Un/Making CSC
Hope

Hope

“Dreaming is not only a necessary political act, but also a connotation of men and women’s social-historical form of being. It is part of human nature, which finds itself within history, in a permanent process of becoming… There is no change without dreams just as there are not dreams without hope…
Freire, P. (2007). Daring to Dream: Toward a Pedagogy of the Unfinished. Paradigm Publishers: Boulder; London

This is an unfinished, imperfect structure made of mixed materials. And on top is a nest, and inside the nest are some small things that may grow. We are always working with structures that are not always fully formed, in a state of unfinishedness, a state of becoming, in terms of, for example, public sector, democratic values etc. These are working structures, they are not really robust. The construction is not just a spatial arrangement, it is slow and needs time. The construction using different materials is not always fully connected as it is being built. But we work with what we have. The nest on top is a delicate, a life giving space; a space that nurtures things that are small and that will become bigger. So we try various things (the objects in the nest), they are far from perfect, they are small changes, and they are not always very clearly connected, but maybe they may grow.
This is an unfinished, imperfect structure made of mixed materials.
A digital photograph of a beaded necklace. A Imetaphor that represents the idea that my body is like our organisation, and I am wearing this necklace which has beads that represent the challenges of the youth, women and children in Malawi, the burdens. Our organisation has taken all the burdens on the necklace: this includes young girls who are being defiled, women who are being abused by their husbands, employees who are facing sexual violence. These problems are so heavy, weighing down the body, because our organisation doesn’t have enough resources to take care of all of it, sometimes we get negative publicity; but still our organisation fights on, and finds a way to carry it. Our organisation needs to become stronger to be able to carry it. When we realized that the amount of funding that we have is not enough to deal with all the issues that, that’s when we started looking at social enterprise and marketing some of the services that we have. So that whatever we have from those ventures can be used to support those things. Because over the years we’ve been adding things to our agenda, for example recently I’ve heard about climate change and mental health, and so we take it on.
In this metaphor, my body is like our organisation, and I am wearing this necklace, which has beads that represent the challenges of the youth, women and children in Malawi; the burdens.
A digital photo of a wire frame that represents a child; a metaphor expressing that the social enterprise is like a child or a little boy.
Our social enterprise is like a child or a little boy.
A digital photograph of shiny ribbons. A material metaphor that represents the idea that some projects come with much hope represented by the shinny ribbons but do not bare any positive results, in some cases things become worse, represented by the torn clothes after the ribbons.
Some projects come with much hope.
Sustainable (youth) development is a mountain. The mountain it is always there, and due to its nature it saves the community at large. With all the trees and rivers running through it, even the aquatic life benefits from the mountain. For sustainable development, it follows the same pattern because it is always there and because it is self-sustaining, it even bears more fruits for the community and even the surrounding. For instance, a community-based organization in Zomba, initially established by a hunger project and later handed over to the community for management, has become an enduring fixture within the community. This organization includes a maize mill that not only serves the local community but also extends its benefits to neighbouring areas. Moreover, the introduction of electricity associated with this project has provided additional advantages to the community and beyond. There is a library and communities around the area benefit addressing the challenge of lack of reading materials in the area.
Sustainable (youth) development is a mountain.