Category Archives: Building community

December 15, 2015 · 7:45 pm

Taking the Time to Listen

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“If you’re willing to help without listening to the story, then I have a problem.” – Caroline Berinyuy

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Caroline Berinyuy, program director with the Young Women’s Leadership Program (YWLP) in Cameroon and leader of the next Global Solidarity Retreat.

Solidarity retreats emerged, in part, as a way to respond to challenges to and critiques of what has been called ‘voluntourism’, as described in other posts and in resources & readings. The messaging about much of the global South, particularly about sub-Saharan Africa, is that there are many poor / troubled people and that it is the role of those from the global North to travel and ‘help’ them.

Caroline’s take on this, as I heard it, is that the desire to ‘help’ is natural and valuable. The thing is, there’s a desire to jump in and help rather than first listen. It’s good to work with somebody who is willing to help – it’s a positive word if used rightly on the ground.

But, she says, “people are not listening to the story – they are quick to provide fixes without listening to the story. It’s important to see why doing a project in Cameroon might be different from one in Zambia… don’t overlook listening to jump to solutions first.”

Taking the time needed to deeply listen can be challenging, with short trips and tight schedules. She is visiting to present at the CIES (Comparative and International Education Society) 2016 conference. As a part of that conference she will give a short presentation to fellow academics and those within her field. The opportunity to participate in a Global Solidarity retreat, having several full days with the same small group of people, is a valuable addition to her travel itinerary – and a significant opportunity for Canadian residents.

Caroline is program director for the Young Women’s Leadership Program, which focuses on an after-school mentoring program for girls. The program aims to promote the education of girls both through academic support and scholarships. Workshops are led by professionals and by high school students, ‘leaders in training’. Her work engages mothers as well as community elders, and is a safe and welcoming space for students of all ethnic backgrounds and abilities. You can learn more about the YWLP in this article or in the following:

Global Solidarity Retreat YWLP Background

Stay tuned for further information about the Global Solidarity Retreat with Caroline Berinyuy: March 11th – 13th, 2016!

Photo of Girls Day

 

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February 15, 2015 · 6:56 pm

Global Solidarity Retreat: Report now available

The Artesana Global Solidarity Retreat, held Sept 26 – 28th on Gambier Island, provided an opportunity for people from the Lower mainland to explore issues related to international solidarity with feminist, artist and activist Sandra Moran from the Guatemalan women’s rights organization Artesana. Sandra is also the representative for the Americas for the World March of Women. The retreat was hosted by CoDevelopment Canada.

A diverse group of 11 women gathered to build relationships between each other and Sandra, build understanding of the work of Artesana, deepen understanding of global solidarity, and make plans for how to work together over the next 6 months. We shared delicious meals and thoughts on solidarity, went swimming / kayaking, learned about Sandra’s work, played in the night-time phosphorescence, sang songs around a campfire – and made plans for ongoing work with Sandra Moran and Artesana. For more information, click here for a post with more detail or download the Artesana Global Solidarity Retreat – full report.

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January 12, 2015 · 8:00 am

A New Kind of Shower

Over the past few years, I’ve been invited to several ‘showers’ – friends collectively around a friend about to have a baby or about to get married.

I’m not a big fan of showers in the abstract. I’ve always imagined an actual river of pink-and-white-wrapped gifts, small and large, tumbling from about head-height over an unsuspecting recipient. The traditional approach involves excessive amounts of tissue-paper-stuffed gift bags and either plastic penises or baby-themed chocolate, depending on the occasion. Then there’s ‘bonding time’ with a group of women who hours earlier had exchanged names. The facilitator in me is fascinated by the group’s responses to games that involve counting items in purses, wordplays on love, couple trivia. It’s challenging to be sincere in the face of so many superfluous activities.

Despite my mockery of the worst of these, there are pieces I appreciate about the tradition of showers. A wedding, or a child’s birth, are big times of transition; it’s appropriate to gather as a community to support, share our love for a person, express appreciation and care. It’s a bit like a birthday, but on a grander scale – a big gathering, organized by someone else, all focused on expressing care and love for a single person.

