Note: Another long blog post - courtesy of the pace at which things are happening here, the amount of information we're being exposed to and the multitude of emotions and thoughts that the information is triggering. In a slight departure from previous posts, I'm going to pick out a couple of key themes and talk about my thoughts/emotions around those vs. providing a blow-by-blow account of our daily activities.
Day Thirteen: Thursday, May 19
We presented our first formal status update to the client - the update followed a pretty standard format and incl. key activities/accomplishments; key upcoming milestones and issues/risks - Kevin did a great job presenting the update. One of the discussion items that the update sparked was around the topic of prioritization - I'd mentioned this in my previous blog post. Our initial observations lead us to believe that a prioritization framework that ensures all client activities align with their overall vision and mission is key to ensuring that the meager resources are used effectively - we had to do some explaining around this prioritization framework as the client initially felt that we may ask them to change their mission! It was a spirited discussion to say the least. I want to spend some time here talking about what our client - the Instituto Cultural Steve Biko (ICSB) does and use that background to lead into some thoughts/questions around racial inequality - race and inequality, often times, is a hairy subject to deal with but given my exposure here, I feel that it is important to list some key thoughts/questions around this potentially hairy topic!
Let's begin with the ICSB vision and mission and their core values...
Vision: A city, Salvador, where all citizens are treated equally and have the same access to quality educational, career and political opportunities. In time, racial and sociopolitical equality extends throughout the country.
Mission: To promote socio-economic and political opportunities for the Afro-Brazilian population through educational training, political engagement and by increasing appreciation of their African legacy.
Core Values:
- Racial equality (equal opportunity for engagement regardless of race) in:
o Education (quality, access)
o Work (professional ranks, open doors)
o Government (treatment, access to resources)
Day Thirteen: Thursday, May 19
We presented our first formal status update to the client - the update followed a pretty standard format and incl. key activities/accomplishments; key upcoming milestones and issues/risks - Kevin did a great job presenting the update. One of the discussion items that the update sparked was around the topic of prioritization - I'd mentioned this in my previous blog post. Our initial observations lead us to believe that a prioritization framework that ensures all client activities align with their overall vision and mission is key to ensuring that the meager resources are used effectively - we had to do some explaining around this prioritization framework as the client initially felt that we may ask them to change their mission! It was a spirited discussion to say the least. I want to spend some time here talking about what our client - the Instituto Cultural Steve Biko (ICSB) does and use that background to lead into some thoughts/questions around racial inequality - race and inequality, often times, is a hairy subject to deal with but given my exposure here, I feel that it is important to list some key thoughts/questions around this potentially hairy topic!
Let's begin with the ICSB vision and mission and their core values...
Vision: A city, Salvador, where all citizens are treated equally and have the same access to quality educational, career and political opportunities. In time, racial and sociopolitical equality extends throughout the country.
Mission: To promote socio-economic and political opportunities for the Afro-Brazilian population through educational training, political engagement and by increasing appreciation of their African legacy.
Core Values:
- Racial equality (equal opportunity for engagement regardless of race) in:
o Education (quality, access)
o Work (professional ranks, open doors)
o Government (treatment, access to resources)
- University education (instill in the minds of young people the importance of going to university)
- Political engagement (instill in the minds of young people the importance of engaging in the political
process)
- Strong self esteem leading to excellence in citizenship
- Focus on science and technology as a tool for inclusion in our technological society
In the face of staggering stats here in Salvador around racial inequality, they face an uphill battle to reduce the inequality - what's in their arsenal to tip the scale back to equity? Education and access to it - but how quickly can education make a difference? It's the right solution but it's going to take a while especially when the inequality has been propagated over centuries. We're doing what we can to help improve ICSB's brand, get them access to donors (both institutional and individual) and help improve their overall IT infrastructure and setup but the fact remains that it's an uphill battle - should one give up given the enormity of the task? Absolutely not! The passion that the ICSB team shows is very commendable - it reminds me of a starfish story that I once heard - it goes like this "One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?" The boy replied, "Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back, they'll die."
Son, the man said, don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can't make a difference!
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, "I made a difference for that one." It's a simple story but a very powerful one - what difference are you making in someone's life today? You can start small and just like the boy in the story, make an impact one starfish at a time.
- Political engagement (instill in the minds of young people the importance of engaging in the political
process)
- Strong self esteem leading to excellence in citizenship
- Focus on science and technology as a tool for inclusion in our technological society
In the face of staggering stats here in Salvador around racial inequality, they face an uphill battle to reduce the inequality - what's in their arsenal to tip the scale back to equity? Education and access to it - but how quickly can education make a difference? It's the right solution but it's going to take a while especially when the inequality has been propagated over centuries. We're doing what we can to help improve ICSB's brand, get them access to donors (both institutional and individual) and help improve their overall IT infrastructure and setup but the fact remains that it's an uphill battle - should one give up given the enormity of the task? Absolutely not! The passion that the ICSB team shows is very commendable - it reminds me of a starfish story that I once heard - it goes like this "One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?" The boy replied, "Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back, they'll die."
