Engaging With Our Heads, Not Just Our Hearts

Over the years we have learnt that as important as our heart is, we can’t lead with that alone, we need to use our head too. We need to be smart about how we partner with the communities in Zambia and avoid doing harm.

As a team we are always evaluating what we do, wanting to do it better. We read books and blogs, we research and read reports, we look around at others who we can learn from, always on a quest to not just “do something” but do something well. You might remember a blog post from us last year talking about Toxic Charity and how the concepts in that book really resonated with us and have informed some of how we work, so that we can avoid becoming “toxic” in what we do.

As part of this learning, last month here in the UK, we invited a couple over from the US to share their wisdom and experiences with us, to help us evaluate our journey so far, to spark discussion and ask us the right questions as we head in to this next season. The couple, Shawn and Holly Duncan, are based in Atlanta and have worked alongside Robert Lupton, the author of ‘Toxic Charity’, as well as lead their own organisations focusing on healthy community strategy and engagement.

The time with Shawn and Holly was invaluable, and as often the way with such discussions, left us with more questions than answers - but the questions are good! Here are just a few (of the many) we are continuing to think about and discuss:

How do we continue to build healthy and meaningful engagement with each community?

How do we engage in a more robust framework so our models aren’t reactionary models?

How do we better focus on the person and their potential (strengths, abilities) rather than the lack and need we see?

We fully believe that everyone has something to contribute. Everyone. We choose to go beyond ourselves, knowing the moment we make ourselves the heroes of the narrative we are in a dangerous place. 

Our heart is, and always has been, to see communities restored. Not just educational or economic restoration. We want to see communities, and the individuals within them, flourishing. So we choose time and time again to engage our heads, not just our hearts, to do this well, to do this better.