There is an exciting new development in the project. Every Tuesday morning the young women of Kantolomba get on a video call with the U.S. team! That this reality has come to pass is reflective of the Chinese proverb we once featured on a Practice T-shirt: “It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.”
In order to be on the call, we needed the internet. In order to have internet access, we needed to have an internet connection. In order to have an internet connection, we needed electricity. In order to have electricity (given the realities on the ground in southern Africa at present), we needed solar. We now have all of those things thanks to a Practice that trains us to be here and take the now step no matter what the voices say to stop us -- “It will never work, it’s too hard, we’re not getting anywhere, we’ve tried a million things…”
The calls are wonderful conversations, conducted in English, with an ever-widening group of young women. Everyone is tracking! There are action items and taking notes. We’re discussing in-depth topics about micro-businesses, education, health…
We are all learning a great deal on the calls! We’re learning not just about the content of the topic under discussion, we’re discovering a way to learn—how to communicate with one another, how to use technology to share ideas (we’ve been Ecosia-ing things together with screen-sharing!), and what will best support these young women as they navigate adulthood.
We are truly blessed to have a Practice that trains us to be Here with what is—this step now—instead of indulging a conversation about a better idea of how it should be or could be or how we need to be different or the situation needs to be different—a conversation designed to stop us. Instead we continue, taking each now step as it unfolds.
It is a tremendous gift when we round a corner and suddenly have the stunning panorama of where each of those now steps has brought us. Let us pause and enjoy the view.
Gasshō
Jen
On a recent Tuesday call, Memory, Malila, Rechel and Joyce answer some questions from their research. The young women enjoy the calls and are learning more with each conversation.