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How would you define culture? When you think about the culture within which you live, ascribe to and practice perhaps you think abo ut your nationality, your ethnic background or religious affiliations to provide definition. You consider the language you speak, the events and milestones your honor, even the food that you eat – its preparation and composition. All of which speak to culture. A number of anthropologists have argued for a purely cognitive definition of culture. The idea is here that “culture” may be limited to the communicative and meaningful aspects of social life: from language to the meaning carried by symbols, persons, actions and events. This definition I particularly like by Geertz, a renown sociologist who refers to culture as “… a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and a

Its not often than SFH is sought out by a group. We are a young organization and have been committed to small scale,but quality work. Well, word spread. And you can only imagine our surprise when we were sought out by a group of community members who have been struggling to support over 100 AIDS orphans by themselves, rather then seeking out any number of organizations working in this country! This group, comprised of about 50 caregivers, extended family members of these children (mainly grandparents) and a couple who has been organizing their efforts – they have been meeting regularly, pooling together their limited resources and their immeasurable passion to ensure that these children will not be forgotten or neglected. Grace and I went to visit the group in early April to to an assessment of the group’s needs, the community context and to have an open discussion with them as a whole, as to what we can do to further their vision for sustainable, independent and community