Q – What is a ‘White Saviour’

A ‘white saviour’ is a critical term that is used to describe a white person who sets out to help, or ‘save’ a non-white person, very often in the developing world. Their actions are often driven by negative assumptions: that they know best what is needed and how to help, and that local communities do not have the skills to help themselves. While seemingly well meaning, such actions are often driven by a motivation to make themselves look or feel good.

Often ‘white saviours’ parachute into a local community, looking to ‘do good’ but not listening to those in the community or acting in a respectful manner. In the stories that white saviours tell, through words, pictures videos and on social media, they are themselves the ‘heroes’ and local communities are seen as ‘helpless recipients.

Since 2018, there have been an increasing number of voices looking to ‘call out’ white saviourism in different places, most notably criticising certain celebrities and charities.

Four key questions when considering ‘white saviourism’ are:

1. What are the motivations?
2. What are the assumptions?
3. Who is the ‘hero’ of this story?
4. What is the impact (positive and negative; seen and unseen; intended and unintended)?

This is what we will explore in this lesson.

Watch ‘How to Get More Likes On Social Media’ produced by Norwegian Students' and Academics' Assistance Fund (SAIH). [1.27]

Facilitate a class discussion around the below questions, looking to draw out the following points.

Q - What was her motivation for going to Africa?:

• To increase her own popularity and profile on social media.

Q - What assumptions might she have had about Africa and what it would be like?

• It is very poor and there are many people in desperate need.
• She will be automatically welcomed by local groups.
• She will ‘do good’ just by going there.
• It will make her look good to do so.

Q – Who is she setting up to be the ‘hero’ of this story on social media?

• Herself

Q – What impact is this having (seen and unseen, intended and unintended)?

• Disrespecting those she visits and taking away their dignity.
• Getting in the way of the local teacher and teaching culturally inappropriate topics.
• Getting in the way of local medical staff trying to do their jobs.
• Sharing negative stereotypes about Africa on social media (this narrative only makes it harder for parts of Africa to build their own economies and encourage others to invest – countries can become defined by poverty and this does real damage).
• Encouraging others to do the same as her.
• Contributing to climate change through long-haul travel.

Q - Is it always wrong to go to Africa and try to help? Are development projects involving people in the global north and the global north working together always bad? Is this always ‘White Saviourism’?

No [Listen to learner’s views and use this to lead into the next section].

Q – How could the lady in the video have engaged Africa in a way less likely to be ‘white saviourism’?

Use the below headers to prompt learners’ thinking in the discussion. Click each header for points to try and draw out of discussions.

Case Study 1:

A Scottish school goes to Malawi and paints a library of the school. The is no existing partnership with the school before the visit and one does not develop from the visit. There is very little contact or discussion between the young Scots and young Malawians, apart from a brief event as they arrive and when they leave. The young Scots tell their stories on video and social media. Is this ‘White Saviourism’?

Discussion points to try and bring out:

• Yes. There certainly seems to be some uncomfortable aspects here which might be described as having elements of ‘white saviourism’
• Why are they painting the library, could this not be done more cheaply and better by Malawians? Who identified this as a priority?
• Are there educational benefits if the Scots and Malawians aren’t speaking to each other?
• What story are the young Scots telling on social media if they haven’t really spoken to the Malawian young people? Are the Malawians able to tell their story?
• Is this just reinforcing stereotypes?
• Is there an unequal power relationship?
• BUT, to really unpack any further, or have any depth of understanding, you would need far more information. Most importantly, you would have to really listen to both sides.

Case Study 2:

A Scottish and Malawian school have a longstanding partnership together in which there is regular communication by WhatsApp and email, between teachers and students. There are occasional reciprocal visits (both Scottish teachers and students going to Malawi and Malawian teachers and students going to Scotland) but there is also regular educational work together between visits, including live links for discussion between classrooms. Both sides contribute and both sides benefit from the links together. Is this ‘White Saviourism’?

Discussion points to try and bring out:

• This looks less like ‘White Saviourism’ because:
  • There is a real, two-way partnership
  • Both sides seem to be setting the agenda
  • Both sides have the same opportunity to travel
  • Both sides benefit
  • It feels respectful and reciprocal
• BUT, are there still assumptions behind this work? Again, to really understand you need more detail and to really listen to those involved.

Case Study 3:

A Scottish and Malawian school have a link together and regularly exchange messages. Their Partnership Agreement includes specific school improvements in Malawi, identified by the Malawian school, for which the Scottish school fundraises and transfers money. Is this ‘White Saviourism’?

Discussion points to try and bring out:

• Elements of this are potentially uncomfortable, and some might say there is ‘white saviourism’ if there are assumptions that the Scottish side is ‘solving’ the problems of the Malawian side through the fundraising.
• But there is a partnership agreement and the needs have been identified by the Malawian side.
• To draw any real conclusions you would need far more information about the nature of the partnership, how it arose, the tone off communications, how each other is represented, etc.

Q - What is volun-tourism?

Voluntourism is a form of tourism in which travellers participate in voluntary work, often for a charity. Volun-tourists range in age and come from all over the world. The work they do can be related to agriculture, health care, education and many other areas. Aspects of volun-tourism have been criticised for being part of the ‘white saviour’ complex.

Q – Is volun-tourism good or bad?

