running towards shooting stars

Yesterday was an exciting day for our internship group. We held a workshop at Bellairs for the farmers & the seedling growers as a ‘wrap up’ to the UNDP project, and as a forum to discuss the business and partnership agreement. As the group’s noted over thinker and often times pessimist,  I was anxious to see how the day would turn out. We started late, many of those who needed transport did not arrive until 10:30, half an hour after our scheduled starting time, and we ended up starting the workshop at 10:55. 

After the farmers, seedling growers, and interns shared their reflections about the UNDP project our mentor John discussed the partnership agreement and business structure. For many, it seemed as if it was the first time they were being explained the documents – and this puzzled me because I had assumed that at least the business structure was understood. Afterwards, John suggested that everyone in the room describe how they saw the business – which I thought was a great idea, since it seemed like there was still a great deal of confusion. However, one of the farmers disagreed with this direction of agenda, saying that the business was understood. One of the more outspoken seedling growers responded that just because he was clear, didn’t mean the rest of the group was…

This ‘squabble’ represented the complexity of the farmer grower relationship and of the business structure. Throughout the workshop, and in discussions, the farmers were quick to agree and assumed optimistic ‘leader’ positions. The growers, I felt, were more apt to question and swayed to the side of rational realism. They felt the business structure & proposed roles were ambitious goals for the future – something that as a new organization wouldn’t be able to manage. A lot of the growers did not realize the extent to which they would be autonomous from the farmers, but when this realization dawned upon them they were ready to face this challenge. 

I came away with mixed feelings from the workshop. The group is all meeting again once the Partnership Agreement has been amended, business roles have been assigned, and everyone seems to be a bit more clear on the business. However, I must admit I am nervous about the implementation of the business. After completing the UNDP surveys, we learnt that a lot of people did not live up to their role in the project. I sincerely hope that this does not happen in the business, and even though with the creation of roles there are more check-points, I am wary that there will be a lot of ‘talk’ and not a lot of ‘action’ on everyone’s part. The implementation of this business is not a mere step away from the UNDP project, it is a giant leap and the extent of this jump may not be fully understood by all members.

At the end of the day I was running across the Bellairs campus and I saw a shooting star clearly above in the night sky, slowly falling through the universe. It made me realize that despite my somewhat pessimistic outlook, its not worth giving up hope. Sometimes you have to leap to realize how far you have come – - and how the work, was worth it.

 

EMILY

Advertisement