I have quit things before. I quit volleyball after two days at summer workouts before the 9th grade (granted, I thought the seizure I had during the second day was a sign the sport was no longer for me). I did two days of soccer try outs my senior year and realized not playing for more than seven years had definitely hindered me, so I quit that. Sure, I could have gotten better, but at what cost? Not being able to walk normally because of my sore muscles and having my ego torn down every time I was the last one to finish running?
But those are excuses. And maybe you think those things I quit aren't massive hinderances to my personality, but I can't tell you how many times I have heard to never quit, "even when the going gets tough." But I did. I quit when the going was tough.
Not to toot my own horn, but there are bigger and tougher things that I haven't quit. I am an environmental studies major with aspirations to work in an environmental NGO, for heaven's sake. While my decision to quit certain things may not be a positive personality builder, who's to say I wasn't saving that energy and my precious ego to be burnt down for things I find more worthwhile?
Now I'm just trying to make myself feel better. My point is, people quit things. But it's what they choose to put their energy into that really matters, not what they try and then decide isn't for them. There are exceptions of course, but I'm trying to paint with broad strokes.
This week I experienced two different groups of people who are persistent in their fight against grand and ruthless competitors. First, on Wednesday and Thursday, four women from Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) taught the class about how women's rights and the environment, specifically environmental degradation, are connected. Women are the most negatively impacted group when it comes to climate change. Specifically women in the Asia Pacific because these are the countries who have to deal with the brunt of the issues stemming from climate change.
I was only able to be in one of the two classes, but what I learned from the first class is there are systems and institutions in place that break down the rights of women. And when you add the other aspects that make up a person (intersectionality, folks), like wealth, education, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, ethnicity, and many other things, you get areas of privilege and restriction.
And while women have been deprived of certain human rights for as long as there has been humans, groups continue to fight. And even though the patriarchy is alive and well (if you don't believe me, take a look: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/international-womens-day-2018-statistics-numbers-female-lives-feminism-gender-pay-gap-a8244101.html ) the reasons to fight lay in half of the population (those who identify as women and those who are non-binary) and their inherent right to be treated equally. The reason to take this fight from the environmental side is because of the health effects climate change has, the fact that women are the ones having to find fresh water and when that water recedes farther and farther, then they have to walk farther and father, and that when development projects come and take people's land with promises of compensation, women are the ones that loose their livelihoods because men are the ones getting hired at the new dams and mines. The patriarchy is not a one-trick pony, it seeps into everyone's minds and all current and future aspects of people's lives.
That is why it is not only important, but imperative that we support feminist organizations that understand the intersectionality of people and the struggles women have to deal with. APWLD is that type of organization.
The next heavy and fire filled topic I would like to describe is the LEAD workshop Angela and I took notes on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It was a workshop for community organizers, either from ERI or from other organizations. Together they discussed the strategies they employ when they begin to help a community that is being impacted by a development project. Each person had a different method, ranging from Health Impact Assessments to Natural Resource Mapping.
They discussed the importance of getting the community involved with as many steps of the development process as possible. Also that the community should be the ones to make the decisions, not the NGO that's involved. The role of NGOs, in their unanimous belief, is to provide all information and resources so the community can make an informed decision. The decision could be to fight the development project-- which then the NGO would provide resources, like lawyers-- or if they want to take the compensation-- at which point the NGO would provide resources to assess if the compensation is enough. Either way, the work with that community does, does not end their. There should be continuous check ins and health and environmental assessments.
While I knew the work of an NGO was not easy, especially when working with directly effected communities, I had no idea it was so involved and systematic. First, an NGO member must build trust with the community so they are able to assess the situation and for the community to trust the information the NGO has to offer. As there have been NGOs that may have done a community harm in the past, this is a very important step. This work is not quick by any means. During one session, a question was posed on plans for the next two years with a community the NGO member had just began working with. The response was they had no idea, as that was not a long enough time to know what steps should be taken. Two years!
After Thursday's session, we went out for dinner at a local Thai restaurant. There, I was able to have a conversation with an ERI member from Cambodia. One of my final questions for him was whether or not he had hope for the future of the environment and human rights in the areas he works in. His response was surprisingly positive. Although he had said earlier that the timing a NGO has to help a community is out of its hands, work must continue. You cannot let yourself get restrained by the development company's power or the community's level of understanding, these should be propellers for your work. He said that although there are things out of your control, there are many people in the fight for the future of the environment, and because of that and the good work that he believes can be done by NGOs and concerned people, hope should be kept.
As someone who has had numerous classes on environmental studies, I was taken aback by this optimism. There have been very few times I have left a environmental class feeling the future was on our side; and that the system was not rigged and that this was a fight that could be won. And yet, here I was, sitting and eating my ice cream bar with a man who is in the environmental field. Who has been with communities about to be ravaged by a project that will provide benefits to the few powerful, rather than the worthy majority. Who was saying he had hope for the future. Who was saying good things are yet to come.
I will say it sparked a little hope inside myself as well.
On the last day of the workshop, the members went around and said what was helpful and what they did not like. The last person, a woman from an outside NGO, also said something that was strangely awe-inspiring for me.
"Despite our ongoing struggle, we shouldn't forget about the system that put us in this situation. By doing this, it will keep us on track and give us hope. Even though you finish one case, there will always be another one, so make sure to stay prepared. We all have the same struggle, but just in different contexts. We can all learn from each other."
I mean.....
She thinks that hope is possible when the system, put in place decades ago and backed by laws and policies, is to blame?!? AND, that even though there will always be more people to help, it is not hopeless work? I mean, wow.
This group of people, in and of themselves, are inspiring. The fact that they still go into community after community and do not quit, is unbelievable.
The similarity, other than the environment and human rights, between APWLD and the LEAD workshop-ers is that they are fighting an at times fearful fight (at least for me) for people. It is current people's lives that are being impacted. These people do not have a choice to quit their situation. So, we have groups like LEAD and APWLD who see that and who know that even the smallest step in helping one person, creates a little bit of hope for that one person. A little bit of wrong is righted. And even though not all battles are won, everyday a little more good is put into the world just by their efforts. That, to me, is worth all the energy and broken egos that could come about.
Be well,
Annika