Split the class in two and ask one side to think of reasons why volun-tourism might be a good thing and one side to think of why it might be a bad thing.

Arguments against voluntourism:

• Volunteers sometimes lack experience: they wouldn’t be qualified to build a school in Scotland, so why should they in Malawi?
• Work could almost always be done more cheaply using local labour – this would also support the local economy.
• Climate impact of long-haul travel.
• Local resources can be drained supporting visitors, with food, accommodation and support which takes away from local communities.
• It can reinforce negative stereotypes.
• It can build resentment between local communities and visitors.
• The real beneficiaries are often the visitors, in terms of personal development and a ‘feel good; holiday, but they are made to feel they have helped a local community.

Arguments in favour of volunteerism, if well managed

• If done in a sustainable way, a volunteer’s actions can have long-term positive impact in communities
• Both sides (host and visitors) can learn about each other’s cultures, building mutual awareness and developing friendships
• Can help stimulate local economies
• Can help increase a sense of solidarity, helping create ‘global citizens’ in both nations, who then go on to support positive international engagements
• Gives a greater appreciation of the challenges and opportunities others have, triggers self-awareness of the privileges those from richer countries enjoy, raises awareness of global economic injustice

Q - Is all Volunteering bad?

No. Many parts of life and society in Scotland are reliant on volunteers: people giving up their time without payment to help others. The same is true in Malawi. Just as its not automatically inappropriate for someone internationally to volunteer in Scotland, it’s not automatically inappropriate for someone from Scotland to volunteer elsewhere. It’s the detail that matters: how they volunteer, how they work with local communities, whether it is respectful, two-way and helpful.

Q - Is all Tourism bad?

No. Countries like Malawi reply on tourism for sustainable economic development, just as we do in Scotland. It is essential to understand the impact of your travel, on both the climate and local communities, but it’s important we don’t deter all travel to Malawi. It is a fantastically beautiful country and an amazing holiday destination. Learn more at www.visitmalawi.mw and www.malawitourism.com

Q - Is all volun-tourism bad?

Not necessarily, although it’s increasingly been used as a critical term. The important thing is measure it against the same set of four questions:

1. What are the motivations
2. What are the assumptions
3. Who is the ‘hero’ of this story?!
4. What is the impact (seen and unseen, intended and unintended)

The quickest and best test is asking yourself ‘how would I feel if this were the other way around’ test.

Ask learners to vote with their hands which answer they agree with most to the following question:

Q - What is the best way of ending white saviourism?

1. Publicly call out and criticise those you believe to be ‘white saviours’ and look to ‘cancel’ them
2. Learn as much as possible about others’ work and look to have a discussion with them to raise your concerns
3. Focus first on the motivations, assumptions and impact of you own words and actions.

Try to draw out the following in discussions:

Recent efforts to ‘call out and cancel’ those seen as ‘white saviours’ has helped expand the debate, raise awareness and has encouraged many more people and organisations to think seriously about their motivations, assumptions and impact.

However, this is a complex area and it is risky to try and judge others with limited information: it’s ultimately the communities on the ground who are best placed to say what is harmful and what is beneficial. It is these communities we should be listening to.

Often, even those doing the criticising online would do well to go through the same self-reflection: what are their assumptions, what are their motivations, who is the hero of their story, and what is the impact of their actions. If you are criticising others based on what you assume others are doing; if you are motivated to criticise others to make yourself look good; if you are the ‘hero’ for calling out others; and if your criticism is having a really harmful effect on others, it is possible you are just as ‘guilty’ as those you are looking to criticise.

Constructive challenge, discussion and debate is a good thing but simply shouting at others based on your presumptions of what they are doing wrong rarely achieves much.

Far better, look to understand, engage and positively influence. And most importantly, focus on your own words and actions, examining your own motivations, assumptions and impact. This is where you have the most control, and this is how you can therefore have greatest impact.

Perhaps we should

• FIRST… ‘Focus first on the motivations, assumptions and impact of you own words and actions’
• ONLY THEN… ‘Learn as much as possible about others’ work and look to have a discussion with them to raise your concerns’
• AND ONLY THEN… ‘Publicly call out and criticise those you believe to be ‘white saviours’

Q – Is anyone willing to share a personal reflection from this lesson, perhaps a time you might -looking back- have acted with a ‘white saviour’ mindset?

Ensure this is a supportive and safe space for people to share, in which no one feels judged if they share. We recommend teachers have an example they can share, regarding their own past thoughts, words and actions.

Q – Can everyone try to think of one thing you could do differently yourself, as a result of your learning today?

Explain that you want to explore poverty and power in this lesson, using Scotland and Malawi as an example but first its important to build our understanding of the two nations.

Use the PowerPoint to explore each of the below points of comparison, for each showing learners the figure/data for Scotland and then asking learners whether they think the figure for Malawi is higher or lower.

