Today I Surrender - again!

Oops... still getting to grips with how to blog - so the first attempt had nothing written in it; however there may be something in that! How we try to do stuff however sometimes maybe the best thing is to do nothing; say nothing; feel nothing; and especially to think nothing; then we might actually listen and do what is needed instead of what we think ought to be done.

This is my quandary; I write with an open heart this morning; naked; not trying to express things in a way that I hope you understand, but actually sharing how it is for me in my world right now; in my world of having visions, ideas, which in honesty plague me!

Sometimes I feel like I took the wrong pill - plug me back into the Matrix so I can go back to sleep and sleep sound and ignorant! Grrr!

However, I am awake and alive; I see the sun shining high in the sky this morning and feel the power of the spring surging through my body and this endless need to activate and do something. To do what? To listen to people, endlessly, I hear stories; people come to me, they tell me things and I see into their hearts; I see their possibilities and their hopes and fears; I see how they love their children, their mothers and fathers, their husbands, wives......or not.

Always, the presence of love is there and how do we work with that in a world of planners and governments and banks that want to organise and plan and legislate and re-numerate? How can we legislate the love in our hearts? How can we plan the love in the hearts of the people? The love that is there.... that lies dormant, asleep often.....the Planners don't awaken visions and passions in the hearts of the people, Love does.... and how do we work with this Love? It's so simple it makes me want to run away, far far away and disengage, simply because I get to feel so much frustration that people seem not to see the Love that is there; in the eyes of everyone we speak to - if we know how to look, then we will see.

So, now you know how 'crazy' I am......I am crazy in Love with Love; and I have to be in Love; I cannot exist any other way - I'm not talking about romantic love - as lush as that can be! I'm talking about the love that compels us to speak with passion, to act with passion, to be there with another person and to love them and not to force them to do anything.....

The government makes a plan.....it buts lots of money into writing the plan.....and lots more to make the plan happen....but is it truth? Is it what people WANT? What do we want? We have to engage in a continual practice of listening to ourselves and each other to find out; and guess what? What we want changes! Continually!!! Things will never be the same again.

A young man I know recently came to speak to me; one of his friends had committed suicide - his 5th friend to do such a thing. What does this young man want? Why does he think I can help? I listen, we go to the beach, we work together to light a fire on the beach, he talks, I listen; I ask him questions so I can feel him more, feel his heart, find out who he is, who does he want to become, what is his passion? he is the same age as my daughter.

A young man who people mis-judge - mis-understand - in trouble with police and peers alike; a boy who didn't get on in school; BUT he has a dream; he has a passion; I find out what it is and feel joy in my heart as I see how he transforms himself by simply speaking about it.

There are things that can happen now; things he can do if he wants to; he also speaks about misconceptions and freedom. Freedom!!! What is it? He realises his freedom on the inside; so the eternal question remains - What to do? Sometimes nothing, sometimes lots of things.

So now, this young man wants to find out what people in his community really think about young men such as him (hoodies) he is courageous enough to ask questions and listen to their answers and then to see what could happen next.... we don't know - we have no plan; just an understanding of the next bit that needs doing...ahhhh now we do this bit.....

Imagine, a group of young men, with questions and welshcakes, standing on the corner, stopping passers by and asking them questions about their perceptions of youth.....and then listening to their answers....

Last week I witnessed my neighbours door being kicked off its hinges and thrown into the garden. The police came over. As we spoke I told them about this young man and his friends and what they are wanting to do - they were interested and wanted to help; so the next part of what to do emerged....almost by accident - or some mysterious design that is beyond our understanding........

The young man loves cars; he is passionate about them - as it turns out he wants to have his own business, initially valeting cars, then fixing them......and who can help him realise his dream? I don't know, however he has asked me to help him find out. He is interested in the Zimbabwe work, interested in how it is for young men of his age there... a connection, a seemingly impossible connection - yet I know a young man his age in Zimbabwe, and they will speak to each other. Who knows what will come of that..... the future will tell us... we cannot plan these things.. they simply happen when we listen.

He wants to do a charity car wash in our local supermarket - to raise money for our Zimbabwe work and to get local people knowing he is there as a community service for them... how amazing! How do we make this happen? The next steps unfold with each conversation; it's easy.

So, why today? Why this blog? Why do I Surrender today of all days? Because I believe that is the only way to live. How can any plan I make to force reality and the world to conform to be better, more inspirational, more passionate than the truth and beauty that comes from people's hearts when we take the time to listen to them!!!!

I'm going to meet Sirolli today - in Blaenau Gwent; a county that is so close to my heart; I have walked in those mountains, I have sat under those trees that have been the guardians of the valleys there for generations; I have listened to what they said.....do this.....sit here....shut up....act now.....stop.....

