Better Late Than Never

It has been a while since my last entry, and I have changed time zones, languages, and cultures several times. Right now I am in Kenya, typing to the sounds of shouting babies, chirping birds, and Marvin Gaye. Before I dive into what I am doing in this last third of my world tour, I think it is time for me to mentally unpack my time in the Philippines. It is ironic that I use the term “unpack”, since the only thing I hate more than packing a bag is unpacking it. I unpacked my bag from the Philippines less than 24 hours from boarding the plane to Kenya.
As always, the little library that I take on my travels is about as random as a Final Jeopardy question. I have with me; A Complete Idiot’s Guide to Philosophy, 21st Century Leadership, Companion to the Poor, Dispossessed, How to be a CEO, A Beginner’s Guide to the World Economy, my Bible, Prophesy Deliverance, and several editions of Bon Appetit magazine. I find my reading time shorter than usual. *SPOILER ALERT* Books about world economy aren’t written to keep you on the edge of your seat, and analytical dialogues about emerging styles of leadership aren’t paperback page-turners. So, whenever my intellectual attention span burns out, I grab a Bon Appetit and read up on the culinary adventures of hip chic-chefs around the world.
Why is this important? Well, this morning I was diving into, uh, dipping my toes into German philosophy and renaissance humanism (I just wanted to say that to sound smart), and I stumbled across something that I connected with. The German philosopher Nicholas of Cusa (1400-1464, for those of you who care) is credited with coining the term learned ignorance. Simply put, the more you learn, the more you see how ignorant you are. The more you know, the more you know that you don’t know.
It is fit that I am drawn to renaissance humanism, since the meaning of renaissance is “rebirth”. For those of you who have seen my baby pictures, you will agree with me when I say I deserve a second chance. No, I wasn’t an UGLY baby, but I had color issues, and my eyes were engaged in an epic duel to see who could look the laziest. Picture a cross-eyed smurf. That was me for my first few days of life.
Renaissance. Rebirth. Reborn. Revival. Reform. Refine.
As I travel the earth, nomadically drifting from continent to continent, one of my goals is to learn as much as I can. Part of my elevator pitch to my parents one year ago was, “I am going to take a year off from FORMAL education.” The assumption was that I would soak up everything I could, and at the end of the year I will have amassed more knowledge and life wisdom than one year in college could give me. Not to mention it would be cheaper. I am not home yet, but I can honestly say that I have learned so much, and in learning so much I have learned that I have learned so little.

Ok Levi, thanks for the phun phacts about philosophy, but will you phinally tell us about your time in the Philippines?

Ok, and I will write in the same way I have travelled; without goals or planned direction. My words will wander onto the page in the same way that I have been wandering the world. Hopefully, both this reflection and my travels will end in a good place.
I can’t talk about the Philippines without first mentioning their national hero, Manny Pacquiao. Pound for pound the best boxer in the world, Manny is an example that reflects the balance of Filipino society. After aggressively destroying his opponent in the ring, Manny walks over to the corner and prays for several minutes before doing anything else. Hostility and tranquility. Every country and every culture encounters hostility. In the Philippines, it comes in the form of a government that seems to try to make life hard for people. The tranquility comes in the smiles and hopes of the people living in the squatter communities. The hostility comes in the deep corruption that runs “the system”. The tranquility comes in the blood, sweat, and tears of the men and women in the NGO community and civil society who have devoted their lives to fighting “the system”.

While most of my time in the DR was focused around church and ministry, my time in the Philippines was centered around NGOs and politics. I felt a little bit like the American version of Alexis de Tocqueville. I began my trip by spending a week at COPE (Community Organizers of the Philippines Enterprise. *Everything in the Philippines is an acronym. You don’t go to the bathroom, you go to the CR.*) I would often give my aunt and uncle a hard time, joking with them by saying “You guys are wonderful hosts. It’s my first week here and you ship me off to spend my first week with a group of strangers in the slums and squatters areas of Manila.” Although as un-hospitable as it sounds, there is no better way to be introduced to a city, a culture, and a community than to be immediately immersed. The organizers at COPE were a mixture of old(er) and young, “back in my day” and “I can’t wait until my day”, experienced and fresh. Each day I would go with a different organizer to their community, and I would watch and take part of grass roots organizing. I didn’t feel the need to DO too much, since that is such a Western concept, but we will get to that later. People began to call my time at COPE an “exposure”, although I don’t like this term, since it conjures up negative images (the first time I heard the word exposure was when I heard about a creepy man in a trenchcoat-and only a trenchcoat-going to playgrounds during recess. You get the picture.).

