Final Cultural Experience Essay

For this final essay, you must design a “cultural experience” for yourself related to the country you have written your first two papers about—and then partake of that experience.
I must approve this cultural experience before you partake of it. Papers that describe of an experience I did not approve of before the experience was undertaken receive a grade of zero. Cultural experiences must be approved by 10 April.
The cultural experience essay is expected to have a thesis statement, and other than being no more than two double-spaced pages (excluding a bibliography), it should follow the same guidelines for you other paper regarding its grammar, structure, and support for your argument.
If you have not already completed your cultural experience, I recommend jotting down a few notes on what you expect to find when you go and why you think that you will find these elements in your experience, making reference to things you learned while researching for your first country paper and your country thinksheet.

While “partaking” of this experience, you need to take notes on what you see or do and then reflect on the following three questions in an essay of no more than two double-spaced pages:

1) How does your “experience” relate to the previous two essays you wrote about this country? (How did your previous two essays form your expectations of this experience?)
2) How are the sociological structures of the country articulated in its art or culture?
3) What did your “cultural” experience teach you that you did not learn from researching for the previous two essays? (So how is the experience you had different from the experience you expected to have?)

You should also search for, read, and cite in your essay a few (1-2) academic journal articles/academic book chapters about the sociological structures behind the cultural experience you created.

For example, if I was going to write an essay on the sculptures portraying Basel’s Dance of Death, I might begin with an introduction/thesis statement like this:
The Switzerland of today is a country so versed in heterogeneity and multiculturalism that its political institutions embrace the sharing of power among ethnic and linguistic groups, resulting in few racial, religious, or class cleavages visible in either the government or society at large. However, “The Basel Dance of Death” statues provide insight into a Swiss society much different than contemporary Switzerland: one where the Catholic Church dominates life and class distinctions are so divisive that showing death “taking” rich landowners and poor indigents in the same piece of art was shocking.

GRADING
Grades are assigned such that a C is considered average work. For a grade of B, a paper must surpass the minimum requirements, demonstrating that the student has control of the course material and has distinguished his or her effort with thoughtfulness, creativity, and the ability to argue effectively. A’s are rarely assigned. They signify an unusually creative, precise, and well-argued piece of work.

All written work is evaluated on three criteria:
Argument (40%)—does the paper have a clear thesis statement? Is the thesis statement well-supported by the evidence presented in the paper? Does the thesis statement demonstrate originality and critical analysis? Are the terms used in the paper well defined? Does the paper answer the question posed by the assignment? Etc.
Structure (40%)—does the paper have a logical flow? Are citations used appropriately? Is the writing clear? Is it within the guidelines for page limits? Are course readings used appropriately? Has the paper included an appropriate number of reliable sources other than the course readings? Does it have a bibliography? Is the format of the bibliography correct? Etc.
Grammar (20%)—are there spelling or grammatical errors? If necessary, consult a style manual such as Kate Turabian’s Student’s Guide to Writing College Papers, or Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.
For my Cultural Experience:
The Angolan Embassy organized an event commemorating the peace on April 12th. I went there and the place was full of Angolans from different states. It was a good experience because it felt like I was in Angola with the decoration, the way people behaved, the music, and the traditional food. It was a good experience.
My Country Thinksheet:

Name: Martinho Mosquito
SOC 131 Country Thinksheet
Your country is: Angola

Demographics:
What is your country’s overall population? 18,565,269.
What percent of your country’s population is between the ages of 0-17? 43.5%.
What percent of your country’s population is between the ages of 18-35? 20.3%.
What percent of your country’s population is between the ages of 36-53? 29.2%.
What percent of your country’s population is between the ages of 54-70? 4%.
What percent of your country’s population is 70+? 2.9%.
Given the above, what kind of population pyramid does your country have? Expansive pyramid.
What is the male-female ratio present in your country? 1.02 male(s)/female.
What is the birth rate in your country? 39.16 births/1000 population.
What is the total fertility rate in your country? 5.49 child born/woman.
What is the maternal death rate in your country? 450 deaths/100000 live births.
What is the infant mortality rate in your country? 81.75 deaths/1000 live births.
What are the top three leading causes of death in your country? Malaria, road accidents , and cardiovascular diseases.
Given the population pyramid, what are the most pressing health concerns in your country?
Bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, dengue fever, malaria, schistosomiasis and rabies.
List the resources you compiled this information from:
Index Mundi.

Political System:
What is the form of your country’s political system? ____________________________________________________
How many branches of government does your country have? Three.
What is the title of the executive (president, prime minister, etc.) in your country? President.
Who is the current executive? Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Is there a legislative branch? Yes. If so, what is the name of the legislative body? National Assembly.
How many members does the legislative body have? 220 members. Who is the leader? Paulo Kassoma
Was your country ever a colony? Yes. If yes, by what country was it colonized? Portugal.
What year was your country founded or did it gain its independence? Independent in November 1975.
List the resources you used to gather this information: I knew it all.

