Empowered Individuals Transform Communities

Have you ever heard the right message at the right time and it changed everything? 

My friend Josh posted to facebook how he appreciated listening to the Permaculture podcast, especially the episode with Connect Africa a ministry that was using simple permaculture principles to change communities and lives. They threw a bunch of money and machines at problems at first and it all kept failing. Then finally they gave up and spent six months thinking of what to do and they heard about permaculture and simple sustainable ideas using local supplies and materials to make ground much more suitable for life. They stopped the burning, they taught locals to compost everything, they showed a simple water filtration system with sand, and they empowered local people to solve local problems. Their big takeaway was that "once people are empowered they immediately want to go and solve the next problem." 

It hit me hard because I am a first year teacher and my class is facing a lot of problems. There are discipline problems, major apathy problems, and most of the class doesn't trust each other. I have often felt overwhelmed and like a pretty terrible teacher because I can't fix their problems. As I listened to this episode tonight I realized two things: 1. I am an ineffective teacher 2. It's because I've tried to solve the problems on my own without empowering my class to do so. It felt so freeing and also exciting. I know it will be a long process. They found it usually took six months for a community to change from looking outside for help with all their problems to looking within to see what they could do to figure out a good answer. What would it look like though if I treated my class like powerful people who were able to solve their own problems? I would expect them to behave well, focus, and not engage with them until they are willing to engage with that process. I wouldn't rush to jump in and solve their problems I would be patient enough to allow the messy process of negotiation and persuasion to take place. How are they going to choose to solve the problems they have created?

I still have a lot to figure out, but I feel a big weight off my shoulders to begin to give them responsibility for their own problems. They will be able to learn how to use their freedom, bit by bit.