Look Forward, Back and Honestly

Mckenzi Kerrigan

I. We belong in a bundle of life. We say, 'a person is a person through other people.' It is not 'I think therefore I am' [but rather] 'I am human because I belong." I participate, I share. ––Archbishop Desmond Tutu (WOWO, 74). Mirianne’s idea of Kufunda Village in the narrative on South Africa is a wonderful example of this. “Here, communities from nearby townships and farther-off villages would gather and learn how to be healthy, vibrant, and largely self reliant in a world that was totally collapsing around them” (WOWO 110). It is not one person teaching everyone how to live but entire communities coming together bringing forth their ideas and knowledge so that those around them can learn and benefit and live better lives. Another example of this idea is shown in the Zimbabwe narrative that describes Shikshantar where kabaad se jugaad (the upcycling practice) has become a philosophy. “This is truly an experiment in self-organization, where each person pursues his or her own work rooted in the same shared beliefs. Very different project emerge, yet they form a well coordinated, orderly and effective whole” (WOWO 135). People of a community have a variety of different ideas, knowledge, and skills that can often seem unrelated, but when brought together can form an effective whole with many abilities to solve problems and be successful. Without each person of the community and their unique traits that they bring to the entirety, the community’s effectiveness and knowledge depletes by that person and everything they have to offer. If one participates and shares there knowledge they can contribute to the bigger picture of the community.

2. I am able to now understand the above epigraph through my everyday experience at Tax Aid. Without all of the volunteers and all of the tax professionals that come to help it would not be possible for us to provide this service to the Canal community. The volunteers would also not have the ability to learn from both the experience and knowledge of the tax professionals in dealing with various cases and would not have the ability to share in the stories and learn from those that we served. I have learned more about the Canal community through participating in Tax Aid and sharing this experience with others in the community than I have living in Marin. As revealed in the epigraph, being part of a community involves participating and sharing; if you don’t participate you won’t learn and if you don’t share others are not able to learn from you.

3. (a)  “Our resilience as a community depends upon our capacity to look forward, to look backward and to look honestly at our situation today” (WOWO 122). The Walk Out Walk On narratives for South Africa and Zimbabwe both reveal the challenges and the gifts within each of these communities. I especially saw this to be true in the last three pages of each narrative which revealed three separate short narratives for South Africa titled Problem, Place, and “We Didn’t Dream of Mandela” and for Zimbabwe titled Efficiency, Resilience, and God’s Power Knitting Group. The narrative Place states “We can’t fall asleep or rest on our accomplishments. Yet as we listen to the call of the system, as we follow it wherever it beckons us, things start to change. People become confident. Community strengthens. Problems get solved” (WOWO 99).  Resilience is a common theme throughout these two narratives. The communities’ troubles most often do not tear them down completely but reveal their strength and resilience in being able to look at the past and learn from it. The narrative titled Resilience states, “Yet we as humans have an enduring capacity not only to survive, but to learn and grow. Resilience is in us…It’s right here in us, not alone, but as a community” (WOWO 127).  Each individual has resilience, but it is when brought together as a community that people are able to learn, grow, and achieve what they may not have thought possible. Resilience is a human gift that provides people with the ability to work through struggles and find solutions. The solutions that resilience allows are the true gifts illuminated in these narratives. The problems are great, but the solutions are greater. In figuring out solutions people are also brought closer together which strengthens the community and allows for a better base in solving future problems or challenges that may appear.

(b) My Canal experience has taught me that like in any community it is the struggles that bring a community closer together and also reveals gifts as solutions to these struggles are more easily solved with the participation and knowledge of the community as a whole. From viewing the clients at the Pickleweed Center and from other parts of the community like the market, The Canal reveals a strength in community connection that is not as visibly prevalent in many communities. This connection and strength is a gift that can allow a community to come together and achieve great things.