The Kamba community in Kenya Essay Example for Free

The Kamba community in Kenya Essay Dreams are part of human beings since everyone has them from time to time. They are interpreted differently in many cultures and so their meaning differ with different people. However dreams are connected to the spirituality. Some dreams come as warnings; others come from what the person has been indulging in when they were awake during the day. For example someone could have watched a horror movie during the day and so when he/she goes to bed he/she gets a nightmare; meaning a replay of the day’s activity takes place. Many times people dream and by the morning they can hardly recall what the dream was about. Other people have dreams and exactly how the dream had come something happens in the real life. In some cultures cleansing rites are performed in the homestead when certain dreams come. This is said to appease the spirits and avoid some bad dreams coming into a reality. I will want to focus on an African culture a Kenyan one. Dreams with dead people are considered a bad omen especially if there was physical contact in the dream. It is believed that if cleansing is not done immediately, the person who dreamt or a close family member would soon die. Cleansing involves slaughtering a goat or a sheep and all the blood sprinkled to the spirits (sprinkling to the ground as they talk to the unseen spirits trying to ask for protection) If a person dreams with a snake this is more serious for it is believed that the spirits are not pleased with that family and therefore what follows is a meeting of the elders and the family members and try to search for an answer to who could have wronged the spirits. Dreams of water are considered as good ones and that the person’s spiritual life is clean. If a person dreams with some food such as eating meat in the dreams; this is said to have no remedy, for sure a close person will definitely die. This community takes it that if a person can hardly remember a dream then it is not an important dream and no one dwells there. Interestingly they believe that if by any chance a dream with a deceased person who died at an elderly age, and the in the dream this deceased person asks for anything, and then effort to give the request will be made. (Usually the naming in this community repeats such that if a boy is born the first one in a family he automatically gets the grandfather’s name). So in this case if the old man dies and comes in a dream and asks for anything it is going to be given to this boy – his namesake. There is no known elderly person who died without a namesake and they also say if that would happen then the request would be taken to the grave of the dead person. They also believe that if someone dreams with a small baby then there is certainly going to be an addition in the family either the extended family or the nuclear one. They look at dreaming with livestock as a sign of wealth. This community has belief in dreams involving certain numbers. They don’t take dreaming with a number seven as a positive thing – it is a sign of war. Dreams of fire or smoke are taken as a sign of extra ordinary power. Dreams involving spears, arrows and shield are usually perceived as clear indication of a raid probably from the neighboring tribe. This calls for night patrolling, making cattle sheds stronger so the enemy doesn’t manage to carry the raid operation easily. It is all spiritual based. In the next page I will look at another culture and their understanding of dreams which will be little bit different from this one. Although this is a community in the same country when it comes to dreams and interpretation it is different but the common ground is that both communities see dreams as spiritual messages. The Kamba community in Kenya looks at dream with a dead person very positively. They believe the dead usually returns into this life only in a dream to especially advise those who were left behind and are loved by him (the dead). For this reason the person will keenly try to remember all the details that were said in the dream and follow them to the letter. He will also make it known to the people concerned what the messages were and what is expected of the living by the dead. This has been critical because I have seen people move from place to place because their ancestors visited them in the dreams and asked them to leave. This particular community would have no interest in any dream that involved cattle. They really consider a dream involving a calabash/guard as a very bad thing, since they believe that someone is trying to bewitch them. They will sell anything they have to go to a witchdoctor for protection. Really funny. I will now look at my personal experience as far as dream and spirituality is concerned. I have always had dreams before any major thing happened in my life. Sometimes I actually dreamt with my baby being sick and in three days time that had happened. If at all I will clearly remember the dream in the morning and also remember it during the day then I get sure that it will surely come to be. I believe it is a spiritual voice that comes to me at night is to bring in advance things that are about to happen in the near future. However I try to pray and dismiss the bad dreams which would keep scaring me during the times I remember. I have had dreams of good things which have come to happen in my life. As a Christian I know that there is power in dreams and that it is actually the Holy Spirit who brings these dreams to us, sometimes I know that the evil spirit does also bring dreams especially the terrible ones, I take it as a tool which every Christian has, it is a way that God communicates with his children, to either warn, prepares or to seek the victims heart. In the Bible there are a people who also had dreams and surely they were from God, example when Joseph the foster father of Jesus was given a message by the angel that he should not fear for the child Mary is carrying is conceived by the power of Holy Spirit. When King David had a dream and he called Prophet Nathan to interpret it – David was being warned by God that his act was not a fair one and he would receive the punishment due. So to summarize all this dreams and spirituality always go hand in hand, be it the cultural way of understanding this, be it the Biblical way of looking at it.

