The Connection of Communities and Individuals

Students from Weston, MA and Kabarole District, Uganda welcome visitors in 2007 and 2008 (respectively) to their schools and homes.

My relationship with the Kasiisi Project began in elementary school with eager fundraising in the form of “performing chores” around the house. Each chore earned quarters to add up to a few dollars to donate to a place I could not even imagine beyond the few facts I absorbed. Through the letters we exchanged with the students at the Kasiisi Primary school, we thought about what life would be like if we woke up before school to help out with chores before walking for two hours to get to school where we would sit with over a hundred other students sharing a few pencils. I learned that the kids my age couldn’t afford to bring to school the standard PB&J I dreaded I’d find in my lunchbox. I imagined somehow that the miniscule quantities my parents gave me in an envelope marked “Kasiisi Project” would add up to a school day almost as comfortable as the one I experienced in one of the wealthiest communities in America. Obviously, my elementary self was a bit naïve. But, in a sense, that innocence is what fostered my compassion for the Kasiisi Project, a project that ultimately embodies not only fundraising efforts but donation that is supplemented by both capability based development and cultural exchange.

I agree with the point Mark Arnoldy’s makes in his post that it is wrong to assume that an experience of "service" is necessarily unsustainable and thus inherently "bad". Cultural exchange and service are essential and experiential learning is vital to gaining an education of appreciation, respect, and understanding of others’ worldview. In 2007, six teachers from Uganda came to visit Weston, MA. Reflecting on their trip, visitor Professor John Kasenene wrote  (the full letter can be found here) :

“We have borrowed a leaf from Weston Schools’ methods of teaching which are mostly participatory, with a serious reading culture, punctuality and dedication and teachers setting own class targets. Therefore, the use of harsh, punitive measures as a correction to our pupils has to be a thing of the past. As the new term opens, pupils will be treated as individuals and not as a class. It was also observed that the teachers are not the only source of knowledge, for the library and other sources of books should be emphasized. We cannot say all we have learnt in this limited space.”

A year later, when eleven teachers from Weston, MA visited the Kasiisi schools in Uganda, Weston teacher reflected:

“We learned far more than we taught.”

Of the many things they learned they took away:

•    “Human-to-human interaction is highly valued.”
•    “Compassion and assistance may seem one-way, but it’s not. This connection is mutually beneficial.”
•    “We are not mindful in our daily life about the wellness of our planet, yet our Ugandan friends are.”
•    “Our Ugandan friends creatively use all natural materials—nothing goes to waste—NOTHING.”

The connection fostered by these two vastly different communities (one in suburban Massachusetts and the other in rural Uganda) is a mutual exchange where the relationships are valued from both sides. When Beatrice stayed at our house in 2007, my family loved experiencing our life through her eyes: seeing snow and the ocean for the first time; wondering why people stay indoors and in cars; asking about why a garage is necessary; eating peppermint stick ice cream; and even singing along my high school orchestra’s concert.

“Global service” and cultural exchanges can be one sided, bringing only affluent American citizens to discover the experiences of the developing world avoiding the opposite in efforts to “shield” the poor from the “danger” of seeing how “bad they have it”. Is that ok?

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, Weston Public Schools in Weston, MA, and the Kasiisi Project schools in the Kabarole district in Uganda are communities dependent on each other to learn to see themselves though someone else’s eyes. Each community has gained knowledge, perspective, and compassion through the relationships fostered through this “global service”.