26-11
THE NEED TO START WHERE PEOPLE ARE,
AND WORK FROM THERE
Too often, Those of us committed to social change
have our heads in the clouds. We dream of the day
when our country, or even the world, will be a place
where ...
• all people are treated as equals,
• all people have similar opportunities to work.
• all people have a right to a fair share of what the earth provides, and
• the many are no longer controlled and exploited by the few.
Such high and distant dreams have their place. For some of us, they provide a
long-range vision and sense of direction-a sort of compass by which we can check
our course.
But for those among us who lack sufficient land
to plant or who must worry about how to feed
their children, their dreams are closer to home.
Often they have little concern about national or
international affairs, even those that affect their
lives. Their concerns are here and now: “my village,
my children, my struggle to keep my loved ones
alive.” Life is too uncertain right now to worry much
about what happens far away or far in the future.
Their concern is not for some vague and distant
dream of ‘social justice’. It is to feed and care for
their families.
Discussion leaders sometimes fail to communicate because they talk in
general terms or use unfamiliar expressions. Try to build discussion around
people’s specific, immediate concerns—in familiar, everyday words.
To be effective, the health worker needs to begin with the day-to-day concerns
of the people, and work from there. As people begin to solve some of their most
immediate problems, they will find courage to look further ahead. In time, they may
become more concerned with how things at the national, or even international, level
affect their lives. But start where the people are!