Life is a Classroom

Throughout my life, I have gotten in the habit of learning from doing. I have laughed, and lamented, this fact on a number of occasions. I started as an elementary education major in college but I had been working in a classroom for six years by the time I got to college, so was frustrated by the 'research' instead of 'reality' approach I felt occurred in the classroom. One of my favorite academic semesters in college was living and interning in Washington, DC with the Washington Semester Program because the classes and content directly connected to the reality I was living. I have become rather passionate about service-based learning, alternative learning, whatever you want to call it. The idea of taking education out of the classroom and learning from practitioners alongside academics has long been a side interest.

Photo borrowed from Laura H of Macquarie Uni

For the past six months, I have had the privilege to collaborate with a number of other NGOs through a project with Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia called Classroom of Many Cultures. Macquarie puts great emphasis on internships and learning outside the typical classroom (those crazy folks picture above are just some of this team).  Each year, they send dozens of student interns to NGOs around the world (including the Deaf Development Programme). A group of very intelligent professors, dreamed up this idea of co-creating curriculum to be used pre-departure, while the students are in their placements, and after their return to maximize their understanding of the complex social justice and life challenges they face. All to help the students be the best interns (and global citizens) possible – even with issues of culture shock and cross-cultural communication.


When DDP was given the opportunity to be one of the collaborators on this curriculum development, I jumped at the opportunity and then lobbied hard to bring along one of my Deaf colleagues for the adventure. He is the one with the real 'experience' of Cambodia and intimate knowledge of the culture. Plus, as someone who is Deaf in a culture where that is still hugely limiting in many facets of life, his wisdom is mind-blowing.  Fortunately, the team at Macquarie shared my desire to have him involved and put great effort into making that possible (big thanks to them).


I have to admit, my longing to be involved was not a purely altruistic motive. I knew it involved collaborating with folks from around the world and there are few things I love as much as learning about other people's experiences and cultures. There are also few things I love as much as helping others to expand their understanding of the world, tolerance of differences, and passion for exchange.


Bringing along my colleague has been one of the most rewarding parts of my ministry work here in Cambodia. When we went to Australia, he had only ever traveled outside the country to Macau. Needless to say, Australia, seemed to leave his head spinning (literally, as I saw him constantly looking around at all the different 'new' things). This same project took us to Malaysia last month and, again, we were both exposed to many new things while learning of the indigenous community there. One of the biggest contributions I felt in having him there came in his interactions with others. I have been lucky enough to be surrounded and warmly accepted by the Deaf community for more than a year. During this time, I have learned SO much and been forgiven, no doubt, for many dumb hearing blunders. Now, all our fellow-collaborators have been given that same opportunity.


I can imagine it would be rather difficult for my colleague being the only Deaf person surrounded by a bunch of hearing folks, yet he didn't complain.  He found ways to connect with these folks and learn about their cultures and challenges.  I was there in Malaysia primarily as his interpreter, so did my best to interpret anytime conversation was taking place but sometimes I had to break to shovel food into my mouth or rest my arms (I think sometimes he would also need a break as he would sit on the opposite side of the room from me, or when asked if he wanted interpretation, he would say "That is ok"). Because of the nature of the group, many of the other participants were very enthusiastic about learning even basic signs so they could start to communicate on their own. A good number admitted never having had the opportunity to meet a Deaf person and a desire to invest time in learning their national sign language or at least find out what life looked like for Deaf folks in their society.

One of the activities that was led by my colleague was to consider the power structures of each country, because my colleague is Deaf, it forced people to consider where those who are blind, Deaf, or struggling with physical or cognitive differences fall within their society's hierarchy. Most had to come to the realization that they are not included and this made some start to question how that could be shifted.


This whole collaboration experience has indeed been amazing. With representatives from Peru, Malaysia, Fiji, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Philippines, and, of course, Australia, the perspectives and insights are mind-blowing. We look at the interconnectedness of social justice issues, work place norms, norms around food, gender roles, power structures, team building, child protection and so many other important issues. While all of us involved are social justice minded folks, the 'solutions' and perspectives are varied.


