Over the last few weeks, my reading list, podcast selections, and current state of mind have dovetailed quite nicely. I read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah last week and just finished up Greg Mortenson’s Stones to Schools. Podcasts on slowing down and the mindset around charitable giving were on deck for this week as well. Adichie’s novel reflected my worried thoughts about race, gender, and the current situation in the United States; it was honestly one of the best books I have read in a while. If you haven’t had a chance yet, I suggest you take the time to read it. Meanwhile, Mortenson’s book as well as those podcasts tapped into some of my feelings about being a volunteer in-country for almost five months now. And I know I have mentioned these feelings before, but they are still there so I felt compelled to write about them.
Stones to Schools is Mortenson’s second book; I never got around to reading his first, Three Cups of Tea, although I know I picked it up from a bookstore shelf a time or two. I know that he has come under scrutiny for misrepresenting his life and organization to the public, but without going into all that, I think it is still important to consider the principles he claims to have built his work on. They are still valid and worth thinking about. Both books focus on the idea that in order to do successful development work you need to first get to know the community you want to help. Getting to know them isn’t reading history books or the current demographics of the region or country; it is building relationships and “taking tea”, an act of sharing. The TED Radio Hour podcast on slowing down is built around a similar message; by quickly starting a development project but slowing down after an initial phase, organizations and communities have the time and perspective to rethink things or look at problems in new ways. Taking this time can lead to completely new ideas or methods which are a vast improvement on the old.
So, it is with these things in mind that I took another look at my current state of mind. Lately, I have been worried about not doing enough to start projects or do something productive in my community; while this is a completely normal PC feeling and I know I shouldn’t worry about this, I still do sometimes. Being a month into school and still not feeling settled has worried me. However, as I thought more about it with these books and podcasts swirling around in my head, I made a conscious choice to stop worrying. Things will happen as they happen when they happen. It takes time to cultivate those relationships, to "take the tea", and to think about what to do next. While I knew these things, I don’t think they had really crystallized in my brain until this fortuitous meeting of media and mind.
Anyways, if you want to listen or read any of the things I talked about above, I have provided links to them below.
Books:
https://www.amazon.com/Americanah-Chimamanda-Ngozi-Adichie/dp/0307455920
https://www.amazon.com/Stones-into-Schools-Promoting-Afghanistan/dp/0143118234
Podcasts:
http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/490624293/slowing-down
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/06/181684003/giving-it-away
Until next time,
Carissa
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