Allahu Akbar....mic test...1,2,...1,2,3
As I may have mentioned before, I live directly behind a mosque. At times I do experience the spiritual sensation of hearing the takbir "allahu akbar" (God is the greatest) at the numerous calls to prayer throughout the day over the loudspeaker. It is especially fantastic late in the evening as I sit in the hall of the house with only a few kerosene lamps lighting the hall. The house is built with an open roof in the kitchen area at the end of a hall. It creates a tunnel of easy wind drifting through, making the colored sheets, in front of the doors to the multiple rooms, dance in golden luminescence as the imam sings the prayers of Islam.
But every so often that song goes to static. The loudspeaker cracks and the imam does the world renowned call of audio assessment, “Mic test….test….1,2…. 1,2,3….check, check…..”
So for every amazing experience there are some things that are universal. Let me give you another example more work related.
This last Saturday, the House of Courage Initiative performed for a VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) outreach in the heart of Mombasa town along Kenyatta Avenue. With International Center for Reproductive Health administering health tests in the main building, the group acted as the MCs of the day going from 10:00AM until 4:00PM in the front courtyard. With sound equipment and Swahili Coast Music blasting we danced, we did banter back and forth, and performed for the crowd stopped along the street. I estimate that over 200 people at one time were stopped from their weekend activities and watching the hilarity of these great performers. The spectacle is something I have never seen in America.
Yet at the end of the day how do you assess the outcome of an outreach? Ahhhh the quantitative versus qualitative studies of public policy rear their ugly heads. Is it the number of few people that came through the front doors of the building to get tested as a numeral figure of progress? Are all of the people watching the performance touched by the message of responsible health practices or were they just there to get some free entertainment.
My supervisor and I had a shouting match the other day about how the HOCIs funders are changing the parameters of assessment of outreaches. If you do two outreaches, two days in a row, in the same place, 150 attendance on the first day and 170 on the second day, what was your total number of audience reached?
320 (total audience of the two days)? 170 (off the assumption that 150 of the people on the second day are the same people that were there on the first day)? Number of referrals for testing? Number of condoms given out?
“Benja! How the hell do you know who we’re reaching?”
“Yusuf,” I yell. “How the hell do you know who you’re reaching?”
“I don’t know!” Yusuf says.
“Me either!” I say. A moment of silence. “Well I’m glad we figured that out”
Yusuf, “Me too”
We just don’t know…
Comments
Ah Ben,
You are encountering one of the basic human desires... that of feeling significant.
As long as you are focusing on building allegiances and positive relationships, significance follows. When required to assess in quantitative measure and numbers, I would remind you of the ideology of ubuntu as described by Desmond Tutu in looking toward the qualitative,
“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”
Continue to define your “significance” in terms of individual relationships and impact. A simple way to define the outcome of an outreach... "I am because we are".
You are right...sometime we just don’t know. Comfort arrives when we can accept the unknown and continue to move forward.
I can’t wait for you to get home and share all your gained knowledge and experiences.
Be kinder than necessary,
Be safe,
Love,
Dad
Posted by: Bob Marcy | June 25, 2007 02:09 PM
Dear Ben,
Some sage advice-you cannot change the whole world, we must minister
where we are, by listening to the people, learning from the people and preserving †heir diginity. The children of the world have the greatest need and the greatest resources are the world's children. I am glad we have lived long enough to observe and praise our children and grandchildren for the positive way they are sharing themselves ,their various gifts and positive resources with all the children of the world who are in need in every way. Glad you are thinking through it all and coming out with a positive attitude. We are always anxious to her from you and are impatient for your safe return. Lots of Love...Grandma & Grandpa
Posted by: Grandpa & Grandma | June 26, 2007 02:02 AM
Ben,
Greetings from Springfield, IL!
It is always great to hear from you. Your writing is eloquent and very interesting. Your rich language and thoughts remind me of your dad's.
You make us all proud. It is good to know that there really are goodwill ambassadors who are truly concerned about others with no hidden agendas or ulterior motives.
It is impossible to know how much good will happen as a result of your efforts. But think of the pebble dropped into the still water. Your good works will have a ripple effect too, and you will touch people in a positive way more than you will ever know.
Keep up the good work. Remember that any gesture of kindness is never wasted.
Do everything you can to stay healthy and safe.
Peace,
Bev
Posted by: Anonymous | June 26, 2007 07:30 AM
Ben,
I really enjoy reading your blog. Really entertaining and illuminating about the lives of people who live in a world most people know nothing about. Swahili has a lot of cognates with Shona (what I speak) and in Shona, you are a murungu!I can just picture people calling you that all the time (I use that word A LOT in conversations with my family too)and the novelty of seeing Americans. Reading about your experiences just reminded me of home.
I'm so happy that you got the opportunity to do this. Keep writing and persevere!
Posted by: Rudo | June 27, 2007 03:54 AM
Love you and looking forward to your return. Aleah returns home tomorrow. Tom will be home here Jul. 21st to Aug. 7th.
Love to you ,
Aunt Dawn and Uncle Tom
Posted by: Aunt Dawn | June 29, 2007 05:30 AM
Ben- This posting allowed me the opportunity to sit quietly and remember the sound of the call to prayer I listened to daily while studying in Bangladesh....still so strong in my memory....and it moved me all over again. Thank you for helping me remember.
Posted by: Angie | June 29, 2007 05:40 AM
Also- hanging on my fridge and somehow seemingly fitting...
"To do is to be"- Nietzsche
"To be is to do"- Kant
"Do be do be do"- Sinatra
Posted by: Angie | June 29, 2007 05:44 AM