james's journal :: service inquiry program

Sun, 5 Aug 2007

Using privilege
I got a comment from a reader of this blog, asking how I dealt with some of my privileges, specifically the ability to hop on a plane and go to Central America, while some immigrants living in the US have not been able to see their families in years. Here's my response:

It's true... we can move about more easily, really without any problems. I guess it's kind of like superpowers... are you using them for good or for evil?

Slightly more seriously, I think there are two different categories of privileges. Some, like travel, are not based on others not having them (although travel's effects on the environment are questionable). On the other hand, there are some privileges that came as a result of other people not having that privilege. For instance, the overabundance of the "economic north" is only possible due to the poverty of the "south".

So while both types of privilege differences need to be dismantled, I don't think I need to feel as guilty for using my privilege that is not as intrinsically connected to other people's lack of privilege.

Does that make sense?

Privilege is something I can not control. I have received, as a white, healthy, protestant male from the United States, an enormous amount of privilege and power. And I think that to whom much is given, much is required. So yes, kind of like superheros, I need to make sure I'm using it for good and not for evil.

Posted at 17:00 #

Fri, 27 Jul 2007

Back Home
Well Tuesday I flew home to my house in PA. The flights were fine, but the in-flight entertainment was the same as my trip to San Jose, mostly. I mean, how many heart warming stories about dogs that change a town can there be?

I'll be staying at home while editing the video, which should start early next week. My brother's also getting married, so it should be a fun and busy time!
Posted at 10:37 #

Tue, 17 Jul 2007

Trip to Tegus
Last weekend I got to take a trip with my host brother, Nelson, to Tegucigalpa, the capitol of Honduras. Definitely a fun experience. Left early Saturday morning on a new bus line that cost 50 Lempiras, about a third of the regular price. I'd heard stories about passing on curves and other stupid bus maneuvers, but now I can say I have experienced it myself. We also broke down for about 30 minutes. Tegus is a city of 1.1 million, or so I heard, and like many Latin American cities, growing way too fast. Especially after Hurricane Mitch, it's grown a lot.

I went to a youth retreat of the local Mennonite church, and had a blast. We played some soccer in the rain (and then threw people in the mud afterwards). Roasted marshmallows over a fireplace. Slept (not enough). Sunday we went to the Mennonite church in Tegus. After church, the youth (about 20 of us) went out to eat Papusas (a Salvadoran tortilla stuffed with cheese or fried pork skin). Then we went to Picacho, a park on top of one of the mountains surronding Tegus (although the city now extends all over these steep mountains as well). There's a huge statue of Christ overlooking the city, as well as a United Nations Park, and a replica of a Mayan pyramid.

I definitely had a lot of fun hanging out with a great youth group, and seeing another part of this country. I wish I had gotten there earlier.
Posted at 22:32 #

Mon, 16 Jul 2007

Why church is loud
Church here in Honduras is loud. Well, it depends. There seems to be a continuum between Catholic and Pentecostal. The closer to Catholic, the quieter. The closer to Pentecostal, the louder you need to have that mic.

I was in a service with about 20 people, in a small room, and yet the pastor was yelling into the mic, with the sound system at full blast. At times, the mic cut out, and everyone could hear just fine. I know someone who wears earplugs to services because they are too loud.

But why? Here are some reasons that have crossed my mind:

• A pastor was asked why church was loud. He replied, "It says so in the Bible."
• It's used to alert people around that a church service is going on, who then, theoretically, they will come in.
• It's used to drown out competing churches, or in the case of one retreat I was at, the bachata coming from a nearby bar
• It's used to enhance the emotional experience, or help people feel "the Holy Spirit."

It's probably a combination of them all, plus other reasons. But the idea that it is used to enhance the emotional experience kind of scares me. When does it cross the line into creating a false sacred experience? When does making sure the music is at the right level cross the line into manipulation? Recently a Ugandan pastor was caught with an electric shocker the government claims he was using to convince people he touched that they were having a sacred experience (Link). I'd say that crosses the line. I know I felt manipulated when a pastor put his hand on my forward, with his hand shaking forcefully. I'd say that it is good to create an environment where one can meet God, but it goes too far to create the meeting with God itself.
Posted at 21:46 #

Tue, 10 Jul 2007

Back from San Jose
I just got back from San Jose, where I had a great time at the Mennonite Church USA National Convention. I was there writing for mPress, the daily newspaper of the convention. I also gave two seminars with a mission organization on a video I did last year in South Africa, and also showed Fuerza, a documentary on immigration I edited/produced.

So, needless to say I was rather busy. A bit of what happened:

• About half of the people that others thought would make good pastors at one exhibit were women (very different from several years ago, at least where I was)
• Some speakers actually used inclusive language!
• There was a much better rounded focus for the week than in years past- in other words, social issues were talked about.
• Tired youth are still more attracted to bad theology screamed than good theology explained well
• American food doesn't sit well with my stomach, evidently
• On a story for mPress, I met a guy who honestly believed that there is no racism in America. (Slightly humorous in that he told this to a Latina Sociology Professor)
• I never got to play the Wii at Goshen College's booth.
• I'm not a fan of seven hour layovers

So that's what I've been up to. Now I have another 2 weeks here, to try to finish what I can of this video, and say goodbye to people.
Posted at 22:10 #

Thu, 5 Jul 2007

San Jose
Well I'm out at San Jose, waiting for Goshen College President Jim Brenneman to give the morning youth speech (homily, sermon, I'm not sure what it's called). I've been writing for mPress and not getting enough sleep.