Son, the man said, don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can't make a difference!
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, "I made a difference for that one." It's a simple story but a very powerful one - what difference are you making in someone's life today? You can start small and just like the boy in the story, make an impact one starfish at a time.
The racial inequality has also got me thinking about personal prejudices and stereotypes - I don't want to generalize so I'll just speak in terms of questions that are running through my head - "Do I stereotype or judge people based on their appearance, affinity etc.?", "Do I look at people as human beings or do I label them based on different factors?", "Do I consciously remove any bias - positive or negative - from my mind when dealing with people"? and "Do I, without fail, put on my human face and see others with their human face in every interaction that I have?". Several months ago, I saw a very telling video on society's reactions to a man stealing a bike in a park and how the reaction apparently changed based on the race of the make-believe thief. If you haven't seen it, I strongly suggest that you do - check the reference section at the end of my blog post for the link. I've also been reading about modern-day inequality back home in the US - the stats are telling - across income/wealth; occupation; education; microinequalities (media, language, face-to-face interaction, social interaction); violence - racial inequality is one of those things, in my mind, that is always lurking under the surface - again, the questions I posed above run through my head. As often happens, one you're thinking about a particular issue, a lot of things start pointing to that issue - one of my facebook friends posted some very telling infographics about our world - a Global Village and what it would like in terms of education, race, religion, access to water, wealth distribution etc. if the population was a 100 people - very fascinating - check out the reference links at the end.
Moving on to a lighter note, we had a great lunch at a restaurant in the town square - the restaurant has a tourist menu and a local menu - same prices but different items on the menus - thanks to our fabulous local translator (Luciana), we ordered what the locals order - a yummy meat-and-veggies meal. Picture at the end!
Dinner on Day thirteen was back at the juice+sandwich shop - we've become regulars there and I enjoyed an avocado milk shake again with a grilled chicken+tomato+onion (Frango+tomate+cebola) sandwich!
Day Fourteen: Friday, May 20
We worked remotely on Day 14 - from the hotel - after a big breakfast, we all got our laptops out and continued to work on our deliverables for the client. We're making some good progress - we have a lot to do in our short amount of time so time is definitely of the essence!
A lot of my thoughts on this trip have been around gratitude and legacy. "What difference am I making in this world?", "I have one life to live - am I making the most of every opportunity", "Am I telling the people that matter to me how much they mean to me?" and I have been filling out my gratitude list (a list of things I'm thankful for) and revisiting it often. In this context, I saw a video from TED (I love TED videos) about Ric Elias - he was one of the survivors of US Airways Flight 1549 that crashed into the Hudson. Reference link below - it's a short 5-minute video that talks about the 3 things that ran through Ric's head as the plane crashed - 1. "It all changes in an instant - we have this bucket list - people to reach out to, experiences we want... don't delay anything"; 2. "Don't waste time on things that don't matter with people that matter...eliminate negative energy, I don't try to be right, I choose to be happy...; 3. "Sadness at possible loss of life - he only wished he could see his kids grow up..." - powerful powerful stuff. He lived through a miracle and his life is changed - what am I waiting for?
Rounding off with details on dinner on Friday night - sat by the beach with 6 other colleagues - had a brilliant conversation over dinner with my good buddy, Shane - we talked about spirituality, life, meaning, faith and many other things - net conclusions for me, we may come from different walks of life, different faiths, different backgrounds, different this and different that - if you wear your "human" face, we're all disconcertingly similar! Shane, thank you for being part of my journey!
Our weekend plans include a visit to a nearby tourist destination - home of one of the oldest structures in Brazil (and I believe all of South America) - the town is called Praia do Forte and it's about 90 minutes from Salvador - more on that visit in a subsequent blog post.
Our weekend plans include a visit to a nearby tourist destination - home of one of the oldest structures in Brazil (and I believe all of South America) - the town is called Praia do Forte and it's about 90 minutes from Salvador - more on that visit in a subsequent blog post.
Key Thoughts/Takeaways:
Make a difference to someone - recall Starfish story - replay over-and-over again - even if you can't do much, do something!
Racial Inequality - do you have your "human" face on and do you see others with their "human" face alone?
Gratitude - don't delay, do it now - reach out, fulfill that dream - don't wait! Be thankful!
Differences? Yes; Similarities? Absolutely! - we're all blessed to have this life and while we may have different backgrounds and perspectives, we're also very alike as members of the human race!
Reference Links:
1. What would you do? A man stealing a bike in a park - http://bit.ly/jdE9ER
2. Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed - http://bit.ly/lCW4Zw
3. Infographic on the Global Village, a world of 100: http://bit.ly/imyC0q
3. Infographic on the Global Village, a world of 100: http://bit.ly/imyC0q
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| Yummy meat-and-veggie dish on Day Thirteen |
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