2010. december 14., kedd

Article for YRAP competition: Connecting in a bike-way


„If development policies could be linked as strongly to the strengthening of
the civil society as to the economy it would create a strong improvement on
governance”- said Aung San Suu Kyi Nobel Peace Laureate in her special video
message for the closing ceremony of the EDD (European Development Days).

The EuropAid aims to deliver development assistance in a more effective way by
moving from projects towards general budget support. The large money transfer
to the national treasury of a partner country in support of a national
development policy can work in democratic societies, but will be
problematic in those where human rights are violated daily.

How can a local community in a small African village influence the high-level
policies? What can an ordinary European citizen do to be ‘development friendly’?
The European Union Ambassador of the European Year for Combating Poverty and
Social Exclusion, Dr Lesley-Anne Knight said „When we start to see global issues in
terms of people, individual lives, we are far more likely to feel solidarity and
compassion with those who are affected.” Feeling solidarity is not enough. One has
to act to make change. But when it comes to helping others, a very important
question should be asked. Why do I help? Because I have more, I know how to do
things better? Rama Naidu, the South African Democracy Development
Program’s executive director came up with a totally new perspective. “We have
to change the whole conversation that usually creates and keeps the world
unbalanced. These are the stories about ‘Them’ and ‘Us’. Stories, in which one is
better and has more to offer. We’d rather spend the time to find each other first and
say ‘I want to share what you do and I want to feel what you feel’.” Here is a case
to illustrate the kind of collectiveness that can make positive change in the world.

~


On a dark winter day of 1996, Elise got a phone call. „The strong voice was
penetrating my cold Danish heart”- she laughs. A man introduced himself as the
leader of the farmer’s association in southern Senegal. He needed help to
collect old bikes for his community. A few months later the man visited Elise, and
they fell in love. She became the third wife, and got a new name: Mariama
(mother of Jesus). “The fact that I converted to Islam and accepted to make
my prayers together with him in a Muslim way, gave a strong help for me to become
accepted as human being, wife, mother, and as a nurse.”

She created an organization called ‘Cykler til Senegal’ (Bikes to Senegal) and started
to collect bikes.

They have sent 5700 bikes since 1996, 2 containers annually. “I found the idea very
good. It is concrete; it does not demand big machines or technology. Connecting in
a bike way is a direct, face to face thing.” They started to collaborate with an NGO
that was part of the Danish International Development Agency (organization inside
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark) to get funding.
Going back and forth between Denmark and Senegal, she started to give lectures.
She got inspired and became better informed that she set out to raise
awareness on the key issues of development: the people.

“It was always positive. I spoke about strong people in hard situations.” As she
got more and more invitations, she started to organize exchange travels for small
group of people and initiate other projects. „I had an optician friend. He
made 9000 pair of used glasses- they gave it out after testing the eyes in schools so
that they can see better.”

Another project was the ’dinner against malaria’, a series of charity concert and
dinner on a ferry. „We raised 40 000 Danish kroner, sent it down to local
NGO’s, who bought mosquito nets locally, as they are cheaper and supported by the
government.” They made a theatre team: a man with 2 wives. They go around the
villages to talk about why do you get malaria, what do you do for prevention,
when do you need to go tested, what can you take as medicine. “In the role-play the
man and the first wife doesn’t want mosquito nets, the second wife does.
When the malaria is critical, the man and the first wife is about to die, so the second
wife invites both of them under her net, and save them. They laugh together with
the audience and discuss it in a cultural level. That is how they integrate it. I can
see now more people having nets. The state got involved, and now they have a
strategy against malaria.”

As a poverty reduction strategy, Mariama’s organization cooperated with
the University of Agriculture. They brought poultry to the village.
”Women were trained in income generating skills to become self-reliant.
They learnt how to calculate, read an
write, as part of the program. Groups of ten women came together and applied for
small loans from local banks. So the poorest women who had nothing to
guartntee were finally able to have loans. They had business plan, and they learnt
how to better handle their own projects.”

