CONTEMPORARY MARKINGS

-- Part II

saturday, july 9th

My Lords, I entirely endorse the remarks made by the last speaker about our gratitude to my noble friend, Lord Sandford. I should also like to say how very much I agree with nearly everything said by the noble Baroness, Lady Robson of Kiddington. I hope to give an example of the sort of thing she wanted to see happen being put into practice in one particular inner city area.

I should like to produce evidence from the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which will show lowly people beginning to solve problems. This part of London was very severely affected by bombing during the War. After the War, it was rebuilt in perhaps a slightly unfeeling way which gave little scope for a genuinely mixed community, with the result that managers and professionals still tend to live off the Island . . . dock closures and reduced port employment have very badly affected the Isle of Dogs, which in addition has poor access and not very adequate public transport; and the position was that by 1976, with a population of just under 15,000, the unemployment rate for men had reached 14% and for women it was no less than 25%

That was not a very promising start, but a year ago last March there took place in the Isle of Dogs a consultation which lasted a week and involved just over 100 people, an adequate proportion of them being local people . . . As a result, there came into being something called The Isle of Dogs Human Development Project. It began life with a document of some 100 pages, but since the publication of that document there has been real progress and actual results. I will mention some of those results, and I do so in a random order intentionally, because I believe these varied results show that one needs a complete mix if one is going to awaken the whole of a particular district.

A social club has come into being on the Island, which has done things such as organizing football matches, children s parties, film shows and considerable fundraising for a preschool project; it has produced an Island song book, and it has even painted up WELCOME signs at the entrance to the Island. An historical brochure is in preparation, and plans are well advanced for a clubhouse, providing leisure activities for whole families in one place. The quite well­known Bridge House near the entrance to the Island has been restored, and a start has been made on rehabilitating other derelict historical buildings . . a small start has been made with, surprisingly enough, a cottage industry producing leather moccasin shoes . . Other small businesses are being planned . . . a nursery preschool is functioning from nine in the morning till four in the afternoon, with some 25 children and 14 parents involved, while other parents are going through lay group leadership training courses so that

additional whole day preschools will follow from this pilot scheme. There is a youth action corps in existence which gives training to young people in vehicle maintenance, and a former Port of London Authority building is being repaired by teenagers for future use as a youth centre. The young people in this corps are helping with all aspects of the Human Development project. At least one Town Meeting for a whole town has been held and local residents interest groups are emerging . . . they have carried out practical work on cleaning up the incredible weight of litter to be found on some of the residential estates. . . . An Industrial Development Advisory Board has been formed, bringing together industrialists, trade unionists and local residents. Together they have surveyed existing industries and vacant land and buildings. They are consulting with the Intermediate Technology Development Group on appropriate new industries. At the same time 43 shopkeepers are being consulted about trade development and what they can do to help not only themselves, but also the total local economy.

That is a great deal to have been achieved in the course of one year. . . . My Lords, I believe this experiment I have been describing is significant, . . . I believe it is necessary to motivate whole groups of people and to raise the morale of all the residents in a given inner city area. It is necessary to do this because, somehow or other, we must reverse the collapse of individual responsibility which is, I believe, very much at the root of the inner city malaise.

sunday, july 1 0th

Standing in Korea looking ahead, Kawangware seemed like an intimidating project to take on. We were clearly going to be in an urban setting with all its complex relationships and diverse needs. It was to be a project already a year and a half old as well as the largest one in both geographical space (five villages) and numbers of human beings (24,000). For the first time also, three people were assigned to do the same job that six had done in Egypt and Korea. So it was with nervous laughter and reasonable hesitation that we headed for Africa to begin the most exciting month of our Health Trek.

Kawangware is composed of five stakes, two of them forming the larger town of Kawangware itself. The three other stakes are smaller villages surrounding the town. One of the first decisions we faced was selecting the geographic unit for the focus of our work. It was clear that in four weeks we would dissipate our efforts by taking on the whole of the Kawangware Project. Muslim Village (Stake 3) was chosen for several reasons. There had been some previous thinking that this might be a demonstration stake from which others could replicate; it was the right size for doing a community (2,000); the project staff bad not to date had time to focus their work there; there were already plans for a service club to erect a clinic there. Conversations with the auxiliary and the community lead us to believe that it was time to "move on Muslim!"

