A crash course in changing the world.
Approach with the right mindset
I think the first and foremost thing critical for anyone setting on a path of social development is to approach it with the right mindset. As is rightly pointed out by experts, living with the people in their constrained environment is very important. But the significance of this experience will be lost if this is not done with the right approach - one needs to look them as not the people who need help but people who are center of creativity (most often not polluted by the time tested ideas but create their own workarounds that work well for their environment). And often such experience entails shedding off the usual way in which one's upbringing happened and expecting things to happen their way. As an example, I often see people going to rural areas urging the people (especially the minorities or those who are suppressed for example women, old people, people with disabilities) to speak up for what they want. Now how can one expect those who have been pushed to the corner for decades to start speaking for themselves one fine day at the urge of a stranger. This is well addressed by the Blue Bakery example of Jacqueline (in her book The Blue Sweater as well). Listening truly is an art, often unpracticed in the education system prevalent today. And it just does not involve listening through ears but through your eyes and through your heart as well. Another critical aspect of the right mindset is the acknowledgment that things do not change overnight. The change requires persistent, genuine effort mixed together with a lot of patience. In today's world of IT and electronics, when one is getting used to access of any information anywhere at the click of button, it is a complex task to mix this use of technology with patience that is critical to take the technology to the field.
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Comment by Ken Eklund on March 5, 2010 at 8:39pm
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Hello Amarjeet – What you have written I find very powerful. I especially am reflecting on this: "As an example, I often see people going to rural areas urging the people (especially the minorities or those who are suppressed for example women, old people, people with disabilities) to speak up for what they want. Now how can one expect those who have been pushed to the corner for decades to start speaking for themselves one fine day at the urge of a stranger." How true that is! Yet, I am sure there are ways to accomplish this mission, even as a stranger – I think for example of Greg Mortensen and "Three Cups of Tea." Maybe you can say more about this?
I am happy that you are here with us at EVOKE and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts and sharing them.
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Comment by Calida DeBello on March 5, 2010 at 8:55pm -
Thank you for inspiring me to investigate Jacqueline Novogratz and her stories; I found a video of her talk at TED here. Your ideas will be welcome when Mission 2 begins...
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Comment by Amarjeet Singh on March 6, 2010 at 5:00am -
@Ken - If you read Greg's encounters properly, you will find similar experiences there. As a small example, he prepared for everything to open his first school only to be told that people need a bridge first...now only if he would have listened with his eyes, the need for a bridge would have been apparent to him...and I think he did a wonderful job with learning from his experiences by listening to people and diversifying his activities around education so as to have a deeper impact.
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Comment by Fiacre on March 6, 2010 at 5:05am -
"Listening truly is an art, often unpracticed in the education system prevalent today. And it just does not involve listening through ears but through your eyes and through your heart as well." Well said!
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Comment by Justine Roberts on March 6, 2010 at 5:21am -
Amen to this!
Amarjeet, I cannot agree more with this post. I find that far too often we tend to rush headlong into situations and do not take even a few moments to shed our preconcieved notions of how we THINK something should be working.This is very similar to why I like the idea of "Don't fight culture" in promoting social development. We must take the time to understand where the situation is coming from to get it to go where we want it to.
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