From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Fri Mar 21 2003 - 20:03:36 MST
Okay, so I fire a really sarcastic stream of denunciation at
Michael, and he takes it all in stride, like water off a
duck's back.
Ooooooh! That makes me mad!
;-)
> > A non-public remark of one villager
> > to another might be, "I understand that we are putting up with
> > this silliness because somebody over there might send some
> > money, but shouldn't we be honest with the poor kids?"
>
> Well, I would hope such an education program would quickly disavow such
> a possible incentive.
Okay, let's suppose so.
> Such would give well-off classrooms a distinct advantage.
> Individual kids would be welcome to send their allowance,
> of course, but it should be made clear to the 'adopted'
> village that the program itself is not going to give them
> money. Just information and advice.
You don't think they'd be offended? I mean, how would the
people in your community feel if a school group from some
town in Sweden or Israel decided to help out the American
people living in your town?
> The kids would have the advantage of time. They could spend all day
> (indeed, maybe every day of their entire schooling) working on things
> that might help the village. Possibly, they might plan out supply,
> distribution, and sharing networks that, while the villagers might be
> perfectly able to do for themselves, they simply don't have the time to
> research.
Well, I should mention a teenager I know who went to Honduras last
summer, as a part of a high school program. Being quite curious
about far away places, so long as I don't need to get very far away
from my books and my refrigerator, I invited him over one night to
debrief him. Earlier, he had sent me a long letter, which began
Dear Mr. Corbin,
As you know, shortly after school ended last year, I left on my
trip to Honduras with the Amigos dellas Americas program. I flew
first to Miami and then on to Tegucigalpa, the capitol [sic] of
Honduras. We then rode eight hours by bus to the Intibuca district
and the town of Las Esperanza. We spent a few days in "briefing"
where we got used to listeining to Spanish, with a Honduran accent,
spoken at what seemed like the speed of light.
He then related the ride to a small village of 25 families, Villa Francis,
in the back of a pickup truck along a dusty road, and the efforts of him
and his friend to meet the family they would be staying with, and to go
around and try to meet the people of the village. Everyone was unsure of
what to say.
What we hadn't acccounted for was that we would be working the next
day, and the next. Our town was so eager to work with us that they
had already orgaized themselves and decided who neede what project,
and in what order.
Well, it turned out (of course) that Chris and his friend really had to
learn what to do from the villagers. They had to learn construction
techniques, and how to dig latrines, and so forth. The villagers were
indeed eager---as I verified when I talked to him at length---for the
help from the two American students. But what they *really* wanted
was (1) all the free supplies (building materials, mostly) that would
be sent along with the students, and (2) the free labor that Chris
and his friend would provide over the summer.
But we learned how to do each project and within a week or two
we were a productive force for the completion of each project,
even managing to make suggestions as to how some problems could
be overcome.
> Also, any positive memes that come out of this can be shared instantly
> with all the other adopter classrooms. No doubt getting the first
> village online with even minimal real contact would be a big hurdle.
> But young kids (perhaps boys especially) can be quite competitive.
> Perhaps a series of prizes would be an additional incentive when
> the going gets rough.
All right. So you have in mind some ideas that the (rather
young) American children might have that would help the
villagers? It still seems doubtful to me. Perhaps you
mean insofar as computer tech or cell phones that the kids
here know all about? Of course, I doubt if you have any
ideas yourself, Michael, because after all, you are not in
contact with a *particular* village. But what kind of thing
can you imagine that might be of help to the village after
some inventive people *here* --- be they children or not ---
could really do?
> > Yes! And with the skills the kids develop, they can
> > man the hotlines to resolve domestic disturbances,
> > intractable corporate mergers, and any number of
> > conflicts that periodically arise between groups
> > and individuals.
>
> Well, you're reaching, but it could happen.
Oooooooh. Isn't it irritating when people do that to
your carefully constructed sarcasm???
> Thanks for your positive suggestions,
Oooooooh. Twist the knife. I should have known better than
to get into this with you.
Lee :-)
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