Our team left La Merced last Sunday to spend our final work
week back in Manizales. I feel so
fortunate to have had the experience of living in such a beautiful and unique
place for the last two months. I
had never been anywhere like La Merced before, and I’m sure I will never be
anywhere like it again. The people
I got to meet, the relationships I built, and the experiences I have had there
will be carried with me long after I leave this country. This community of close to 6,000 people
holds more history than I will ever be able to completely comprehend, but I
feel so lucky to have gotten even a glimpse into it.
Nine weeks has absolutely flown by. After living in Tanzania for over two years and seeing how
quickly time disappeared there, I knew that a mere 2 months in this town would
not nearly be satisfying enough.
But it’s incredible how much our team was able to accomplish within the
7 weeks that we were given in La Merced.
Upon arrival, we were still unclear on what our activities for the
following weeks would look like. I
think that we all truly learned the meaning of “flexibility” and adapting to
the needs of the community we were working with. We were able to hold countless interviews, facilitate
workshops, create a demand analysis, write a final report of our project, and
present our findings to members of the municipal government, and to the
university in Manizales.
But after all of the meetings and interviews and analysis,
what is there? What do we really
have to show for ourselves? Did we fail? Did we succeed?
It’s hard to actually define these things when you are doing this
job. Essentially, our goal was to
affect positive change within a community while also learning and gaining
experience for ourselves in the field.
On a broad level, change is almost impossible to see, especially as an
outsider within such a short period of time. Even after 2 years in a small Tanzanian village, it was
difficult to see any real change.
But change is a slow process, and I think that if we were able to open
the minds of even a handful of people, we achieved success. We left the Tourism Association in a
very unstable place, and I can’t say that I am sure of what will happen to
them. But we did motivate and
engage with certain members of the community who seemed to have otherwise lost
all hope for the association. I
think that changing the minds of these people and empowering them to take
ownership of the association is enough.
I can’t know if they will keep that ownership after we’re gone, but I
can say that we gave them the tools they will need to do so. And that is as much as we can do.
We also created an incredible database of information on the
local food system: which products are being bought and sold in La Merced, where
they are coming from, etc. Since
most businesses and farmers don’t keep track of what they buy and sell, this
information can be significantly useful in clarifying how inefficient the
current market really is.
Hopefully, the agricultural office can build on this analysis in order
to develop a more local market in which more profits stay within La
Merced's economy.
On top of these deliverables that we produced, an even bigger
indication of our success is how much we have personally gained from the
experience. All 5 of us had the opportunity
to learn from each other and from La Merced for the past two months. We have each gotten to know each other
more than any of us could have hoped to, and the knowledge and insight that I have
gained from each one of my teammates and from this project is invaluable. It was amazing how well our team worked
together this summer. Each of us
made our own contributions to the project, and the success of our work would not
have been possible without the unique perspective and skills that each person had
to offer. We each had our own
special power in La Merced:
The Hair – Julián has long, beautiful, magical hair that
demands attention when he walks into a room. The power of The Hair is not only contained within his
luscious locks, but also in what lies beneath them: his amazing brain. Julián is one of the smartest people I
have had the pleasure to work with, always exercising his mind with books and
music. He may remain tight lipped
during discussions, but you know its just because underneath all of his hair,
his big brain is busy at work, and before you know it, he is filling the room
with insightful questions and thoughts.
He is one of the smartest people I have ever had the pleasure to work
with, and our project this summer would have been significantly lacking without
The Hair...not to mention the fun we'd have at La Mayoria when he'd let his hair down...
The Kid – I will always remember the many faces of Meg: the
droopy pouty face, the perplexed furrowed brow, and the bug-eyed toothy
smile. The Kid is always full of
exaggerated child-like emotion, and has the special power of reminding us to
appreciate each and everything that we would otherwise take for granted: take
your time, remember where you are and what’s important, put yourself in someone
else’s shoes, stay optimistic and hopeful, and be silly. Some days in La Merced were frustrating
and discouraging. It’s important
to keep The Kid around during these times because we were sure to have more
laughs, and even get more things done.
Thank you for keeping our minds young and open.
The Support – She may not be great at walking down mountains,
but this girl has got your back.
Unsure of the methodology you are using for your workshop? Need help
with a quick Spanish translation?
Want to talk out a problem that has been troubling you? Or maybe you’re feeling self conscious
on the dance floor or wishy-washy about a pair of pants you’d like to
buy…These are all problems that can be solved by The Support. Katherine will
always be there with the power of assurance and confidence. She has been known
to defend her “sisters” from the local bartender’s gossip, AND, if you’re lucky
enough, she may even sing her support to you as she dances around you. The Support was an essential ingredient
in keeping the team afloat this summer.
Thank you for your words of assurance and witty retort….bueno.
The Voice – I cannot
emphasize enough how critical The Voice was for this team, and for me in
particular. Her power goes beyond
her fluently Spanish voice, but additionally there is the power within her insightful, thoughtful, and
personable words. Larissa often
found herself voicing the collective opinions, reactions, explanations, and
gratitude of our group as a whole…no easy task. The community’s impression of us and our work were
essentially thanks to The Voice. And
if it weren’t for her superpower, I would have been sitting in meetings,
twiddling my thumbs idly without being able to actively participate. She is one of the most intelligent,
considerate, and knowledgeable people I know, and I learned so much from her
this summer. Gracias por tu voz y tu amistad!
