Empowerment & Mountains

"Seek first to understand, and then to be understood."

That's the quote I'm trying to live by here at UPeace. I already know what I think, but right now I am surrounded my SO many people from SO many backgrounds. Why waste my time announcing what I think when a) it's not asked for, b) I already know what I think, and c) there are probably other people that have more first hand experience on the topic we're learning about that I can learn from, as opposed to me inserting my researched or assumed opinions.

If someone asks me, I'll talk. Or if I feel like something is missing, I'll add it. But for now, I'm incredibly happy soaking up the knowledge that I have the blessing of being surrounded by.

We had our first day of real class today, and then our first discussions. It was . . . awesome. To have so many different experiences, backgrounds, and point of view all in the same room, ready to learn from each other was really cool.

"Seek first to understand and then to be understood"

That quote was running though my mind the whole time. I didn't have to worry about trying to come up with MY response, I could just listen. I didn't have to distract myself by seeing how their opinions compared to MY opinions, I could just use all my energy to try and understand what they were saying as fully as possible.

It was freeing. And one of the best educational experiences I've ever had.

And now it's my turn to talk. Forgive me, but this will be more processing aloud instead of a fully formulated thought.

Today we talked a little bit about "empowerment" and someone brought up the alternative title of "capacity building" or even "capacity opperation." But the term "empowerment" got to me. I hear so often of empowering this group or empowering that group. Empowering women. Empowering the rural population. Empowering . . . whoever.

And it got me thinking. . . can you do that? I mean, can you really do that? It sounds like you're granting them power, but is it really power than after all?

I just looked it up.

Empower: to give power or authority to; authorize, especially by legal or official means.

See, now that just brings up so many issues for me. The first is obvious - Who are we to empower anybody else? What authority do we have to grant anyone power at all?

I feel like other people could agree with me on those questions. The other issue I have may not be so popular.

How can power that is granted not earned be effectively, consciously, and responsibly used?

Have you ever climbed a mountain before?

Picture this with me.

You're climbing a mountain. You start off not really knowing what the trail will look like, but knowing you want to get to the top. You start off, and it's not so bad. A log is in the way, but you step over it. There's a muddy spot, but you avoid it. The mountain gets steeper, and you're breathing harder now. A nagging voice starts up in the back of your head telling you that you won't make it, and maybe you should just turn back. You take a book out of your bag and drop it to the ground - unecessary weight. Steeper still. You climb. Your lungs feel like they won't fill to capacity, and you've worn the wrong shoes. The voice in your head gets louder, but you ignore it. Luckily for you, the sound of your heart pounding so hard in your ears overpowers the nagging voice in your head. Your head feels like it might explode, and you rest for a second. The voice comes back louder, and you consider turning around. But you don't know how much further it is to the top - maybe just around the corner, and you can't turn back now. You push on. One step in front of the other, you climb. You're limping now, and you find a walking stick to help support yourself. Panting, sweating, you finally enter a clearing. You have made it. You crumple to the ground and lay on your back, watching the clouds slowly pass by. You've made it. You made it up the mountain. Once your breath comes back to you and the inner pounding stops, you roll to your belly, get on your hands and knees, and then to your feet. For the first time, you're able to take in the view. On the left, you see the ocean. It sparkles and dances out as far as you can see. On the right, you see green. Just green, except for the few spots marking the towns. You've made it. It's the most beautiful view you've ever seen, and you're proud of yourself for making the climb. You didn't know if you could do it, but you knew it was important to you. You knew you needed to be here, looking at this view, having this victory. You earned it.


Now picture this: Someone tells you to get into a helicopter at the bottom of some big hill and you get in. It's a cool ride and in three minutes you're at the top. It's a pretty view. Water on the left, some trees on the right. Cool. You feel satisfied, saw all you need to see, and are ready to leave.

So I guess my question is, by "empowering" people, are we really cheating them? Are we pushing them into something they don't want to do? Are we taking away their chance for personal ownership, victory, and accomplishment?

Do I think that everyone DESERVES gender equality, access to education, safety, health, fair representation, etc.? Duh. But I also think that along with that, people DESERVE ownership of their lives and the ability to make their own choices. Being shoved into a helicopter - however well intentioned the shove was - is not freedom.

When people walk up mountains, they are fighting mental demons on the way up. They have to constantly have in mind their goal, whether it's reach the top or put one foot in front of the other. When they reach the top, they are stronger for it, both mentally and physically.

Now compare this to development or peace building, or whatever have you. As they climb the mountain, they are batteling deamons. They may have things they need to unpack from their backpack in order to reach the top - policies that aren't working, counter productive leaders, etc. - they may need to take on new tools to help in their journey - education, financial redistribution, whatever - in order to help them on their way. By the time they've reached the top of whatever mountain they've chosen to climb, they're prepared to be there. Through trial and error, they've constructed a program and plan that may not be perfect, but a) it's theirs, b) they have ownership and commitment to it, c) it worked well enough to get them to the top, and d) they've altered it before and are able to alter it again if the need comes up. They are prepared to face the challenges that will undoubtedly eventually face them.

On the other hand, stick a bunch of "rural, indegenous, tribal" women on the top of a mountain and call them empowered, and you'll have a mess on your hands. They may not want to be there, they may try and get off, they may not understand what it means to be on that mountain or what they're supposed to do now that they're there, they may not be able to face the challenges that come with that mountain. The list goes on.

To me, "empowering" people is dropping them on top of a mountain. I don't care whether it's "empowering" them through educaiton or whatever. It's dropping them on top of a mountain. We may know that the mountain is good, but that doesn't matter. It's imperialistic, neo-colonial, and egotistical.

I think a better option would be to say, "Hey, here's this mountain. We climbed it, and this is what it did for us. If this looks like something you want, we can help you get to the top." Then be a RESOURCE. Tell them what you did, your failures, where you slipped up. Give them your experience and wisdom, and then give them the freedom to make their own choices. When they get to a fork in the road, let them ask your advice, answer, and them watch them as they choose a direction. Don't push them down a road. Once you start unloading and repacking their back pack, pushing them down certian paths, or worse, pick them up in a helicopter and drop them at the top, the battle is over. I don't care what mountain it is: democracy or gender equality or whatever. If once they get to the top, they don't feel like they earned it and they don't feel like they did it themselves, they won't feel like they can handle it, or they'll feel like they can handle it, but they won't really have the right tools and experience to do it, or else they will be forever dependent on those that got them there.

This is NOT the ladder of development. I'm not saying boost the low ones to the ladder and they're good to go. What I'm saying is . . . well, exactly what I said. People & groups with success have a lot of experience to share and a lot they can contribute to those looking to change their situatin, but forcing someone or some group into something they don't want to do - however excellent we think the mountain is - ultimately won't help anyone. Once they say they want to climb the mountian, be their biggest and best resource. But until them, doing any more than offering is a voilation of their soverignty as a human, group, state, etc.

(As always, I reserve the right to change my mind about anything).