Anyway.. staff meeting. Seeya!
Posted at 11:39 #

Mon, 2 Jul 2007

Mennonite Convention
I'm spending the next week in California, on a short break from my work in Honduras. I'll be at the Mennonite Church USA Convention, doing a couple things.

First, I'll be showing Fuerza. I'll also be presenting two seminar on the film I helped out on, on how churches are acting as agents of change in post-apartheid South Africa.

I'll also be writing daily for mPress, the daily convention newspaper. Check it out occasionally to see what I'm writing about there, and what's going on...

Posted at 10:43 #

Money as a Blessing
"A man got to heaven, and saw the richness of other people there. He asked Jesus, 'Why didn't I recieve these riches?' Jesus replied, 'Because you didn't claim them.' That's why Honduras hasn't recieved the blessing of other countries, like the United States"
                      -Honduran Pastor

Theology like this makes me shiver. First, it's not exactly a biblical view.

Second, it completely ignores the fact that the excess of the rich is not inspite of the lack of the poor; it is because of the lack of the poor. The work of Andre Gunderfrank shows that the rich become rich by taking goods from the poor. So claiming that God gives excess to those who ask necessarily means that he will be impoverishing those who don't ask.

Third, it also reveals a tendency of evangelical mission churches in third world countries to suppress social activity. By telling people that God will provide, it turns other methods - such as looking into the systems of empoverishment - into a lack of faith.

Posted at 10:40 #

Wed, 27 Jun 2007

My Developed eyes
I've done videos in four developing countries: churches overcoming apartheid in South Africa, immigration from Mexico, poor coffee producers in the Dominican Republic, and currently a woman's group doing education in Honduras. This trend (as well as some articles I've read) have led me to think about who am I, a middle class person from the United States, and how does this affect my work?

In Granta magazine, Binyavanga Wainaina, from Kenya, describes satirically "How to Write about Africa." "Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. (...) Taboo subjects: ordinary domestic scenes, love between Africans (unless a death is involved), references to African writers or intellectuals, mention of school-going children who are not suffering from yaws or Ebola fever or female genital mutilation."

This demonstrates pretty clearly a case of what happens when developed world eyes look at underdeveloped places, in what some are calling "development pornography." In many cases, it is exploitation to gain money (supposedly for a good cause). AlertNet, a service of Reuters, put out this article, Aid workers lament rise of 'development pornography', explaining how a picture of an emaciated famine victim often only serves to "perpetuate a colonial idea of incapable Africans waiting passively for help from their white saviours."

I, as a middle class white male from the U.S., see a situation differently than the Honduran teenager with AIDS, living in a two room house, that I interviewed last week. How can I tell her story, instead of my interpretation of her story?

A couple things I have done have worked towards alleviating this.

First, as with Convite, I lived with one of the families featured in the video. This helped me become part of their story, so that I could understand it better. Granted, I was still an outsider, but I attempted to see from their point of view.

Second, I have tried to have people talking for themselves as much as possible. Any government official or scholar may be able to give some overall statistics, but they can not tell the true story of a person who immigrates to feed their family, as in Fuerza.

Third, I have learned to have someone from close to the same situation actually be the one to interview. This arose mainly as a problem of language barriers, but I've learned this extends to class barriers as well. It helps people to give a more real interview of their life. I've had a middle class interviewer laugh at a lower class interviewee during the interview because of their less refined language. I can't use anything from this interview.

Fourth, in the DR, I worked with a student who was interested in making documentaries. I had experience from making other documentaries, and could share that. He had the cultural insight I lacked. He now can make other documentaries, without my help.

Will I ever be able to show the world through someone else's eyes? No. But I do think I can do my best to reduce my developed eyes in my work.

Posted at 10:39 #

Fri, 22 Jun 2007

Olancho, the Wild West

Posted at 13:04 #

Tue, 19 Jun 2007

Why I'm here
I'm here in Honduras with the SIP program, but this is also counting for my Communications internship. I want to see if Missions Video work is something I would enjoy doing.

Here's a bit of my background: Last year in the spring, I had the oppurtunity to do a documentary with the Peace and Justice Journalism program here at the college. I went to South Africa and worked with a team, interviewing church leaders on how the churches are acting as an agent of change in post-apartheid South Africa (this will be debuting at the Mennonite Church USA Convention in July- see you there?). In the summer I did an internship with a production company creating advertisements for lawyers, mini golf courses and seedy real estate agents. In the fall, I worked on a documentary on immigration, entitled "Fuerza" (for more info, read this Bulletin article, or visit Soluzfilms.com).

What I noticed after these experiences was a sense of satisfaction after working on the socially conscious projects, while feeling like I was going to a job, for the summer when I made commercials.

So now I know I want to do something related to socially conscious media. Now the problem is... how? There isn't that much money in socially conscious media. I'm not looking for big bucks, but at least enough to live on. So the purpose of this summer is to kind of put my foot in the door and check out one possibility- Video for a mission organization.

And so far, I think I could do this. I was at the Mesoamerica MCC Retreat last week, and I was really interested in what a lot of the workers are doing. I don't know if I'll actually end up doing this, but now, at least, I know it's a possibility.
Posted at 11:45 #

Mon, 18 Jun 2007

What I'm up to

Posted at 12:24 #