One of the great benefits of being
in the Peace Corps, besides of course all of the obvious benefits, is that you
have access to a fairly good sized informal library that has accumulated over
the years from various volunteers at headquarters. I have recently raided said library
and picked up lots of good reading material. One of the first books that I have
begun reading is called “The Power of Kindness” by Piero Ferrucci. I have
started to read it in the little spare time that I have and I highly recommend
the book, though I have not finished it yet (It has a forward by the Dalai Lama
if you don’t take my word for it). Ferrucci is a psychotherapist who basically
argues the case for why people should be kind (not sure why people need to be
told to be kind) but he goes about making his argument by breaking down the
different characteristics that he believes makes up a kind person. For example
he has a chapter about honesty as well as empathy and humility. In each chapter
he uses many personal life examples as well as tales from lots of different
cultures to make his points. Now this book has a lot of interesting talking
points but one of them I think is very interesting to me and that is the idea
of community.
To me there are countless different
types of communities, including families, towns, student organizations, sports
teams, and many more however I think one of the easiest definitions of what a
community is, is any group that gives a member a sense of belonging. Everyone
wants to be a part of something and feel as though they are loved, accepted,
and wanted and for these reasons the idea of a community is so appealing.
Another appealing aspect of communities is the fact that much more can be
accomplished in a like-minded group of people than by an individual. To
illustrate this point Ferrucci tells of a Jewish tale in which an old Kind is
dying, he calls before him all of his people and asks the weakest one of them
to break an arrow in half. The man does it with ease. Next, the kid asks for
the strongest of his subjects and asks him to break a bundle of arrows. The man
tries and tries but cannot succeed in the task, at this point in the story the
King explains to the people that he is giving a gift and that gift is a oneness
that will allow them to complete great tasks because that oneness is what gives
them great strength. When people feel a part of something that is larger than
themselves, they feel the purest form of belonging.
In my opinion, there are good communities and
bad communities. Good communities promote positive social upbringings and
values while bad communities promote violence, and poor societal interactions.
Families are the best example of a good community, a member of a family can
mature in a safe environment into a respectful and productive member of society.
With the recent trend of “broken” families, children are not receiving their
sense of belonging that they so desperately need. Since the children are not
getting that in their home they make the choice, whether subconsciously or
consciously, that they must go outside of the house to get that sense of
belonging. This can either go one of two ways, like so many things in life it
is a crucial turning point and they can either choose to join a “good”
community or a “bad” community. An obvious example of a “bad” community is a
gang and it is for the above stated reasons that so many youth are attracted to
gangs in this day and age. A pessimist would look at this issue and say that
there is no hope, that the problem is too great. I however like to look at this
situation from a more optimistic point of view and say that we have a great
opportunity to create positive communities for these children and in these
communities child can be taught how to become responsible and productive
members of society in a safe and welcoming environment.
I see this sense of
belonging as a huge need here in Honduras. There are many “broken” homes here,
some are from divorce, others are from death resulting in a single part home,
and others are simply from a partner leaving the home. Another very common
situation here is that one parent (usually the father) has gone to either the
U.S. or Spain for a job, they send money back to their families but they are
not there to fulfill so many other needs. Another very common situation is these
people in the U.S. or Spain create another family in that country and basically
forget about their first family. Very sad and very common. With so many of
these kids wandering around Honduras longing for belonging in a community of
any sort it is no wonder that gangs are a very large problem here. As a
volunteer I would like to be able to start a youth group that would provide a
safe community environment for all youth where they can grow and mature into
the next generation of Hondurans who will hopefully continue to provide a safe
community environment for youth creating a snowball effect. With that snowball
effect, Honduras will one day be a country were youth can grow up into future
world leaders without having to overcome the current challenges that they face,
that is one of my dreams.