Economic System:
What is your country’s economic system? Capitalism.
What is your country’s GDP? 152.63 billion US$.
What percentage of your country’s GDP is made up of primary sector activities? 10.2%.
What are the primary primary sector activities in your country? Coffee plantation, sugar cane, sisal, maize, coconut and peanut oil.
What percentage of your country’s GDP is made up of secondary sector activities? 61.4%.
What are the primary secondary sector activities in your country? Petroleum, uranium, diamonds, production of sugar, beer, cement, and wood and oil refinery.
What percentage of your country’s GDP is made up of tertiary sector activities? 28.4%.
What are the primary tertiary sector activities in your country? Transportation and building construction.
What is the average annual income in your country? $6550.
Is your country a core or peripheral economy? Peripheral.
List the resources you used to gather this information: http://www.portalangop.co.ao/angola/en_us

My Country Paper:

Martinho Mosquito
SOC 131
Sarah Fischer
March 31, 2014

Gender Disparities in Angola

Angola has been able to incorporate programs and policies that promote the participation of women in the countries activities. The women have been given an upper hand in the decision making process compared to the earlier years. The number of women in parliament is over 35 percent and women have been able to hold varied ministerial posts in the country (Martins, 2). In addition to this, the country has been able to review the Family Code and the Action Plan on Rural Women. Moreover, the country has been able to set up the Land Law which has enabled the women living in rural areas to have control over what they acquire or inherit. Additionally, educational infrastructure has also gone through enhancement elevating the participation of women in education. Accordingly, the level of women participations in education from the primary school level to the university is more than 50 percent. Women in the rural areas account for more than 53.3 percent of the rural population (Martins, 2). Irrespective of all these, there are gender disparities in the country. Women are not at par with men.
The Family Code
In Angola, the legal age for marriage is 18 years. However, if parents consent and if it is thought to be in the best interest, girls can join the marriage institution at the age of 15 while boys at 16 years. This consumes years that could be used by the girls to acquire education. In addition to this, they are too young and not psychologically and physically mature to become mothers and wives. Early marriages in the country are common; hence 36 percent of girls aged 15-19 years are widowed, divorced or married. The law also advocates against polygamy. On the contrary, this is still widely practiced in the country due to culture. Women have no otherwise but to consent to these marriages since men were lost in the civil war hence there is a shortage of them in the country. The law also points out that both the men and the women in a marriage have to access and enjoy the same rights. In addition to this, there should be equality in the duties carried out by the two parties. Contrarily, women seem to carry out most of the duties while men enjoy most of the rights. Women do more work when it comes to bringing up the children (A Celebration of Women, para2).
Physical Integrity
Though not widely practiced, female genital mutilation is still practiced in some remote areas in Angola. Men are bequeathed with some rights that make them to exercise authority over their wives and daughters, hence subject them to FGM. The country does not also have strict laws that deal with the issue of sexual and domestic violence. As a result, there is a high prevalence of violence committed against girls and women in the country. Violence is also committed to the girls in the school system. With the reason that most of the women do have knowledge pertaining to their rights, they rarely report assault and rape committed against them. For women who are established to have been sexually abused, they lose their respect and find it challenging to find a partner to get married to (A Celebration of Women, para4).
Right to Own Property
The rights for property ownership of a married woman are dependent on the regime she is married in. The law allows for women and men to have equal accessibility to land. However, land distribution ad ownership largely depends on the traditional values. As a result, men are priorities when it comes to land allocation. Rights of women pertaining to the use of land are ignored. As a result of the war, most of the women were left as widows; hence they are the sole providers of their families. They are bequeathed with greater responsibilities in the male dominated society (Klaveren et al., 25). As a result, they find it challenging to meet some of their needs due to the inequality that exists.
Employment
Most of the women engage in farming and only 3 percent engage in the informal sector. A good number of the households in the country are headed by females since a large number of the males lost their lives in the 27 years civil war. Even the literacy level in the country is generally low; women and girls are more affected. Thus, 43 percent of the adult women have never been to school in comparison to 40 percent of the men. This has led to women holding fewer posts in the formal employment sectors compared to their male counterparts. Women in the informal sectors are not protected, hence face forms of prosecution from the authorities. They find it challenging to access any forms of training hence it is challenging for them to escalate their level of performance. Women also face challenges accessing financial help from microfinance institution due to lack of collateral (African Development Bank, 14).
Infrastructure
The distribution of water in the country is not adequate. Most of the rural areas are not accessible to water. This has left a burden on the women and girls who have to cover long distances so as to bring water to their families. The health sector is not able to handle the needs of the population. In line with this, women are more disadvantaged since they are not able to access adequate and quality maternal care. Women have many children and are still young, yet they lack support from the community. This makes it hard for them to maintain their health. Additionally, due to polygamy, women are more susceptible to HIV infections (African Development Bank, 21).
Education
Participation of girls and young women in education is low in Angola. In fact, it is the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa at 25.6 percent. The participation is low across all levels from primary to university. However, the disparities between males and female in the education levels widen as the levels rise (Klaveren etal., 26). The disparities in gender between the girls and boys are as a result of the preference f education for boys to girls.
Conclusion
Even though there have been changes to achieve equality and equity between the genders in Angola; women still suffer from discrimination. The laws are a basis of discrimination since they do not fully protect the women. In addition to this, some issues like gender and sexual violence are not guarded by the law. This has left the women vulnerable to abuse. The women are also not empowered to take charge against ill preformed against them; instead they are punished for the same. Consequently, people are supposed to be educated on living together through ensuring equality. The government is also supposed to come up with laws that protect the women and revise its Family Code. The government of Angola has to also enhance the infrastructure of the country and encourage women to go to school through providing them with financial aid to foot their academic expenses.

 
Works Cited
A Celebration of Women. "A Celebration of Women." 23 May 2010. Gender Equity and Women Issues in Angola. 29 Mar 2014 <acelebrationofwomen.org/2010/05/gender-equity-womens-issues-angola/?>.
African Development Bank. Angola: Country Gender Profile. Abidjan: African Development Bank, 2008.
Klaveren, Maarten, and et al. An Overview of Women’s Work and Employment in Angola Decisions for Life MDG3 Project Country Report No. 2. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies, 2009.
Martins, Ismael. Permanent Mission of the Republic of Angola to the United Nations. New York: United Nations, 2012.