The University Health System Should Distribute the Morning After Pill E

The University Health System Should Distribute the Morning After Pill The United States of America is known for many of its outlandish and outrageous statistics in comparison to other countries. Statistics regarding obesity, homicide rates, and political issues have displayed many of the nation?s weak points. However, the amount of teen pregnancy has become so excessive that it is becoming a cry for help and a statistic that is greatly standing out and can no longer be ignored. In 1999 about one million teenagers experienced a pregnancy. This rate was twice the amount in England, Wales, and Canada and nine times greater than that of the Netherlands and Japan. About 78% of these American teenage pregnancies were said to be unplanned. (The Alan Guttmacher Institute home page) The country has come up with many solutions to this problem, yet nearly every solution has caused ethical debate. The use of contraception is rejected by many religions and groups of people; while the option of abortion, is even more widely rejected. Many Christian religions stand firm on preventing the use of either contraception or abortion as well as sex outside wedlock. Other religions such as Judiasm, Muslims, and Hinduisms also stand against it. Politicians are also known for taken a stand on the issue, as those running on a conservative platform (Republicans) are more likely to go against. The liberals (Democrats) stress the need for womens? right to chose and consistently fight for the continuation of the practice of abortion. Although, the younger generations are more accepting of these options, does that mean it is the right decision? One quick fix to pregnancy began years ago with the introduction of the condom. This method of contraception h... ... at an early age is a fear for many young women in high school and college. About 70% of the high school age students that become pregnant will finish high school but fail to continue there education in college. (The Alan Guttmacher Institute facts and statistics on teen pregnancy home page). Many young women have goals and dreams that are sometimes shattered due to an unexpected visitor. One night can change the lives of these students and they should have an option if a mistake is made or an accident happens. If women on the James Madison University campus had the choice to receive the morning-after pill from the Health Center and take it, then there would be a lot less stress in the lives of these young women. Knowing that if something unexpected where to happen, that there is a solution, is a good feeling to have for the woman of this college university campus.

Fast Food Argument

Fast food is unhealthy; leads to obesity and disease, but the convenience and addictiveness of it contributes to the laziness of the general population. Most people eat fast food for the lack of time then having prepare a decent meal. It seems as though there is a fast food restaurant on every street corner while driving home. The general population oversees the fact that eating nothing but these greasy foods will attribute to weight gain. Fast food is addictive for the convenience of it and in which it tastes so good. Additionally, the variety of fast food restaurants provides timely manners for people with different work hours; compared to whom works a normal nine to five job. For instance, people try dieting and then will starve their body by not eating anything at all or just salads that will go nowhere fast. The human body needs heavy calories to burn off and produce healthy enzymes and glycogen. Specifically, this helps produce bigger muscles and thicker bone density. Eating nothing at all will still not help a person get healthier because the human brain needs carbohydrates and proteins to function properly. Naturally, eating too much fast food leads to obesity which leads to diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure; which then leads to laziness. Laziness is one of the biggest factors to weight gain. What a vicious circle this is; being too tired to cook after working all day, the convenience of fast food then laziness and furthermore, the unnecessary results of obesity and disease.

Letter Apology Letter Of Apology - 1504 Words

Dear: Dr. Patterson, I hope this letter finds you well and that you are prospering and in good health. First, let me express my appreciation for your letter of apology concerning the twitter post by the preaching professors at Southwestern Seminary. I saw the post and was more disheartened more than I was upset or angry. I chose to wait awhile, gather my thoughts, and let things die down a little before I responded. I know that the post has gone viral and we have received harsh criticism which has left the Seminary, as well as the professors, with â€Å"egg on their face†. I know that the school has received criticism from the African American community, those that consider themselves evangelical and those that do not. I know, as the†¦show more content†¦Even though, academically, I go to a predominantly White evangelical institution, socially, I still live in the African American world. I interact with those within my culture on various aspects of life including politics, social ju stice, the church, and theology; some conservative and some not, some Christian and some not. When engaging with those in my culture, I often hear the criticism against conservative evangelical institutions in general and Southwestern specifically. I hear and read comments that Southwestern is racist at worst or racially insensitive at best. In a conference I attended, prominent preachers have commented that Southwestern Seminary does nothing to speak to the race issue or social justice issue. Even though the preacher did not come out and say the name Southwestern, when he addressed the attendees as the keynote speaker at a local Forth Worth Divinity school and referred to, â€Å"a seminary in this city†, I knew he was referring to us. This statement saddened me because the tenor and the tone was somewhat demeaning. 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