Landmass:

• Scotland = 77,900 km2 (Wikipedia)
• Malawi = 118,480 (World Data)
• So, Malawi is 52% bigger than Scotland

Population:

• Scotland = 5.5 million (2021, ONS)
• Malawi = 20.3 million (2022, WorldoMeters)
• So, Malawi has almost four times as many people in it

Urban:

• Scotland = 83% of population is urban (2019, Scottish Government)
• Malawi = 18% of population is urban (2021, World Bank). However this is growing at 4.4% a year – this is the 8th fastest urbanisation rate in the world (World Population Review).
• So, Malawi’s population is over 4 x more rural than Scotland’s, but changing fast

Total Income per person (GNI per capita):

• Scotland = £29,629 (2020, Statista)
• Malawi = £548 (2022, MacroTrends)
• So, Scotland has 54x greater income than Malawi

Typical jobs:

• Scotland = Biggest sector is health, social work and retail – 15% (2021, Scottish Government)
• Malawi = Biggest sector is smallholder farming (mostly subsistence) - 80% (USaid)

Age:

• Scotland = Median age is 42 (2020, Statista), life expectancy is 77 (2020, Statista)
• Malawi = Median age is 18 (2020, WorldOMeter), life expectancy is 62 (2019, World Bank)
• So, your average Malawian is under half the age of your average Scot

Government healthcare budget

• Scotland = About £2,900 per person, per year (2022, Scottish Government)
• Malawi = About £10 per person, per year (2021, Unicef) [even if you add all aid spent on healthcare, it is still just £35 (2020, Unicef)]
• So, Scotland spends 290 x more on healthcare than Malawi, per person
  

Government education budget

• Scotland = £864 per person, per year (2022, Scottish Government)
• Malawi = About £20 per person, per year (2022, Unicef)
• So, Scotland spends 43 x more on education than Malawi, per person

University enrolment

• Scotland = 56% (2019, World Bank)
• Malawi = 1% (2018, World Bank)
• So, Scots are 50 x more likely to go to university than Malawi

So:

• your average Malawian is 18 years old, lives in a rural area, is a subsistence farmer, earning £548 a year, won’t go to university and has only £10 of healthcare a year from government
• your average Scot is 42 years old, lives in an urban area, works in health, social care or retail, earning £29,900 a year, has been to university and has £2,900 of healthcare a year from government

But, important to remember that:

• these are averages and generalisations, there is diversity and inequality in both nations: there are rich Malawians and poor Scots
• Malawi is not defined by its poverty: it is a beautiful, welcoming, fun, entrepreneurial countr

Q - What are the similarities between Scotland and Malawi?

Use the pictures on the slide to facilitate a discussion, encouraging points like the below to come out around the shared human experience

• Love of family
• Love of sports [you could mention Malawi is 7th in the world at netball, Scotland is 10th (2022, Netball.sport)]
• Human emotions: to laugh, to smile, to cry
• Want to protect children
• Wanting to earn money
• Social media and mobile phones

Facilitate a discussion around the following questions, trying to bring out some of the below points.

Q - What are the effects of poverty (what does poverty result in)?:

• Shorter lives
• Lack of jobs
• Low education levels due to underfunded schools
• Illness and disease due to weak healthcare system
• People unable to pay taxes
• Corruption
• Lack of clean water
• Food insecurity
• Vulnerability
• Lack of power and energy

Q- What are the causes of poverty?

• Lack of education
• Lack of healthcare
• Lack of jobs
• Lack of reliable electricity and energy
• Conflict
• Climate change
• Natural disasters
• Poor infrastructure (roads, railways, etc)
• History – colonial rule
• Language
• Unfair tax and trading rules
• Lack of rights
• Lack of food and clean water
• Less efficient farming practices
• Debt
• Corruption
• Inequality
• Unequal global power [use this to lead into section three]

Q – How many of these causes are the fault of the people involved?

Almost none of these causes of poverty are the fault of individuals but rather are a set of circumstances imposed on whole communities and countries, often for generations.

Q – Do you notice anything in common between the causes and consequences of poverty?

Many things (like poor education and healthcare, weak governance, lack of power and infrastructure) are both consequences of poverty and causes of poverty. This means there can be a downward spiral – a vicious circle. For example, because you are poor you pay less tax to government, this means the government has less to spend on healthcare, so your health worsens, and you get poorer. It can be incredibly hard to break this cycle.

Facilitate a discussion around the below questions, trying to bring out the following points. You can use the PowerPoint as a way to structure the discussion.

Q - What are the different types of power countries have?

• Economic: Money and ‘purchasing power’ to influence others.
• Political: Structures and systems which mean some countries have more of a say on how things are run and what the rule are.
• Social: The education and health of the nation, and social networks.
• Environmental: The ability to affect climate change and how vulnerable you are to a changing climate.
• Military: The size and budget of the armed forces.
• Cultural: The language you have, TV programmes and films, ‘soft power’.
• Historical: The previous power you had over other nations (empire, colonies, etc) and the relationships this has left.
• Natural Resources & produce: Oil, gas, minerals, etc

How much of each of these types of power do Scotland and Malawi have?

Q - In only one area does Malawi have more power than Scotland. Does Malawi significantly benefit from this?

No - In reality, Malawi and other developing nations, often do not have the sort of power you would expect them to have due to their natural resources. This is because richer nations use their many other types of power (economic, historic, political, cultural etc) to ensure they can get these natural resources without having to pay significant sums. For example:

• Conflict, weak governance and unfair trading means high value rare earth materials, which are required in every smart phone, and some of which can only be found in one or two countries, are taken from some of the poorest countries with very few people benefitting in those countries despite rich countries being entirely reliant on these minerals.
• Richer countries are able to avoid paying tax in poorer countries because they have greater political power to make the rules.
• Trade rules mean that it’s incredibly hard for Malawi to export roasted, processed and packaged coffee. This means they have to export the unprocessed green beans into the EU and countries in the EU then do the processing and packaging, turning it from a very cheap commodity, to a valuable product (despite not actually growing any of it).