They also care about maternal health. „We are using massage and acupuncture
points as a tool to help women during delivery. It is easy and free, and has its
long traditions. But we also have supported women by sending 2700
sewing-machines.

~

Why to put gender equitable local development at the centre? „The reason
we should emphasize gender equality is because it is not only women who benefit
from it, but the whole society. Women are the care givers, and they have a lot of
indigenous knowledge on how to preserve the environment.”- explains Mary Okumu,
Chief Technical Advisor of the United Nations Capital Development Fund, South
Africa. „If we can bring women’s aspiration into policy as well, I think we
would have more stable governments.”

To improve development aid to the developing countries, decision makers
should have a background in working with local communities. Former NGO leader
Krzysztof Stanowski remembers how he became the undersecretary of State at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Poland. „Suddenly my government realized that
people who are working in field should influence the policies.”
Development must be about creating space for dialogue, especially among
different actors and stakeholders. But we should remember that the dialogue is
about people, and their real needs. Their voice should be heard and told, and we
better listen to hear it, because there is so much to share.


2010. december 12., vasárnap

ma esti gondolatok

Hadd idezzek egy baratomnak irt ma esti levelembol.

epp egy melyinterjurol jovok, egy dan novel keszitettem, aki 20 eve
szerelmes lett egy szenegali farmerszovetseg vezetojebe, es azota
annak el...elmeselte az eletet, es annyira feltoltodtem. errol fogom
irni a cikkemet, a vegsot, amit a szellemek, Istenek es az Eg kezebe
ajanlok, hogy aztan o dontse el, a sorsom elvezet-e Tanzaniaba majd,
ha kihirdetik a verseny nyerteseit. Mar nem is erzem a versenyt,
egyszeruen csak azt, hogy a sors beteljesedik, es akarhogy is
tortenik, annak ugy kell lennie. A nagypapam halalat felretettem, es
ez volt eletem eddigi legkemenyebb leckeje. Talan most kellett
megtanulnom, hogy vannak helyzetek, es vannak eletek, amelyeket fel
kell ajanlani masokert, egy celert, egy eszmeert, egy vizioert, ha ugy
erezzuk, hoyg arra szulettunk, hogy azt teljesitsuk be. En ezt
tudom....3 eves korom ota tudom, hogy az eltemet valami olyasminek
koszonhetem, ami nalam feljebbvaló, es ezert arra is kell szannom, ami
meghaladja, ami egyszeruen atlepi a sajat eletemet. Korbeveszem magam
olyan emberek, nok es ferfiak torteneteivel, akik hosszu eveket
ajanlottak fel eletukbol a nemzetuk, az emberiseg javara, hogy
demonstraljak a beket, az egyenloseget, az igazsagot. Es mikor
kiszabadultak a bortonbol, folytattak az eletuket abban a
szellemisegben, nem tortek meg. Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Vangaari
Mataai, ang San Shui Kyu (nembiztos hogy igy irjak, burmai
bekenobeldijas)...hol van az en felretolt gyaszom az o fajdalmukhoz
kepest, kerdem en. mikor feleseguk, anyjuk, gyerekeik, barataik, es
artatlan emberek haltak meg mig ok bortonben voltak, tehetetlenul.
Ezek a tortenetek meg kell, hogy erositsenek bennunket, es en is igy
erzek.
Nagyon hianyzik nekem is az otthoni koszt, az otthoni kedves arcok, es
kicsit a mindennapi elet is. Ugyanakkor nem hagyom el azt a tuzet
tobbe soha mar, ami fut, mert tudom mire hivatott az elet, es 23
evesen illik is mar tudnom, es csak menni es tenni es cselekedni,
egyedul ez szamit.

2010. december 9., csütörtök

Global civil society- world views

http://pcdf.org/civilsociety/path.htm

Epic Struggle
The struggle between the forces of elite globalization and the forces of global civil society is defined by a tension between two deeply conflicting world views. It is the contemporary face of an epic struggle between community and empire that extends back to the earliest human experience. Its contemporary resolution may determine the fate of humanity for many generations to come.

