Earthcharter

Have you ever had a dream of an entire African village dancing towards you and singing your name in greeting? My dream came true.

Tuesday, 06 July 2010 20:43

Have you ever had a dream of an entire African village dancing towards you and singing your name in greeting? My dream came true. But first, yesterday we met with Webby Mate (Mah-Tay) who runs the federation of micro finance in Zambia. We want to use micro-finance as part of our program. His description of micro-lending and its historical context was easily the best presentation I have ever heard. The man is a financial genius, and he helped us find ways to carry out our experiment in the villages. We will use a cooperative structure to manage financial partnerships as opposed to outright loans. We also saw our friends from the WEAZ meeting, Many are tailors in a local market. I was just stunned at the work they did, and the quality. One created made to order school uniforms, and the quality was incredible. I hate to say it this way, but the clothes looked like they had been produced in a factory. Only these people use on treadle style sewing machines in these cramped booths in a jam crowded market. They were so happy to see us I was almost embarrassed. They are like old friends, and we only just met. Today we went to the village of Chililupa, which is part of the Chongwe District just outside of Lusaka. The drive was hard road for half the way, and then maybe 30 Kilometers on a dirt, rock, mud, and not even there road. When we arrived at the village, the entire population came out to meet us, led by the women who were dancing and singing. And, they were singing a song with my name! We went into the village square, where we were seated in the front, under a canopy, on red cloth strewn over wicker woven chairs. I felt I had died and entered a Hollywood movie. Next to us say the MP in the National Government, who serves this District. Next to him was His Highness, the Chief of the Chongwe Villages. It was an honor beyond honor. During the day there were repeated ceremonies, testimonials, demonstrations, singing, dancing, cooking, and eating. In other words, a real Zambian party! At one point, villagers came forward to tell what the Earth Charter means to them. It was so moving, all of us were in tears. They not only understood the principles, but they also understood the application to their daily lives. There was a band with mostly handcrafted instruments. One young man sat on what appeared to be a large base guitar, and played a mean base beat. The drummer had a totally home made drum set, and made it sound like the best money could buy. The guitar player had an old scarred instrument he had brought back from the dead to play the intricate melodies of African music. And the women sang the most haunting and beautiful counterpoint chants. They prepared a traditional meal, but using the new efficient rocket stoves we had introduced to the village. The food was spectacular, and they cooked enough for the entire assembly. I also got to personally use the waterless toilet, another of our introduced technologies. We also saw demonstrations of the solar cookers, the water purification techniques, and the water testing apparatus. And we listened to the village in a true civic conversation in the main plaza. They had real concerns that they asked us to address in our program. They are tired of being thrown into dire poverty. They want a chance to demonstrate their talents, skills, and hard work. They want to be entrepreneurs, bankers, farmers, family members, just like everyone else. And they know they are as intelligent, talented, and hard working as anyone else, and yet they have to live this very tough life. They just want a fair break. Why is that so hard? And the men acknowledged that they needed to change their attitudes towards the women. They agreed to let the cooperative be a women run organization. They want their daughters to be relieved of the harsh work conditions so they can attend school. They want their wives and sisters to be allowed to take their place in the village structure. And they even smiled at the business woman in their midst who held her cell phone while she sat with the men. Change is in their future, and they are counting on the Earth Charter to guide them into a future of fair reward for fair work. They want to build the economic structures that will lift them out of poverty. And they gladly welcome their role as the pioneers of this new adventure of using the Earth Charter principles to create a sustainable local economy. The rest of us can only admire their commitment to a new and sustainable future.

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