Be tree, think forest

I've recently received word from my co-workers at ALTERNATIVA that several of the ovens have been completed! (The project that I worked on in Nicaragua was bringing new, firing ovens to artisans that produce ceramic items in a town called San Juan de Oriente.)

I jumped into the project fairly late in the game and got to be a part of the selection process of the beneficiaries. I was also lead to believe that I would witness the construction of at least 5 of the 8 ovens.

Assuming that things never go according to plan, I gave ourselves 2 or 3 weeks of cushion time when I mapped out our work plan, scheduling when we'd be doing things like making the final decision on the beneficiaries, purchasing bricks, and constructing the ovens. Little did I know how many set-backs we'd come across. About midway through my internship, we were already 5 weeks behind schedule. Although my co-workers kept assuring me that I'd be there when they constructed at least one oven, I began to realize that this was an unrealistic expectation.

It's funny how hard it was for me to be okay with this. I kept telling myself that it didn't matter if I saw the finished product or not, this wasn't about me after all. But there's something ingrained deep in me that programs me to want to see measurable progress. It was surprisingly difficult to leave the internship without having "accomplished" something.

However, it's probably best that the time frame worked out the way it did. For one, I got to be there for the "getting behind schedule" part of the process. The part where we ran into every possible glitch that we could have, during which I'm convinced I learned much more than I would have if things had gone according to plan.

Secondly, it was good for me to realize and learn to be okay with the fact that the work that is being done there really has nothing to do with me. Although I got to jump on board with ALTERNATIVA for a brief time, the work goes on with or without me. The real credit goes to the people whose life work is doing what I did for several months: the people who tirelessly continue plodding through the challenges that is development work in a poor country. The credit also goes (figuratively and literally) to those hand-picked artisans who decided to take a leap of faith and accept this opportunity for economic betterment. I'm grateful to have been a part of the team for the time that I was. But I need to remember that I was just that: a team member, not the starring role. The fact that I didn't get to see the finished product with my own eyes reinforced this lesson. (It also gives me one more reason to go back and visit someday...)

One of my favorite books is Donald Miller's "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." Here's a quote from the book that speaks to this idea:

He said to me I was a tree in a story about a forest, and that it was arrogant of me to believe any differently. And he told me the story of the forest is better than the story of the tree.

Here's a photo of one of the finished new ovens.