As I moved from bustling Managua to small-town Granada, the smallness of the world smacked me on the face and reminded me why I’m here.
Just when I was starting to feel a bit lonely and wondering why, exactly, I had decided to come to Granada all by myself, the world opened itself for me.
Within 24 hours I randomly met four – yes, four – different people who will ALL be in Ocotal the entire time I will be, are in some way associated with Grupo Fenix and were quite happy to talk, listen and make plans for the summer.
My lesson now is obvious: the barriers between us all are no harder to overcome than a few minutes of conversation. We talk at Macalester of Global Citizenship, civic engagement and internationalism, and whenever I philosophize about these concepts I think on a macro scale, nations relating with nations, entire ethnic groups finding common ground.
But my project this summer is grounded in person-to-person relationships, and it’s only going to be successful if I can forge them one at a time. No one of us can really expect to alter humanity’s course; but by intentionally affecting a handful of important relationships with the intention that everyone will pay it forward, we can all move together toward our common ideals.
Please, use this forum to explore how you’re going to do that. Remember: this only works as a dialogue!
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This is very wise, Zach. I am proud of you!