I may have made some of us uneasy yesterday, calling us potential Elephants. As I said yesterday, the moment you stop and think about who we are/what our cultural attitudes are/how we feel about that is moment that change happens. It's what we do after that moment that is important.
I have been told that Americans are unusual in needing to do cultural consciousness-raising. I have thought about that a lot, and I do not think that is true--as a general rule and also, in particular, for this type of program. I think the cultural issues are different for people from different parts of the world, but no one is exempt from needing to use discernment about how we interact with those around us.
As a quick personal aside, I used to work with international students quite a bit, and some were wonderful and walked through the world with a spirit of lightness and acceptance. Some struggled and had a difficult times themselves which spread that unease to those around them. So, in other words, they were human, like the rest of us.
The Community Plumbing Challenge has a goal of giving young professionals the opportunity"to contribute to improvements to public health in regions where communities are still threatened by a lack of basic sanitation and safe drinking water systems." (IAPMO Website) For me, the next sentence is what makes this event unusual:
"Attitudes will not necessarily change because of targets, health surveys, or editorials and opinions in newspapers, which all too often preach only to the converted. Rather, it is the actions of professionals working in the areas of health and sanitation which will demonstrate to the community how best to build local services, and will educate local communities about the benefits of such an approach."
Actions, modeling, relationships and education put this into a very different category than Elephant tromping on his friend Mouse! Putting this front and center in the goals for this event make it much more than a plumbing competition--it is a professional leadership opportunity--or at least that's what we want for Team USA.
So, how do we do this?
We prepare before we go--this is technical preparation and brainstorming, but it also comes from some of the work I highlighted yesterday. We go with our eyes open.
We read and build up a skill base about cultural competency. I am not sure that it matters what we read as long as we get started. Last year I shared a wonderful blog with our group the week before we left for India. It's called Smart Conversations: Demystifying Microaggressions at Alaska Natives https://nalliq.com/2015/10/22/smart-conversations-demystifying-microagressions-at-alaska-natives/ and I think it is a wonderful place to start. (In case any of you ever have he chance to look at who reads this blog, but I have a small but intense Alaskan readership along the Bering Sea, after spending part of three summers in the Yupik villages there.)
I strongly suggest reading it, but to give the short version, one of the themes of the article is being alert and careful to how we ask questions when we meet friends in new places. thinking before we ask and listening more than talking will get the world a long way!
Enough for today! Thank you to each of you for all that you do for Team USA and this big world.
No comments:
Post a Comment