In the worldview of community, the world is a place of creative opportunity best realized through cooperation and the equitable sharing of power and control of resources. This worldview gives rise to the democratic impulse.

In the worldview of empire, the world is an inherently hostile and competitive place. In the world of empire the only choice life offers is to be a winner or be a loser, rule or be ruled. Trust, compassion, and cooperation are for fools and cowards. By the logic of empire smartest, toughest, and most rational players have both the right and the duty to seize and hold power by whatever means available to impose peace and order on the unruly in the interests of all — a service for which they believe they are justly rewarded with wealth and power. This worldview gives rise to the authoritarian impulse.

Concentration and centralization of power and wealth are essential organizing principles of elite globalization. Equitable distribution and decentralization of power and wealth are essential organizing principles of global civil society.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as If People Mattered
Small Is Beautiful is Oxford-trained economist E. F. Schumacher’s classic call for the end of excessive consumption. Schumacher inspired such movements as “Buy Locally” and “Fair Trade,” while voicing strong opposition to “casino capitalism” and wasteful corporate behemoths. Named one of the Times Literary Supplement’s 100 Most Influential Books Since World War II, Small Is Beautiful presents eminently logical arguments for building our economies around the needs of communities, not corporations.


Jeffrey Sacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Sachs

2010. december 3., péntek

Brüsszel, Első nap

Késő este, Brüsszel, Radisson Blu EU Hotel


A Nappi két napja hajnalban eltávozott az élők sorából, és már a felhők között csónakázik és boldog. Ez a hír átjárja minden gondolatomat, nagyon nehéz kikapcsolni- átkapcsolni, és idekoncentrálni.

Ez az alaphangulatom.

Békésen szállingózott a hó, és nem bántott minket, csak megváratott (4 órát). A felhők felett aztán minden még csendesebbé vált. A horizont kettéválasztotta a felhőket, nem lehetett megmondani, mi-hol kezdődik. Békés, csendes voltam.

Brüsszel hatalamas reptere elvarázsolt. 4 szinten több tucatnyi kapu, terminál, A-Zig, 1-50ig, alfától omegáig. Már a hirdetések üzenete is vagy az Unióval, vagy a Fejlesztésekkel kapcsolatos.
A másik típus a koppenhágai: "The challenges we face are global. Where in the world do I start?" "Big decisions follow you around..."
(majd jönnek képek- csak én balga RAW formátumba fotóztam amit nem tudok átkonvertálni jpeg-re. nem értek ehhez a fejlett technológiához.)

Az EU hotel-dolgot halál komolyan vegyétek. Még a törölközők is meg vannak fertőzve EU-s cimkékkel..Sosem laktam még ilyen elegáns helyen. Minden éléreállítva.

Nyugovóra térek. Holnap hosszú nap lesz, és onnantól nincs megállás.

Brüsszelből magából nem fogok sokat látni, de most ezt félreteszem. Örülök, ha tudom élvezni a programot, ha nem önt el percenként a gyász és a könnyek, ha megértem amii körülöttem zajlik, és ha egy igazán barátságos és nyitott társaság gyűlik össze, akik nem a versenyért, hanem a tapasztalásért jönnek ide.

A EuropeAid Együttműködési Hivatal az Európai Bizottság fejlesztési támogatást biztosító főigazgatósága, ők felelősek a mi versenyünk szervezéséért. Tevékenysége az egész világra kiterjed. A EuropeAid azon dolgozik, hogy a gyakorlatban megvalósítsa a Fejlesztési Főigazgatóság által az afrikai, karib-tengeri és csendes-óceáni térség országainak, illetve a Külkapcsolati Főigazgatóság által a világ más régióinak és országainak támogatására kidolgozott stratégiákat és szakpolitikai elképzeléseket. Elsődleges célja, hogy hasznosítsa az Európai Bizottság rendelkezésére álló külső segítségnyújtási eszközöket.