So, why do I share this with you? I thought some of you may be interested in both the outputs and some of the adventures we have had along the way. The great team in Australia has been working tirelessly to put all the knowledge into individual lessons that fall within key modules. All of this will be open-source curriculum. This means, if you are work with students, young people, or adults doing preparation for trips overseas, you can use these resources – developed collaboratively with the NGOs, students, some 'beneficiaries,' and academics. While the target audience is for folks traveling overseas, many of the lessons could be used in domestic social justice programs (so all you post-grad service friends, keep a look out). Or, if you are just involved in social justice activities and interested in seeing opinions from around the world, I promise you will not be disappointed.


You can check out the Vimeo channel now to get a taste of what this experiment has been about and learn about some diverse cultures as you go!  Below is one of my favorite videos but there are dozens more you can access through that link.


Jane Gavel of Peru's Challenge on Food, custom and hospitality from Greg Downey on Vimeo.


If you are interested in receiving access to the completed curriculum, we have helped develop, send me an email. I am putting together a list of people that want to know when it all goes public sometime around August. Enjoy the lessons your life has to offer today!

Branding is not universal

A few weeks back, I was talking with another ex-pat about branding and how what may make sense in one location or culture just doesn't sell in another context.  This got me thinking of some of the 'ridiculous' brand names I have recently seen that would make someone from my culture snicker.  Unfortunately, I did not have a camera accessible when I saw these so you will just need to use your imagination...  Just like the folks that work at one of my favorites, Creative Translations (previously mentioned on Facebook).  I think their slogan should be, We may not understand but at least it will be interesting...

I have also come up with a few helpful visual aids for those of you that have forgotten how to use your imagination...

Hygiene

I think we would all agree that is a good thing.  As defined by dictionary.com:

"noun

1. Also, hygienics. the science that deals with the preservation of health.

2. a condition or practice conducive to the preservation of health, as cleanliness."

But, how would you feel if it appeared on...

... your coffee?  I guess that must be what folks are drinking when they say, "Wow, that coffee really cleaned me out."

But, don't worry, if you are feeling a bit less hygienic (synonyms healthful and sanitary) right next to hygiene coffee, you can get the opposite brand and competition to all things sanitary:

Moving on from coffee, another brand that may not fly in the USA...  I will describe this one for you, so close your eyes...  

 

Yes, those are eyes and, yes, I was kidding.  If you close your eyes, how will you read this?  Your brain will have to multitask...

So, it was a dark and stormy night.  I was biking home from a meeting when a tuktuk pulled in front of me with a very interesting advertisement displayed on the back...

Note: This depiction of a tuktuk is a 100% accurate :)

My eyes caught sight of a beautiful lady draped across a handsome shirtless muscular man (Thus, I assumed they were selling beer because what other image sells more beer).  As I gazed at the man, admiring his well toned pecs and impressively well photo-shopped abs, I saw the waistband of his boxer briefs proudly displayed above his jeans...  Proclaiming to the world... that he was indeed wearing... Dainty Briefs.  I could not make this stuff up.

Last, but not least, is the great apartment building I saw.  Proudly named, The Address.  A name the great Abbott and Costello would no doubt appreciate.

Person A: Sure, we can meet at your place.  Where do you live?

Person B: The Address.

Person A: Sure, the address.

Person B: You know it?

Person A: Uhh... No.  What is the address?

Person B: The building.

Person A: Yes, the building where you live...

Person B: The Address.

Person A: Yes!  The address would be great.

Person B: Good, I'm glad that works as a meeting place.

Person A: But, where?

Person B: The Address.

... and on and on they could go...

 

 

 

Selamat Pagi! from Malaysia

Good morning to you all!  This past week, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Malaysia for the first time and to experience a side of Malaysia that many likely miss.  I traveled to Sabah, which is on the island of Borneo, to serve as interpreter for one of my colleagues (English to Cambodian Sign Language, and occasionally Khmer when our Cambodian collaborators decided I needed to practice my Khmer).  The meeting was sponsored by Macquarie University in Australia and hosted by PACOS Trust, an outstanding community-led NGO.  We stayed in a homestay in one of the indigenous communities in Kipouvo (the picture above is the view from the porch).

