First Day of Workshops

One of my greatest fears for PACE was that no one would be interested in coming to the workshops. People trickled in fifteen to twenty minutes late, and we had to commission quite a few children to hunt some people down and tell them that we were starting, but the first workshop was well attended. Only one person did not show up.

 

At one point during the men's workshop, someone told me that the only reason that they bothered showing up was that the project was associated with FORGE. The man mentioned some of the other organizations that work in the camp and said that if it had been run by them they would have all stayed home. The other men nodded. In just a couple years, FORGE has built a reputation for being reliable and holding workshops that people value. I was proud; I have been working for FORGE for two years now and have been working hard to make it an organization that is valued by the people it is meant to serve - namely, refugees.

 

This first class was primarily an introduction to PACE. The big thing we did was to create a list of expectations for the workshops, for me, and for the participants. The resounding concern was that PACE not be a project that comes into the community, has a few weeks of workshops, and then leaves the community without leaving anything of value behind. They were able to site several examples of such projects, and were obviously frustrated with the temporary nature of most development projects they had experienced.

 

When I heard this, I became visibly excited. I could barely stay seated. I blurted out that I had the exact same concern. I wanted to bring something that was truly valuable. I wanted to teach them everything I knew, so that when I left, there was nothing more they could possibly need from me. They would have everything they needed to create change for their community. I felt like we were on exactly the same page.

 

So, one of the expectations reads something like: "We expect Damon to fulfill the promises he makes to us." It's scary and encouraging at the same time. In a world where time is money and a community where a you can expect a dollar for a full day's work, every hour is precious. The fact that they are willing to dedicate at least eight hours a week for three months to a project indicates that they are taking a leap of faith. For some reason they trust me. Wow!

 

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On the way home I encountered one of the women participants. She lived about a forty minute walk from the meeting place. I slowed down and offered to ride her the rest of the way home, which is fairly common here. Once I even saw a whole family riding a single bicycle. The man was pedaling. His wife was seated on the top tube in front of him holding a baby, and their young daughter was sitting on the luggage rack in the back. I was a bit worried that my bike was too weak to handle even two people, especially considering that I weight about as much as two normal people here. The way I saw it, it would just be rude not to offer. So she hopped on and we rolled towards her house.

 

The one time I had spoken with her before was during the participant recruitment. Out of a group of about twenty people, she was the one who everyone looked to when it came time for them to talk. She asked tough questions and raised important concerns. She challenged my motives and methods more than anyone else I had encountered during the whole two weeks of recruitment. I have come to be intrigued by people who challenge me here. Because I am a relatively powerful and influential person here, people have a tendency to yes me. Few will tell me that they disagree with me or openly criticize something that I say - at least while I am present.

 

She doesn't speak English, French, or Swahili, which makes it pretty much impossible for me to talk to her most of the time. One of my translators, who lived near her, cycled just behind us, so I figured this would be an excellent opportunity to hear what she had to say. I asked her what she thought of the first workshop.

 

She said, "In the past we have worked with people like you and have gained very little from working with them. I am excited because this time it appears that you will be leaving us with knowledge that we will be able to use after you have left." It sounded like she was just flattering me. But that optimism meant something to me coming from her considering how critical and suspicious she had been the last time I had talked to her.

 

After I dropped her off in the middle of the compound in which she lives - where there were fifty people scattered about - and I started off in the dark for home, I wondered at what point the big problems will start coming. When will people start losing faith in this project? When will people who may not directly benefit from the project start interfering? When will I accidentally do something unfair or say something offensive? Something has to go wrong somewhere along the line. I am expecting it. But I don't think I'd complain if everything keeps going like it has been.