Community Organizing

This is the time of year where VBS is in full swing—kids are running around, volunteers are planning things last minute, and parents are more than happy to shoo off their kids for a couple hours.  Ah yes, summer :)  Here in Costa Rica, on the other hand, there are no summer bible schools, no fun fests, no themed lesson plans.  Well, in all actuality, it’s not even summer for them… but I have been around kids more in the last few weeks, well months really, than I ever have been before—VBS included. To be honest, I don’t really remember signing up for this… haha.

Why so many kids underfoot?  Well, most of what I do here is centered on a community organizing project called Bola Bola (lit. Ball Ball).  This project was created by, with and for the kids in our community with the aim at fixing up the local soccer court.  The cement floor is breaking up; the surrounding chain-link fence is rusty, coming apart (dangerous), and is too short to catch any stray balls (so we lose them to the surrounding rooftops); the dimensions are more square-like than an actual soccer field; and there’s no roof so when it rains (which is like 6 months of the year), we can’t play.  The goal then is to, by working together in teams, encourage the community and local government to take on that responsibility.  So far, we’ve had success in the fact that the community is behind us and helping us raise donations and the municipality is currently drawing up the plans for the new construction.  Yay!

Painting a mural with the kids

But there’s more to this project than just fixing a soccer court.  Why work with the kids?  Why not go straight to the big guys on top?  Our project is actually two-fold: fix the court as well as foster leadership in the kids and teens. We want these kids to come out of this project with the wherewithal and the knowledge to continue on in our absence.  We want them to be newly committed to their communities and to actively seek change in the world around them.  We are guiding them along this path, teaching them skills like public presentation and note taking, how to advertise and communicate with non-members, and how to show up on time to events and meetings.   We are also teaching them about the roles and processes in organizational meetings, who the “key” players are in the community, and how to motivate people into wanting the change you want. 

But working with kids can be really hard.  If it rains, their parents won’t let them come to the house for meetings for fear of catching a cold.  If they have school or homework or exams, most likely their participation will be non-existent.  If the meetings are too late or are set up last minute, they might not come.  In a word, they are not exactly in control of their schedules—their parents are.  On top of that, it has been (and continues to be) a huge challenge to convince the community that kids can be effective agents of change.  Please, let’s not limit them to “nice” and “fun” things like a sports day or a field trip (which are nice and all but what are they really achieving?).  Please, let’s challenge them.  Let’s believe in them.  Let’s provide them with the skills and the arena to exercise those newfound skills in.  Let’s take a chance, go against logic, and literally work from the bottom up.  By doing this, we are merely planting seeds—it will be up to God to build the garden in them :)

If you are curious about community organizing and the model that we are using (yes, we have a model), Rachel, Guissell and I have recently published a semi-professional blog about our project.  If you would like access, just email me or Facebook me with your email address and I will send you an invitation to join.  And even if you’re not that interested in community organizing, the blog is a great tool to stay connected with our Bola Bola project and see how things are developing.

On a side note (but probably still pretty important), I have decided to stay here until at least December.  This project will not be in a place for me to leave in September like I had originally intended.  Besides that, I’m just not ready to leave yet :)  But, by adding another 3 months to my stay, I need to raise another $700 to cover my living costs.  Ahem.  So here’s the part where I ask for money and things get awkward… In all sincerity, all of you have been overly generous in supporting me thus far and I cannot express my gratitude enough.  Could you be persuaded to help me a little bit longer?  Or nudge that person next to you who hasn’t donated yet?  And even if you can’t contribute financially, I would greatly appreciate a barrage of prayers for our project and that we can come to a place soon where I will feel that I can leave. 

And, another shout-out, if you know anyone who can speak Spanish and has worked in communities or with kids and is looking for an adventure, please tell them about me and the project here.  We can always use some more hands around here :)

Thanks again for all your support and prayers!  Stay tuned!!