Honor and Shame and the Coronavirus

Looks like spring!

As coronavirus spreads around the world even our remote islands are not immune to the crisis.  For awhile it seemed like it was passing the islands by, but daily it becomes more and more clear that the islands, like the rest of the world will not be spared.

COVID has been slow to arrive on the islands, but recent AP news reports claim that though “[Africa is] weeks behind Europe in the pandemic...the rate of increase has looked alarmingly similar”.  By following local island news and getting reports from our teammates we are able to piece together the virus’ progress and the islands’ reaction to it.  Unfortunately it seems that the islands (especially the government) has decided that admitting that the coronavirus is on the islands would be to admit weakness, would be to admit that they were not able to stop it, to admit that the coronavirus is on the islands would bring shame to the islands. Because of that stance, this COVID crisis on the islands is playing out as a case study for honor and shame culture meeting a right and wrong culture.

In honor and shame cultures covering shame and maintaining honor are high values—more valued than the truth.  This is an important factor to keep in mind.  The islands found honor in the fact that coronavirus hadn’t come to the islands. So even as time goes on, the islands gut response to the virus is to deny its presence.  This has been the policy for these first weeks.  In order to maintain this stance, no one has been tested for the virus so that the island government can continue to proclaim that there are no cases of coronavirus these, even as some people exhibit suspicious symptoms.

During this time the grand mufti (the head religious leader for the nation) died with pulmonary issues.  One would imagine the immediate conclusion would be that he died of the coronavirus, but islanders and the island media did not even ask the question, for to suspect such a thing would reflect badly on the country, the religion, and the grand mufti himself.  For an honor and shame culture, denial was clearly the best way to save face.

Wait, snow! I thought this was spring?

This past week the neighboring French island got involved.  French culture, valuing the truth above honor, started publicly announcing that illegal immigrants from Clove island were testing positive for the virus. Then a French doctor claimed she had seen a scan that showed that the grand mufti died of coronavirus.  While the French may think that getting the truth out there would help, these news stories did nothing to help prepare the islands for the pandemic. The island government sees these claims as public shaming. Instead of making the islands come to terms with the reality of COVID, in order to save face the island government had to deny the allegations, claim a French smear campaign, offer to send masks to the French island and to continue their policy of not testing.  The general populace seem to be in agreement with the government.  “France was always trying to cause trouble.”

The latest development was just today. A famous island singer has publicly announced that he believes that he had the virus and that his wife is now suffering from it. He told the world that his wife’s scans indicate COVID.  He was careful to not mention the government and he told people not to panic or make things political (basically attempting to thread the needle of not shaming while getting the truth out there).  Shortly after his announcement, he was arrested by the gendarmerie for disturbing the public order. Thankfully he was released later in the day and we’ll see in the coming days how the government will respond.

The islands are not the only culture out there working from an honor and shame framework.  And it can be difficult to understand the motivators behind an honor and shame culture if you have not experienced it. It is easy to condemn it.  Yet, in times like these, condemnation is not helpful.  You have to find ways to confront difficult realities without adding unnecessary shame.  You can acknowledge and applaud even minimal efforts (bestowing honor), so that when you encourage continued and greater action it doesn’t come across as shaming.  If the islands are going to move forward, then it is not a time for judgment, but a time for cooperation and figuring out how to work together.  Hopefully, the government can find a way to do a 180 without losing face because otherwise the denial campaign will continue. In the meantime, we hope islanders can start to see the need for social distancing and good health practices. We continue to pray.

Testing fun

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Before we left the islands, our team made a video about handwashing and COVID prevention in the local language— it has gotten lots of views and has been shared across the islands! We’ve even had it forwarded to us by islanders. The kids’ standardized testing went fine this past week (won’t get results for awhile). The kids were excited by both another winter day playing in the snow and some nice spring days to relearn riding bikes and playing outside (only in New England do you get both days in one week). We had some good virtual meetings reconnecting this week. We’re also learning to make videos so that we can post more information about the islands and share with people even though we can’t see them in person.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our island NGO has begun stay-at-home orders, but islanders are still out and about. Pray that our colleagues could be a good example and that islanders could understand the need to limit interactions. Pray for truth to be heard and accepted. Megan’s dad tested negative for COVID but has continued to not feel well. Pray for his healing as they continue to do tests this week to determine what is going on. Pray for us as we consider when we should plan on traveling to CA.