Progress

Last Friday, we had a group come out to Itipini called Arm in Arm. They are a group from a Methodist Church in Massachusetts that comes every year to bring medical supplies and things for the kids. This year they not only brought us a heap of all kinds of medications, but also brought beaucoups of blankets, dresses for the preschool girls, and these handmade crochet bears for all of the children. All of the kids were, of course, overjoyed and pandemonium ensued. In the end, everyone had a bear, a holographic bookmark, stickers, and some marshmallows. It was fun to see how much the kids enjoyed their gifts and also quite interesting to talk to some of the adults. The most interesting part in talking to many of the adults who were seeing Itipini for the first time was getting to glimpse how they viewed Itipini. Several people made comments full of pity for the Itipini community and others went out of their way to take pictures of barefoot kids next to pigs instead of taking pictures of the garden or the wood workshop or high school tutoring room. I found myself fervently defending the community as I was talking to people who asked me questions like, “How do you deal with how hopeless this place is?” of “Do you think what you do here actually makes any difference?”

 I found that some of the things they said and did really irritated me at first because they were missing the point completely. The more I thought about it, though, the more I came to realize that many of those things they said and did were things that I too said and did in my first few weeks/months here. On the surface the place does look incredibly hopeless and, from a distance, it sometimes looks like what we do there has no impact. It’s only been in getting to know this place and these people and this culture that I have been able to see a clearer picture of the dynamics of Itipini. It’s only because I have had time that I understand (or at least am beginning to) the ways in which the Project is working in subtle but long-lasting ways.  In a single example, we only have five TB patients right now. Less than 5 years ago, there were 20 or 30 at any given time. Our current 5 patients are also after a group of nurses came in from the municipality last month and went door to door to all the shacks and tested everyone they could. An old volunteer, Jesse, used to make daily rounds to administer shots of Streptomycin to all the TB patients who couldn’t make it up to the clinic because they were too weak. Today, we have no patients on Streptomycin which is what they give you when you have a really severe case of TB. So not only do we only have 5 TB patients, but they are all generally mild cases. In summation, because of the patient and diligent work of the clinic, there is very little TB left in a place where it used to run rampant.

I think many people, especially Americans, are always very anxious to see immediate results. We feel fulfilled if we can see the fruits of our labor quickly, quantify the outcomes, and recount them to others. Real progress, however, is something that is slow and organic. It is something that is less ‘problem and solution’ and more ‘transition period’.  It is something that takes time to grow and time to form. Real progress is also something that you can’t always see when you’re in the midst of it. It’s not something that can be boiled down into numbers and figures or fleeting moments of instant-gratification. It is not something that HAPPENS, but rather something that BECOMES when a group of people work and live together. Real progress is always two steps forward and one step back and is always, always endless amounts of patience and perseverance. Real progress starts by really listening to what people are saying and by really seeing what is going on around you. 

Jeff, Sister Dorothy, and Mrs. Twala with an entire counter full of medicines, supplies, bears, and blankets!

The veranda packed with visitors and excited children.

Handing out the crocheted bears.

The world's most adorable crocheted bears.

The kids and their new bears!

Really cool holographic cards that the kids got

Uxolo, 

Karen