CASE STUDY

Did you know, if you buy a £3 (non-Fair Trade) Malawian coffee from a café:

• £1.80 (60%) goes on rent and staffing in the café
• 75p (25%) is profit and tax
• 21p (7%) goes on the cup, lid and napkin
• 12p (4%) pays for the milk
• 12p (4%) pays for the coffee
• BUT only 1p (0.4%) actually goes to the farmers in Malawi

So, of your £3, £2.99 goes to Scotland and 1p goes to Malawi, despite Scotland not being able to grow coffee! (2019, Financial Times/UN)

Q - Can you see power?

Some forms of power are quite visible – for example, wealth can buy big houses and nice cars. Other types of power are less easy to see, like cultural or historical power. Often power becomes invisible because it becomes normalised, accepted and unquestioned: rich countries can have an unquestioned and often invisible sense of power because of their history, language, culture, etc. This is why it’s so important to think and talk about power.

Q - How can richer countries use their power to help poorer countries?

• Invest in international development / aid to help address the causes of poverty, for example supporting healthcare, education, clean water, food security, etc
• Use their political power to ensure poorer countries are listened to and their interests acted upon.
• Buy goods from poorer countries, especially fairly traded goods.
• Understand the negative impact and lasting legacy of colonial rule
• Establish dignified partnerships of human solidarity – including school partnerships – to learn more about each other and work together to fight poverty

Q - How do richer countries use their power against poorer countries?

• Continuing to contribute to the climate crisis, which the poorest countries are most vulnerable to the impacts of
• Charging unfair interest on debt with developing countries
• Continuing unfair global trading rules
• Not paying fair levels of tax in developing countries
• Continuing negative stereotypes about developing countries which make it harder for poorer countries to attract trade, investment and tourism
• Undermining local government institutions by making all the key decisions
• Looking to use aid to help benefit themselves (politically, financially and through security)
• Continuing the historical colonial legacy

Q - What power do YOU have, and how do you use it for good?

• Economic – Buy Fair Trade items which see profits return to poorer producer nations
• Political – Vote for political parties committed to global economic justice
• Social – Use your social networks to share information about social and economic injustice
• Environmental – reduce your carbon footprint
• Cultural – Ensure you are not continuing harmful negative stereotypes
• Historical – learn about the UK’s colonial history and work to ensure we are not continuing colonial mindsets and power imbalances

Q – What is your first thought when you think of ‘Africa’?

Ask learners to draw their first image that comes into their head when they think of Africa.

Q – What aspects of this image are positive and what are negative?

Without changing the content of their pictures, invite learners to annotate on to their drawing labels highlighting what they see as negative/undesirable aspects of their picture (e.g. ‘poor’, ‘dirty’, ‘sick’), and then label any aspects they see as positive (e.g. ‘beautiful landscape’; ‘wildlife’ etc). Try not to influence learners, instead encouraging them to honestly reflect on what they first drew.

Q – Do you think all of Africa is like your picture?

Ask learners this question and facilitate a discussion around this. Try to bring out the below points:

• Africa is a continent made up of 54 countries, each of which are different. Just one of these countries, Algeria, is 80 x bigger than Scotland by landmass (2.38 miles2, compared to 20,081 miles2).
• There are over 1.4 billion people in Africa, and over 2,000 languages.
• Yes, many parts of Africa are extremely poor compared to Scotland but, just like Scotland, countries in Africa have rich people and poor people; there is diversity and inequality.

Q – Where did you ‘get’ your image of Africa from?

Ask everyone who has not been to Africa to put up their hand. Invite these people to share where they learnt about Africa / where they got this image from (e.g. a charity appeal, the news, a wildlife documentary, etc)

Q – Are images ‘neutral’?:

Facilitate a discussion with learners around this question, trying to bring out the following point:

• Even photos and ‘real’ video aren’t neutral: someone has chosen what to photograph, from what angle, to tell the story they want to tell (the image might be a true likeness of something but the story, or ‘narrative’, might be made up).

Q – Why do some media sources want to give us certain narratives of Africa?:

Facilitate a discussion, encouraging learners to think about each of the below, asking them why this media would tell a certain story/narrative of Africa. Encourage learners to think about the context for each:

• Who is ‘producing’ the narrative and who is ‘consuming’ it?
• What intentions do the producers have – what do they want people to do when they watch?
• What is the historical context?
• What assumptions might there be?
• What is the impact of their narrative?
  
  • News report – Will always want to focus on the newsworthy story – the war zone, the area in drought or famine, the corrupt politician. It isn’t a proportionate representation of life in Africa but rather what’s going wrong in Africa. Most media outlets have a commercial incentive: they need to sell more papers, or get more advertisers. This can have a negative consequence: with people consuming this news thinking this is what all of Africa is like.
    