Call it what you want, my time at COPE reopened my eyes to the importance of grassroots community organizing. In the past, I used to think of community organizing as groups of has-beens coming together to sign petitions and hold clever signs at rallies. I used to think that grassroots organizing meant clusters of marginalized activists wearing buttons with silly one-liners about whoever was in authority at the moment. Besides, there is no real responsibility in community organizing, right? *zing*
The guys and gals at COPE were part of a different breed of activists that lived by the universal mantra of-If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

I spent some time at several other NGOs, and I began to notice something that most of them had in common. Everything they focused on, as an organization, was something having to do with the government, specifically the implementation of laws that were written for the good of the people. On my first day in the Philippines, I was told that the Philippines had one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. The problem stems from the lack of implementation. Many of the laws, codes, and ordinances were put into place by members of civil society themselves, however they are rarely implemented. This has created the lack of trust of the government among NGO workers. The Machiavellianism of many Filipino politicians has divided civil society with a fine line in the sand. On one side, the feeling is overwhelmingly anti-government. “If they aren’t for us, then they are against us.” To this side, politician is a bad word. This side spends the majority of their time protesting, boycotting, and what I have come to view as organized whining. Now, to a certain extent, protesting and boycotting are fine tactics if they are coupled with action (not to be confused with activism). However, whenever a mentality of “Us vs. Them” is adopted, it is hard to bring sustained change to the community that is being served. The group on the opposite side of the sand deals directly with the questions of; If not us, then who? If not now, then, when? They provide an answer.

US.

NOW.

Not that the second group lacks the bitter aftertaste of skepticism, but I feel that they speak the language of hope and change (yes, I did work for Obama), better than the first group. A paradigm shift needs to occur in order for true change to come, and that has happened for this group. Many of the vocal leaders on this side of the sand were once activists, and some even brought down dictators during the waves of social revolutions.
Ok, so if this group could overthrow dictators, then why hasn’t dramatic change come to the Philippines? The answer is simple. Sustainability.
I went around the country speaking at forums on changing politics. I shared my experience working on the Obama campaign as a field organizer, and how important grassroots community organizing is in bringing change. After my talk/speech there would be a Q&A session. The most frequent situation I encountered was as follows…
Someone would walk up to the microphone, ranging from young to old(er), man to woman, student to professor. They would clear their throat, introduce themselves, and then say something like this;

“Good afternoon sir. It was nice to hear about your experience on the Obama campaign, but that was in America. This is the Philippines, and we have had change before. We have had three socio-political revolutions, and we are still in the same place where we started. It is inspiring to hear about what happened in your country, but this is not America. Is change even possible?”
Is change possible? Yes, of course it is possible. We all know that. The question that should be asked instead is, “Is sustained change possible, and how do we create sustained change?”
To the person asking the skeptical question at the forum, I would always challenge them. If it was an old(er) person, I would tell them that they brought change, but did not sustain it. You can have a revolution every weekend, and can put anybody in power, but the real measure of your success is how that change is sustained. You can’t simply elect the best candidate (or, in many cases, the lesser of two evils) and then leave them with all of the power and problems. It is not enough to say “Ok we elected you, now go change our country and fix everything. We will check back with you next election time.”

If it was a young(er) person, I would tell them that the last thing the Philippines needs is another revolution, and to a certain extent the real goal is not to only have peaceful elections. The real goal is to create a sustainable movement of change. The difference between an election/revolution and a movement is that the former is finite. It has a measurable beginning, middle, and an end. A movement is ongoing, and regularly re-evaluates the goals and priorities, and works continuously towards a common goal. So, if the goal is just to have a peaceful election (which is all fine and dandy, don’t get me wrong) then you know when it will begin, and when it will end. The day after the election, everybody returns to back to “normal” life, and leaves the elected official to do their job. What happens if you don’t sustain that change, and hold that person accountable? They will be quickly swallowed by the monster of corruption.
People in the Philippines were quickly losing faith in the political system, and the election process. They would tell me that even when they did elect the right people for the job, they would quickly become corrupt and cross over to the dark side of the force. I would ask in reply, “Now, whose fault is that?” I was usually met with a blank stare, either because the person did not know the answer, or they were reluctant to admit that they knew the answer. Eventually, it would come out.

It is our fault.

I am not a fan of the blame game (although, I have let our dogs take the fall for an occasional stinky stench or two). However, isn’t it amusing to witness the reactions of individuals whenever they realize that they are a part of a bigger picture? I don’t want to get into the complexities of existentialism, but there is no greater arena that magnifies the significance of the individual (as it pertains to society) than politics.

