South Africa Partnership – Our connection to Mother Theresa and American Indians
I was asked to write an article about how our Partnership ‘connects us - the MATE churches and the world’ - for the Summer 2008 "MATE Matters" newsletter. This is one of those nebulous requests that can be interpreted in many ways. It made me think about the much larger impact this Partnership has made than just the direct benefits of the various projects we continue to pursue in Macfarlan. I discovered we do have interesting connections with the world around us – past, present and future.
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For example – through our work with a Natural Farming expert - Tim Wigley - who we “found” on our November 2006 trip, many unexpected and wonderful consequences have resulted that have “connected” our Partnership with Mother Theresa [“WHAT?” I hear you say] and with the rich history of the American Indians [“WHAT?” – again!]. Let me explain.
The most successful of our projects in South Africa has been the Natural Farming Training that was conducted in February 2007. It was done primarily for the women who tend their home gardens in three of the villages of the Tyhume Valley – Dyamala, KwraKwra, and Upper Ncera. These gardens, by and large, are the main food source for the families – most family units have few job holders and survive mainly on the old age pensions of the elderly family members. What we heard on our recent visit were testimonials from the women in the villages that they ‘had more food this past year than ever before.’ So the direct benefit was easy to see – as Ernest Jwambi expressed it, “Everything is green.” In February I asked Tim Wigley what he thought of our efforts, both in regard to the Home Gardening training he did, and the plans we had to help implement a 2-hectare model farm in Upper Ncera. His response was provocative: “Helping is a delicate challenge; that is why after many years as a coordinator for World Vision I found myself in something of a moral dilemma. In spite of all the good we were trying to do it began to seem to me that we were actually being part of the problem rather than part of the solution with regard to alleviating poverty. It seems that people can only really prosper when they are able to recognise what they already have, be grateful for it |
and want to share it with others. So in a way, when we give things to people we have to be very careful that we do not block the flow of their giving. However, giving must also have a place otherwise nobody could do it!”
In further correspondence by Scott Planting and me with Tim on this issue , Tim offered an extension to this line of thought:
“The issue of affluent people wanting to help less affluent people is very challenging. So often the outcome is so different to what was intended. It is so easy to create dependency and or resentment on the part of those being "helped" and disappointment and resentment on the part of those offering the "help."
I have over the years given this matter a lot of thought. I think that the essential element is LOVE. I mean real love that inspires and gives a clarity of awareness; an awareness of our own motives and an awareness of the "other" unclouded by our own "stuff" (guilt, shame, a sense of ought to, etc.).
The best example of this I have witnessed was about 20 years ago when I had the privilege of showing Mother Theresa around a shack area in Duncan Village in East London. The conditions there at the time were truly appalling, and I had taken a number of groups there to see what at the time I regarded as one of the worst examples of the horror of apartheid. Well, all Mother Theresa could see was how creatively the people living there were coping with the adversity they faced. It was no act; her face literally lit up as she remarked with real awe on how creative the people there were.
This has become my first principle. Looking for and appreciating what is already there. It is in this light that Luke 19: 26 now makes perfect sense to me. I used to think this sounded quite unjust. How could it be that those who have will be given even more, and to those that don't have even the little they have will be taken away? Now I see it very differently. I see that whatever we focus on is what will grow. If we go into a "poor" community focusing on the poverty, then inadvertently that is what will grow. The poor that we set out to "help" will become even poorer. Hence the anger and resentment that often flows from charity. On the other hand when we can see the gifts and opportunities already present in a situation, then that is what will grow.”
In further correspondence by Scott Planting and me with Tim on this issue , Tim offered an extension to this line of thought:
“The issue of affluent people wanting to help less affluent people is very challenging. So often the outcome is so different to what was intended. It is so easy to create dependency and or resentment on the part of those being "helped" and disappointment and resentment on the part of those offering the "help."
I have over the years given this matter a lot of thought. I think that the essential element is LOVE. I mean real love that inspires and gives a clarity of awareness; an awareness of our own motives and an awareness of the "other" unclouded by our own "stuff" (guilt, shame, a sense of ought to, etc.).
The best example of this I have witnessed was about 20 years ago when I had the privilege of showing Mother Theresa around a shack area in Duncan Village in East London. The conditions there at the time were truly appalling, and I had taken a number of groups there to see what at the time I regarded as one of the worst examples of the horror of apartheid. Well, all Mother Theresa could see was how creatively the people living there were coping with the adversity they faced. It was no act; her face literally lit up as she remarked with real awe on how creative the people there were.
This has become my first principle. Looking for and appreciating what is already there. It is in this light that Luke 19: 26 now makes perfect sense to me. I used to think this sounded quite unjust. How could it be that those who have will be given even more, and to those that don't have even the little they have will be taken away? Now I see it very differently. I see that whatever we focus on is what will grow. If we go into a "poor" community focusing on the poverty, then inadvertently that is what will grow. The poor that we set out to "help" will become even poorer. Hence the anger and resentment that often flows from charity. On the other hand when we can see the gifts and opportunities already present in a situation, then that is what will grow.”
So in a way, we have a very positive connection to Mother Theresa, and a glimpse of her profound love for the human spirit. We also see the impact she had on Tim Wigley. This same love was very evident in the project Bob Bull ‘appointed’ himself to lead within our Partnership. In addition to his many other interests, Bob was an avid home gardener, and he specialized in utilizing American Indian farming techniques and especially using Heirloom Indian seeds. Bob's email address was "TallPineBull" - a tribute to his Indian heritage. In the last two years, Bob sent to Tim Wigley hundreds of packets of heirloom seeds worth several thousand dollars. Some were seeds he harvested from his own garden; many he received from seed suppliers with whom he had a long history. As many of you know, Bob died unexpectedly in mid-February [2008]. I had the privilege to dine with him in his home for lunch on January 10, prior to our trip to SA in February. Bob served his end-of-season vegetable soup – this year’s offering |
had 37 different vegetables – all grown in his garden. On February 17, MATE hosted a celebration at the home of Ernest and Patiswa Jwambi in Upper Ncera – and the center piece of this party was vegetables grown by the women in their home gardens, many taught by Tim Wigley, using vegetable seeds of varieties that have been planted by the American Indians for centuries – thanks to Bob Bull. How awesome does it get?
An Update from Tim Wigley...
"You mention Bob Bull. What a wonderful man with such a generosity of spirit, his spirit epitomises what is needed to make this planet Earth, our home, the beautiful abundant place it is meant to be! I was very grateful for the seeds he sent and distributed them quite widely in Winnie's area as well as in the area around Cala where I was working at the time. Attached is a picture of Mr. Yolelo in his garden in Cala Reserve. You can see some of the beautiful Hopi pumpkins produced from Bob's generous donation of seeds. In Cala there is now a strong tradition of seed saving so I am sure some of the heirloom seeds are still being passed on there."
Best wishes,
Tim
EARTH HARMONY INNOVATORS
Best wishes,
Tim
EARTH HARMONY INNOVATORS
Bob Bull, Mother Theresa and Tim Wigley have given us much to think about regarding how we can “help” others. This is an issue our Partnership needs to review often – are our actions producing the intended results, or more importantly, unintended consequences? Are there more effective ways to empower and liberate, rather than causing more dependency? This tiny Partnership effort – between two small rural congregations in distant lands – has produced connections I never contemplated. And it is good. Ed Jesteadt MATE-Macfarlan South Africa Partnership May 2008; updated January 2012 |