It's been quite an eventful past few days. Last Monday, we began our much anticipated planning/processing week in which we had one very important goal: come up with a final list of feasible development project options for each community, Media Luna and Chicon. These options were to be presented to the communities at their respective asambleas, where they would take a vote to make the decision. The combination of reflection, discussion, planning, evaluation, and freshly cooked breakfast made it a great week at the ProWorld office...not to mention the sheer excitement that comes from imagining what the projects might look like when they finally hit full swing.
On the first day, we began by discussing the real meaning of sustainable development. Steph presented us with several different approaches to defining the term, including that of the Peace Corps and ProWorld. What we can say with certainty is that in general, sustainable development requires a combination of charity [straight-up donations], education [teaching and sharing so that community members may empower themselves], and advocacy [involving government and the public]. What's unclear to me, however--and also unsettling--is that sustainable development projects are based on the assumption that there is a need in a community/individual/organization/whatever. But needs are hard--perhaps impossible--to define; it's a fine line between needs and wants. And what's more, different cultures perceive needs and wants on different levels. The bottom line, I think, is that this makes it difficult to judge where development is necessary--and how much. Obviously, I don't have the answers. I guess it's just another thing to keep in mind as we begin our projects.
Anyway, to bring you out of that depressing abyss into which I just led you, good news! We ran the voting in both communities this weekend...successfully! In case you're wondering how we ran the vote: for each community, we came up with several project options in two categories, infrastructure and education/training. We created posters with the names of the projects and envelopes taped on for each respective project. Each community member was given five beans for the education/training projects and two for the infrastructure project. We asked them to demonstrate their priorities by distributing the beans however they thought appropriate.
To my surprise, the vote was an absolute éxito (success) in Media Luna. The citizens filed into the community house in the most orderly of manners, cast their votes at one of our makeshift polling stations, and filed out. There were a few problemitas, especially with the Quechua-only speakers, but for the most part, everything went as planned.
In Chicon, the vote was a different story. To begin with, the community didn't seem very focused when we were giving the project descriptions...and they also may have been swayed by some lobbyists who stood up to give their opinions on which projects should be chosen. When the voting began, they went to polling stations at random, often collaborating when trying to decide which projects to vote for. It was a little chaotic. But charmingly informal. Which is how Chicon is in general. And so, regardless of whether the vote was the way we envisioned it, it was still an éxito. Our objective was to let the community members' voices be heard. And if their style is a little less democratic, then so be it.
Though the votes are in, there is still a little finalizing to do, but I'll announce the winners soon.
The other exciting weekend activity: this Friday, I performed at my first real gig in Urubamba. My band, Son Tumbao, was booked to play at Kai, a hip, art-loving cafe in "downtown" 'bamba. The place filled up pretty quickly, and it was a ton of fun. A lot of our music is more on the salsa end of things, and it was truly exhilarating to see people gettin' down on the dance floor just a few feet away from me as I played. I never really had that experience in my mostly-jazz past. When people are dancing, it's almost like they're playing along with you; you feel this deep connection with the audience that you just can't get when they're sitting down. It was bien chévere. I can't wait to play more with Son Tumbao!
That's all for the present.
Peace.