So, how do we bring significant change? As I have mentioned before, it needs to be sustainable. One of the things that I have witnessed in my travels is that there is a key push in the direction of sustainability. From ministries to businesses, drug dealers to mission trips, sustainable development is one of the most frequently used terms. Those people who are biblical minded will view life, and therefore missions, as a race. And as almost every preacher has said from the pulpit, the race is a marathon, not a sprint. As humans we are naturally inclined towards the sprint. Perhaps we can blame our short attention spans, a bi-product of commercials, sound bite television, and 60 second microwavable meals. Take, for example, the Olympics. The world glues itself to the television during the Olympics, and which sports do we like to watch? We all remember Insane, er, Usain Bolt right? The fastest, and most arrogant, man in the world. Who among us can name the winners of the long distance running? And no, saying they were probably East African doesn’t count.
Politics is a marathon as well. It can’t be treated as a sprint. In other words, we can’t just line up (register to vote), run as fast as we can (campaign), cross the finish line (vote), and go home and take a shower (return to “normal” life). When we treat political change as a sprint, we set ourselves up for disappointment every time. Sustain the energy, sustain the vision, and you will eventually cross the finish line (with the East Africans).

The key ingredient in Sustainable Soup is accountability. There is an upcoming election in the Philippines on May 10, 2010, and members of civil society are preparing for the outcome by creating a model of representation that will elect and hold the newly elected officials accountable for their actions. This is called the Change Politics Movement. Corruption has a strong gravitational pull, like the Death Star, and in order to keep from being pulled over to the dark side of the force, the politicians will need more than a Luke Skywalker mental resistance. Keeping from the dark side takes more than willpower, it takes accountability.
I am proud of the amount of accountability that we have in America (for those of you who just scoffed, you obviously haven’t repeatedly bribed police and government officials with less money than it takes to buy a cheese burger off of the dollar menu). Here is a good example of the
intensity of our accountability:

While on the campaign trail, Barack and Michelle promised to get the girls a dog after November 4th, 2008. Shortly after the election, Obama went on Leno and was asked an interesting question. It didn’t have to do with the crumbling economy, the nuclear crisis in the Middle East, or the rapidly deteriorating social security system. Jay Leno asked President Obama if he had gotten the girls their dog yet. We will hold you accountable Mr. President…In my speeches I would highlight the need for sustainability, and accountability. There are many more ways to bring dramatic change to a country, but I didn’t have time in my speech to go over all of them, and I will spare you my thoughts on that for now.

Being vs. Doing
In western culture we have developed a philosophy that genuinely intrigues me, and at the same time baffles me. It is the notion of productivity, and accomplishment. When you come home to your loved one, what is the question that is usually asked?

“Hey (insert pet name here), what did you do today?”

What did you do today? More importantly, how would you feel if you didn’t really do too much? Whenever I had days when I didn’t really accomplish anything, I used to feel depressed. Wow, Levi, there goes a day you can never get back. Life is about maximizing our time on this earth, right? So, stop reading this and go find a cure for cancer. You can’t watch re-runs of the Cosby Show or go to the library and read because you should be working so you can get money so you can consume. Rinse and repeat. I don’t want this to sound lazy, but my time abroad has taught me to be comfortable with chilling. What did I do today? I chilled with the kids here at Tumaini. We made cupcakes and watched a movie. Who is to say that I can’t go to the other side of the world just to hang out?
“But wait, aren’t you a missionary or something? Isn’t this a mission trip? What did you build?”
Relationships.
I am about to type the dumbest, most loaded, and most commonly misinterpreted expression ever…WWJD? What would Jesus do? Shoot, I am not even going to pretend to know, but I can tell you what he did. Jesus chilled. He hung out, all the time. He didn’t feel the need to accomplish much, until the end of his time on earth. We don’t even really know what he did for the first 30 years of his life. He was all about being, and developing relationships with people.
The last six months have been about BEING, and I know that’s a particularly abstract concept, but there is no clearer word to describe my M.O. I had no goals for the Philippines. There was no plan. I knew when I was going, and I knew when I was coming back. I knew that I was staying with my aunt and uncle, and…hmm…yup that’s about it. The two most important words that I have been saying to myself for the last six months are LET GO.

LET GO. I have slowly learned to free myself from worrying and guilt, since neither of these two things can help me. My new perspective on missions, one that revolves entirely around being rather than doing, has helped me to cross into other cultures rapidly. In the Philippines, letting go helped me to be more than just another (you fill in the blank; tourist, backpacker, nomad, American, etc). I let go, and many of the things that I let go I surrendered to God. I let go of embarrassment and inhibitions, of pride and need to be accepted. I let go of fears and pet peeves. I let go of anything and everything that would hold me back. When I was in the Philippines, I even got the words “Let go” tattooed backwards on my chest so I would see it every time I looked in the mirror. Just kidding, Mom.

The power just went out. Maybe that is a sign that I should let go from the need to resolve this reflection. Maybe I am just projecting my writer’s block and laziness onto a timely lack of power. Does it matter? Not to me, and that is the joy of this new era in my life.