Sing this Song

Every time I see a flapping flag waving it's national pride on the side of a vehicle, it makes me smile. This small piece of fabric inspires big heart and a lot of noise...especially when it's soccer team takes a win in South Africa. I love it because even though each flag and each team unites the individual nation, the whole world is together.

Inevitably, the nations will find themselves with other nations more and more. At present, I live with an Iranian, a Sudanese, an Ethiopian, two Congolese, an Honduran, two Columbians, and a Canadian. This past week, I ate Iraqi food for lunch on Wednesday and Filipino food for supper on Friday. Canada has been known as a multi-cultural mosaic since my days in high school but I would like us to be more like a tapestry. In a mosaic, the pieces of glass or stone are side by side and separate to produce the picture but in a tapestry,each thread weaves in and out, over and under the others to create the image. Mosaic or tapestry, we live in a small world.

I hate writing 'small world', mostly because it immediately causes "the song" to get stuck in my head and I don't want to sing that song. With increased information and the increased accessibility to fly, people are seeing and knowing more about the globe than ever before. Eight years ago I was still working with Youth for Christ in Tillsonburg. I worked with a guy named Kevin Hiebert and he was married to Caroline. They left Ontario for Manitoba and I had not seen them until recently...in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. One Sunday I walked into church, rounded the corner, and saw Kevin, Caroline, and their now extended family of three children sitting on the bench. An echo of the "holy crap" that flew from my mouth bounced around the sanctuary as we caught up on the last decade and talked about getting together.

During my years in Bolivia, I also met a young lady, Lyndsey Gangel. As it turns out my co-worker, Scott, had also met her...in South Korea. On the tube, in the halls of Welcome Home, up and down the streets, and everywhere, there is evidence of a shrinking world. Life only lasts 80 years and I don't want to waste a one nor live it in an ordinary way. I want to see and do as much as possible and I can, because it's a small world after all.

What's Next?

"Is anybody okay with the way the world is today? Nobody should be okay with the state of the world."

This was one of the remarks made by a speaker at the "What's Next?" conference that I went to today at Humber College. The conference was great. I enjoy the topics of social justice and sustainable development. Ian Smillie, author and main plenary speaker, spoke well (but straight from his notes) about current opinions on foreign aid and the situation of the majority world. By majority world, I mean what most refer to as the "developing" world or some still say "third" world. I dislike those terms...even though they still slip out from time to time.

Some of the ideas that stuck from Smillie were his perspective on "kiosk economies", his emphasis on new productive enterprises, and his point to keep development efforts simple and local. "Kiosk economies" are common to the majority world. Local women sitting under blue tarps selling tomatoes and lettuce in town that they bought from the farmer down the road, men riding bicycles that have been adapted to boast a cooler full of cold cokes, or even children walking around with boxes full of tasteless gum, all represent a "kiosk economy". Although these small businesses may lend themselves to slightly improved living conditions, the real advances come when new, original enterprises crop up in communities i.e. the grafting of fruit trees. These innovations must remain simple and local in order to attain longevity and impact. Anything foreign must be a service that those with less deem useful and therefore will pay for i.e. cell phones. Smillie also mentioned the importance of teaching women new skills and giving girls an education, a theme I keep hearing in different places and from various people.

On the heels of Smillie, Karen Craggs gave her spiel on gender equality and how one person can make a difference. She was the one who voiced my initial question, is anybody okay with the state of the world? The things written on Karen's heart were very similar to the scribbles on my own. Her passion to do something and live out one's principles resonated with my own determination to not waste this life, but that sense of kindred spirit was dampened by her claim that "the universe" was her guide and one only needed to trust "the universe" and they would not go wrong.

Finally, I went to a session led by two Majors and a Colonel from the Canadian Armed Forces. Being a pacifist in principle, I thought it would be interesting and enlightening to hear the perspective of our nation's army. Although their objective is security, not sustainable development, these men and women create the space for recovery of countries in a post-conflict state. It was intriguing to listen to their on-the-ground accounts of time spent in Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. One Major commenting on his time spent on the Ethiopia/Eritea/Sudan border said that as part of a team of six, there only line of defense was, "Stop. If you don't stop, I'll say 'stop' again." Their mention of "the law of unintended consequences" is one that will stay with me as well. Our good intentions, especially ones born of guilt, can snowball into unwanted scenarios. One uniformed peace officer handing out toys from a marked vehicle creates an association that future envoys probably won't welcome. The last insight shared by the soldiers was that much of the conflict in Afghanistan gets blamed on the Taliban when in reality it is the work of those trying to control the opium industry. Interestingly enough, the Taliban is happy to receive credit for these incidents.

Except for the last panel session (where the three panelists seemed most interested in promoting their organizations and crying about lack of funds), the "What's Next?" conference was well done, but it addressed more of "what was" and "what is" instead of "what's next". It was good to share and critique about how to make the world a fairer, better place for all people. It was very good. It is what I want to do and how I want to spend my life. Still, for all our systems and strategies, there will always be failure and frustration. We will always have the poor with us. That's what someone I love tells me, but he also tells me not to despair because he has overcome the world. I am not okay with the state of the world, but I think the key to making it okay means changing the state of hearts, not economies.