Life is really an interesting aspect to observe. When we look at various overlapping networks that interact on a daily,we see that they are interactively woven together through seamless threads of relationship and exchange.

CAPITAL

As i reflect my life, according to the relationships and exchanges that occurs in my daily life. There are uniquely different types of structures that i am embedded with, which include familial structures. This now is the core kinship which involves my sister,mother,aunt,niece and stepfather. These people play a different role in my life but altogether they help shape my life through common beliefs, guidance, love, support, finance, nuture and different live experiences(advice). i would call the relationship we have as a kinship relationship because we have transitional exchange occuring between us for example when you look at my financial needs, my aunt used to pay my academic institutions back in high school and when i started university, nsfas had not approved me by then so by God's grace she managed to pay the registration and accomodation fee which was really strenous to her for that month because she had to pay all of that in a day which was literally R15 900. After a while nsfas approved and she stopped paying my fees. I regard this as a transitional exchange because she does not have any expectations from me besides bagging distinctions. She is doing this because she is obliged to me since we are blood related. Even if i was to give back everything she has done to me with the same value of things she provided. What she has transacted can never be replaced by the things i can exchange to her.

SENSE OF BELONGING

Our household is literally of a small family, and it includes my mother,sister and niece. These people are my pillars of strength. I wouldn't say much about my mother but the bond with my sister and i is so strong that even my mother cannot break it. My sister is there to being my emotional support when life hits me to the core. I remember the first time i started my periods in primary. It was civies during that time and i was wearing an all white outfit.Everybody at school kept looking and gossiping about me because apparently having ''periods'' is disgusting. Since my pants were stained at the back,when i got back home my sister realized that stain was blood. She then explained what it mean't having periods and supported me through this whole new journey of being a women.

My stepfather plays an important role in my life as well because he provides for my family and i. He treats me as his own child and i don't feel any void with him. Even though we have a non-kin relationship, i feel like he is obliged to me because my mother is like a bridge that connects us to being family. The things he has done for us are countless therefore i cannot replace the transitions.

Therefore each network aspect has an important role of grounding a person to who they identify as. Who do you identify as,and who sculptured your life?

Zamokuhle Dukheya 

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Misinformation/Distortion 

Anthropologists have an authorative voice over these they write about. As I was reading "How to write about Africa" Wainaina(2005) I came across " what you read doesn't represent the whole story". He uses irony to display/convey how the West have a narrow understanding about the non-West. This story illustrates how the West depict Africa as a unison and this eradicates the diversity of different ethnic groups existing among Africa. "Your African characters may include naked warriors, loyal servants, dividers and seers, ancient Wiseman living in hermetic splendour" Wainaina(2005) this shows how the African natives were exorticized through primitivization.

This created a whole new perspective of the West for me because I regarded them as dominant and financially secure whereas the blacks had contrasting ideas. This created a barrier between "us" and "them". I have always thought that being a West was all about living a perfect life. I even disliked my own ethnic group because I thought we were black sheep's of the world. As I was growing up, I would see more of white people begging on the streets and depended on other people, which did not fit my status quo of white people. Now I realized that I was self was being stereotypic and biased against the different societies.

In conclusion, these readings gave me a new lens through which I observe the world. I realise that my assumptions are biased and not cultural relative which this can create dividends between communities and increase negative stereotypes amongst individuals, contributing to "otherness". Instead we should build a more inclusive and equitable world view.

Reference List

Achieve, C. 2009 The Danger of a single story. TED. available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D91hs241zeg

Wainaina,B 2005. How to write about Africa[online] Granta Magazine available at: https://granta.com/how to write about Africa