  • Charity appeal – Often charities give us a negative image of Africa (starving children, etc) to encourage people to donate. Sometimes they can be guilty of a ‘white saviour’ mindset (benevolent white people have the skills, capabilities and duty to ‘save’ Africa) which comes from generations of colonial rule. There can be an assumption that the more shocking the image, the more money will be donated. This can have negative consequences as the audience becomes used to associating ‘Africa’ with ‘pity’ and ‘unending poverty’.
  • Films (especially older films) – Often showed Africa as ‘dark’, ‘dangerous’, ‘wild’ and ‘exotic’, while white involvement was often seen as ‘romantic’, ‘heroic’, ‘elegant’, ‘brave’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘doing good’. Such stereotypes were often directly racist and historically served to justify colonial rule. They have had hugely damaging consequences. [Slide: The African Queen (1951) Out of Africa (1985) Blood Diamond (2006) ]

Sometimes negative images and narratives in the media are created intentionally with a purposeful negative agenda and are easy to spot, and sometimes they are not intentional and are harder to spot. Either way, they often come out of ignorance (made by people that haven’t been to Africa), laziness (it’s easier to perpetuate stereotypes than challenge them), assumptions and racism.

Watch the BBC clip of Rab C. Nesbitt.

Q - How were Scots portrayed in this programme?

Ask learners to describe in one word how Scots are made to look in this clip, first asking for negative points (drunk, violent, all white, poor, rude, uncultured) and then positive points (not many!).

Q – Is this a fair image of Scotland and Scots?

Facilitate a discussion, drawing out points around the diversity within Scotland.

Q – What other stereotypes about the Scottish can you think of?

Facilitate a discussion, perhaps drawing out points like: bagpipes, red hair, kilts, miserly/ungenerous, tartan, whisky, deep-fried mars bar, bad weather, bad food, Loch Ness Monster, angry and unwelcoming, Haggis.

Ask if these are all true and where learners feel these images of Scotland came from.

Q - How do these Scottish stereotypes make you feel?

Encourage learners to think about feelings empathy, to build their understanding of how others feel when stereotypes are perpetuated in the media about them.

Stopping to think ‘how would I feel if this were the other way round’ is one of the most important ways you can judge whether you’re doing the right thing. This is called ‘empathy’ and its hugely important.

Q- What does Scotland need other countries to do, for Scotland to get richer, and do these stereotypes help?

Scotland needs other countries to: buy Scottish goods, trade with Scotland, invest in Scotland and visit Scotland.

Negative stereotypes make it less likely that others will see you as an equal: they are less likely to do business with you or go on holiday to your country if they do not feel confident and safe.

The same is true of negative stereotypes about Africa: they make it less likely that others will trade with Africa, invest in Africa, buy African goods and visit Africa on holiday.

View the slides showing images of charity appeals with negative stereotypes.

Q – What is the narrative in these appeals?

Listen to learners and encourage them to think about:

• Who produced them? [A charity raising money]
• Who ‘consumes’ them? [People in the UK who probably haven’t been to Africa]
• What do they want the ‘consumers’ to do? [Donate money]
• What narrative do they tell of people in poorer countries? [Poverty, pity, hopelessness, needing saving]
• What narrative do they tell of people in richer countries? [Kind, generous, have a duty to ‘save’]
• What impact does it have overall? [Continues stereotypes, makes sustainable economic development in these communities harder].

Q – Does raising money for a charity justify using negative narratives?

This is a complex area. Perhaps break the class in two and debate the question, to ensure both sides of the issue are aired.

• On one side:
  
  • If there is a crisis humanitarian situation is it not right to show what this really looks like.
  • Are these appeals trying to represent specific crisis situations, not all of Africa?
  • Would anyone that had their lives significantly improved really question a narrative of pity used in a video 5,000 miles away, if this is what generated the necessary funds?
  • Is our concern with these images really about just not wanting to others’ suffering?
    
• BUT on the other side:
  • think about the dignity of those portrayed.
  • think about the longer term, wider impact of negative narratives on trade, business, investment and tourism.
  • Even if these appeals only aim to raise awareness of one crisis situation, if this is all audiences see of Africa, then this is the image people are left with of Africa.
  • what harm does it do to have audiences become used to, and desensitised to, negative images like this: do they see certain parts of the world as ‘hopeless’ and ‘permanently poor’?
  • what harm does it do the communities themselves, to have photographers and videographers turn up and want to show suffering, so others can ‘save’ them?
  • Are there better ways to raise funds, which don’t require the same negative images?

Watch Radi-Aid by the Norwegian Students' & Academics' International Assistance Fund (SAIH).

Q – What reflections do you have from this video?

Encourage learners to think about what the video is about and for.

It is a parody video, making fun of and questioning celebrity-led music videos which raise money for Africa which can be underpinned by assumptions and negative stereotypes. It turns this on its head by imagining Africa raising funds for Norway to buy radiators.

Explain that this video was made by the Norwegian Students' & Academics' International Assistance Fund (SAIH). This is an organisation which is committed to challenging negative stereotypes in international development.

Explain that, inspired by this video, they used to have an annual competition to highlight charity videos which they thought have harmful narratives and negative stereotypes to encourage a critical understanding of this issue. The Comic Relief video shown received their ‘Rusty Radiator’ award.

They also had a ‘Golden Radiator’ award for charity videos which had more positive narratives and which challenged stereotypes. Here is one of the winners:

Q – What reflections do you have from this video?

