While watching the morning news on the treadmill today, I nearly stopped running because of a story that was being covered. After losing 2-0 in pool play to the United States, the North Korean women’s soccer coach, Kim Kwang Min, gave the most bizarre excuse for losing a match that I have ever heard: a handful of North Korean players, including the goalkeeper and several strikers, had been struck by lightning during a training match on June 8, which caused them to perform below expectations.
My first thought was that something in North Korea stopped them from playing well - and it certainly wasn’t a lightning bolt! The North Korean players will never have access to the best soccer training, nutrition, and education as long as they live in a corrupt, feudalistic society with a “Dear Leader” assuming the role of God and trumpeting nuclear power/weapons as the only item the country should value. My second thought was that, if only North Korea had the courage to stop making excuses, the world would give them a little more respect. Yes, they have had many setbacks, and the loss to the United States women’s soccer team is just one more (though a minor one).
One example of living without excuses, appreciating the journey, and putting transparency over pride in the Periclean program is the journey that my class took to get to Zambia as a country of focus. Our first choice of country was, in fact, not Zambia; it was Angola.
The Class of 2009 followed the original model of the Periclean program in which the country of focus had not been predetermined. As a result, we had an additional learning experience as a precursor to reaching our destination (and beginning our journey). It was not easy. It was frustrating at times, but it was honest. We explored our personal and group strengths and passions - among them women’s health issues, education, and the environment. We also took a look at countries of focus, and in a close vote at the end of our first semester together, we chose Angola over another contender, India.
Once we chose Angola, we immediately began to consume literature on the nation and research how best to make an impact. We read passages from Martin Meredith’s The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair and kept current on Angolan news. We looked to identify root causes of the country’s greatest problems. As a country that had recently emerged from civil war, we found that many places were littered with landmines and therefore inhospitable to normal human life. We found this issue to be the one most deserving of our time and attention, and so we made it our own. We would work to support groups that remove landmines and improve the lives of those already affected by landmines.
However, in our research we reached one huge hurdle. It would be nearly impossible for our group to gain entry into Angola, even when working with a reputable partner. The government is very wary of foreigners, especially in diamond producing regions and other resource-rich areas (since resources are how Angola gets most of its revenue). Plus, the government is still one of the most corrupt in the world according to Transparency International.
These roadblocks made us face a decision: should we continue with our work in Angola - from afar - or should we choose another route? The Periclean model discourages the dumping of money into organizations without any tangible groundwork produced by the class, so it was a fairly easy decision for our class. We would switch countries of focus.
Our class still hoped to help Angolans, so we gravitated toward neighboring countries of Angola. We looked at working in either the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Namibia, or Zambia. Because of the ongoing war in the DRC, we never truly considered this to be an option better than Angola. We then considered Namibia - a past Periclean partner that experienced great success with the 2006 group’s initiatives. However, we wished to make our own mark in a new land and with new issues - so we considered Zambia. Zambia is an English-speaking country that is safe and welcoming of visitors and foreign aid. We had made our move: our new country of focus would be Zambia.
Our initial goal in moving to Zambia was to assist Angolans - that is, refugees. We began research on potential partners and related issues. Our research led us to the desire to produce something more than temporary. Everything was about to come full circle as we explored rural, sustainable development. Slightly under one year after choosing Angola, our mentor, Steve Braye, announced that he had found a partner for our work in Habitat for Humanity-Zambia (HFHZ). We felt a sense of relief and exuberance as we began to plan our groundwork. We found a country that would work and an eager, well-respected partner.
The journey was not an easy one. Nothing was handed to us on a silver platter. However, the hardships allowed us to appreciate the triumphs. Our journey from Angola to Zambia was an honest journey, and we acknowledge every step in it to appreciate our destination. We now have a sustained partnership with HFHZ and the groundwork to offer even more opportunities - housing opportunities for Zambians and transformative experiences for Elon students.
Now, if only North Korea could understand this concept...
This is reason #18 to support Periclean Scholars: no excuses for setbacks.
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