Friday, June 12, 2009

We are the Silent Movement

Where do I even start?

I have been in Gulu, Uganda for over one week now, but I have to start by recounting my 4 day stay in Washington, D.C., which consisted of an intense training of the Group Leaders for our trips abroad through the One World Foundation.
(You can check out their website too if you’d like: www.theoneworldfoundation.org)
A little background on the One World Foundation (OW). OW was created by Tiffany and Dana, two African American women, who decided to collaborate their efforts to start an organization that facilitated creating alliances amongst young leaders of minority and indigenous communities internationally. Tiffany and Dana met while studying abroad and observed that people from minority communities were under represented in these types of international programs. Acknowledging that this was due to the lack of opportunities for people of color to get involved in international experiences and the world of international development, Tiffany and Dana began the One World Foundation. Their mission statement is driven by the idea that people from minority or directly-impacted communities are their best problem solvers. Throughout history, aid to these marginalized and oppressed communities (which usually have had little resources, suffer from poverty, racism, poor health, etc.) has come in the form of charity from the dominant, privileged group of people, which have usually been people NOT of color – who are removed from the issues on the ground. The mission of One World is to link young leaders from directly-impacted communities in the USA with young leaders from minority and indigenous communities abroad. We should have a voice and be the forefront on issues regarding international and sustainable development because we know the issues facing our communities the best from personal and historical experience. As of today, there are very few people of color in this field. Historically and currently, aid from NGO’s and other non-profit organizations has come in the form of charity that has not only created a dependency syndrome between those giving out the aid (usually privileged white people from the West) to those receiving the aid (minority communities of color both domestically in the US and in developing countries). Why not have leaders in international development be the people who know the issues from the inside? Why not link minorities from all over the world together in order to empower each other to solve the problems in our own communities? In this way, we will be able to create alliances, collaborate resources, and exchange experiences and empower each other to take the lead in the field of international development and challenge and restructure the definition of development away from the Western model. Why not subvert the hierarchy of oppression and charity? All these are new ideas. Thus, this is a new movement. A new type of grassroots global revolution.
While speaking with Tiffany, the co-founder of One World, she referred to us as a “silent movement.” We are a silent movement because these are new ideas, we are coming from the ground up, and communities of color have never had a voice in these matters. We might have been silent in the past, but I doubt we will be silent for very long.

The training of the Group Leaders was off the hook. So basically, more background, One World planned to send 4 groups of young leaders to 4 different countries: India, Cambodia, Senegal, and Uganda. Thus, there were 4 Group Leaders (including myself), and then 4 co-facilitators (who were either Group Leaders or participants from last year). The co-facilitators and Group Leaders are to work together abroad to lead the 3 day leadership, social justice, and human rights training for the other OW participants and young leaders from the host country’s local community.
So the D.C. training was off the hook (and the in country training was awesome too – more on that later) because the information we were to be presenting on human rights, leadership, social justice and advocacy (there was even a section on evidence-based research – oh yes, for my social worker friends – that research class came in handy!) was thorough and inspiring, but mostly because we were all united under this mission to look critically at the definition of international development, empower from the ground up, and look at all social justice issues from a critical lens. In the 4 days I was there amongst the other trainers and then the other participants who arrived later, I was blown away by the energy, talent, and passion of all the people I met. Almost everyone gelled together like we were old friends and we spent almost every day (and into every night) discussing and exchanging our experiences, our ideas, our dedication and passion to all that I mentioned above.

A huge topic of discussion was and is the definition of international development. My own ideas about development are “developing,” but this trip is already transforming my ideas about what the dominant framework on development should be. It is so very critical that we are clear about our intentions when we enter a third world country with altruistic ideas to help them “develop.” We have to be careful not to discount the indigenous culture and ways of living that has worked for a group of people before the community was introduced to Western ideas. Previous efforts of Western nations to develop other countries have proven to be disastrous. Colonization has destroyed communities – physically, mentally, economically, politically, and spiritually. Indigenous communities and people of the third world are suffering from historical trauma. American values of materialism and consumption has become our measures of success. This is not development!

