Blog Post #5

Samantha Powers

 

List ten things that make you feel human.

  1. Relationships
  2. Hardship
  3. Learning
  4. Feeling of purpose
  5. Complexity and ambiguity 
  6. Emotion, particularly fear
  7. Fulfillment 
  8. Religion
  9. Language
  10. Ethics

 

Articulate your philosophy of engagement as it pertains to your work with the GSIF / LVSIF. Specifically discuss: Why should I engage? How must I engage? With whom must I engage? What kinds of challenges, opportunities, and approaches should I care about? What might my epitaph read?

 

A vital factor in creating a solution to an issue is taking into account the context of the environment you are working in. This is necessary in creating a solution that is wanted and applicable to the community. Without listening to the needs of the community and using indigenous knowledge to alter a system, a solution that is technically flawless in isolation can fail when put into action in another country. While I am both in-country and at Lehigh, I should engage because I see value and potential in the project. I should engage because I want to create systemic change and ultimately increase the income and livelihood of copra farmers in the Philippines. While I am doing fieldwork, I must engage with specific care in knowing the societal context in which I am working, as the dynamics or expectations familiar to me may not be the same in another country. The idea can be seen in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Though the needs are stacked in a particular order in which certain needs are necessary in reaching the highest need, every situation is different in reality as some may consider one above the other depending on the context. In order to discover the particular needs of my project, I must engage with copra farmers and the community to listen to the flaws of their current system and what they want to be done differently to increase their yield and improve their copra quality. I must engage with the intent of creating a sustainable solution to improve current processing techniques that will act as a cradle-to-cradle design while functioning without constant intervention. In addition to engaging with the copra farmers, I must engage with the students at UPD, as they are more familiar with the Filipino culture and can help us create a solution that fits its context. They may also know particular connections that are beneficial for accessing the right information and making the right relationships to move our project forward. As we work on our project, we will inevitably face challenges along the way in finding the appropriate solution. We should care about these challenges because learning from them is what will allow us to make necessary changes to our solution. Instead of viewing the group’s challenges as hindrances, we should view them as opportunities to improve our project. Without them, progress would be stagnant and our project would never reach the success that we dream it will. In addition to challenges and opportunities, I should care about the approach in which I work and interact with the farmers and community in the Philippines. This is especially important because it is the gateway to gaining indigenoius knowledge and improving our project. Throughout our fieldwork, my group and I may have to change our approach in the way that we communicate with the community based on recognition of what works and what does not work. My epitaph might read something like, “did what she loved while helping others in the process.”

One thought on “Blog Post #5

  1. Good work – I like that your philosophy of engagement includes both responding to the community’s expressed needs and having your own driving force of creating sustainable systemic change.

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