Our host organization formed following a historic land grab in the early 1990s by the Malay government to build the Babagon dam.  I will admit complete ignorance to this situation before my visit, and want to prevent you all from that same ignorance :)  The basics of the story are that the government decided they were going to build a dam and did not consult with the local communities, including the community that would be forcible relocated - abandoning all their ancestral lands and burial grounds (these are sacred spaces within their culture).  By the time the community learned of this plan, and began to organize, they could not prevent the building of the dam (that serves as water catchment to a completely different area, not even providing benefit to those that were evicted from their land).  Some compensation was give to the families but when all your fruit trees and crops must be planted anew, and your entire way of life reconsidered, monetary compensation does little.  Additionally, the houses that were provided were in sufficient or not culturally appropriate, one example being that each house had only two small rooms while traditionally boys, girls, and parents each occupied a separate room.  To this day, some individuals have still not received even the meager compensation that was promised. 

Water release stream (no that is not the technical term) for when the dam is too full.  Fortunately, an alarm system has now been installed to warn of a flash flood but that was not originally a part of the plan.

 

This community (in the relocated site) warmly welcomed us to share their story, their traditional food, drinks, dance, and music.

We also learned about this amazing natural resource preservation approach that many of the indigenous communities in the area practice called Tagal.  As explained to us, the river is divided into different zones (red, yellow, green).  As you may be able to deduce, green zones are places you can fish at any time your heart desires.  Yellow zones are places that you can only fish if you are a pregnant woman in need of food (if you deduced that, you have amazing powers of perception).  And, red zones are governed by a committee made up of community members.  This committee decides when fishing is allowed, often one day per year.  However, contrary to a free for all, pinata smashing, fastest takes all approach, the community divides the spoils evenly among all who participate in fishing on that designated day.  We were able to visit and see a number of the red zones and even help to feed the fish (there is a trick to keeping fish in one place).  As a very tactile person, I drew great pleasure from holding the fish food in my hand and being swarmed by the fish who lovingly suckled the kibble from my fingers.  Images of a random piranha launching from the water to maim me, leaving me incapable of fulfilling my interpreting duties definitely flashed through my head a couple of times...

While in the homestay, some of the community members also shared a traditional blessing with us.  They called all our ancestors' spirits to come join our circle and bring peace, happiness, and community to us all, creating a new family of all those gathered.  It was a very beautiful ceremony to join.  It is also the first time I have been a part of a ceremony that involved sacrificing a chicken.  The blood was then dabbed on each of our hands connecting us as one family (and the chicken was prepared into porridge for lunch, along with the eggs, rice, and other offerings).  I had a very fascinating conversation with one of the group leaders about how the traditional religion has or has not mingled with Islam and Catholicism (both of which seemed very prominent in the region) but I will spare you the details of the hour long explanation.

Sorry, no chicken photos but here is a lovely picture of the road by the Catholic church...

We also went on a bush walk to see where the water for our homestay originated.  There was a water catchment about 15 minutes walk (over trails that would not pass US safety standards and often looked more like landslides) up in the jungle.  It is a gravity based system so the water goes through the piping to a large plastic water tank just up the hill from the homestay.  Apparently, this is a common system used in many of the communities.  The average system costs about $2,300 to install (if I did my mental-math right) and is either purchased through community members sharing the expense or an outside funder sponsoring the system.  One young man is employed to scamper up the trails each week to ensure no leaves or things are obstructing the pipe, cutting off the water to the homestay. 

My co-worker, Narith, who is responsible for all the photos that include me featured in this blog.  We kept seeing tour groups at the airport that had matching clothes so I told him next time, he and I would have to get matching outfits for traveling.  His response was "very funny."  Then, we managed to match even without a plan.  The water barrel even got the memo to wear blue.

Whether it is the chickens, water system, or the many bugs that will sing you to sleep each night (or try to suck out all your blood), whenever I am in rural settings, it astounds me how much, in our daily culture, we have lost that concept of our connection with the earth.  I am truly thankful for those who provided us with the opportunity to reconnect with mother nature through their cultural lense.  Hugs and bugs to you all!

*Please note all the information provided in this blog represents my opinion and take on the situation, as I remember it, so any misinformation is my own.  When interpreting, the goal is to get the information in one side and out the other in the quickest, most coherent way possible, so it doesn't always have time to absorb.  :) 

 

Photo courtesy of Leangchhoung (one of my fellow collaborators)