Don’t Be a Hero Out There
Counter-intuitive advice, or words of wisdom? It’s the latter of those two, and here’s why.
This week, when tabling about my work with Mama Hope outside a local grocery store, a very kind gentleman walked up, and spoke with me about my work both as he was going into the store, and when he came out. He offered me tons of encouragement and support, and was an absolute pleasure to talk to. And as he was leaving to get on with the rest of his day, he turned back around and told me, “Don’t be a hero out there. You know what I mean by that?”
“Absolutely,” I replied.
If you don’t know what he meant, here’s what I think he was trying to say:
To understand what a hero is, think about the last superhero movie you saw, or about your favorite superhero comic. In the scenes where the super hero is saving the day, what do we always see? You don’t see the villain. You don’t see what led up to the pinnacle moment when events start to take a turn. You probably don’t even see a lot of the people that the super hero is saving.
But what you do see is the superhero in perfect focus, probably the largest and most centered thing in the shot or frame. They look strong, capable, and, for lack of a better word, heroic. In many cases, this is amazing. We need people who can swoop in and save situations. But when working with communities internationally, you don’t want to do that, and here’s why.

I mentioned that you don’t usually see the villain when the superhero makes their big save. But, in real life, a villain, or any other cause, be it a natural disaster, poor governance, chronic lack of opportunity, or economic disparity, needs to be factored into creating a solution that defines the pinnacle moment of change. If you don’t take history into consideration, or don’t think about why something happened, then any solution you come up is, at least, limited in scope.
As I stated above, you also don’t usually see the people the superhero is saving; you only see the hero. Here’s the trouble with that. Say that a hero with super strength saves a bus from driving off a broken bridge. After the superhero saves the bus, they get on the vehicle to check to see if everyone is okay. Sounds perfect, right? They did an amazing job, and didn’t forget about the people.
But when you are working to try to improve lives, or circumstances, or opportunities, it’s not that simple. By just checking on the bus passengers, the superhero fundamentally takes them out of the process of being saved. The passengers were inputs in the situation, and their continued existence becomes an output and nothing more.
On a bus, maybe that’s okay. But when you are supposed to be doing work that could make a tangible difference in people’s lives, you need to do more than just check in to be effective. Being thorough in your approach requires putting yourself in the background and in the behind-the-scenes shots to engage in conversation with every person you can: community leaders, neighbors, school children, and locals. They will tell you “what’s up” and can lead you towards a project or solution that is most apt for them.
On another note, through conversation, you can get them excited about making changes, get their feedback, and earn their trust to the point where they can invest in your ideas because they started with the locals’ perspective. This can lead to an interest in keeping up the programs you create, which can lead to an eventual decrease in dependency on your abilities and contributions. In the end, you just might be a part of something that those communities you visit can now use and call their own. Being this person isn’t a hero, but they serve in a far more valuable way.

This is how I am going to try to work on projects when I get to Kenya. I see that it is so important to synthesize viewpoints and ideas, and to collaborate when creating programs that are meant to solve pressing problems. Without the input of community members, and without their earned commitment to change and success, any prescription for change is valueless. Going abroad to serve other communities is not about being a hero. I don’t want to be the singular person in focus at the front of the photograph who just saved the day. I want to be in a group photo, shaking hands with and hugging the community members who offer me the insight and expertise to turn simple ideas into game-changing realities. Until next time…
Much love,
Hamsa
Do you want to support my work with Mama Hope? To learn how to get more involved, and to donate, click here. Thank you!