Things are not always as they appear to be...

Things are not always as they appear to be.  This is a very important thing to remember in all we do in life, but it will be crucial to remember as I along with my fellow Beyond Border students make our way around the world this summer.  Keeping an open mind about situations we find ourselves in is vital to getting all that we can from our times away.  

Try this illusion.  

If your eyes follow the rotating pink dots, the dots will remain only one colour, pink. 

How ever if you  stare at the black "+" in the centre the dot turns to green.  

This illustrates the fact that we do not always see what we think we see.  

This summer we will be put into situations we have never been in before.  We will be pushed and stretched in unimaginable ways.  Ways that will make us frustrated and uncomfortable.  However it is when we feel frustrated that we know we are growing.  

Throughout the summer it is vital that we keep our minds open.  That we are receptive to the different cultures we find ourselves a part of.  There are likely going to be things that we will disagree about, things that are so strange and foreign to us that we simply cannot come to terms with it no matter how hard we try.  For me there is one situation I know I will have a problem with... caning.  I personally am not a violent person.  I believe in dialogue and working issues out with words.  However this is not the belief shared by many education institutions in Ghana.  Caning is a fairly main stream punishment and some people who have been through the Beyond Borders program in Ghana have come home with stories of their struggles with this issue.  I know that if faced with this in my placement I will be very frustrated, and most likely a little outraged.  However, I do realize that I am not going to Ghana to change how things are.  I am going in order to gain a greater world understanding, build personal relationships and be immersed in a different culture.   There will be struggles and frustrations, however I do believe that they will come with new understandings and a greater learning experience.  

Throughout all of our experiences this summer it is crucial that we realize that things are not always as we see them to be.  We need to be very careful to hold our judgments and be open to new situations and experiences.  We are not going to change those we interact with this summer, but rather we will be changed and transformed by the things we see and are taught this summer.  This does not mean we will agree with everything we see this summer, but it does mean we must ensure we do not pre judge and situations.  We must remain open and receptive to different opinions and experiences.  This is the surest way to be transformed by our experiences this summer.  Always remember that we do not always see the entire picture, and things can (and often are) very different from what we think we see.  

The Supremacy of Fools

A poem by Roy Foster to jog your thought, I know it sure got my mind rolling! 

THE SUPREMACY OF FOOLS

As corporations

And the military/industrial complex

Ruminate over

The profit potential, 

The war-mongering capability, 

Of transgenic species

Demanding the silent 

Collaboration 

Of viruses and sheep, 

There are no tears

For the supremacy of fools.

But there are those

Among the ancient, 

the illiterate, 

The forest dwellers 

The hunters, the gatherers

With more than a day's march 

To the nearest telephone

To the closest uplink

Whose imaginations

Render trees and genes 

Sacred.

Whose personal information  

Is recorded only in the memory

Of relatives 

Living and Dead;

The elegance of sapience.  

But we are those

Whoese eyes divide

Whose minds diverge 

To avoid the holy.  

With hearts devoid

Of mystery.  

We succumb as one

To the shorn meaning

Revealed in the entrails

Of some careless machine

Savagely flung across this 

Futile landscape

Of unacknowledged ignorance

In which angels 

Fear to tread.

We succumb as one 

To the astonishingly meager

Rations of the enlightenment;

To the thin, sorrowful harvest 

Of indulgence

That cannot satisfy

Or survive

The supremacy of fools.  

There an Africa shaped hole in all of us.

This semester I took a class called Doing Development that impacted me in ways I am still discovering.  It has given me a new insight and perspective on international development (both past and present).  It has fostered a greater world understanding within me, and has caused me to deeply reflect and ponder many new concepts.  One night in class we were handed an article entitled Healing the Africa in Us by Ben Okri.  This article stopped me in my tracks.  The way Okri writes simply makes so much sense! It caused me to question my views, values and ideas of Africa (a good thing before heading over to Ghana for 3 1/2 months).  However, the article did not just cause me to question, it also increased my excitement for my placement this summer.  Now more then ever I believe that going to Africa is a vital step in creating a different world.  

"There is a realm inside every human being that is Africa.  We all have an Africa within us.  And so, when the Africa outside is sick with troubles, the Africa inside us makes us ill with neuroses."  Part of the reason there are so many issues plaguing the world today is because of the problems facing Africa.  "We have to heal the Africa outside us if the human race is going to be at peace again in a new dynamic way."  The world today is facing many crises.  We live in a troubled time, and one reason for this is the immense amount of suffering and the multitude of troubles facing Africa at the moment.  These troubles are directly related to the suffering of the world.  Problems facing Africa effect everyones lives.  They can effect health, sleep, anxiety, and unknown suffering; it is very possible to suffer without recognizing it.  

"We have to heal the Africa within each of us. We have to rediscover the true Africa." Africa is an absolutely wonderful continent.  We need to trade in our prepositions about Africa, which are for the most part misconceptions.  Misconceptions that have been bequeathed to future generations.  Africa was not seen for its beautiful, kind and caring nature.  For the most part Africa was seen from a view point of greed.  It was viewed with the question "What can I get out of it"

"The world should now begin to see the light, to see its brightness, its brilliance, its beauty."  Africa has been waiting for centuries for people to come and discover what it truly is.  However, there can be no true understanding without love.  "We have to learn to love the Africa within us."  "There is no true seeing seeing without love.  We have to learn to love the Africa in us if humanity is going to begin to to know true happiness on this earth."   We need to discover the Africa that is within each one of us.  It is sunshine, and vibrance.  It is spiritual.  Africa is not the dark and forbearing place that most people in the West make it out to be.  Africa fosters a culture of hope, perseverance, loyalty and love.  