• Who is the ‘hero’ of this story?
• What stereotypes is this video challenging?
• How does it make you feel?
• What does it make you want to do?

People watching this video see the ‘hero’ is the dad: they can imagine what it must feel like to go through a war, perhaps because some can remember the time they thought their dad was invincible.

It is moving but it doesn’t reply simply on pity, poverty and vulnerability: it offers empathy and insight. It challenges negative stereotypes about refugees and asylum seekers.

Recent research has shown that, if done well, like this video, charities can use more positive, honest narratives of Africa and still raise the same amount of money, or even more.

Q – What can YOU do to ensure you’re not consuming or sharing negative stereotypes?

Facilitate a discussion, trying to draw out the below points:

• Think about the media and narratives you are consuming: who is making them, who is consuming them, what are the assumptions and stereotypes, and what harm might this be having.
• Look for different media and different sources of information on this subject. If you want to learn about Malawi, try to find a Malawian source (if someone wanted to learn about Scotland, you would want them to ask someone from Scotland).
• Think about your own word and actions. We have focused mostly on film, tv and the news but social media is possibly a more important source of negative narratives because it isn’t regulated and you can’t see what messages different people are receiving. Every time you ‘like’ or ‘share’ something, you are responsible for passing it on: before you do, ask if you’re sure it is true, fair and constructive, ask yourself how you would feel being portrayed this way.

Facilitate a class discussion around the questions below, looking to draw out the following points.

Q – What are some of the effects of Climate Change and their impacts in Scotland?

Current effects:

• flooding,
• rising sea levels,
• damage to buildings and infrastructure,
• increased pests and diseases,
• warmer and wetter winters

Impact:

• we will lose homes and businesses,
• lose many types of plants and animals,
• people will be disrupted from going to work so we could have issues with shops having food, petrol and clothing to sell
• Our lives, towns and cities are not built to run without these reliable sources

Q – What is are some of the effects of Climate Change and their impacts in Malawi?

Current effects:

• droughts,
• flooding,
• shorter growing season,
• changeable weather so harder to grow food

Impact:

• 90% of Malawi’s population relies on farming for an income, the climate change can make it impossible to grow crops. .
• Reduced ability to grow food
• Hunger, 29% of Malawi’s population already live in extreme poverty. (This could lead into further discussion about poverty in both Scotland and Malawi, does climate change have an impact on this Scotland)
• Spread of disease
• Reduced power and fuel supply
• Leads to more even more poverty, ask the class why they think this happens.

Watch: How one of the world's poorest countries is bearing the brunt of climate change | ITV News
From October 2021.

Q - What are your main take aways from the video?

• What are you surprised at?

Q - Whose fault is it that Malawi’s climate is changing?

• The reporter states that, “Malawi is caught in a cycle of destruction. Some of it self-inflicted.”
• Why do you think is meant by this?
• Is it fair? Why or why not?

Q - Which country do you think climate change has a greater effect on?

• Climate change has had an effect on both countries but the severity is different due to each nation’s ability to adapt.

Q - Is the climate crisis our own personal fault?

• Yes and no. The global north is responsible for the majority of climate change due to industrialisation and its consumer practices. Generationally, the fault can be placed on those before us. However, this does not change the reality of the present and action is required by everyone today if the climate crisis is to be tackled.

Additional resources pertaining to Malawi’s climate crisis:
Alarm as Malawi's Lake Chilwa threatened by climate change -https://youtu.be/sihsOmWaX6I

This section explores and demonstrates both the UK and Malawi’s global emissions and their relative impact.

Watch the following video, 'A Short History of Global Emissions from Fossil-Fuel Burning (1750-2010)'.

Rewatch and ask students to focus on the UK and Malawi on the map. Pause the video at approximately 0:25 (1967). Malawi is visible only by identifying Lake Malawi. What differences do they notice in terms of fossil-fuel burning activity.

By following this link, the class can explore the timeline and see the UK’s percentage world share of emissions: Global Historical Emissions Map (aureliensaussay.github.io)

Share this website which uses an animated, distorted, shaded, interactive map to help convey how different countries fit into the climate change picture – both the causes and the risks. 

Finally, watch this video to see a bar chart race of the countries with the largest cumulative CO2 emissions since 1750.

Q - Which country has omitted more CO2 into the atmosphere?

• Scotland and the UK have contributed far more

Q – What are the major differences between Scotland and Malawi’s historical development in terms of carbon emissions?

• Industrialisation
• Deforestation

Q – What do you think Climate Justice means?

• Explore what climate justice means to students based on what they have previously learnt or have heard in the news

Climate justice is a concept that addresses the just division, fair sharing, and equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of climate change and responsibilities to deal with climate change.

Watch the video below, 'Climate Justice According to a Kid'.

Q3 – Should the global south be expected to address the climate crisis in the same way as the global north in terms of carbon reductions and adoption of green technologies?

• Is it fair or even realistic for nations not responsible for the climate crisis to fix it?
• After students have discussed the question, what the video below.

In the below perspective-shifting talk, energy researcher Rose M. Mutiso makes the case for prioritizing Africa's needs with what's left of the world's carbon budget, to foster growth and equitably achieve a smaller global carbon footprint.