We found Muslim Village a delightful place to be. It is a muddy, 20 minute walk from the community center and project staff house. It has a Mosque painted white with minarets in the center of the village square surrounded by clusters of family and rental homes. These stand askew to each other and give a sense of neighborliness in the midst of their irrationality. A large number of the homes need rebuilding as the mud plastering is in the process of falling apart. The village is not paved in any way, and the present rainy season turns it regularly into a sea of water and mud.

We developed in Muslim Village several ways for maturing the embryonic health system. One of these was a replication scheme that involved Muslim Health caretakers training people from the other four stakes in Kawangware. Another was a newly created Health Caretaker booklet. The gifts we left with the people included the implementation handbook, decor for the weekly guild meeting, the clinic l.D. card, the baby weighing scales, money raised from the Health Fair and a first aid kit.

The memories of Muslim Village are many. We recall wearing gumboots through the Kawangware mud, silently pausing in the middle of class for the Muslim call to prayers, and watching the urban and rural leadership of Muslim work together on a common task. We laughed when we heard that the children of the village who listened at our classroom window were playing first aid and checking each others meals for the five food groups. We appreciated working in development with three of the Health Caretakers the week following the health consult. They learned quickly and brought enthusiasm to the day­to­day task of raising support money. Both the Health Team and Muslim Village are different for having worked together.

We are off to India!

monday, july 11th

I m really pleased that you are intrigued by the idea of winning in seven months. I really do believe it s possible. I d like to respond to one comment you are said to have made. You commented that the Pilgrim Fathers were optimistic until they hit their first winter. I could t agree more with the implications of this allusion. This is exactly my point. It's not our idle notion that it would be nice to do this community quickly. We believe this is a hard necessity. The snow falls here from late September to early May ­­ the winter is crushing! If we don t make gigantic strides this summer then we re in for a prolonged campaign! I don t think this is negative thinking. I think its hard realism. When the possibility is there, I think you would agree it s best from all perspectives to pursue a quick victory rather than a prolonged campaign.

Perhaps it is not possible to concentrate more troops here at this point due to global pressures. We would understand this perfectly. But we hope you don't think that the idea of a seven­month acceleration project has been proposed out of a naive optimism. We are painfully aware of the already­approaching winter.

We have decided to take the month of June and create our own economic intensification dynamic. This will take the form of six one­week problem­solving units involving both local people and outside expertise. The idea is not to rework the consult in any sense but to use intensification; we are not abandoning the social side in the meantime. The stake and guild structures, for example, are going extremely well. The total community has been visited twice since the consult, entirely through the stake structure. While we do think we can manage these PSU s largely on our own, we are dubious that we can maintain this acceleration without the injection of some trained troops for the summer months.

I ve been brooding for some time on a comment you made during our site selection trek in January. You said we are looking for a nation which will open the door to the world. I believe Canada could be this nation. I also believe this province is the key to Canada. It is ready! And it is a workable size as an entity. A great start in Vogar, a New Brunswick forum saturation and an accelerated project in Lorne de I'Acarlie are all needed if we are to realize this fantastic possibility.

tuesdav july 12th

Thirty days ago when I heard about you coming, I didn't know what to think. My nephew suggested that I go to Bismarck with Mr. Kroeger to see what it s all about. I made up my mind to do what my people tell me ­­ because I love my people, especially the young ones: my children and grandchildren who do not know the future. I 11 work with you and help any way I can. If it weren't for you people, we would not have what we re about to start.

