Meeting of the minds
I’ve been to high-level summits discussing global water and HIV/AIDS initiatives. You know, the kind where you have tables with a little microphone and a bottle of water at each chair and huge podium up front with a logo the size of a stadium projected on the backdrop behind? The kind where 400 people in suits and polished shoes are milling about and you hear phrases like “food security task force” and “efficacy of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission” floating above the hum of conversation.
This wasn’t like that at all. We had 6 chairs pulled up around a table, which had tea-stained napkins and cookie crumbs on it. Our backdrop consisted of a couple small windows that projected light onto the painted cinderblock walls of an otherwise dim basement. And none of us were wearing suits.
But in spite of the humble surroundings in the basement of a friend in New York City, there was a sense of excitement as Blood:Water Mission and 3 organizations discussed the integration of HIV/AIDS and water programs for transforming the lives of people living in Africa.
As Blood:Water has explored ways to be more integrated in our approach to AIDS and water, we have recognized the need for the collective voices of our partners – both in America and in Africa – to come together to speak into this need. It was almost by divine appointment that we were able to congregate in NYC during what is unarguably the busiest time of the year.
Experts in their own countries, these organization shared their vision and knowledge over tea and coffee, speaking into the challenges and needs shared by one another. At the end of a long day, a row of cups and sugar packets arranged in a diagram was all we had to show for our work. But it was enough. It represented a wholistic approach for integrating AIDS and water in what are some of Africa’s most challenging regions. While still a plan in it’s infancy, it will be a launching pad for what I hope will be some of the most exciting work Blood:Water has ever engaged in.
This, I believe, is the greatness of what we as a community possess – where individually our efforts may feel inconsequential, but when we join together, there is a strength that can overcome even the challenges of poverty. Ironically, it’s a lesson easily forgotten. Ironic because this is the lesson we work so hard to instill in communities in Africa – that poor as they are, if they will work together, they possess the power to change their future. John Donne spoke well when he said “no man is an island”. The same is true for organizations. The same is true for each of you who is on this journey with us.
As we close out 2009, I’m excited about the coming year. Excited about our partnership. Excited about all the people who have contributed to the Mission this Season. Great things are afoot.
-Barak Bruerd, Director of Africa Programs
Filed Under: Disease • Hunger/Clean Water • Justice Issues Feed • Poverty