I first heard about Sirolli a month back from Rhidian (Swansea Foundation - best business support i have ever had and believe me I have been to loads of supposed business support....that's another blog in itself!!!!) so Rhidian tells me to get this book - Ripples from the Zambezi - I read it and feel great this is so how I have been working.....it was just joyous to hear of this work!

Then the following week I am in a meeting with Sam, from Promo Cymru - great things happening at the Ebbw Vale Institute by the way! I got goose bumps just walking around the building!!!! She tells me that Sirolli is coming to Blaenau Gwent.....that there is gonna be some kind of project happening there..... I am immediately ambivalent! Joyous - thank goodness! And frustrated!!! Great, I have been shlepping around this place saying this stuff for years and feeling not listened to and quite frankly getting nowhere fast!!!! What am I to do??? I can't explain, except to say, I'm going to the workshop and I pray for good outcomes and possibilities - for myself as a self-employed person and for the people of Gwent who this is for...........

A self-employed person - that's how I create my income - I live with no security, no stability, probably on my wits a lot of the time and definitely in deep trust that my next months bills will be paid! So far, it's worked a treat!! To be able to keep open to movement, to know my opinions and my passion but yet not to be fixated upon them and open to change..... and to somehow support my children, my house, my home and my other interests. It really is a great way to live!

So, knowing all of the synergy that is there in possibilities, I'm now gonna go put my make up on, finish my hair, get into my car and drive in the glorious sunshine through the Neath valley, up the Heads of the Valleys road and see what the day will bring........

I don't really know the purpose of blogging; I don't really know what makes a good blog - what i'm supposed to write about or not.....but I hope with this blog that you have felt my heart and felt my passion and my purpose and you feel your heart and your passion and purpose as you read.

Mitake Oyasin - For all our brothers and sisters wherever they are in the 4 Directions of Earth!

Have a great day!!

Claire

Today I Surrender!

Big Plans will always fail to achieve the Beautiful Goal

Started reading this book last night - The White Man's Burden (William Easterly) - so far really interesting and provocative, which I like. And I found it so relevant for us here in Wales too - Planners, Easterly says, Plan.... they make big plans.....really big plans... and goals too. For example, the 8 UN MDG's (Millenium Development Goals).....1. Eradicate EXTREME poverty n hunger; 2) Achieve universal primary education 3) promote gender equality and empower women, 4) reduce child mortality 5) improve maternal health 6)combat HIV/AIDS, malaria..7) environmental sustainability 8) global partnership............beautiful and laudable goals for sure.

From a business perspective - as business people - when we set goals there are clear and very real drivers and motivators to actually achieve the goal AND always sanctions if we don't achieve the goal - for example the biggest sanction (using the word in it's LOOSEST sense) is that our businesses will fail - our customers will vote with their feet and cash and take their pound, euro, dollar to the next girl up the road......This is the problem, the Beautiful Goals that the Planners make have absolutely no accountability attached to them when it comes to these global issues of poverty eradication......

For example: UN Summit 1990 set as a goal for 2000 universal primary school education....this is now goal 2 of the MDG's for 2015.

For example: UN Summit 1977, set 1990 as deadline for universal access to water and sanitation - again this target is still there unachieved over 30 years and $2.3trillion (yes trillion) dollars later...for 2015.

And according to Easterly, no-one was held accountable for this failure. Why do these Big Plans fail? The suggestion is - looking at the evidence of re-curring failure for pretty much ALL big plans - is that it is a simple philosophical truth - Big Plans will always fail to achieve the Beautiful Goal.

Planners ask - what does the end of poverty require from foreign aid?

Searchers (we will come on to them in a minute) ask - What can foreign aid do for poor people?

A subtle but crucial difference.....especially when followed by the question - what do poor people want foreign aid to do for them?.......

Planners look to implement plans - usually Big Plans, get stuck on certain objectives then pour money after money at it despite evidence that it clearly isn't working.

Searchers look for any opportunity to do what works....and then they do it. They don't get stuck on the train tracks of infeasible objectives.

It's kind of like this: The Big Plan sets the way the water MUST flow down the mountain after the rain to achieve the Big Plan Objectives, which they believe are the right things to achieve. The Searchers see which way the water flows naturally down the mountain, through observation, attention, and then work with that to get the most out of the water flowing down the mountain for the rain clouds, the water, the mountain itself and everything living on and around the mountain.

In The Art of What Works, Columbia Business School Prof, Will Duggan believes that business success does not come from setting a prefixed goal then working crazily to achieve it. He says successful business people are Searchers, looking for opportunities to make a profit by satisfying their customers. There are Searchers in 'Aid and Development' work....(I know that's what I am and after starting this book I realise how difficult it is going to be for me to succeed in this area... the sheer force of the Big Planners looms over my vision like sheet metal!!! ) Yes, there are Searchers... read this example, it's great and SO obvious you will probably horrified like I was to find out that this was considered innovative and new practice and outside the box etc whatever you want to call it.....