I’ve been wondering how we could do the same – ‘shower’ love and care on someone when it’s not their birthday, and when they’re neither pregnant or engaged. In fact, when perhaps they are emphatically neither of the latter… when they’re doing fertility treatment, finally single again, or anxious about the future.

I’ve thought of it as a ‘love-in’ – that’s just in my mind, it needs a better name (any ideas?). It’d be an opportunity to celebrate a whole person – their and idiosyncrasies.

Either at the gathering or in advance, people would share words / phrases / notes of support or love. They’d bring photos they love, momentos of past times. Ideally there’d be some way of collecting these pieces and putting them in one place… something made on paper to celebrate the person of the day.

The tricky part would be figuring out who to celebrate, and why. I think the person themselves would be nominated by someone, or by themselves; it’d be most useful to celebrate someone who is going through a tough time, but somehow it’d be important to make the occasion celebratory rather than based in pity/charity. It’d be a boost through a low time, a community ‘harambee’ for mental health, an opportunity connect and laugh and share.

Now, what could this thing be called and how could it be framed? Could it be part of an existing network of friends/people, or a separate thing? How could we pick the first person to be ‘it’…? Email me with your ideas…

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May 25, 2014 · 4:03 pm

Ideas: Part-time Changemakers

Having worked for years in the non-profit sector, I have seen community development professionals work hard with very limited resources. Now, as I transition to working within the post-secondary context, I meet more and more intelligent people who could have significant time and resources to provide to issues they care about. They ask good questions and are looking for authentic contribution and connection, not a mass-produced experience.

Options for being involved in community development part-time are limited. The most common ‘ask’ is for financial contributions, in a variety of forms. Many organizations suggest international or local volunteerism. There are a range of volunteerism opportunities – some as simple as manual labour, others focused on mentorship of clients/participants. What I do not see are ways for those interested in positive social change to build relationships with, learn from, and significantly support the work of community development professionals.

That’s where I’ve come to this idea what I’m (tentatively) calling “Part-time Changemakers”. It’s about articulating ways to connect those interested in positive change in the world with those who are doing this work full-time. The premise is that those who do community development work full-time have ideas, initiatives, and potential work that is currently not happening for lack of time, resources, or specific expertise. Those who want to contribute part-time can offer their skills, expertise, or networks for a defined period of time.

International Solidarity Retreats are a way to connect those interested in positive change in the world with those who are doing this work full-time. The journey starts with an ‘Launch’ –a getaway to the Gulf Islands, it’s a workshop on Bowen Island – that connects a group of people, an issue, and a full-time community development practitioner/leader. The weekend is a mixture of strategic planning, collective outdoor adventure, and social time. The focus, structure, and content of the Contribution Launch are co-created by a facilitator and project leader. More about those ideas here.

Mt Pleasant Drinks is a social evening with several purposes. The first is to bring together people who live in the same geographical neighbourhood for regular social gatherings, thus building a sense of neighborliness and connection. The second goal is to share ways that those gathering might be able to connect with project leader, and to begin to build relationships and connections with those people. The evening is primarily social – however, at one point in the evening there is an opportunity to say ‘cheers’ and gather briefly. An organization representative shares a bit about their current work and their ideas they’re interested in working on for the next Launch. After the event, someone follows up with those interested to set up further conversation or connection – primarily to see if participants are interested in the next Contribution Launch dates, and if so to determine whether they’re a good fit. Target audience for this event would be working professionals.

Although I first conceived of Mt Pleasant Mondays as a way to connect people to solidarity efforts, in the end the Mt Pleasant Monday idea has taken form as a community-building space, as shared in this post.

