The EIESL Project

In “Perspectives” there are many sets of eyes surrounding a picture. Some of these eyes you may recognize, but some you will not. Some of these eyes are young, some are old; some have seen pain and suffering caused by their own hand, some have seen pain and suffering inflicted upon them by others; some have seen greatness; others have known nothing but sadness; some have seen beauty while others have only dreamt of it. Each eye brings with it an experience that is unique, special and beautiful.
Now, focus on the center image. Then bring your gaze back to the eyes. Assume all of these eyes are the world’s eyes and that they have just seen the picture in the center as well. What do you notice? Some eyes are filled with tears; some with anger, others with laughter and some are looking at you. Why would some be looking at you? Perhaps they want to see how you will react as well. Perhaps this is the first time they have seen something like this and they feel helpless as to what to do. Some people’s first reaction is to go and help, but little thought is put into what they would help with and soon, out of their desire to help, we forget what the problem really is (or if there even is a problem). We all have the capacity to make change in the world but in order to truly make change we need to have context, we need to know all of the perspectives involved. We need to spend a day in the eyes of all of those involved. Only after we have done that can we truly understand what needs to be done to make a difference.