Think globally, act locally

How many of us have truly been hungry? How often do we say “I’m sooooo hungry” or “I’m starving” without thinking of what it really means to be hungry or starving. Our fleeting hunger- a mere biological response signifying dropping blood sugar and an empty stomach- is not true hunger.  It is not prolonged. It is not dangerous. It is not life or death.

I’ve been fortunate to never truly go hungry, and I hopefully will never experience it. I gather that most of you that are reading this have never truly gone hungry either. And think about how grumpy we get when we do get hungry!  I can’t imagine constantly feeling that way, watching my body digest itself bit by bit, knowing that there was nothing I could do for myself or anyone else I for whom I was responsible.  Although the SIFAT training did not make us feel this kind of hunger, it forced us to reexamine what it means to be hungry, what the root causes of this hunger are, and how we might find practical solutions to combat hunger.

Although the training focused on malnutrition and hunger, we really examined all of the facets of community development with hunger, water, health, poverty and many other components as integral parts of a holistic approach to community development.  You cannot separate one part from the other. Being malnourished as a child leads to disease susceptibility, reduced productivity and ability to learn in school, therefore less time spent in school which means continued poverty as an adult and continued health problems which limit the ability to succeed and change the community etc etc. This is why I am so excited to be working for Project Hearts this summer as it is not just a health organization. I will be contributing my expertise in public health while collaborating with my companeros, Ruben and Anel who focus more on other types of community projects, like housing and education. 

The training at SIFAT reinvigorated in me my passions for community development and my need to serve.   However, I think the worst and best part about this training course was the self-reflection and assessment of where I might fit in to the world as a future health care provider and my role as a professional and an “outsider.” To be honest, part way through the second week I was actually more disheartened with the bleak outlook for community development. My potential role seemed useless and I was continuously referred to as an “outsider.”  I felt as though the first week gave me so much hope and many practical skills, but the second week was filled with classroom discussion and theory that seemed almost impossible to put into practice and which most often reflected the uselessness of us so called outsiders. 

I hit a wall where I was upset, especially after a particular lecture on evening.  At first I loved his message, relating the need for development to be a holistic approach addressing the integrative parts. Each part can not be arbitrarily separated without addressing the others. I also agreed that development should be in stages where the ultimate goal of any NGO or third party would be to serve as a light -or a flashlight as he put it- for the community to find their way themselves. But his comment saying that our only skill we could offer was our English and that NGOs were not good, etc really disturbed me.  I’ve felt that my whole life I’ve been stuck in the middle. I’m a third culture kid not belonging to the US nor any other country. I’ve always been an outsider.  I belong everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I’m a nomad, an outsider, a rarity, a stranger to all. So it seems sometimes.  However, I know that I have skills and insight to offer and I know that I know how to do so in a culturally sensitive way.  After this particular lecture and the varying opinions of all of the experts and participants throughout the week I felt beaten down and alone.

  After some frustration, a few talks with people, and much needed prayer and sleep I began to find the beginnings of peace. I might never feel like I fit in, literally in a group of people, or theoretically in the scheme of community development, but that’s ok.  I still have some sort of role to play and will continue to be an ambassador and a Christian neighbor to everyone.  My vision remains blurry, but it is coming into focus  and I know this summer will serve as a perfect looking glass into my future and the future of development practices. 

Proverbs 29:18 is one of my favorite verses declaring: “Where there is no vision; the people perish.”  This I staunchly believe.  Even the act of creating a vision is powerful. In this way SIFAT was a powerful experience, even when I was upset and questioned my view of the world and my role and the role of my counterparts. This reflection was the most valuable, and as the founder Ms. Sarah Corson put it, I will not always agree with other people’s development beliefs and practices, but I will always have something to learn from them and should strive to grow and reconcile my struggles and their struggles for what we all believe is valuable.

There were definitely mixed messages throughout the week, where some speakers believed there is a defined place for outsiders, others want limited involvement, yet still others just want money, I found peace.   I realized this was the beauty of SIFAT. It is a place where people from all over can come and share their experiences, beliefs, and skills and learn together. 

I learned the importance of green leaves, fuel efficiency, empowerment, listening, community mapping, sanitation, the deep roots of poverty, micro-financing, rooftop gardening as a new frontier, social capital, asset-based development, the value of insects as a sustainable addition to the human diet, and the list goes on and on. But one overarching theme remains. We must “THINK globally, and ACT locally.”  We are charged with being  better global citizens and should do what we can where we are. 

            On a lighter note below are some of the highlights of my two weeks at SIFAT.

All things good,

Meghan

learning to make a heat compost pile that can fertilize up to 1 hectare of land. You combine water, brown material, and green material and let sit in the sun until it reaches a certain temperature, turn the entire pile, and in about 3 days you have fertilizer!

Posing with Eva Maria, a SIFAT trainer from Bolivia. She is a real inspiration and an expert in microfinance  techniques. 

Preparing the material to make a fuel efficient stove. Fuel efficient stoves greatly reduce indoor air pollution and cut down on the often strenuous or expensive search for wood and organic matter as fuel for cooking.

Collecting water samples from the nearby creek to test for dangerous e. coli that is indicative of fecal contamination. I will be using these testing skills this summer in the DR.

Making a wick garden that requires no soil. This is a light weight garden perfect for rooftops and low resources settings.

Building a leaf dryer where leaves will be dried by the sun to make nutritious leaf powder.

2 of my favorite people. Left, Sarah Murphree our photographer for the 2 weeks, and right, Kaimba, another role model and strong woman!

A few Honduran students learning about the fuel efficient cookstoves!

Green pasta we made with the moringa  leaf powder.

A few of us taking a break by the garden.

My first time milking a cow at the North farm! That day we also slaughtered 4 chickens, built solar ovens, prepared all our own food from food they grow, built straw model water pumps, and helped prepare a new gardening space.