Puberty Rites in Ghana

Puberty Rites After the child naming ceremony, puberty rites are the next set of rituals of social status transformation which children undergo in Ghanaian culture. The most well preserved puberty rites are the Dipo (pictured) of the Krobo ethnic group and the Bragoro of the Ashanti's. These ceremonies mark the entry of young women into adulthood. In Ghana only a small section of ethnic groups usually found in the northern parts of the country have initiation rites for men and where they occur they are done in secret and not given as much prominence as that for young women. In the Akan culture women represent the beauty, purity and dignity of the society and are guarded against corruption by our traditional laws and regulations. The most lasting impressions about life and the character of children are built during their early and formative years, which they spend mostly with their mothers. So the Akans believe that they need properly trained mothers with good morals to bring up good children. It is therefore little wonder that the initiation of women into adulthood is given more prominence in the Akan society than that of men. Under the supervision of the queen mother of the town or village in collaboration with some female opinion leaders, young women who have had their first menstruation are secluded from the community for a period between two and three weeks during which they are taught the secrets of womanhood. During this period of seclusion the girls are given lessons in sex education and birth control. They are also taught how to relate to men properly so that they can maintain a good marriage and their dignity in society. After the period of seclusion, a durbar is held which is attended by the chief and almost everybody in the community. The newly initiated women are dressed scantily with very beautiful African beads and cosmetics showing off their vital statistics. Young men of marriageable age troupe there to feast their eyes on the young women and to select their prospective wives. Amidst drumming and dancing the rituals are carried out with the spirit of Oynankopong Kwame, Asase Yaa and the departed ancestors invoked to bless the participants and ensure their protection, blessing and fertility during their period of motherhood. According to traditional law no woman is allowed to get married without haven gone through the puberty rites and every young woman must remain a virgin prior to this. These laws ensure that young women grow up disciplined enough to control their sexuality and to prevent them from premature motherhood and unwanted babies. So important are these laws that any woman who gets pregnant or breaks her virginity before the rites are performed is sometimes ostracized together with the man responsible for it. On top of that, a heavy fine is imposed on the guilty party after which purification rites are performed to rid the society of the negative repercussions of their actions.

Malaysia Chinese Culture Essay

Malaysia’s cultural mosaic is marked by many different cultures, but several in particular have had especially lasting influence on the country. Chief among these is the ancient Malay culture, and the cultures of Malaysia’s two most prominent trading partners throughout history–the Chinese, and the Indians. These three groups are joined by a dizzying array of indigenous tribes, many of which live in the forests and coastal areas of Borneo. Although each of these cultures has vigorously maintained its traditions and community structures, they have also blended together to create contemporary Malaysia’s uniquely diverse heritage. Populated by the three (3) major races found in Asia, Malaysia culture is a melange of Indian, Malay and Chinese influence The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival. Airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees. The Chinese character â€Å"fu† (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down, for in Chinese the â€Å"reversed fu† is homophonic with â€Å"fu comes†, both being pronounced as â€Å"fudaole. † What’s more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall. Waking up on New Year, everybody dresses up. First they extend greetings to their parents. Then each child will get money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper. People in northern China will eat jiaozi, or dumplings, for breakfast, as they think â€Å"jiaozi† in sound means â€Å"bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new†. Also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure. Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. People thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits. However, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities once the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room. People in different places follow various customs, but all show their love and longing for a better life. Today people will enjoy the full moon and eat moon cakes on that day. The moon looks extremely round, big and bright on the 15th day of each lunar month. People selected the August 15 to celebrate because it is a season when crops and fruits are all ripe and weather pleasant. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, all family members or friends meet outside, putting food on tables and looking up at the sky while talking about life. How splendid a moment it is! | There are many legends about the evolution of the festival, the most popular of which is in commemoration of Qu Yuan. People will dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine on that day. On Dragon Boat Festival, parents also need to dress their children up with a perfume pouch. They first sew little bags with colorful silk cloth, then fill the bags with perfumes or herbal medicines, and finally string them with silk threads. The perfume pouch will be hung around the neck or tied to the front of a garment as an ornament. They are said to be able to ward off evil. | The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness. This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the deceased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served. On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet.

