It is fall (or autumn, for the purist) where I live. It's an especially beautiful season for those not acquainted with the temperate zone. Once a year, we experience cool nights and warm days, maturing crops and changing leaf colors. Depending on the tree and the variety, we get beautiful shades of reds, yellows, oranges, greens, browns and more. And those stunning leaves all fall down -- which brings me to the subject of this post.
Raking is required. See, if you leave the leaves -- you end up with a mess. With the coming snow, they get wet and heavy and eventually kill the grass they fall on. So, they must be picked up. While some choose the mechanical methods like leaf blowers, lawn mowers and neighbor kids, I prefer the old-fashioned way. It involves a pair of gloves, some leaf bags, a rake and a sunny afternoon.
As I was trying to get as many leaves as possible in bag #6, my mind drifted off to world hunger. That's when I realized the similarities. How could sweating on a 50 degree day in my comfortable back yard apply to one of the major challenges on this globe?
You see no matter how careful I was; no matter how well-intended I was; no matter how diligent, how patient or how energetic I was -- THERE WERE STILL LEAVES THAT DIDN'T STAY IN THE BAG. I simply could not capture every single one. And that's when it hit me. I was focused on the wrong thing. I was not concerned (or even thankful) in the least with the thousands of leaves I had bagged... but was fixated on the tens that weren't. Just like world hunger -- only the numbers are reversed.
While we might not be able to save everyone in the world from starvation, we can save a few. Let's start there. Let's help them so they can help their neighbors and so their neighbors can help someone else. There are organizations making a lasting difference in the world. One of them is Self-Help International.
It may not be a quick fix, but once those leaves are in the bag -- then we can start the process of rounding up the rest.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
... but he doesn't know the territory!
That's a line from the opening scene of the musical, 'The Music Man' by Meredith Willson. My family and I went to see it yesterday. (My son was in the cast.) And it started me thinking about Ghana and Nicaragua.
How can a play written over 50 years ago by a Julliard graduate about Iowa pride and stubbornness apply to starving people half-a-world away? How could a small-town Midwesterner understand a universal truth about world hunger... and then set it to music?
If you are not a student of musical theatre (and why aren't you?), you might not know that Mr. Willson wrote that song as a way to introduce his lead character, Professor Harold Hill, to the audience. You see, Professor Hill is a disreputable travelling salesman who gives other travelling salesmen a bad name. In today's business vernacular, he wouldn't know the target audience; their customs, value-system, beliefs, traditions, mores and history.
International relief organizations can suffer from the same disease. Don't misunderstand me. I believe there is a need for group that sweep in after a natural or geo-political disaster to provide immediate care. That can often mean the difference in people living one more day. But that approach's strength is its weakness. Because of their "transient" nature (and mission), the lasting benefit may not be felt. It can be like a pebble thrown in the ocean. Those closest to the entry point can feel and see its effect, but those farther away can not... and the ripples just don't last.
That's why there is the need for development organizations who commit to a region and a group of people for as long as they need. That's where real progress is made. Funds and trained staff are focused on an area until lasting change occurs. This growing self-reliance is the key to permanent improvement. That is the underlying theme to Greg Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea; One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time. Greg literally stumbled in to a Pakistani village and uncovered (discovered?) his way to defeat terrorism -- through education.
Self-Help International is a development organization dedicated to alleviating poverty and malnutrition by helping people help themselves. They certainly know the territory. Do you know them? www.selfhelpinternational.org
How can a play written over 50 years ago by a Julliard graduate about Iowa pride and stubbornness apply to starving people half-a-world away? How could a small-town Midwesterner understand a universal truth about world hunger... and then set it to music?
If you are not a student of musical theatre (and why aren't you?), you might not know that Mr. Willson wrote that song as a way to introduce his lead character, Professor Harold Hill, to the audience. You see, Professor Hill is a disreputable travelling salesman who gives other travelling salesmen a bad name. In today's business vernacular, he wouldn't know the target audience; their customs, value-system, beliefs, traditions, mores and history.
International relief organizations can suffer from the same disease. Don't misunderstand me. I believe there is a need for group that sweep in after a natural or geo-political disaster to provide immediate care. That can often mean the difference in people living one more day. But that approach's strength is its weakness. Because of their "transient" nature (and mission), the lasting benefit may not be felt. It can be like a pebble thrown in the ocean. Those closest to the entry point can feel and see its effect, but those farther away can not... and the ripples just don't last.
That's why there is the need for development organizations who commit to a region and a group of people for as long as they need. That's where real progress is made. Funds and trained staff are focused on an area until lasting change occurs. This growing self-reliance is the key to permanent improvement. That is the underlying theme to Greg Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea; One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time. Greg literally stumbled in to a Pakistani village and uncovered (discovered?) his way to defeat terrorism -- through education.
Self-Help International is a development organization dedicated to alleviating poverty and malnutrition by helping people help themselves. They certainly know the territory. Do you know them? www.selfhelpinternational.org
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