Blog Post #3
In Hannah Mate and Wilmi Dippenaar’s video, I was able to retain a lot of useful information that could be shared with my NGO/group. During their discussion, Wilmi touched base on numerous values that were essential to their project. First and foremost, I’d like to agree that our projects give us the opportunity to know our partners well and to see how different cultures view issues from their point of view. This class and the NGO’s that we’ve been closely working with have been a great experience so far. It’s very interesting and powerful to see how people dedicate their time and efforts into creating projects that can be a lifelong resource.
One thing that I’ve learned during this project process and during the video was the importance of having fun with our NGOs and trying to create interpersonal relationships. As Wilmi stated, having fun is the most important value when working alongside our partners. It allows us to realize that there’s time to work and time to not focus entirely on the project. When there’s fun, there’s the sense of community and shared smiles amongst us and our NGOs. For instance, RKSS has created unique questions almost every meeting and they’re ice breakers that allow us to know a bit more about our NGOs. I’m a firm believer that there’s time for work and fun, but when they’re combined it alleviates some tension and stress.
The information that was spoken about during the video has made me consider the influence that this project can bring. Whether it’s amongst us New School students or our NGOs from India, our projects can go a long way. Wilmi mentioned something called “project perspective” and it’s essentially how we want people to know about our work and acknowledge these communities as a whole. Given the time and dedication that’s been put into this project, it would be amazing if it was being brought into scenarios like future classes and even class discussions. Future students could understand the meaning behind these kinds of projects and what it’s like to work with people from different countries and backgrounds, yet share similar project goals.
