Sharing updates from Christopher:

After a year in India and 11 months in the field at a leprosy community (otherwise known as the Loving Community)—a place that has become like home and its members like family—my visa is about to expire and it’s time to go toKenya to continue the journey with new faces, new children, and a new culture. I take off on the 20th, time is quickly running out, so this will not be the usual update that goes in to great detail. Rather, I’m going to share and comment on some photos from two very recent programs I helped launch that should communicate all I would in a more exhaustive update.

This year’s work was all about ‘fertilizing the soil.’ Because of the family-like relationships I formed, my consistent and ongoing presence at the community, and the trust that has been created here—it is now easier to initiatenew… in the form of programs, ideas, etc. Though that sounds simple, in terms of community development—and especially in the context of a relatively financially poor one set in its ways—this is the hardest and most important part of the process. It’s the foundation.

You might imagine that an outsider coming in to a community all of a sudden with all the answers, all the right resources, etc. purporting to know what is best, is likely going to fail. If life is basically OK for you and you are comfortable with your daily routine, why start eating spinach just because somebody says it’s good for you?

It takes time, it takes care, it takes patience. Just like caring for any living being.

Read complete post here.

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Posted by Madhusudan on Dec 19, 2011 | permalink