E-government and E-business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

E-government and E-business - Essay Example That doesn't, of course mean that all the organizations have adopted the e-business models. But beneath the surface, a lot has happened. Computers have been playing much more major role than sheer word processing or computational devices. Today, many managers look at it as an effective communication tool. With the advent of the Internet, the clerks in the companies exchange e-mails with remote suppliers, ordering goods via electronic catalogues and tracking those orders through the whole procurement cycle (Feng Li, 2006). The essential features of e-business are: Scholars generally view e-business and e-government as two phenomena that are quite similar in nature, yet occur independently to one another. Apparently, the two are generally studied separately, though using a common background concerning research methods. Research has also begun suggest that e-business and e-government are related, and therefore should to be studied together. These aspects become much more important and helpful during winds of economic change as they help in improving the economy of the country. As a matter of fact, partnerships between public and private entities have in many instances become key instruments in enabling the development of the region capable of sustaining the local economy by stimulating innovation and fostering greater efficiency within industry. They have also played instrumental roles in eliminating the various ills plaguing the region like the unemployment.Historically, it was in Chile that a real e-governance initiative was taken up in 1972 when IT services were unheard of in those days and were very limited in business. They used IT techniques not just to make paperless offices but also to perform government work efficiently. (Roland, 2003) It is a well-known fact that the advent of e-governance has helped in bridging the gap between the Governments and the public. In the developed nations wherein almost everyone has access to the Internet at very nominal rates, this has been declared a huge success. While certain privileged sections of the society get to avail e-governance and get closer to the government, the threat of the under-privileged, uneducated people distancing themselves from the government cannot be ruled out. However, the major challenge lies in implementing this in the underdeveloped and the developing areas where few people have access to the Internet and major portion of them do not know how to access the Internet. A possible solution for this problem, which can be conceived, is setting up of centers specifically for people to enable performing transactions with the Government with little or no effort. Trained people must be allowed to run these centers, under the supervision of the Government. (J.Sathy anarayana, 2004) Hence, we can sum up the properties of e-governance as follows Integrates the networks of all the government depts., thus, giving the user a platform

Information Extraction(Remote Sensing and Image Analysis) Essay

Information Extraction(Remote Sensing and Image Analysis) - Essay Example rget, in which the spatial arrangement is preserved); techniques involve amassing knowledge pertinent to the sensed scene (target) by utilizing electromagnetic radiation, force fields, or acoustic energy sensed by recording cameras, radiometers and scanners, lasers, radio frequency receivers, radar systems, sonar, thermal devices, sound detectors, seismographs, magnetometers, gravimeters, scintilla meters, and other instruments(The Concept of Remote Sensing) Remote sensing is mostly used to study objects or a particular area on earth using the photographs taken by the remote satellites stationed above the earth. Microwave signals are using in such process because of these wave’s ability to penetrate clouds fog and rain. ‘The atmosphere has a big influence in satellite and high altitude aerial remote sensing.’ (Robert A. Schowengerdt p.48) Because of the scattering property of light by atmosphere the image obtained through remote sensing may not be clear. ‘Variations in platform altitude, velocity, and attitude variations in the elevation or altitude of a remote sensing platform lead to a scale change and field of view’. (John A. Richards, Xiuping Jia –p. 43.) Remote sensing image data normally require two or more scenes of the same geographical region acquire at different dates to be processed together for many applications. This is because of the complexity in analyzing the image because of the too many obscured pixels in it. Most of the remote sensing image data is too low in brightness and poor in contrast. In order to improve the quality of the image automatic contrast enhancement technology is used. Remote sensing images are usually two dimensional. The images obtained through remote sensing analyzed through the study of the number and location of spectral measurements or spectral bands. The spectral measurement in each band depend on the interactions between the incident radiation and the atomic and molecular structures of the material (pure

