my fantastic friend jake is an ideal candidate for what should be seen as the only effective was to work internationally. while he is currently in Guatemala taking a well deserved vacation, he just finished 4 months in Nicaragua working on some projects in communities. he helped install solar panels in some homes and communities, as well as working on some environmental projects - including biogas digesters, solar fruit dehydrators, slow sand filters, and so on.
how sick am i of seeing obligatory photos of the cute 'ethnic' children, and all the 'wonderful things canadians are doing for the world'. through jake, i get to see what it is like to be a small person in a community, just trying to lend a hand. trying to give a part of himself to a larger thing. trying not to stand out. just trying to help where help is needed.
he provides me with a reminder that people can be selfless - 'development' can be as simple as a person standing nearby, and asking 'what can i do to help?', without pushing through with their development project and cdn ideals.
thank you jake - for reminding me of the good that there is in this world. unpretentious, unpresuming, and appreciative justice. i wish i could put into words how much jake inspires me.
i spent a year with a group of people who were wonderful - all looking to give themselves to the world. however, we all are working within a really difficult structure. a structure which does not allow for much in the way of true justice vs. charity. i spent a year falling deeper and deeper into a cynical, negative mindset, learning more and more honestly how difficult it was going to be to do what i wanted. to work outside the framework of "international development" and move beyond canada's ethnocentric view of 'development'. in the last months, i gave up. i fought long and hard, and i was a quitter. i moved to a place where i needed to stand still for a moment and collect my thoughts. i got a job, and rented an apartment. i seperated myself from all that was development, in the hopes that i would find myself needing it again - only then would i be able to love everything about it again.
i have since found my love again, but it was a struggle. and, without jake, i would not have found this.
he's doing wonderful, sustainable, needed work.
the best part? he's posted some fantastic and amazing photos on facebook. not photos of all the cute kids (though there are some of those too - he's lived with them for months, they're like family!), not the landscape, not the touristy crap he's bought. instead, i am able to browse through incredible photos of projects, instillations, and the work he's doing. i get to see practical work, and the wonders that the community is leaving him with. he's leaving with a sense of what he was able to be a part of - and what he gets to leave with.how sick am i of seeing obligatory photos of the cute 'ethnic' children, and all the 'wonderful things canadians are doing for the world'. through jake, i get to see what it is like to be a small person in a community, just trying to lend a hand. trying to give a part of himself to a larger thing. trying not to stand out. just trying to help where help is needed.
he provides me with a reminder that people can be selfless - 'development' can be as simple as a person standing nearby, and asking 'what can i do to help?', without pushing through with their development project and cdn ideals.
thank you jake - for reminding me of the good that there is in this world. unpretentious, unpresuming, and appreciative justice. i wish i could put into words how much jake inspires me.
i spent a year with a group of people who were wonderful - all looking to give themselves to the world. however, we all are working within a really difficult structure. a structure which does not allow for much in the way of true justice vs. charity. i spent a year falling deeper and deeper into a cynical, negative mindset, learning more and more honestly how difficult it was going to be to do what i wanted. to work outside the framework of "international development" and move beyond canada's ethnocentric view of 'development'. in the last months, i gave up. i fought long and hard, and i was a quitter. i moved to a place where i needed to stand still for a moment and collect my thoughts. i got a job, and rented an apartment. i seperated myself from all that was development, in the hopes that i would find myself needing it again - only then would i be able to love everything about it again.
i have since found my love again, but it was a struggle. and, without jake, i would not have found this.
to be able to see a good friend working outside of this structure, and creating his own path, is inspiring. he reminds me on a daily basis that there is honesty, and a good heart there. it is possible. it's possible to give selflessly, and to work in a manner that flows against the current of ethnocentricity which is cdn development. i don't know if jake knows how much he impacts me - it's difficult to communicate these things when you're thousands of miles away - and even if he did, his personality would not let him be flattered.
i only hope that i can have the courage to give the way jake does. charity needs to be done away with - we all owe it to the world. justice - in the form that jake gives it - needs to be a little more abundant.
thanks jake.