“How long will you stay in Presevo?” I don’t know how many times I heard this question as I was working to assist people on their way through Serbia toward the hope of refuge and safety. Each time I answered that I intended to stay as long as I was being effective. Then the time came when I knew that it was time for me to go. Now as I reflect upon my experience, I ponder that question of effectiveness.
Is the desire to be effective just another form of privilege and ego? What is effectiveness, anyway, other than a story that I tell myself about the importance of my role in a much bigger story? This story that we are all part of is so much bigger than any individual and the challenges are so complex that it feels like really arrogant folly to even imagine that problems can be solved, let alone by my actions. Perhaps all that any of us can do is be present and respond with an open heart and open mind and open will and to take the next step when it presents itself. At least this is what I tell myself to keep going when it all looks overwhelming and I feel ineffective.
Now I am in Greece witnessing the complexity of the story from a different perspective, appreciating even more the interplay between war in Syria; the largest human migration in Europe since before my lifetime; smugglers providing passage across the Aegean, often at the cost of a family’s entire savings, the possessions that they are carrying and too often at the cost of lives; a trail of waste and garbage and environmentally unsustainable, short-term practices of consumption and supply; the collapsed economy and austerity disaster in Greece; well-intentioned and generous donors confused by the plethora of independent crowd-funding appeals and slick marketing from big NGOs; an emergent solidarity economy arising from the failure of neo-liberal capitalism; an emergent, sometimes chaotic and uncoordinated self-organizing volunteer movement filling the void left by dithering and unresponsive governmental actions. Its all one story but it is so complex that I notice my tendency to want to carve it up into neat little narratives in which I can identify the heroes (usually myself and others that think like me) and the villains. Holding the complexity of all this is beyond my rational mind, yet at times I can sense the wholeness and interconnectedness, like a tapestry that I feel but that I lose whenever I try to focus on it and to make sense of it.
Immediate responses to the urgency of saving lives is essential. When it is pouring rain, it makes sense to rush out and buy every available form of rainwear including disposable garbage bags. When there are hungry kids waiting in the line for hours, it makes sense to go to the local grocery store and buy up the handy, overly-packaged junk food. But what if this “crisis” continues for five years? What if this is just a dress rehearsal for bigger migration events in response to coming climate changes? How can we get smarter and to think more long-term about our responses?
I came to Greece specifically to see a product called the “super-tarp”. It is an extra-large rain poncho that can also be used as a ground cloth and zipped together with a second super-tarp to make a small tent. The intrigue of the design was enhanced by plans to produce the tarps in Greek communities by worker collectives – solidarity economy meets refuge crisis. Since I have been here in conversations with Harper Pollack, the designer of the super-tarp, I have come to see that this product is only one of several innovations that could address the current needs of people seeking refuge in more systemic and sustainable ways.
Harper has designed a wood frame cot with a mattress made of multiple layers of bubble wrap. These beds can be assembled easily onsite in camps and the cost will be comparable with those made in China. Beds for refugees and jobs for local worker collectives. Another product is a body warmer using the crystallizing chemistry of sodium acetate. These warmers are recharged in hot water and carry their latent heating capacity indefinitely until they are activated at which time they produce several hours of 60 degree C heat. This product will also be produced by local worker collectives.
Finally, we have discussed the development of an integrated supply chain that allows volunteer and aid organizations to identify needed supplies (including food), donors to contribute the funding to acquire them and a network of local farmers and worker collectives to produce the products. This system will allow needed supplies to be stored until needed and then distributed quicky where they are needed. The system will also allow facilitate communication, feedback and collaboration among all parties in the system.
I can get very excited about these products because each of them addresses multiple issues from a long-term and systemic perspective. All of them are locally based and rely upon relationships, communication and co-creation. The scale is such that continual design improvements can be incorporated based upon the real experience of users. As this network matures and practices collaboration and co-creation maybe it will even be able to tackle more complex and challenging problems like a sustainable way to distribute and carry drinking water (eliminating the wasteful plastic bottles).
In combination with my excitement, I also have some apprehension. Each of these products needs time – a couple of weeks to a couple of months – and money – a few hundred dollars each – to move from concept through prototyping to be ready for production. None of these products is a proven concept currently and so there is some risk involved. Chances are that there will be some things that won’t work as anticipated. So, my question is whether investment of donationed money in unproven but high potential projects is a good use of money intended to help refugees. Is longer term, systemic thinking a responsible stategy or am I being seduced by my own desire for systems change and effectiveness?
I would really appreciate the feedback from trusted friends. Please take a look at the description of these products and the proposed startup budgets and timelines. Do they look like something worth investing in? I value your feedback and impressions as well as any funds that you would like to pitch in as I will be much more comfortable investing funds if they are matched by others. And, matching funds also allows me to stretch funds further to buy some of the things that are needed immediately as well as supporting these projects as they move into production phase.
Have any of you ever imagined being a venture capitalist? Well, this project is certainly not a capitalist venture but it is an opportunity to be an early investor in what could have long term impact as an alternative model addressing very real social and community problems.
It has been a long journey to arrive at this place and I feel so grateful for all of the life experiences that have somehow prepared me to be in this place, asking these questions. And I am also incredibly grateful for the assurance I feel that I am not alone in this work. I feel the support of so many people and I am very conscious that whatever I do, I am doing on behalf of a global community of supporters and friends. Thank you for being with me on this journey.
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