Readindg Stoeker's article provided me with some insight into my own research on IIRD and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
One of the main reasons that my undergraduate professor, Dr. Larry Hufford, sent me to Bangladesh was because he wanted me to learn IIRD's approach to development. The organization was decentralized and had 'sub-centres' in every village where they were aiding the poor. At the sub-centres, social workers resided and would visit the development partners (beneficiaries) on a daily basis. The social workers would meet with current and potential development partners to discuss their situation and possible solutions to their problems. It was difficult not to act as being able to point out what the development partners needed. The development partners were good at informing the social workers what worked and what did not work. For example, as a social worker I recommended for a family to participate in cow rearing. I believed this would be the best way for the family to own an asset and generate some income with the cow's milk. However, the development partner informed me that they had no prior training on how to rear a cow. It would be 'stupid' of me to give them a cow. Instead, they told me that harvesting rice would be best, in the initial stages, and cow training should occur during the harvesting. Eventually, after earning some income and acquiring training, then they would be able to participate in cow rearing.
Stoeker's reading reminded me of this experience. As Stoeker mentions, "recommendations for academics who want to help: be quick, listen, participate, use your priestly power for good, be creative, use people, help us get ahead of the curve, look to all of your work for opportunities to help, and sin bravely!" (Stoeker, 1999).
What's funny is that William Christensen of IIRD, told me that my first order of business in Bangladesh was to spend at least six months living in a sub-center with social workers. Regardless if I was doing any practical work, he wanted me to observe and listen to the development partners in order to fully understand IIRD's work and more importantly, the development partners.
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Friday's edition of NOW had a piece on green worker cooperatives, a green builder co-op in the Bronx. There is a reference to Mondragon about 1/2 through the segment. The 'intellectual activist' is a Morehouse Man, Omar Freilla. MLK matured in the elite Morehouse culture.
The NOW segment also includes a piece on sustainable farming, Growing Local, Eating Local -- listening Jen?
In this piece, farmers talk about changing the (farming) culture in Virginia from tobacco to vegetable crops. Note the term, 'degrees of separation' in the segment -- a way of referring to what we've talked about as characteristics of networks.
listening! thanks for the reference...
It was good to see a HBCU get some positive publicity, even on the cutting edge of technology. My aunt has lived in the South Bronx for over seven decades and I have visited her on numerous occasions. I can concur with everything Omar Freilla was saying. New York is also called “The Big Apple” but some have now changed it to “The Rotten Apple”. So, I am glad to see Mr. Freilla recycle the “rotten” back into good. He used a lot of the terms we discussed in class like democracy, empowerment, and sustainability. But I think the question is, will be if the President –elect the community organizer will support Omar the green coop-man?
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