Hi John:
Heres an example of emergent governance from a man who intuitively practices Open Space putting his heart of compassion into action. Our non-profit, the Family Support Network, Intl umbrellas a homebuilding project called JRMD in Burundi, Africa. They have raised enough money to build over 3,200 homes for the Hutu/Tutsi in an effort to bring peace and reconciliation to the region. The JRMD, founded by Prosper Ndabishuriya, recruited young adults from both Hutu/Tutsi tribes to put their lives on the line and work together as a symbol of unity in this war torn country. Im not sure if Prosper has corresponded with Habitat for Humanity, but it seems Habitat might be a good fit to help with the village building project, while he focuses on raising funds to finish the school and orphanage for the orphans and set up micro-enterprises. To learn more visit: www.jrmd.org John, please send a copy of the HfH proposal you referenced below to both Prosper and myself. I think it would be useful. Prosper is an inspiration and a Community Weaver. I hope those of you who are moved by this project will donate your time or dollars. Please contact him directly if you are interested in setting up speaking engagements where he can share his extraordinary story. I promised you will be moved. He is a man of honor and a true spirited worker who practices OS in governance of the village. This suspect this project is an example of emergence governance as the people have self-organized and are doing what they love to ensure all inhabitance of the village thrives. Please visit the JRMD website its a truly inspiring example on what can happen when one lives by the principals of OS. In service to the greater good, Cheryl Honey Community Weaver From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Engle Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 2:23 AM To: Artur Silva; World wide Open Space Technology email list Cc: Raffi Aftandelian Subject: Re: [OSList] emergent governance Greetings from Haiti, I appreciate the thread and it has me thinking about work we're doing right now with Habitat For Humanity. They've built a new village of 150 homes and will have another 150 added to it by December. The village is in the Santo area, just outside of Leogane, which was part of the earthquake's epicenter. With 5-7 people per home, we're talking about a new village of 1,500-2,000 people not to mention hundreds of additional people from surrounding areas that enter daily for water. Habitat For Humanity acknowledges that while they have tons of experience building homes, they don't have experience building full villages and helping community members to develop a sense of community and plan of governance. They fear, and for good reason, that if no measures are taken, this nice village of well designed and constructed homes could become a slum. It also has the potential to become an extraordinary community known for safety, community engagement and mutual respect. We have a 6-month contract with Habitat For Humanity to help members in the village nurture a culture of participatory decision-making and to create together, a governance plan. We're using our approach called Circles of Change which will include three community wide open space meetings during the 6-month period. The governance plan will likely be a bit traditional in the sense that there will be established rules and decision-making structures. But hopefully, the practice that emerges around how they govern themselves will include lots of invitation and dialogue. Local elected officials will be invited to participate in open space meetings and other gatherings. In Haiti, local government is typically underfunded and ineffective. Thus, for communities to run well, it's really up to the community members. This is generally true everywhere but i think some of us likely take things for granted that can help make communities run smoother, which many communities in Haiti don't have: access to potable water, garbage pick-up and sanitation, paved roads/repair of roads, effective water drainage systems, fire departments, adequate police (10,000 for a population of 10 million) Here's more about this project with Habitat For Humanity: http://www.haitipartners.org/2012/04/partnership-with-habitat-brings-circles -of-change-to-santo-housing-community/ Let me know off list if you'd like to receive our proposal to Habitat For Humanity, which responded to the public request for proposal (RFP) they issued. Again, thanks for the thread! John PS The name of the project went from Santo Governance Project (in Haitian-Creole: Pwojè Gouvenans nan Santo), based on Habitat For Humanity's title of the RFP to Pwojè Bon Vwazen (Good Neighbor Project), based on input from people in the village. ______________________________ John Engle - On the ground regular updates at <http://www.haitipartners.org/the-blog/> http://www.haitipartners.org/the-blog/ <http://www.haitipartners.org/>
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