Historically and in the present day we have to face the reality that the people making the decisions and calling the shots when it comes to international development are white people of privilege from the middle and upper classes. While often times their intentions are good for the most part (and sometimes they are not –under the guise of “helping,” they are in fact just looking after their own self-interest. For example, the US intervention in the Middle East is largely to acquire oil), they do not come with a critical analysis of their own privilege regarding race and economics dynamics and what it means to “help.” They are looking at third world countries with the lens that what they have (Western knowledge, education, medicine) is superior to what the developing country has presently. No doubt Western medicine is saving lives. No doubt clean water and the eradication of malaria are goals to be met. But there needs to be a way in which resources are shared that does not dis-empower a people, create dependency, or reinforce the hierarchy of who controls the power and resources in this world. Indigenous communities offer knowledge (like herbal, holistic medicine or respect for the environment) that can be valuable tools for progress. What we fail to acknowledge is that what we are in the first world, what we consider “development” isn’t completely better or healthy. The USA has tons of examples of where development went haywire: pollution, global warming, poor mental health (depression, anxiety), poor physical health (obesity, diabetes, heart disease, anorexia.. the list goes on). One key component to the vision of One World is to acknowledge the fact that although the US is considered developed, it has not, by all means solved the issues listed above including poverty or racism. Although we are a privileged nation, who is enjoying that privilege? It is certainly not people of color or minority communities. In fact, it is the minority communities that suffer from lack of resources, poverty, poor health, and lack of access to quality education. We are a nation of disparities and inequalities not only between races, but between classes and gender. We might be a wealthy nation, but the wealth is not distributed, and in fact, favors the dominant race.
Sadly, people in developing countries look to the US and other European countries as models for development. This is a huge issue here in Uganda (more on this later) and looking back at all my travels, this has been an issue in all the countries I’ve been to. This is what we must guard against. This is why we must challenge the dominant framework of what is development, since this perspective measures development by GDP, material wealth, and HDI (human development index). Yet, how many people do you and I know in America who have not only all their basic needs met, but central AC, the latest IPOD, 3 cars in the driveway (you get the point) and are not happy?? We might be able to extend our lives to past 100 years, but what is a life that is not lived to the fullest with meaningful relationships and experiences? Our ideas of development are skewed to value the accumulation of things over the values of compassion, interdependence, balance, responsibility, integrity, accountability… etc. We do not want another consumer driven America. We do not want quantity over quality. So then what is the vision????

Currently, my ideas of development consist of empowering people to create sustainable communities that do not rely on outside charity. This means that the community can provide its members with the basic needs without much need for importing or exporting (products or people). (However, I’m not sure if this is possible – at least have a balanced import/export exchange and only import/export what cannot be produced in community. Like for example, eating and buying locally grown food rather than importing food that can farmed locally.) Development also means using technology that is available (and appropriate) to assist in creating this sustainable community – like tools for farming or accessing clean water. People are empowered when they know their human rights and the proper steps they can take in leading their communities to document human rights violations and organize around getting their rights, establishing income generating activities, or other programs that will assist in developing their community. While I also think that modern Western medicine has provided us with a lot of advantages, I think Western medical missions fail to utilize and give credit to already established natural and indigenous healing practices. I believe a key in collaborating (not *helping*) with communities in order to develop is to assist them in utilizing their established strengths and local environment. Development is about empowering communities to use what they can, so they are NOT dependent on foreign aid or intervention. Development means that we do not inject ideas within communities that anything Western is better, but that we cultivate ideas around bridging local resources with foreign ones in a way that supports the health and well-being of everyone. It’s about creating a global community that recognizes the value of diversity – we do not want a homogeneous society. We do not want all nations to look like America. Why is the human experience such a rich and vibrant experience? Because we have diverse cultures, languages, religions, ways we experience and interpret the world, etc. We want to recognize the value in different cultural values that support human rights. We want to live in a global community that shares and exchanges it resources in equal and interdependent ways looking out for the benefit of the collective before the individual. We want a society that has a deep appreciation for life itself – no matter if it’s in the form of a plant, animal, or human. We want a society where all people live deeply rich lives, not in terms of material wealth, but in terms of meaningful connections with each other, the world we live in, and whatever we define to be a higher power. We want a society that is grounded on taking care of each other, our planet, and our future based upon the most fundamental and basic of all values: love.

2 comments:

  1. Amen, Kris!! You are wise beyond your years.

    I'm reminded of Peru President Garcia this past week who opened up development of the Amazon to miners and other Western contractors. The result? 35 natives and militia dead over turf wars. Westerners always view development with $$ being the end game, and we move too quickly and too carelessly in our efforts to 'help' developing nations.

    I'm 100% with you on helping communities become self-sustaining: teaching those in developing nations about hygiene and health care, small business and entrepreneurship, personal finance, etc. Hand-outs don't work. Neither does forcefully imposing American materialism on vibrant peoples. Educate but always be mindful not to overstep cultural boundaries.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Kris! Your program sounds wonderful and I'm so happy you are connecting with like minded people and working to help third world countries. (I wish I could say the same about my australia program, it wasn't so good.)There are a lot of overlaps with what I have been working on. Ecovillages are trying to model a form of sustainable development in the developed world that has all the advantages of western technology but not the consumer driven lifestyle and with more of an emphasis on community and spirituality. At Crystal Waters, Australia, they grow their own food, conserve 90% of their land for wildlife, and live in smaller, energy efficient houses. I hope you can share the message that Americans are also dissatisfied with the American way of life and many are looking for a more sustainable, holistic type of life. I hope you can share with them all the ills that the American way promotes.
    I think the empaphasis on connecting minority leaders is also very smart. I have had a lot of opportunity to observe how white Americans seem to have trouble connecting with each other and seem not much aware of it. People of color, perhaps because of their disadvantaged status, naturally seem to connect and rely on each other more. The difference of culture and of class make a big difference. This is something that Americans have a lot to learn about. How to become less independent and more accepting of each other.

    ReplyDelete