The Journey
07.20.2012
Earthen Hands Community
It has been almost a week now since we all came together and
already a community has formed. We were
talking today about how building a earth bag house is more than the sand,
gravel and clay that the structure is built from. It is the community that forms in the process
of working together.
It is the silly
moments, the times that we work together to overcome obstacles, the shared work
and meals, the laughter, the singing and dancing. Each one brings a piece of themselves that
contributes to the whole. Each one has a
strength, where someone else has a weakness.
When one is tired from working long hours in the hot sun, there is
another to take his place. There is the sharing of our pasts and our dreams for
the future; our history and our cultures.
And in all of that, there is the bonding that forms a community.
That is what I will take from this experience that I hope I
can carry to Akobo with me. That sense
of community that is growing along with the foundation and walls. I remember the day the elders and I met to
discuss the location of my new house and the women’s center and the great sense
of hope and excitement that went along with it.
I remember the day I left and the expression on the builder’s face as he
showed up with beautiful crayon drawings of what the house/office would look
like. The community building that has
happened here is my dream for building our place in Akobo.
Just as the sun broke the top of the mountain across from me,
I woke to the sound of wild horses calling each other, voices raised over the
sound of the waterfall outside my tent. One from the right calling, the one
from the left, answering; one leading the other through the underbrush, with a
simple call of his voice. A simple call
that leads through the unknown, that is what has me anxiously awaiting my
return to Akobo.
Besides learning to build a house, I am learning to build a
community here. The basis of our
community is the respect we have for each other in spite of our differences in
lifestyle and beliefs. Our finding ways to work around things that could be
potential conflicts by taking time to listen and understand where the other is
coming from. Respect for each other’s
joys and sorrows and worries. A coming
together to pray, each in his own way, offering up thanksgivings and praises,
prayers for healing and wholeness for those we know who are hurt, sick, injured
or hurting; praying together in spite of our differences in faiths and beliefs. It is my prayer that some of that goes with
me and the stories I can tell about our time together will help lead others to
put aside their differences and come together in peace.
Part of building a community is storytelling. I can’t wait to hear the stories that can be
told in Akobo. One person made a very
good point when he said the problems in America are due in part to not
listening to our elders and what they have to say. The past is a good guide to the future. The elders know the past and that is a good guide
to the future. As we were having one of
our lessons about how to orient a house using the sun and the direction of the
prevailing winds I had a flashback to the day that the elders were choosing the
location for my house and their discussions about which way to orient the house
and where it should go on the place they had chosen. There were great discussions about how it
should face in the dry season to catch as much breeze to keep it cool. Then there was another discussion about where
it should go because of the rainy season and how to avoid too much water as the
rains come down and to keep the rains from coming in the windows. There were discussions about the veranda
placement to keep it shady during the parts of the day when the women would
gather for lessons and fellowship. There
was much to be learned that day from the elders and I pray that I can continue
to learn as we go forward.
So, as I go forward into this new day, I wish you well my
friends and I will write when I can.
Peace,
Sharon
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