Developments on Development

Wow. what a week.
Development, development, development. That is the topic for today.

See, Operation Groundswell is a very interesting organization. It combines tourism with education and aid to create this all round incredible experience. Leading up to this week, we have been touring Kenya, staying for short periods of time in several different cities. We worked with different groups, spoke with amazing people, wandered through ridiculous places and learned so much about so much, about ourselves, about Kenya, about people in general, about our home, about motives about practically anything: we learned so much about so much. This was all leading up to Maragoli.

Maragoli is a beautiful rural community. It was a breath of fresh air (literally) from our stay in Kisumu. It is a place full of rolling hills, tea plantations, lush vegetation, mud houses, dirt pathways separating peoples' fields and this enigmatic sense of beauty. It reminds me of home. And it is where the majority of our fundraising dollars would go to work. And to work they went.

Check this.
We built a spring, we helped get a school to reach code so it can receive government funding, we helped the local resource center get back on its feet, we initiated the construction of a new dormitory complex for a special needs school and threw a party for roughly 500 people.

We have been here for 9 days.

We have been here for 9 days. But. The first day, we settled in. The second day, we went to church. The third day we went to the community barraza (community meeting) and listened to proposals from the people as to where they would like us to help. The third day we also came up with a spectacular wish list as to how to allocate our funds in what we decided was the most economically sustainable, or patriotically bolstering, or personally necessary or what have you way to help the community of Maragoli. So this now leaves us with 6 days to accomplish what we set out to do... oh no wait.. The fourth day; we spend with our mentors.

Well, most of us spent this day with our mentors. I however spent this day travelling to the Aka Khan Hospital in Kisumu. Don't worry. I just have mosquito bites. The real reason there was any trip to Kisumu was because one of our team members had a not-so-good of a time at the end of the third day. So I won't go into details, but he had much worse than mosquito bites and is now under a nice medicinal regime to help clear his worms and bacterial infection. He is doing very well now and looks to be on his way to a speedy recovery.

So with all said and done, we now have five days to get down to work.

Holy Crap.

Now I would like to bring to light this party I mentioned earlier... you know the one for 500 people. Ya, that was on me. I don't know exactly why I thought I could take that on, I think we all must have been high on life or adrenaline or excitement or what when we decided to take on all of these projects. But seriously. This is a party for 500 people. Food and drinks included. Entertainment. The works. Oh ya, and we were hosting that on Friday... that would be day 7. Anyone want to do the math on that one? oh I would like to! lets see.... 4 days minus 7 days equals 3 days... but we're actually putting on the party on day 7 so technically there are 2 days left over for planning, receiving supplies, writing and delivering invitations and getting the team prepared for their roles.

Holy Crap.

Well, it happened. That's about all that I need to say about it.

Then, there were the other four projects. I can hardly understand how we accomplished what we did. But alot has happened in the past 5 days.

It makes me wonder what is responsible development. Honestly, this is not my style. It makes me wonder moreso what is development really? Why is it so tempting for people to leave their home, travel to another country half a world away, stop over for a couple months throw a bunch of money somewhere, or build something, or grow something, or sponsor someone and then leave. We travel to a place that is nothing like ours, mess around with peoples lives for a while and then travel back to the comfort of our lives before. It is such a strange concept to me. Consider what that would be like if you were on the receiving end of this equation. Really consider how that would affect your ideas, or your motives, or your desires, or your life... I may seem pessimistic, but I don't think the results would be so positive. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely for change and progress, but those are sometimes slow growths. Development is like the free ride fast track to glory... you miss all the heartache in getting there, you miss all the hard work involved to build that empire, you miss the understanding of what it took to get to that end product. Therefore, the end product becomes nothing more than a Christmas gift. There just isn't the same love, or respect for that gift as there would have been had you worked your ass off for your entire life just be able to obtain that thing all on your own.

That's what my view on development has become since we developed so much in just five days.

I want to know what you think, so please write.

This trip has made my views on the world very different in a very short period of time. However, I reached these conclusions through my own efforts; nobody implanted the end product on me. And the beauty about personal growth and progress and change, is that it never ends. And you are always aware of that fact. The sky's the limit.

Love to hear from you.
miss you.
peace.

Ryan