To co-exist

To the local people, JEN’s staffs who are staying in their town are foreigners. It is therefore extremely important for us to establish a trusting relationship with them as soon as we can to carry out our project. The level of local participation and cooperation would also change according to the trust between us.

In order to get closer with the locals, JEN staffs try to deepen our understanding of each other, by creating more opportunities to speak to them outside the workshop and by visiting their families one-on-one.

The other day, a road was constructed for JEN’s cyclone shelter-type elementary school in the Tha Yaw Chaung village. JEN staffs who were at the site also took part in paving the road with the local people. Despite the labor-intensive work, even our female staff didn’t fail to keep up.

By having JEN staffs participate, our feelings are able to converge, even while doing such trivial, daily community activities. The local people treated us to a snack during break when we tried to treat them.

It was a day when we could feel people were allowing us into their circle little by little, despite their difficult situation. We’d like to continue the workshop with them in a spirit that embraces “coexistence” rather than “teaching.”