Viual Aid and Gantt Chart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Viual Aid and Gantt Chart - Essay Example The high coÃ'•t of breakdown maintenance could be unbearable Ã'•uch that the need for preventive maintenance becomeÃ'• obviouÃ'•. The Ã'•afety of equipment and employee iÃ'• improved by preventive maintenance Ã'•erviceÃ'•. ThiÃ'• haÃ'• Ã'•ignificant impact on the production proceÃ'•Ã'•. Reaching maximum plant availability through minimal delayÃ'• and breakdownÃ'• and optimal equipment working condition reduceÃ'• or eliminateÃ'• the need for Ã'•ubcontracting Ã'•ome aÃ'•pectÃ'• of the job (Chen and Liao, 2005; Cheung et al., 2005). ThiÃ'• haÃ'• a reducing effect on the uÃ'•ually large maintenance budget of many organizationÃ'•. Maintenance Ã'•cheduling iÃ'• uÃ'•ually baÃ'•ed on preventive maintenance activitieÃ'• (Oke, 2004). In an organization where a large number of equipment are operated, preventive maintenance Ã'•cheduling offerÃ'• a meanÃ'• of achieving continuouÃ'• induÃ'•trial operationÃ'• without which Ã'†¢yÃ'•tem Ã'•uÃ'•tenance would be extremely difficult. Ð…ince the coÃ'•t of implementing preventive maintenance Ã'•cheduling iÃ'• more economical than that of replacing broken down equipment, in the long term, it iÃ'• more economical to implement thiÃ'• maintenance option. Ð…ound maintenance Ã'•cheduling iÃ'• indiÃ'•penÃ'•able for high maintenance performance, which in turn facilitateÃ'• the production proceÃ'•Ã'• to yield maximum output. ThiÃ'• iÃ'• attained when preventive maintenance Ã'•upportÃ'• continuouÃ'• improvement programmeÃ'•. Effective maintenance Ã'•cheduling requireÃ'• Ã'•pecific time and labor allocation, knowledge of equipment hiÃ'•tory, Ã'•pareÃ'• availability, knowledge of work and facility priority rating, job Ã'•pecification, etc.

Supply chain management of dunkin donuts (academic journal sources Essay - 1

Supply chain management of dunkin donuts (academic journal sources must be used) - Essay Example By 1960, Rosenberg founded The International Franchise Association, which today has more than 800 fanchisors and over 30,000 franchisee members, accounting for almost 50% of retail business in the United States (DD-Our Founder, 2008). Today, Dunkin Donuts claims to be the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world, selling 1.5 billion cups of coffee per year, with many varieties of donuts and a wide range of baked products such as muffins, bagels, croissants, pizza, flat bread sandwiches, cookies, apple pie and donut-hole treats called Munchkins, as well as hash browns, salads and soups. Aside from freshly brewed coffee, which today, Dunkin Donuts serves in nine flavors, shops also offer iced coffee, coffee lattes in various flavors, iced tea, ice blend fruit juices called Coolatta, hot chocolate and packaged coffee. Today there are close to 8,000 Dunkin’ Donuts distribution points in 30 countries, with 5,800 in North America. The rest are in key international markets including Asia-Pacific and Latin America (DB-Featured Products, 2008; DB-Dunkin’ Donuts, 2007). This study presents the working structure of the supply chain management system that has made Dunkin’ Donuts one of the most successful brands in the world. The scope of the study is limited to the product supply chain of Dunkin’ Donuts food and beverage items. It does not include other products used for promotional purposes but are also sold to customers, which are mainly non-food items. A supply chain is an interrelated collection of processes and associated resources that starts with the acquisition of raw materials that will be used to manufacture a product, and ends with the acquisition, purchase or delivery to an end-customer of that product. The chain typically includes suppliers, manufacturers, logistics service providers, warehouses, distributors, wholesalers, retailers and all other entities that lead up to delivery

The Role of Mainstream Media Limited in Contemporary Globalized Essay

The Role of Mainstream Media Limited in Contemporary Globalized Society - Essay Example The power today lands in the hands of people who have become both the architects and focus of media, and are redefining globalization. The key question that this essay, analyses and addresses, is whether the role of mainstream media, in light of that has been limiting in today’s globalized world and how the power-shift towards social-media is affecting mainstream media. Introduction Of the three dimensions of globalization: political, economical and cultural, cultural globalization has been the face of globalization. It is partly because of concerns with economic and political forms of globalization (Robertson and White) and partly because of the active role that media has played in it. The speech of Boris Yelsen on the fall of Soviet Union, broadcasted by CNN satellite has been identified as the decisive moment of advent of globalization (Beck). Since then, Media has played an important role in defining, shaping and amplifying globalization. Marx and Engels contemplated that print media, known as the Fourth Estate, would be an important piece in the establishment of a democratic public body that catalyzes social change (Kellner and Pierce). The rise of global media with cable television, news networks and privatization of media further brought the world together. A number of networks became global in their outreach like CNN, MTV, HBO, ESPN, TNT, Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network, Discovery, Disney, and many of these channels were translated and adopted as per local languages and cultures. Some scholars, however, have criticized this influence, as cultural imperialism as Western culture has been dominant in private media networks (Jan)(Thussu). Technological advancesand socia media The communication ecosystem of the industrial globalized society has been traditionally built on mainstream mass media, principally television, radio and the print press. These technologies have adopted the mass dissemination of a one-way communication from one-to-many. Since t he late 90s, the extensive spread and diffusion of the Internet, mobile technologies, digital media and a diversity of social technological tools throughout the globe has transmuted the one-to-many communication network into interactive horizontal linkages that link the local with the global. New forms of social media (online media tools that enable people to communicate easily with internet to known people or a wider audience), such as text messages, tweets, blogs, communication forums, social networking sites, podcasts and wikis, tailor the flow of messages from many-to-many. This medium has provided alternative means for citizen communication, participatory journalism and globalization. Power-paradigm within mainstream and social media Power has played an important role for mainstream media to create an impact on the society. In his book, Why study the Media?, author Roger Silverstone states that media holds the power to influence and change the political processes(Silverstone). It is about the reach, representation – presenting, revealing and explaining, that gave mainstream media a commanding control over how things are perceived in different types of the world. Similarly, (Volkmer) in his book, News in the Global Sphere: A study of CNN and its Impact on Global Communication, asserts that global political communications such as that of CNN International have been a dominative force in creating a global public sphere and thereby a global civil society. However,