It was warm this morning and I said, I m beginning to thaw. All this long time I must have been frozen, but seeing that this project works helps us realize the importance of life. All these things come together and I call it love. You people . . . when you go, when you all depart, we'll be left alone here. My wife said, I 11 be lonesome. But I changed my mind on that. The presence you left will stay forever. When projects come to pass, I 11 turn in my grave and smile. I dreamed a dream that I started crawling down a long tunnel. Today I emerged from the hole on the other side. The fresh air of the future feels good; it is fresh air for future generations. The gift you have brought is the future. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have done.

wednesday, july 13th

Our staff arrived by bus the day before the Gram Sabha was scheduled so we could work with the villagers in setting up and finishing preparing with them. There are two buses in and out of the village each day. They were anticipating our arrival and the whole village seemed to descend on the bus when it pulled to a stop. The people grinned and bubbled with welcome. They were pleased with the physical preparation of the village and excited, showed us everything. Then they took us to the Gram Panchayat's house for cups of tea.

It was obvious as we looked over the village that the first miracle had happened before we arrived. A road was cut from the entrance of the village, which before had been a path, to the school house ground. At the entrance to the village there were two signs: Grsm Sabha, Vaviharsh and The Gram Panchayat We/comes You. They had whitewashed rocks, graded land, and cut weeds to the ground. The central meeting area was in front of a one room school house with a porch. In the center of the area was a 'Maypole' with five other pples around it at 70 feet radius. Strings connected the poles and colored triangular banners were hung along each string. Palm leaves were wrapped around the poles and the porch eves and posts. A banner entitled Gram 5;abha Vaviharsh 22/9/76 was hung at the edge of the area.

As our Maliwada villagers and staff prepared, their anxieties mounted and their limitations and points of unclarity and lack of experience began to really show. I nearly died inside wondering if we would really make it. That evening the village held a big dance in the central yard in front of the school house. A drummer was in the center with a circle of first men and then women around him. About 40 men came into the one room school house where we were doing our preparation and sat on the floor and watched, talked, sang and listened to one of the Maliwada villagers play the harmonium. Some of us left and went to one of the houses for the night. Three of us slept in one room about 7' by 14'. The others slept in the school house. The whole household came into our room, put their mats on the floor, and talk.

The next morning activity started before dawn. We had prepared for the workshops by getting the names of the literate people in the village. We figured if we had 20 we could do the workshops for 200 people. It turned out we had 40. This allowed us to have five teams of two literate people each for every workshop. We gathered the illiterate ones around the team leaders for ten plus per team. Our workshops ran from 55 to 65 people each throughout the day. The literate people would write in the Gram Sabha book the individual reflections of all ten plus, although all ­ literate and illiterate -were given books. The literate ones would also interpret writing on the butcher paper and triangles to the illiterate, This worked well, and as the day continued the illiterate gained more courage and became more vocal. We worked hard training our workshop leaders. We had six two hour sessions of careful walk-throughs, explanations, practice teaching and evaluations. It paid off.

The attendance in the morning plenary held in the center area in front of the one room school house was over 400. The men and women sat in different groupings. All during the day we had over 200 in the workshops. The workshop held on the merchant's porch had a gallery of people 20 to 40 feet away who sat in the shade and watched the workshop. The group fluctuated in size as people from other villages would drop in during the day to see what was happening. The final plenary had over 300.

It was a great happening. The reporters very seriously read all the challenge and proposal statements. Then they read their story and sang their song which had a real beat to it. I will never forget the look of wonder on one old woman s face as they sang that song. Their slogan was an antiphonal chorus that shook the whole village. They repeated it over and over with great passion. Just before the story workshop was over, I went by and they were writing up everything. They showed me their symbol. They were proud of it but had no way to talk about it. So I began to spin a bit on the meanins and possibility of their history. They really came alive. Then they did their own powerful interpretive commentary during the plenary.

thursday, july 14th

We hadn't seen our infant son for almost a year and we weren't expecting the arrival of anyone who could bring him either. It was Friday afternoon and I was on my way to Cairo by myself. I had several appointments the next day, so I had walked all the way to the dock with two heavy suitcases. After waiting for a boat for about a half hour, we pushed off shore. I was so absorbed in my own reflections that I didn't see a boat coming across the river from Beni Suef.

Suddenly I heard my name being called, and looked around to see a man waving and holding up a chubby blond child behind me. I nearly jumped into the Nile! Eventually, through my excited babbling and crying in mixed English and Arabic, the boatman concluded something historic was happening and sailed the boats toward each other. This time I did jump ship. It took only the 15 minutes between the river and our house for my son to decide that I really was his mother.

