4 research outputs found
Nurturing creativity: A journey of personal transformation
Get PDFThe ‘idea’ of creativity invariably seems to meet with general approval. In fact, together with ‘innovation’, ‘creativity’ has become a common catchcry of our times. After all, we are told that we are living in the “Creative Age”, and we constantly look to innovation as being the answer to the problems that we perceive to be facing. However, it is one thing to like an ‘idea’, and quite another to be willing to make the journey to discover some of its possible sources - this is the difference between thinking and doing, the difference between theory and reality. Theory could be described as thinking that has been formalised and reality as the whole where living unfolds; so while there can already be considerable difference between thinking and doing, there is a ‘chasm’ between theory and reality.
This thesis is a representation in words of an actual occurrence – a personal transformation, a change in attitude. This could be described in more detail as a conscious opening to perceiving with an attitude of creativity by attending to the nurturing of creativity. A personal journey is unique, yet a human life is as much about relationships and connections as it is about personal growth. I have therefore chosen the company of guides to help me travel this journey. The main three are: Carl Jung for his support on exploring the whole of the ‘self’; David Bohm for his lucidity in expressing a holistic view of reality; and Robert Nash for his encouragement, through the use of scholarly personal narrative, on including lived experience in academic writing. Besides them, many others have been consulted on creativity and the nurturing of creativity, including some through interviews. By delving into creativity, both within and outside the territory of the ‘self’, this thesis also explores how perception is affected by societal concerns, with one of the principal influences discussed being the hierarchical order we live by – patriarchy.
It was my search for creativity that made me realise the need of nurturing my creativity in order to find it. This in turn led me to seek wholeness; thereby it was inherent that I should link the personal with the social and the academic. Thus in the writing of this thesis I have found myself weaving webs of connections, often across sheer windy chasms of dissent, to bridge academic writing with lived experience and the nurturing of creativity, through as holistic a perspective as I could access at the time of writing. The beauty of webs is that they hold, having innumerable points of connection to support them. Even if they are broken they can be built again and be made stronger, with ever expanding clusters of creative interconnections, as in our diverse human community new ways of seeing are constantly emerging and growing through the nurturing of creativity
Decoding the donor gaze: documentary, aid and AIDS in Africa
No full textThe discourse of ‘the white man’s burden’ that originated in the nineteenth century with missionaries and colonialism still underpins much of the development ideology towards Africa today. The overwhelming assumption that rich Western countries can and should address ‘underdevelopment’ through aid only stigmatizes African reality, framing it to mirror the worldview of the international donors who fund most non-profit interventionist documentaries.
In the ‘parachute filmmaking’ style that results, facilitated by financial resources and reflecting the self-serving intentions of the donors, the non-profit filmmaker functions simply as an agent of meaning rather than authentic author of the text. Challenged by limited production schedules and lacking in cultural understanding most donor-sponsored films fall back on an ethnocentric one-size-fits-all template of an ‘inferior other’ who needs to be ‘helped’. This study sets out to challenge the ‘donor gaze’ in documentary films which ‘speak about’ Africa, arguing instead for a more inclusive style of filmmaking that gives voice to its subjects by ‘speaking with’ them. The special focus is on black African women whose images are used to signify helplessness, vulnerability and ignorance, particularly in donor-funded documentaries addressing HIV/AIDS. Through case studies of four films this study asks:
1. How do documentary films reinforce the donor gaze? (how is the film speaking and why?)
2. Can the donor gaze be challenged? (should intentionality always override subjectivity of the filmed subjects?)
Film studies approach the gaze psychoanalytically (e.g. Mulvey 1975) but this study focuses on the conscious gaze of filmmakers because they reinforce or challenge ‘the pictures in our heads.’ Sight is an architect of meaning. Gaze orders reality but the documentary gaze can re-order it. The study argues that in Africa, the ‘donor gaze’ constructs meaning by ‘speaking about’ reality and calls instead for a new approach for documentary to ‘speak with’ reality
20th Annual Scientific Conference on Public Health Situation in Tanzania: Re-Packaging Knowledge for Health Promotion
Get PDFAbstracts of Tanzania Health Summit 2020
Get PDFThis book contains the abstracts of the papers/posters presented at the Tanzania Health Summit 2020 (THS-2020) Organized by the Ministry of Health Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC); President Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG); Ministry of Health, Social Welfare, Elderly, Gender, and Children Zanzibar; Association of Private Health Facilities in Tanzania (APHFTA); National Muslim Council of Tanzania (BAKWATA); Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC); & Tindwa Medical and Health Services (TMHS) held on 25–26 November 2020. The Tanzania Health Summit is the annual largest healthcare platform in Tanzania that attracts more than 1000 participants, national and international experts, from policymakers, health researchers, public health professionals, health insurers, medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, private health investors, supply chain experts, and the civil society. During the three-day summit, stakeholders and decision-makers from every field in healthcare work together to find solutions to the country’s and regional health challenges and set the agenda for a healthier future.
Summit Title: Tanzania Health SummitSummit Acronym: THS-2020Summit Date: 25–26 November 2020Summit Location: St. Gasper Hotel and Conference Centre in Dodoma, TanzaniaSummit Organizers: Ministry of Health Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC); President Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG); Ministry of Health, Social Welfare, Elderly, Gender and Children Zanzibar; Association of Private Health Facilities in Tanzania (APHFTA); National Muslim Council of Tanzania (BAKWATA); Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC); & Tindwa Medical and Health Services (TMHS)
