I had to define what I thought that "Social Innovation" meant. I know the words, but their meanings was suddenly a bit unclear to me. My thought process was something along the lines of:
Why do we come up with innovations? Because we are motivated. Money is always a motivator, but people don't aim for the unfortunate ones to make money. Those who work with innovations for those who are in a worse position than themselves must do it with a reason to help make the world better. That must be my motivation too.
I suppose there is some sort of gratification in seeing a well made project being integrated in the real world. To know that your ideas helped someone. I suppose it doesn't matter what scale the problem is on. It could be a local problem, or a global problem. What matters is the drive to change, to make a difference, to know that you because you decided to take the time to do something, other people are living better lives.
Can I put myself in their shoes? Probably not. I sometimes wonder - with fear clouding my mind - how it would be to live in a different place. I really have nothing to complain about. One of my biggest fears is to go blind. How would I manage if I could suddenly not see? Right now, the mere thought is terrifying. How about sleeping under a roof of plastic bags held together by duct tape, day in and day out. or to go hungry every day of my life? Terrible. And yet, I don't think I can grasp the true emotions that people, in worse situations than myself, are going through.
It's probably not all bad. I mean, it IS pretty bad, but you will still see people smile, laugh, hug and kiss. At least sometimes. Even in the worst situations, they find a way to look at the bright side. Many of them does, I suppose. How can they do that, when it is such a terrible vision for me? Am I just too comfortable?
It seems to me that I can't just "imagine" how life would be. I probably can't just go and try it out. But if I had to help people, I couldn't do it just by sitting on my arse. I'd have to talk to them to get the full picture. To know the emotions people are going through. I need to know what the problems are, I need to
feel and
understand the problems if I am to help them.
I need to know how they make it through the struggle with energy to go on as well. We need to abolish the problems, but also enhance the things that makes it worth the struggle. This will help as well, I think.
I need to understand. Nobody text or statistic can make me understand. A video could make me "know" how a situation is, but I could never truly feel every aspect of the problem unless I talk the people living with it.
- Dan
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