‘Climate vulnerability: as the world becomes increasingly cognizant of the threat of climate change, historical associations of African countries with precarity have begun to take on a new form. As a result, the focus tends towards representations of African countries as subject to disasters caused by climate change, rather than on the leading role of young Africans in helping to combat a global challenge.’ - New Narratives Report, 2020 new_narratives_report_0.pdf (britishcouncil.org)

Q - What can I do?

• This is where dialogue with your partner school is vital.
  
• What issues are most affecting your partners?
• What actions have they tried to take?
• What campaigns and actions can your school partnership take?
• Is tree planting, recycling and active transport enough to save the planet?

‘The discussion we had about climate change was quite eye-opening as despite living on the otherside of the world, our partners for the storytelling session still worried about

issues like climate change just as we did. Before the session I hadn’t realised climate change was a problem in Malawi but hearing the impact that deforestation can have on communities completely changed my views.’ - Feasibility Study report | steka (stekaskills.com)

Explain to learners that before learning more about Malawi’s language and culture, it’s first important to explore a bit more about ‘culture’, what it means, why it’s important and how to avoid reinforcing stereotypes when talking about culture.

Q – What is ‘culture’?

If learners struggle to give a definition of the word, try starting by asking for examples of culture and work backwards from that.

Here are just some of the many different definitions of culture include:

• the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.
• the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time
• the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time
• the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group
• the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization
• the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behaviour that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations

The truth is it’s a very hard word to define as it’s a broad concept that includes lots of aspects. What ‘culture’ is, and what it includes, is constantly changing and is seen by different people in quite different ways.

Descriptions of a country’s ‘culture’ are really ‘cultural generalisations’: not everyone conforms to all aspects but it describes certain common aspects of shared belief, behaviour and customs.

An example of a cultural generalisation would be “People from country X tend to have a direct style of communication.” This statement is not true of everyone in country X. Some may disagree with the statement and some may agree (it is subjective – not something that can easily be proved).

Q – What is ‘Scottish culture’?

Encourage learners to share as many different points as possible. When you have a good list, ask individuals if everyone in the class is all of these things?

Emphasise that culture is not uniform: not everyone in a country shares precisely the same culture (not even everyone in the same family shares all the same culture).

Encourage learners to reflect on what is their culture: is it a ‘Scottish culture’, a ‘young person culture’, a culture defined by their music, style or identity, or all of these.

There are overlapping and competing cultures; there are dominant cultures and sub-cultures.

Help learners see how complicated ‘culture’ is when you stop and drill down into it: it’s all too easy to say sweeping things about other people’s culture but there’s a risk in doing this you’re really just defining them as ‘different’ to yourselves.

Q – What is a ‘stereotype’?

Definitions include:

• a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
• a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like, especially an idea that is wrong
• a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment

Q – How does it feel to be on the receiving end of a negative stereotype?

Ask how it would feel if someone you met:

• insisted that everyone in Scotland shared exactly the same culture, or
• insisted they ‘understood you because they understood Scottish culture’, or
• laughed at Scottish men for wearing “multi-coloured skirts” (kilts).

Aspects of other people’s culture may seem strange, or even funny at times, but it can be insensitive and harmful to joke about someone’s culture or to stereotype people – not least because you’re often just showing your own ignorance (a kilt is not a skirt!).

Keeping asking yourself ‘how would I feel if people were talking about me and my family in this way’. This encourages empathy - the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

Q – What is the difference between a ‘cultural generalisation’ and a ‘stereotype’:

Generalisations become stereotypes when all members of a group are categorized as having the same characteristics.

Both stereotypes and generalisations can be linked to any type of cultural membership, such as nationality, religion, gender, race, or age. They can also both be good, bad, or neutral.

Stereotypes are typically inflexible and resistant to new information: it is assumed that all members of a particular group follow these traits.

Stereotypes can, and often do, lead to prejudice and intentional or unintentional discrimination. 

But the difference between a ‘stereotype’ and a ‘cultural generalisation’ can be hard to see.

Therefore:

• Be very careful about your language when talking about others’ culture
• Be sure you are not implying all people in a group have these same characteristics
• Keep asking yourself, ‘how would I feel if people were saying this about me’
• Think about what the impact of your assumptions or generalisations might be
• Try to reflect the complex and overlapping cultures: not just nationality but age, gender, music taste, faith, etc.
• Try to avoid language of ‘them’ and ‘us’, as it defines other groups in terms of their ‘otherness’ and difference.

Explain that now we have a better understanding of what culture is, and how to avoid harmful stereotypes, we can now learn more about some aspects the culture in Malawi.

We recommend you use the powerpoint for this next section, as there are photos and audio files to help with pronunciation.

Q – What does ‘Malawi’ mean?

The name Malawi means ‘flames of fire’. The country is known as the ‘Warm Heart of Africa’, due to its rich and friendly culture, its land-locked position in south-eastern Africa.

Q - Where is Malawi?

Malawi is a landlocked country on the continent of Africa, it is landlocked by the countries of Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique.

Teachers may wish to take time to explain what the terms ‘continent’ and ‘landlocked’ mean.

One third of Malawi's landscape is taken up by Lake Malawi, in Chichewa this is known as Lake Nyasa, the word Nyasa means ‘lake’ in Chichewa, so this translates to ‘lake lake’!

Malawi also used to be known as Nyasaland before it changed its name to Malawi in 1964, when it became an independent country.