Elvárásom ettől az 5 naptól-
- koncentrált, nyugodt, befogadó, lényegretörő tudat
- tapasztalás, tanulás,
- a jövő továbbgörgetése valamerre
- ismerkedni, kérdezni sokat
- születésnapomat jól megünnepelni (belül, magamban- akár, csak legyen egy jó érzés bennem)

Céljaim
- még közelebb kerülni a fejlesztési projektekhez,
- megtalálni a szektort amiben aktívan résztvennék
- munkát, lehetőséget találni

Félelmeim
- nem tudom megosztani magam a gyász miatt
- nem tudok koncentrálni, figyelni, élvezni az eseményeket
- nem értem, ami körülöttem történik
- nagy emberekkel találkozni, vagy akár már messziről látni őket
- a csoporttól, a szervezőktől,
- ez az életforma (Radisson Blu..)

Stratégiám
- no fooling around
- limitált kommunikáció a külvilággal, most csak ez, csak itt, csak most- ez ne váljon megszokássá- kihívás!
- az eddig tanultak beemelésén keresztül megközelíteni a dolgokat

2010. november 30., kedd

an ordinary day @ Krogerup

One day of mine

8.35 waking up, taking a shower

8.45-9.15 would be cleaning time, but as am sick since almost 2 weeks now with the danish malaria called flu, i do not attend in the kitchen chopping some vegetables as i do not intend to spread it..
So we talk a bit with Dori, my roommie, having some breakfast

9.20- as tuesday, we have separate morning assemblies from the danes. we meet in our classroom with Sara. We go through the schedule of the upcoming days which is the core component of all morning meetings. Usually its Rikke, the school's principal to inform and tell us the most important programs, but she is in South Africa now for a few days. I miss her actually, I think her presence is like the bones for the body. As she runs the choire called 'Papaya' since quite a few years now, that visited South Africa she has some VIP friends there, so she might have some nice fancy visits out there...

So Sara has a Vignet for us this morning. I actually asked her to talk about her Master thesis she wrote for Roskilde University last year for International Development and Communication studies if I can remember correctly. She wrote about Working with the World as a class-room, so it was basically focusing about danish high-school students and how much they are prepared theoretically and practically to be global citizen.

Then Mette came, an other Krogerup teacher who talked about her additional work as a conflict resolution mediator. This is a very unique way of facilitating crime issues between offenders and victims, promoting the people's rigths and needs as opposed to the actual set of law process that defends only the State and not those involved in a specific case.

11.00-12.30 'E Study'- which is photography for me. We had some assignment such as taking photos about the school and its environment, some shapes and shades and so...the sourroundings, the forest ... and then about self-portrait and ordinary objects and such. It is strange to be forced to take photos. I dislike it. I have no inspiration to shoot.
I work with Benjamin, a danish guy. its easier then alone. He is funny and tall, spend his last year in Peru volunteering at a school living with a local family and from next year he plans to cross the US by bike with an other girl from Krogerup. I told You he was funny... :)
So we plan how to start developing in the afternoon.

12.30- Lunch

resting/discussing things

14.00-16.00 Developing our film in the darkroom. we try it so hard for half an hour but its just not succeed.so we put back my film into a box and start making the nega with our common film. Its a loooooong process, lots of liquids and time-keeping and checking and sooo on. We do good job i think.

16.00-16.30 preparation for leaving with Garba to Cph for the Crossing Border's ngo- annual general assembly.

16.30- 17.40 on the way to the meeting place we are 5 in the car- Mignote from Ethiopia, Salma from the Maldives, Garba from everywhere ( :) and Nikolaj from mainly denmark :), and me. nice group :) sophisticated and humorous discussions, i like it.

18.10- 21.30 Meeting- presentations, evaluation, board election, ... interesting experience, getting to know the operation of a civil org and also CB's issues- this is important cuz our education is part of their...

22.30-23.30 arriving back to Krogerup, metting with other CB students and discussing tomorrow"s workshops.

23-30 - am on the internet. its crazyyyy