Agents of Change
What is it like to take the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium to a developing country - one that is keenly affected by the lifestyle and choices of the Western world and Northern hemisphere?
During a sabbatical this past year, I had the privilege of staying with Catholic Dominican sisters in Zambia for two months and facilitating four ATD Symposia with different groups. The participants in each group were sisters who are teachers, health care workers and university students. They are in positions of influence in which they can affect others and be change agents among their co-workers and students.
Effects of the Modern World on Developing Countries: Concerns for the Land
I was somewhat hesitant, wondering how this process would be for people in another part of the globe, particularly people who suffer much from the “dream” of the Modern world in the west and north. It was a most heartening experience for me.
I’m sure I learned more than the sisters did as they shared with me the stories of their concerns in the south—deforestation, pollution, mining, the impact of foreign investors who come in and use their resources but put no money back into the country, the fear of cancer, AIDs, meningitis, malaria and the relationship of the environment with all of these concerns. In their daily lives, they experience the true impact of the choices of the modern world. Minimum wage is the equivalent of $.89 a day yet their prices match ours. Many people are without electricity or running water and illness is rampant.
As we gathered for each Symposium, I asked the participants to share something about a sacred place in their land that was significant in their memory and experience and also to name one of their concerns about their land. Each person spoke with great appreciation of the gardens, the flowers, the rivers, the trees, the lavish beauty of their land. And they spoke with deep sadness especially about the issues of pollution and deforestation.
Two video clip scenes were especially poignant for me. The Nigerian fisherman who talked about how the oil is ruining the rivers and their livelihood and the woman who talked about the number of women in the village who had had miscarriages because of what was being done to their environment both brought a sad “yes” from the sisters who knew these experiences firsthand.
Honoring the Sacredness of Earth
I, as a North American, was embarrassed and ashamed as we viewed the chart showing how many earths it would take if the whole world lived as each continent lives. That it takes 5 earths to live like those of us in North America and only 80% of one earth to live like those in Africa, will be forever embedded in my consciousness as we try to move toward a more sustainable planet.
I was struck by how the people in Zambia learn to use everything. Old clothes and sacks for corn become the ingredients for doormats. Many people grow all their own vegetables. Composting is taught to children in the schools.
In each Symposium we talked about their rituals and traditions that honor the sacredness of Earth and they helped incorporate some of these rituals into our weekend. The sisters were receptive and excited about all they were learning. They left with strong commitments about their personal practices and explored ways that they would add to the curricula in the schools. One sister, a university student, said that the weekend had given her direction for pursuing a degree in environmental studies.
I left humbled and grateful for the opportunity to meet and work with the women of Zambia. Through my time with these women, I know and experience more deeply the global mission of Awakening the Dreamer, To Bring Forth An Environmentally Sustainable, Spiritually Fulfilling, Socially Just Human Presence On This Planet.
