was talking about how the key to releasing the potential that God has put in you is your environment. In other words, that one’s environment has a profound affect on who we become and what we do with our lives. The analogy I had written in my notes was of a boy who had a pet Gold Fish. One day, this little boy (lets call him Tommy) decides that he wants to play Lego’s with his Gold Fish. So he takes him out of his bowl and puts him next to him. Well, a little time goes by and soon Tommy notices that his favorite pet isn’t looking to well, so he carries him to his mom and asks if the gold fish is sick. Of course, we all know that Mr. Gold Fish can’t survive very long out of his water habitat and perished playing Lego’s. Well, you as an American probably totally catch the point about the affect of the environment on our lives. Nevertheless right before I began to tell that story, it dawned on me that this story was terribly wrong for a Uganda audience. First, Ugandans do NOT have pets. They do not see animals that way at all. And, in fact, they laugh at white people who pet, play and protect their dogs. Dogs are suppose to protect you….. And, secondly, fish are meant to be eaten! Why in the world would you even bother with a fish that is that small! The idea of keeping a fish in a clear bowel would be such a foreign thought to the Ugandan that they would miss the point of the message completely. I was lucky to have the Holy Spirit there with me to reveal this before I blundered into a intercultural Faux Pas.