It’s difficult when people want your approval and help on something you know very little about. I have been approached by community members who will first offer their thanks for my volunteer efforts, then launch into how Malawians need the help of white people and how white people can help move Malawi forward. Clearly this is a highly racially, culturally, complicated scenario to attempt to deal with, not to mention confusing, sad, and frustrating. I have definitely not mastered how to deal with this, but have proposed to the Malawians who insist that white people know more of development, that if they do really want development they must trust each other and often trusting each other will prove much more effective than insisting on trusting outside foreign people.
Of course not all Malawians think this, but it’s difficult to know what to do, when I am assumed as not only having superior knowledge on development, but superior knowledge on anything, including fish ponds. I don’t know what to do about these interactions, but somewhat more directly pressing, I don’t know anything about fish ponds.
I have dealt with this type of scenario by attempting to work collaboratively with the group or individual who has asked for guidance and leading them through a process where I am working as sort of a facilitator. I try to set myself up as someone who has extra time on their hands to organize and initiate projects they can continue and often know more than I do about not only the project, but its projected outcome, etc . I guess I haven’t really been here long enough to see if this is working out, but the other day I tried a different approach. I didn’t really do it on purpose and I am sure part of why I did do it was because I was sort of pumped up by biking up a hill to Pride by U2 and I Gotta Feelin’ by the Black Eyed Peas.
While the first may be a somewhat cheesy classic rock number that many of my more hip friends would make fun or me for and the other a fluffy pop song, they both are incredibly catchy and I have found it hard in the past when on highways specifically going to NYC, specifically when you can see Manhattan, and specifically with Bono, to drive under 90 mph.
Anyways after my Bono Black Eyed Peas uphill biking fusion, I was stopped by a man who had previously wanted my help to start a fish pond in a neighboring village. If he was a rock star singing this request, or perhaps gave me a request rap, I might have cheerfully agreed to help, but I was somewhat angered that my life music video had been interrupted so I told him: “You should just go for it, you have the group, you the location picked out, you do it.” He laughed at this and then said, “but we wanted you to check the location, see if it’s ok.” I quickly asked myself “Do I look like I know anything about fish pond location?” I didn’t say that however, I instead regained composure, yanked my bicycle from his friend who kept creepily touching it, and said “I have faith in you, I think you know what your doing, just go for it, and if you have any problems, I’ll help out, but I have faith that you can do it.” And he didn’t laugh; he genuinely smiled and said “Thank you.”
And then I smiled, not however, at the creepy bicycle caresser. I repeated that I have faith in him again, he smiled again. So we’ll see, but his smile seemed to promise so much more sustainability than the meetings I arrange as “facilitator.” Maybe in the end I will have to arrange another meeting on something I know almost nothing about or maybe one day I will just cycle by a thriving fish pond, headphones blaring, and feel only the need to issue a solid “keep the faith,” shout out and a “lookin’ good!” In reference to whatever exactly that may entail for a fish pond.