Until we find and heal the Africa inside us there is little if any hope for creating a world of total understanding and peace.  "We love the America in us.  We love the Europe in us. The Asia in us we are beginning to respect.  Only the Africa in us is left unloved, unseen, unappreciated.  The first step toward the regeneration of humanity is making whole again all these great continents within us.  We are the sum total of humanity.  Every individual is all of humanity.  It is Africa's turn to smile... then humanity can begin to think of the universe."  

Dare to Dream of Something Different

The world we live in is less then ideal to say the least.  We live in a world of hate, fear, and violence.  We live at a time in which a small minority of rich people are able to continuously grow wealthy on the exploitation of many.  The gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow at a rapid rate.  In the world today medical epidemics run ramped.  Millions of people in Africa are dying from malaria, typhoid, yellow fever, and AIDS.  how can the world let this happen? With all of the medical technology and advancements of our 'modern' world it should be impossible for so many to be left to simply die.  What kind of world do we live in where it is worth more to a drug company to give a white man an erection than cure a black man of AIDS? How can we put a measure on human life like this? How can so much discrimination still be alive and thriving in our world?  We live in a world where many are forced to go hungry.  How is it that the world can produce such an abundance of food yet so many are left without?  We live in a world where some women are unable to walk outside alone without being in danger, a world where girls simply walking to school have been attacked with battery acid.  We live in a world where it is "honorable" to kill a daughter/sister/wife/cousin who has brought 'shame' to the family or has been 'promiscuous' in some way (this includes refusing to enter into a forced marriage).  There are little if any consequences for the killers of these women.  In fact if the killer is actually prosecuted it is rare for them to receive more then a 3 month sentence.  We live in a world of great connectedness, yet so many are forgotten and pushed to the margins.  Over 3 billion people (almost half of the worlds population) live on less then $2.50 a day.  Even in Canada 1 in every 6 children are poor.  How is this possible in a country that supposedly has such great social assistance? How do we fail to see the needs of those in out own communities?  In Canada 57,000 families occasionally have nothing to eat.  This should not be happening in a country of such abundance.  It is so twisted that we over consume at an alarming rate while others around us have nothing.  

It is impossible to deny that the world we live in is a bleak place.  Disappointment and discouragement lies around every corner.  However, we have two choices.  We can choose to lie down and accept the way the world is, accept the disparities and injustices as just a fact of life... OR We can Dare to Dream of Something Different!  If we cannot imagine a different world then we cannot work towards creating change.  Change is not something that one person will implement, rather it is something that must be created by a collective group of people working together, sharing visions and supporting each other in action.  It must be the 'oppressed' coming together to overcome their oppression.  It is like it says in the Pedagogy of The Oppressed, oppressors cannot 'liberate' anyone.  Liberation and change must come from a collective effort.  

So go ahead, dream of something different.  I am not joking! Close your eyes and think of what you wish the world could look like.  Is there a particular color, sounds, taste, or smell? O recently spent a significant amount of time reflecting on this and simply imagining what I wish the world could look like.  I am going to try to explain the vision I held with you.  When I first closed my eyes I saw green.  Green in my mind represents sustainability, a renewal of our connectivity with nature.  A harmony of balance found in sustainable growth and a re-found respect for the nature around us.  It represents the idea that we inherit the earth from our parents, it is a gift, yet at the same time we are borrowing it from out children.  It is our responsibility to leave the earth the same, if not a little better then we found it.  Next I heard the sound of water rushing in a nearby stream.  Fresh, pure, clean water.  In my mind this represents everyone having equal access to resources.  No one should hold a monopoly on natural resources that are vital to human existence (such as water).  Not long after, I heard children laughing.  there is something so precious and beautiful about the laugh of a child.  Certain things need to be in place in order for a child to laugh fully and freely.  A child needs to feel safe and secure.  They need to be provided for (not sick and hungry).  In my mind, hearing children laughing fully and freely represents a world where the innocence of children is respected and protected.  There are no child soldiers or children being trafficked; no exploitation of child labor.   In my vision there is also no distinction of race.  It is not that people are not of different ethnicities and races, however it simply does not matter.  Everyone is human and due to this fact everyone should be treated in the same manner.  Among the older population there is a diverse range of conversations taking place.  However, throughout all of these conversations there is a common theme; respect.  No matter how different people's opinions are there are no raised voices, no one dominating the conversation, no one speaking in a patronizing tone.  There is a strong sense of community.  A sense of caring, compassion and love the infects everyones actions.  

In my imagined world everyone would care about the well being of others as much as their own well-being.  In order to create a more hospitable, loving and caring world we need to begin to care about others more.  We need to be more conscious about how our actions effect those around us.  The phrases survival of the fittest and every man for himself need to disappear from our vocabulary.  Until we truly learn what it is to live out the golden rule in all our actions there will continue to be hate, fear and violence in our world.  We need to move beyond our individualistic society and learn to operate as a whole.  We need to recognize and address the needs of those in our communities.  And we need to STOP OVER-CONSUMING!! 

Change is possible, but first we must dare to dream of something different!