Leading Public Organizations - Public Administration Essay

Leading Public Organizations - Public Administration - Essay Example In addition, they may differ in their abilities to cope up with the unforeseen situations. This holds even more relevant for public administration in organizations. Hence, it requires a coordinating function to deal them effectively so that the out put production would be maximum in any firm. Among all the role players in public administration, leader is very significant one who initiates the process of thinking towards new ideas or innovations and accordingly fixes the responsibilities of various employees in different sections (Hickman, 2009). He also makes them aware about the objectives and goals of the organization and gives them timely targets. The main challenge for a leader in an organization is to manage the communication process to different individuals or groups of individuals who have diverse nature. At the same time, conflict management and ethical decision making also become very complex when leader initiates the process of dealing the individuals or groups of diverse n ature. Let us analyze them one by one. Communication process is one of the most important factors that decides the success of any public organization with employees of diverse nature (Ivancevich, 2009). Leadership in public sector faces a big challenge in the form of large size of groups of individuals of diverse nature and hence their employee coordination is a tough task. The individuals or groups of individuals differ significantly in their critical thinking nature and perception about the decisions of the organization and hence clarity in communication is must for the higher coherence among the employees and the leaders may concentrate on easy way of dissemination of information using the latest technology. The employees must feel that they are integral part of the organization for getting optimum results, this can happen only when they are informed about the objectives and work plan of the organization. If a leader uses any single mode of communication, the employees may not be able to perceive it in same manner. Hence it is necessary to identify the right mode and time of communication process according to the nature of the individuals or groups. The effective communication process once implemented in public administration in organizations with special emphasis on crisis management communication, there is a vast scope for critical thinking and skill development among the employees of diverse nature (Shockley-Zalabak, 2005). There are different ways of communication process that can be well utilized to inform about the present status and future requirements of the organization. The advent of information technology is of immense help in dissemination of information to the employees of different tiers. In some studies, it was found that the use of a Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) system in-group conflict management has become a reasonable success (Hampden-Turner, Charles and Fons Trompenaars. 2000). The group working relations coding system (GWRCS) w as found to be useful to examine group interaction patterns that characterize the conflict management process. It was also noticed that an intellective task conflict can be well managed by a high confrontiveness where as cognitive task conflict requires a moderate confrontiveness strategy. Similarly, effective team building also promotes the communication pro

Ethics in the workplace Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethics in the workplace - Coursework Example The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, however, protects women from discrimination during their pregnancy, a time at which their output can be limited (Niles, 2013). Americans with Disability Act (1990) and Rehabilitation Act (1973) are the most important labor laws to the disabled employee. Provisions of the rehabilitation act seek to ensure that employees with disabilities, and who work in specific category or organizations, access healthcare facilities form their employer. The Americans with Disability Act, however, ensures reasonable treatment of disabled employees (Niles, 2013). Civil Rights Act (1964) is the most important labor law to the African American because among other provisions, the law protects people against race-based discrimination during hiring and during employment (Niles, 2013). The Civil Rights Act (1964) is also the most important legislation to the Muslim employee who may be susceptible to religion-based discrimination that could occur during hiring and during employment (Niles,