Productive dialogue: Friends from my university in Berlin

This is my last entry before we will all be writing from the Global Media Forum in Bonn (Germany). I was shocked to hear that Hellgurd’s entries will not be published any more due to the severe threats he received. It made me go back to the very beginning of the project and look at Hellgurd’s video presentation. He speaks of music as a universal language that can bridge the differences among people.
I believe that the chance to take part in an international dialogue is, in a way, trying to find a shared code. This doesn’t always have to do with speaking the same language, but, rather, building a dialectical context in which each element can express ideas and be understood in its individuality. Values like tolerance, empathy and modesty are a must. Violence should be out of the question.

The problem is when we grow so acclimated to violence that we are not sensitive to it any more. This touches me because Argentina is going through a very difficult process of social change right now. The current administration is taking radical action in the areas of business and economics, and ever since the beginning of Kirchner’s presidency there has been a divide in society. Nowadays, aggression storms the sky like bullets, and you are either on one side or the other.

Participants in the Salzburg conference

Sharp words are aimed at people’s feelings, their identities, their day to day worries, but the discussion never seems to focus on ideas. This is the main problem: We are not discussing ideas for a developed society; we are stuck in the small talk of prejudices and, in most cases, uniformed opinion. As I said in my second entry, our society has gone through a lot, and its wounds will take years to heal. This kind of violence in public discourse is nothing but detrimental.

One of the reasons I’m so excited to attend the GMF is that this international dialogue will be expanded and take on new life. I have had chances to experience exchanges like this before. In 2008, I won a scholarship to attend the Salzburg Global Seminar on Media and Global Change, and I spent three weeks discussing the main areas of journalistic ethics together with students from different parts of the world. Then, in 2009, I spent a year studying liberal arts in an international college in Berlin. Those experiences help you develop an attitude towards the other that has to do with listening, understanding more deeply, and comprehending your own reality from a different perspective.

My friend Victoria (on the right)

Last time, I wrote about a co-worker and activist named Juan. Now I want to turn to my life-long friend Victoria. As I said before, she couldn’t be more different than Juan: She disagrees with the political party in charge of the administration, and sees no point in political action. She is, however, very much involved with her church community, and, in particular, with Manos a la Obra (which means ‘Shoulders to the wheel!’), a project that was started by a college preaching group in Mendoza (a province in the west of Argentina). Since 2008, it has also been held in San Isidro, the neighborhood in the Greater Buenos Aires Area where Vicky lives. The movement draws inspiration from the Christian faith, and it tries to alleviate the effects of extreme poverty.
‘To me Manos is more than simple solidarity; it’s an experience that helps me develop as a professional and as a person,” she told me.

Victoria and her friends from Manos a la Obra

The project was conceived with an eye to university students who could offer their professional skills to communities in need. Victoria described to me the four pillars of the project: there’s the task, which each volunteer plans out according to their specialty; there’s training, since they need to be personally prepared in order to help others; spirituality comes next, and it is part of working in the community because participants offer their projects to Jesus in prayer and mass; and, finally, leisure time, when volunteers and hosts play games and share the day’s experiences together over mate or tea. The projects the volunteers carry out are designed according to the needs of a given community, and the projects are held once or twice a year.

“Some months before we start, we visit the place and the people. We get in touch with the community in order to acknowledge the needs in situ. It is from this perspective that each individual task (developed in the project) is born. We don’t impose something simply because it is our profession, we always try to offer something that the community needs,” Victoria described.

The faith-based group offers many things: school support, classroom painting, and medical care, among others. My friend often gave dental aid and provided information on hygiene. Victoria said that there is nothing better than volunteering and being able to do what you know best.

On holiday in Humahuaca, Juan is helping a girl with her homework

As I’ve described before, people get involved in different ways to take action and face emergency situations, and education in the most humble communities in Argentina is definitely one such situation.

When I think of civil action, two people come to my mind: my coworker, Juan; and my life long friend, Victoria. I’ll describe each in different entries. They couldn’t be more different from one another. And yet, their concerns lead them both to advocate for more social inclusion. Juan is part of La Cámpora, a political group that represents the party in charge of the government, whose leader is President Kirchner. It’s not a political party; it’s a civic group that takes part in political activism. My coworker told me one of the things their group does is give support to schools located in shantytowns. They usually do this during Saturday mornings in a dinning hall in Villa 20, in the neighborhood of Lugano.

Juan has recently finished a BA in Political Science, and it was in college that he first got involved in political activism. I’m very critical about this myself, so we discuss our ideas a lot.

Juan and his friends supporting students in Villa 20

“I think militancy is the combination of a feeling and a belief that you can actually change reality through social action,” he told me.

Juan believes that behind each person, there’s always a social structure that enables their development, and that through political action you can expand these structural circumstances to create a society in which more people have civil rights and real possibilities to improve themselves.

In Juan’s own words: “In Villa 20 we make contact with kids from humble families, whose parents (for different reasons) don’t have the necessary resources to help their offspring with their performance in school. We give them breakfast, as well, so that they can do better in class. I think this is a very concrete example of how reality can be changed.”

Many pupils in Kenya don't get the chance to study until after sundown

I read Maria’s first blog entry, and some of her words resounded heavily with me. In her post, she explains why she changed jobs: “Truth is, at the NGO, I encounter different realities than my own, I can work in programs that aim at social inclusion and better quality education – actions that imply a commitment to society from the perspective of the fellow other.”

Her post reminds me of my work with Givewatts – an organization that brings clean, renewable and safe energy to people like Peter Ochieng, a young man in a video I was just editing.

When darkness falls…

Peter is a determined student in his third year of high school. On a normal day, he gets back from school at around 5pm, brings the cattle home from the fields, fetches water from the river for a quick shower and, just as the sun dips below the Homa Hills, he settles down to read.  He pulls out his miniature kerosene lamp, sets it on the table, lights it up and starts to read.

On bad days when it is rainy and windy, the weak, orange light flickers as he crouches toward it and tries to make out his hand-written notes. His nose has gotten used to the strong, poignant smell from the burning kerosene.

Catalyzing change

Working with Givewatts has given me a different perspective on education. The path to education is a challenge for many. Nevertheless, there are those who jump the hurdles, become successful and go on to guide others along the same path. Certainly, as Maria points out, education should empower you to empower others and, better still, to catalyze change in society. There comes a point in one’s career where it is not so much about money as it is about fulfillment.

One watt at a time

The good news for Peter, though, is that he has had the chance to swap his kerosene lamp for a solar lamp. For some, when darkness falls, some activities have to wait. A large percentage of rural homes do not have access to electricity. But that doesn’t mean education is always compromised. Some of these students successfully fight their way to prosperity.

When we visited his school and his home, I could catch the reflection of the light in the pupils of his eyes as they adjusted to the brilliant glow of the solar lantern. The soft white light illuminated the room as he flipped through the pages of his books.  He assured us that his grades will improve and that he will study more.

What I realize is that this one lantern, the size of my palm and powered by the free sun light, is more than just light. It may just be the light at the end of the tunnel for Peter and many others.

To find out more about Givewatts: www.givewatts.org