Q - What does the Malawian flag represent?

The Malawian flag, is vertical bands of Black, Red and Green.

• The 31 rays of the sun represent the fact that Malawi was the 31st African nation at the time of its independence.
• The black represents the indigenous people of the continent.
• The red symbolises the blood of their struggle.
• The green represents nature.

Q - What currency do they use in Malawi?

The currency of Malawi is Kwacha, the kwacha is similar to our pounds and tambala is similar to our pence.

You can check the £:MK exchange rate HERE.

Q - What do Malawians typically wear?

In Malawi, many people wear beautiful, brightly coloured local-produced fabrics which people use to make dresses and shirts, or simply have wrapped around the body for women. These fabrics are know a zitengi. (sit-ten-jay, or chit-en-jay). It is very uncommon for women to show their knees or shoulders in Malawi, for cultural and religious reasons.

A popular way of carrying babies in Malawi is on the back, simply attached by a piece of zitengi cloth tied together at the sides (the knot can even be used like a purse, to store money).

Like in Scotland, men tend to wear suits for formal business-wear.

Emphasise that, just like in Scotland, different people wear different things. Fashions change over time and between different groups in society.

Q - Where do Malawians tend to shop?

Most people in Malawi grow much of their own food, buying the rest from local markets. However, in the larger towns and cities there are also large supermarkets, very similar to what we are used to in Scotland.

Q - What do Malawians typically eat?

Nsima (n-see-ma) is the staple food of Malawi. It is made from maize flour and has a similar consistency to mashed potato. Most Malawians grow their own maize.

You can click on the speaker icon to hear the correct pronunciation.

Nsimsa is so dense that, only half-joking, Malawians often say they don’t feel full if a meal doesn’t have Nsima!

Nsima is served with Ndiwo (relish) which is comes in the form of tomatoes, cabbage, it is basically anything that served on the side with your nsima.

Q - What language do they speak in Malawi?

Malawi is a multilingual country – this means they speak more than one language. In fact, there are 13 major languages spoken in Malawi. They are called Bantu languages.

English is the official language of business, law and education in Malawi: this is a legacy of colonial rule (Malawi was a British protectorate from 1891 to 1964, then called Nyasaland). However, outside the towns and cities, most Malawians do not speak English. In the 1998 census, only 0.1% of Malawians spoke English as their first language and yet this is the language that almost all school is it. Some in Malawi now question why English continues to be imposed as the official language.

The most common primary language in the centre and south of Malawi (70% of the population) is Chichewa.

The most common primary language in the north of Malawi is Chitumbuka.

“Chi” means ‘language’ (or, to be precise, ‘in the manner of’). So “Chichewa” means the language of the Chewa tribe and Chitumbuka means the language of the Tumbuka tribe.

Other common languages include:

• Chiyao (especially in the east)
• Tonga (especially in the north-east)
• Sena (especially in the very southern tip)

‘Translators without Borders’ have an interactive map showing the relative percentages of different languages spoken in each Malawian district www.translatorswithoutborders.org/languages-of-malawi-interactive-en/ .

Learning basic greetings in Chichewa

Use the slides and audio files in the Powerpoint to learn the below phrases and have learners practice this, greeting and speaking to each other:

• Moni = hello

When shaking hands in Malawi, you can show respect to the person you are greeting by touching the inside of your right elbow with your left hand. This can also be accompanied by a slight dip at the knees, accompanied by bowing down the head. Learners could practice this, shaking hands and saying ‘Moni’.

• Ndine = I am
• Muli bwanji? = How are you?
• Ndili bwino, kaya inu? (I am fine, how are you?)
• Ndili Bwinonso = (I am fine too)
• Zikomo! = Thank you!

"Map of the River Shire, The Lakes Nyassa & Shirwa, The Lower Courses of the Rivers Zambesi & Rovuma, Based on the Astronomical Observations & Sketches of Dr. Livingstone" Untitled Document (princeton.edu)

In his lifetime, David Livingstone went on 3 extensive expeditions to the continent of Africa. Livingstone spent years calling for a stop the East African Slave Trade, writing letters and keeping accounts of everything he saw. These records inspired others to join the movement, helping to eventually end the East African Slave Trade.

Additional resources:

A video summary of the different phases of exploration, conquests and colonization of African territories by European powers, beginning from the mid-15th century. - Colonization of Africa - Summary on a Map

A more detailed description of Malawi’s colonial origins: Nyasaland Colony (britishempire.co.uk)

Many of the countries that Livingstone visited, particularly Malawi and Zambia, have places named after him even today. His work forged bonds between Scotland and many Sub-Saharan African countries, hence why Scotland has such a strong bond with Malawi today. Livingstone is warmly remembered by a great many in Malawi today for his work fighting the slave trade: but is this a consequence of education systems established by the British?

Q1 – What evidence of colonial history are visible in your local area? Who is commemorated in statues and memorials? Who were they and what led to their accomplishments?

• This will require research. Links to articles for Glasgow and Edinburgh can be found in the Relate resources section below.

Q2 - Why is it important to identify and acknowledge Scotland’s colonial history?

• There are many developments and luxuries that we enjoy in our daily lives that we take for granted. However, many are a result of the colonial past and the unseen contributions and sacrifices of those who lives under an oppressive colonial government.