Last week baby weighing was scheduled at the Clinic, so I took him with me. At first he was overwhelmed as everyone wanted to kiss or push or poke him. He was weighed four times as a demonstration, and a number of women who had not dared to weigh their children before tried this time. In the end our son was rewarded with a chance to ride on donkeys, and feed and scare chickens.

This week we opened the Infant School. We do a block of curriculum with the mothers, a block of developmental activities with the children, and a block of nutrition training and feeding. Today seven children and their mothers arrived. I m sure this group contained the largest number of sick, starving babies I've ever seen anywhere. We are beginning with those who are underweight or losing weight in order to encourage participation in the program as well as dramatize some real miracles. Our son participated enthusiastically, although he is closer to the size of a typical three­year­old here than to that of his one­year­old contemporaries. We used his bright yellow ball and all the children had a good time with it.

friday, july 15th

I don t know where to start bringing you up to date. I think I mentioned that Kwangyung II was ready to handle both Forums; they were under great pressure to prepare for the Fair, but we persuaded them to go ahead and I gunned the practice in Jeju. Mary Warren and Mrs. Lee visited each of the 12 bans (neighborhood groupings) with the village mayors wife to announce the Forum. The day arrived, we set up the room for 40, had materials for 75, and 150 showed up ­­ overflowing the Rl Hall into the preschool space. The children had to move down the road to the Health Outpost. The local women had a great time. Even their husbands were excited and proud that their wives were doing something special. Most of the shops were closed because there were no women to run them ­­ 80% of the village women were in attendance at the Forum

They said they would need to go home for lunch, so at break time we sent them out to come back in an hour; they refused to go! They wanted to keep working! So they danced and sang through the break for 20 minutes. The five oldest women sang an ancient wailing song while one of them moved about in a squatting position as if she were planting rice. It was incredible! None of the Korean staff had ever heard the song before. What really impressed me about the day was that these village women were addressed by the same thing that impacted the women of the city of Seoul. This grounded for me the relatedness of every local situation to the whole globe, and the comprehensiveness of responsibility and freedom as it is experienced by local man.

saturday, july 16th

Yorkville is a changing rural community in the heavily industrialized Fox River Valley approximately 50 miles west of the Chicago loop and ten miles south of Aurora. The city is being affected by the urbanizing spread. There are presently about 3,000 residents. The anticipated growth has slowed with the economy. However, it is still projected to double in the next ten years and then double again in the following ten years.

It has been said of Yorkvilie that we have the best planned community in the best planned county in the State of Illinois. We have a growing industrial park as well as other developing industries. There is one of the finest local shopping centers in the area, as well as the successful downtown shopping area. The city is served by one U.S. highway and three state highways. The Burlington Northern supplies a freight line. Airport facilities are available ten miles north or at O'Hare Field 40 miles away. The city has a great deal of annexed land waiting to be developed, and the annexability capabilities are tremendous.

In Yorkville, we held a Town Meeting 76 to let the people put forth the challenges as they saw them. Then, also, for the people for Yorkville to make proposals to deal with those challenges. This exercise in democracy was an extremely rewarding experience for all of the participants and for the community. . . . There was some initial doubt that our citizens would participate in the ­ numbers necessary for a good consensus. This was not a politically sponsored meeting at all, but was a grassroots effort.

It grew from one interested local leader to a nucleus of eight or ten. Then, in an amazing response, a total of 30 organizations and churches backed the project. Never before had anyone seen such cooperation. The press picked up that enthusiasm, and by the day of the Town Meeting great anticipation was prevailing.

It was a tremendous experience. So many fresh, new ideas to solve old, stale problems. It was an exhilarating time for me as Mayor to listen to these discussions. At the same time the adult program was taking place, a children s Town Meeting was held nearby. The children s Town Meeting followed a similar course and they all enjoyed their day also, and were sorry to see it end.

The benefits to the community have been great and are continuing. The cooperation of so many lifted the morale of the entire community. The Town Meeting itself made people aware of the love, concern, and problems of their neighbors and friends.