The First Day's Work

4 May 2015 - Monday


It didn't take long to meet most everyone on the SembrandoPaz team – I suppose getting to know them will be the harder part. We had our first meeting today and I met the majority of the team, from Lani (an American who will essentially be my supervisor) to Ricardo (the founder of and visionary behind SembrandoPaz). It is really an extraordinary organization, at least in the literal meaning of being unusual and by all appearances also in the superlative way. Ricardo opened up the meeting reading in the Bible, then he had each person at the table say how they were doing – not their work, not their stewardship, just them as a person. The heartfelt replies were inspiring. If only every team cared about each other this much! Not that every organization should replicate this exact exercise, but the general idea of explicitly demonstrating care for the personal well-being of team members is brilliant.

Lani and I spent the afternoon planning my month in Colombia, both in terms of schedule (five communities to visit in four weeks, each with its own schedule to balance) and in terms of our teaching. We know that we want to get the youth (ages 15-25 ish) of the area, who are mostly without work or future, organized and doing good projects that they come up with. We know that we want to help them get funding from the government or NGOs. So our job is somehow to start that work, to figure out what the youth want and help them select representatives to write proposals and find who to send proposals to. It's no easy task, but it's probably more important than any revenue stream I will generate with PwC. These are youth who were displaced by massive violence for much of their childhood, and helping them peacefully re-establish their lives – well, it is a glorious challenge.

Just a last word about Ricardo Esquivia, founder of SembrandoPaz. I was primed to be a little starstruck when I came, thanks to a friend's high praise, but still I have been so impressed with his wisdom, simplicity, and faith. He never makes himself out to know the most, but rather relies on the resources already in communities (or on his own team) to solve seemingly intractable problems. It means that his work moves a tad slower than some might like, but I think it ends up being more long-lasting than many other projects because it starts at the basic level, helping people become self-reliant. I'm grateful to be working with him.