The subtitle is "How everyday humanitarians are changing the world"
I follow Sister Eubank on Instagram, and was intrigued by what she was saying in her video snippets. I've always admired her, and have great respect for her work. She's open and vulnerable and obviously works very hard. I expected this book to be good, but it's even better than I expected! It's not just a description of the best ways to help the world, it's a very compelling call to action, I feel its pull.
I especially resonated with the part about cash being sometimes the best way to help. This is counterintuitive to me, because I've always assumed it would be misused or lost. It resonated with me, though, because I remember when I was working with Native American populations to help them in college, some of them didn't have gas money to get to campus, or menstral supplies to stay active during their periods! Sister Eubank also pointed to research that says cash is most often NOT misused as I had assumed.
I also like her emphasis on working locally, right where we are. And doing small things, which lead to great things. It's encouragement to see that the small things really are and become big things. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
..."many of the issues development dollars are trying to address were caused or made worse by the incalculable amounts of money, resources, and human capital extracted from Africa over hundreds of years of colonizing forces. Money alone does not solve these problems. In the absence of ethical leadership, self-determination, and the protection of basic human rights, development aid has proved to do very little to change the reasons communities and countries are poor."
"One of the reasons religious communities and faith-based organizations can often act as powerful change agents is that they are inherently made up of overlapping trusted networks."
"Trusted networks are inclusive.
Trusted networks protect alternate views.
Trusted networks foster choices.
Trusted networks hold themselves and others accountable.
Trusted networks can form councils that act."
Then she lists (beginning on page 62) 10 best practices for councils, which is a fantastic list.
And I love this paragraph from page 70:
As Westerners, as people with resources, as graduates of higher education--we don't say it aloud but--our underlying attitude is so often that we know what is best for people, how to solve their problems--we will teach them. This never works. We have no idea what is best for people. We rarely know what is best for ourselves. We do not have the solution to their problems.
Then she goes on to list five categories of questions to ask to get started... beginning on page 70.
All of these points are illustrated with interesting stories from Sister Eubank's world wide experiences, and they ALL resonate with me and my experiences on the reservation.
Here are the questions...
1. What help do you want?
2. What are you able to do yourselves?
3. What help do you want from the community?
4. What will you do when the need comes up next time?
5. Is it a local solution?
The term "second disaster" (page 30) was new to me, but I wasn't unaware that it happens. It's the tragedy of help gone awry...examples of huge clothing donations rotting on the beach because there was no plan for distribution. And refrigerators sent to Haiti who had no electricity after their earthquake.
At the end of each chapter, Sister Eubank offers thoughtful questions for reflection, and then my favorite chapters, 9 and 10, invite us to ACT in specific ways.