Getting Mozzie Nets to the Poor

World Economic Forum 2005 - celebrities and politicians decide its a great idea to get mozzie nets to poor people....this had been tried many times before but failed dismally, with most getting diverted into the black market, used as fishing nets or wedding veils.

Population Services International (PSI) gets its funding for doing stuff that works. This makes the org act more like a Searcher and less like a Planner. They figure out a way - almost by accident - to get these nets to the people who need em, with initial funding from the bigger aid agencies. PSI SELLS nets for 50c to mothers through ante natal clinics. The nurse who distributes them gets 9c for every net she sells (giving her incentive to always have them in stock). Nets are also sold to richer people for $5 a net - bringing profits to help the subsidies....

The PSI net programme increased the national average of kids under 5 sleeping under nets in Malawi for 8% in 2000 to 55% in 2004. mmmmmm.

oh dear! So what is this blog about... just sharing this business of Planners and Searchers. It's certainly been my experience so far - and not just in the short time of the 4CC project, but here in the Community Development work I TRY to get involved with in Wales - it has been my experience as a Searcher that the Planners get in the way time after time after time.....

So how can we sensibly deal with this? The question for me is ALWAYS so

'what do we do now?'

and moreover

'Will it work?'

I once read something about stupidity; as I recall it went something like this.....

Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I suppose a final word to Planners -who may say well, we change our plans if they don't work etc.... that isn't the point..... there is STILL a PLAN!!!!!

I'm thinking now about how all this fits with Schumaker's ideas - Small is Beautiful.... maybe i will blog about that next....

Please circulate this blog I'd really welcome views and involvement

And as a SEARCHER i'm looking for what works!!!!!

So then we can get on and do it!!!!

have a great weekend

Drink plenty of water xxx

Making a Start!

Masikati! Masikwerasei? Good afternoon! How's your day been?

First off, thanks to Dawn at iCreate in Swansea for giving me the idea to start blogging about 4Cyfeiriad Cymru (4CC)!! And thanks to The Swansea Foundation - Rhid n Ian - for all your superb support!!! Top guys! I've just come from a presentation event to The Swansea Foundation talking about 4CC's ambitions and ideas; the main reason to bring it to Foundation members is we can really offer an exciting opportunity in CSR using micro-loans and also we figured that lots of new ideas would and will be generated through the members of the Foundation. The meeting was great and really useful to me and hopefully to attendees... a small but enthusiastic crew! Dawn said - make a blog!!!! Ok!!! Ever obedient to new ideas!!! Let's give it a go....

Where to start.... 4CC is a new venture aimed at poverty alleviation in Wales and Zimbabwe and we've got loads of cracking ideas how to make a difference in both countries. In a nutshell:

micro-finance opportunities for SME's to make small loans to wanna-be entrepreneurs both in Wales and Zimbabwe, training events on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), community engagement fundraisers - ZimRock - will do a special blog on ZimRock later I reckon.....

Big vision - how to make it happen??? Well, it's an inclusive work in progress really and the more input and ideas we have the better.

At the moment, there are 4 of us on the team - me....general gad-abouter raising the profile here, Liz, our treasurer and kicker-of-my-backside when I need it (yes! Those of you who know me might find that hard to believe but even I need the KUB from time to time!), Jo, our eyes and ears of the people in Gwent and then the fantastic and brilliant Brenda Sevenzo, our woman in Zimbabwe!!!!

Last Autumn, we applied to Gold Star Communities Fund and got money for an exchange visit to further develop our project ideas and do some ground work with the people in Mazowe (where I was stopping) to find out what if anything we could do to help - how we could help - but importantly for me, how we could work together to create sustainable incomes and livelihoods for people in both countries.....starting small!!! which is of course beautiful!

The trip was a great success....I will do a blog about that later!!! Just want this first one to be general overview... and i guess although i'm not sure how these things work yet, if anyone has specific questions for me or Brenda, then you can ask via the blog??? (Dawn is that right??)

We got loads of ideas to take forward and 4CC was greeted with great enthusiasm..... our only disappointment to date is that the British Embassy refused Brenda's visa so she is unable to visit us here in Wales at the moment ..... anyone with any expertise or connections here please get in touch to help us!!! Gutting....

Right now we are working to get charitable status and have the fabulous Amanda Newman from GAVO helping us to put in various funding applications to get this show on the road.. .we need some basic start up funds to help with the processes and admin etc to get the micro-finance off the ground.... Also, there are various other funding streams we are exploring - signposted to us by Nicola and Jenny at the Wales4Africa team in WAG (Welsh Assembly Govt) and Ed and Craig at Gold Stars.....mmmmm

So, given this is a Making a Start! blog i'm gonna sign off right now and see what happens next!!!!

Please get involved - please invite your friends, colleagues, customers to get involved!!

the more the merrier!

Claire