Growing seeds in thin soil

A cafe today, with littler preparation on the ground and a tricky issue in a community, but a good result today and some good learnings about harvesting.  Here are my notes:

Before we began the chief invited us to stand in a circle to pray and to have some introductions.  I was introduced and invited the group to find beauty in the work here, identifying what they really cared about for the education of their young people.  We stayed standing in the circle for a half hour while some of the Elders talked about how hurt they had been over the past several years as the work the community had done to set up and govern the education system had gone sideways.  They expressed frustration at the lack of communication and transparency and a perceived lack of respect for the community’s voice and the hard work that the community had done over the years.  They talked about having more meetings, and more process to include people deep in the work of building support for the education system.

When people are stuck, you cannot move forward without acknowledging where they hurt.  You cannot sweep pain and feelings of injustice under the carpet.  People who are willing to stand for principles and stand for their beliefs need to be heard and acknowledged.  No amount of defending or apologizing for the past will always do the trick either.  In fact defending leads to more stuckness and no one ends up getting what they want.  Concerns need to be heard as interests and as rooted in deeply held views about how things should work.  The Elders in this gathering are talking about a process that they can be involved in and an education system that they can be involved in.  It’s clear and to avoid that or design a system that does not makes space for their voice or passion does not transcend the pain and bad feelings that are the residue of the catastrophic collapse of the education board in years past.

To get through messes, simply listen, acknowledge, suspend beliefs and assumptions and make sure you hear people clearly and that they are heard clearly.

What do we want for education in this community?

We began with this question.  The first two rounds of conversation focused on it.  From there we asked: In a perfect world, how would our community be involved in education?  We then finished in a circle again.

Part of the art of hosting is dealing with fear.  I am so sure of the importance of a strong field being in place that when I work in a place where the field is weak or wobbly I fear that nothing will take root.  But good questions are like weed seeds.  The can thrive in some of the most depleted environments.  And those first seeds that fall and sprout in depleted or barren ground make plants that make more soil.  Lichens and mosses break down rock and create mineral soils that larger plants can grow in. Likewise, sometimes you just need to work with what you’ve got – design a question that assumes the best intentions of a community and drop it in and see what happens.  People choose their engagement in cafe, they make decisions all the time about who to be with.  In many subtle ways those decisions actually work towards optimal.  During the evening, the law of two feet took over in this cafe.  Many people were visiting with the Elders to hear what they have to say and the Elders were strategically visiting with others to make sure people understood their perspective.  This is the field of good soil that is created by a good question and the freedom for people to engage.  It’s by no means a garden of rare and wonderous plants, but with careful tending, the meager harvest from tonight could at least represent a change in the life of the community around this issue.