An instructive conflict
Dick Danckert
IN MARCH last year, as part of the Columban Partnership Programme from Bell Park in Geelong, I visited a small rural primary school in the village of Reserva in the Philippines.
We were escorted by officers of the KAZAMA Grameen Bank. The bank in Reserva has about 40 members and many of their children attend the primary school.
The school consists of three classrooms each housing a composite year group. They are desperately in need of repair and are poorly equipped. The children are like school groups anywhere - noisy and happy. The teachers are dedicated and extraordinarily inventive in finding ways to deliver the best education possible under these trying conditions.
Yet, appearances can be deceiving. Don't we all put on our best face for visitors? In discussion with the principal we found that some children turned up to school hungry and that there aren't enough funds to buy new equipment. In one classroom students shared a pencil. Many children drop out before grade six and the ones who graduate don't go to high school.
That night while reflecting on the day's experiences, someone suggested that we go to the nearby larger town of Olongapo to buy pencils for the school. It was a good idea, but was it the right thing to do? If we sent money would it be spent on pencils? Our analysis started.
The Reserva school Principal was keen to promote the KAZAMA Grameen in the village because their members had an income that allowed them to feed their children and pay school fees. Should our money go there instead? We talked well into the night with no resolution. Finally we decided to support the KAZAMA Grameen and to keep in contact with the people of Reserva - noting that the KAZAMA Grameen supports community and school projects in the village.
We felt deeply the treasures we received that day. The spirit of community from the people we met has enriched us and sent us home to share with our local communities.
In sharing our stories and raising money to support our new friends we remain inescapably conscious of our conflict as to the most suitable approach. It's inspiring to meet people who have been afforded an opportunity to work for a better future with access to funds from the Grameen Bank.
It's unjust that people are yet to have access to that opportunity and that the economic structures of the country are so biased against them. Why is it that the structures of the global economy favour us in such imbalance?
Enlivened by the people of Reserva we will continue to search for answers.
