I spent a couple of hours this afternoon helping an older Swiss lady, H, doing something that I really, really enjoy. She has spent the last two weeks leading a workshop for Sudanese ladies about self-help groups. She collected a group of 28 ladies and taught them all about the self-help approach; the idea being for them to learn and be able to start the groups with some of the most destitute women in their communities. There is this whole system, that I really don't know all that much about (but do hope to learn more). It is (obviously) a self-help approach of lifting yourselves and community out of poverty as opposed to utilizing foreign or domestic aid. Shift the thinking from "Others should help me." to "I can help myself."
The ladies that attended the workshop would probably be considered poor themselves. They have enough. Enough food, a place to live, enough for school fees for their kids. Just enough. No savings or buffer, though, were anything to happen. It sounds harsh, but I've found it to be mostly true, that there exists an attitude of almost of entitlement here. It was difficult for some of the participants to grasp that they were being asked for their involvement without any outright benefit to themselves. Through the training some of them got the idea and a few of them got really pumped up and eager to be able to help others and, if the program works as it is designed to, the potential to even transform whole communities.
Twice the group went out to some of the poorest areas of the city and saw what living conditions were like there. All of the ladies came back and were touched by what they had seen. One lady shared about visiting with a woman who had given birth to nine children. Of those nine, two had died, five were paralysed, and only two were normal. They saw shelters with no roofs (in a climate that averages about 105 degrees in the shade nine months out of the year), sick people, babies with sores and other diseases. One lady commented, "I thought I was poor, but after seeing all of this I will never complain again."
The ladies that attended the workshop would probably be considered poor themselves. They have enough. Enough food, a place to live, enough for school fees for their kids. Just enough. No savings or buffer, though, were anything to happen. It sounds harsh, but I've found it to be mostly true, that there exists an attitude of almost of entitlement here. It was difficult for some of the participants to grasp that they were being asked for their involvement without any outright benefit to themselves. Through the training some of them got the idea and a few of them got really pumped up and eager to be able to help others and, if the program works as it is designed to, the potential to even transform whole communities.
Twice the group went out to some of the poorest areas of the city and saw what living conditions were like there. All of the ladies came back and were touched by what they had seen. One lady shared about visiting with a woman who had given birth to nine children. Of those nine, two had died, five were paralysed, and only two were normal. They saw shelters with no roofs (in a climate that averages about 105 degrees in the shade nine months out of the year), sick people, babies with sores and other diseases. One lady commented, "I thought I was poor, but after seeing all of this I will never complain again."
The project is only just beginning but the potential is great. It will probably take awhile to get off the ground, but it is still pretty exciting. The hope is, as well, to involve some of the mothers of some of the boys at the center. Perhaps get themselves in stable enough conditions for the boys to actually return to live with them.
My part in this, if it even qualifies as part, was really quite small. H had to write up a report for the potential donors about the idea, the workshop, future and follow up of the whole she-bang. Though she is fluent in English, it's not her first language. While she can speak just fine, writing up an official report she needed a little help with. That's where I came in. She came over for a couple of hours this afternoon and we went over what she had already written. Together we edited and played with words and condensed and embellished as was needed. We banged out a seven page report and I enjoyed every minute of it. Oh I do love working with words! When I originally offered to help her and told her I even enjoy that sort of thing she broke into a big smile of relief. It is a great thing when giftings merge.
There is a teeny, tiny possibility that I could get a visa next year through the center/it's projects. It is unlikely, but were that to happen I would be able to be fully invested in the center's, help out H with this new project and other things in this realm. Which would be amazing! I wouldn't have to do two things, be pulled in two different directions, and could fully invest my time and energy into one source. We'll see what happens. A girl can dream!
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