The Strategic Supporters of Change Series is designed for those who know they want to be involved in making change in a substantive way, but haven’t yet articulated what that looks like. Those who participate in this series may already be involved in local and/or international volunteering, charitable contributions, and support of the work of friends/relatives, but are looking to take a more thoughtful approach to their contributions. Participants ideally have an openness to learning, willingness to choose one or more areas of focus, and desire to take action. The ‘Strategic Supporters of Change’ series is designed to lead conversations about the following:

  1. Awareness of self: articulate goals (obvious and hidden), privilege (whiteness, gender, class), and resources (skills, time, money, networks) as a starting place for changemaking.
  2. Awareness of complexity: use a systems thinking approach to articulate what we know, ask questions, do further research, and then consider potential areas for influence and input.
  3. Changemaking Plan: For some people, the ‘plan for change’ may involve an Contribution Launch weekend; for others it may involve contribution of money, skill, time, or networks to places and projects where they already have connection.

The strategic supporters of change series could be offered as two full-day workshops (complete series), five evening sessions (complete series), or a single ‘taster’ workshop. Target audience for this would be retired or soon-to-retire baby boomers. The work on this idea has not yet begun, except through collaborative work to teach this course at the Vancouver School Board.

All of these ideas are emerging and evolving, as I find ways to blend my interest in international solidarity with my desire to facilitate and lead programs.

I am looking for those who have similar interest and willingness to be involved in articulating these ideas, designing sessions and curriculum to match, and leading the sessions in various venues.

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May 15, 2014 · 8:54 am

Building community in the city: “friend-family”, green leis, and Mt Pleasant Mondays

Crayon-drawing of connections.For some time I’ve been thinking about ways to connect more regularly with people that are important to me. In my ideal world connecting with community is a part of my home, a part of my routines, it’s natural, easy, and assumed. I’d love to say that it’s easier to see people, even when times are tough, than to not connect at all. When life is challenging, things aren’t all going the way I expect – I don’t want to have to reach out beyond the usual for additional supports. When I or those I love can’t see hope or joy, I want there to be natural communal networks that respond and provide support. Instead of calling on one friend, who then bears the brunt of my complaining/sadness/overwhelmed-ness, I’d like to have a community of people who can love me in my sickness/overwhelmedness.

I feel like I’ve experienced this kind of community at various points in my life – as a child in my own family, with the assortment of people who made up ‘2nd floor Tweeds’ in undergraduate residence, living in Smithers in a strawbale house, and as a teacher living in Kenya where individual rooms faced onto a collective courtyard. Now, as single professional in my 30s, I don’t have natural or easy ways to be a part of community. I have recently found myself living on my own, and am surprised by the ease with which I can be un-noticed and anonymous in and around my own home.

I’ve been thinking about community a lot, lately. And I’ve come up with a few different ways of building community into my life and my community. I know that I’m not alone in feeling disconnected and alone – the Vancouver Foundation apparently reported that 40% of Vancouverites feel isolated. And so I’m sharing these ideas in the hopes that they may spark similar initiatives. I’d love to see, years from now, a network of these circles in all of our communities. I’d love to have someone ask me, ‘do you have a friend-family?’ as if it were an assumed part of adult life.

One is “Mt Pleasant Monday” – a once-per-month gathering of people who live in Mt Pleasant. The idea is to gather collectively on the last Monday of the month to hang out, spend time socializing, connect with others in our neighbourhood.

Arising from that amazing conversation came a separate but related idea – “green lei culture”. Basically, we’ve distributed some green plastic ‘leis’. When any of us in the neighbourhood are home and welcoming spontaneous drop-by visitors, we put out the green lei on our doorknob, fencepost, or mailbox. It’s as easy as that – !

The third idea builds on the broader loose connections fostered by the above two and builds a deeper, personal connection. I’ve been recognizing how hard it is to consistently make plans with different people, from different parts of my life, and how easy it is for me to ‘just not see’ someone for several weeks or even months. I’d like to be a part of a circle that notices when I’m gone, even just for a week or two, and welcomes me back to the city. And so I like the idea of having a ‘friend-family’ – a group of 4-5 people who agree to gather once per week (or maybe every other week).

Last night was the beginning of a ‘friend-family’ gathering for me. I and three others cycled to Kits Point with food and wine, our first of what we hope will be weekly gatherings of this circle of beautiful people. These aren’t the only friends I have in my life, but they’re the most regular. We’ve committed to be there for each other collectively, and that somehow helps me feel more ‘at home’ here in the city.

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