"The human capacity for burden is like bamboo..."

“The human capacity for burden is like bamboo – far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.”

― Jodi Picoult

With all that is going on in the world, I found this week to be especially inspiring.  On Wednesday, World Humanitarian Day was observed and I listened to a panel discussion with humanitarians who are saving lives and embodying the spirit of solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic in Southern and Eastern Africa.  Speakers from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Somalia shared the recent challenges they face and how they are responding to them.  Their stories resonated with me not just because they were in the African context, but because they were so passionate and committed to their work and the countless lives they are impacting.

One of the participants, Abdullahi Mire, said something that stuck with me “Everyone has a role to play in helping their community. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is. If you have the passion, the network, and the energy, you can change lives.” 

Then on Thursday, I attended a Global Schools Forum session where a diverse group of organizations came together and focused on one organization’s complex question about their current situation.  We listened, we questioned, we discussed without the presenter and then we discussed with them.  It was an engaging process and while we didn’t miraculously find a single and workable answer, the conversation was thought-provoking and we all gained something from it.  One key take away was a suggestion to ask questions directly to parents to understand their perspective on their child’s education during the pandemic better because so far we have only been receiving patchy information about parents from our teachers. Is it possible to use a greater understanding to support them in some way?

What I find really interesting over the last several months is that every organization is grappling with the same issue - the response to the pandemic.  Whether they work in education, health, policy, or food security, all organizations share this challenge and have responded in a myriad of ways.  Panels and sessions that encourage dialogue with our growing network and community allow us to learn from and lean on each other to address the new challenges we all face.

I am also regularly inspired and impressed by our team and most recently because we have adopted an adaptive outlook during COVID.  The information we collect from teachers working in the communities around our schools and the insights of our management staff continues to guide our initiatives.  I look forward to a roundtable with all management staff we have scheduled next month to discuss how we better engage parents and communities, especially those that are having difficulty continuing learning at home.  This will give us a platform to share what other organizations have implemented as well as all the ideas our team has as they know our communities best.  The idea for a robust discussion arose from the Global Schools Forum session where we discussed ways to holistically support the educational ecosystem.

Impact Network is invested in continuing to support our staff, learners, and our communities during the pandemic.  When a new project is presented to our team, they do not see it as unsurmountable, but rather doable with the adherence to COVID protocols.  I suspect that in the future we will look back at this period and appreciate how much we learned about our communities, our team and ourselves and also appreciate how much stronger it made us.  I am incredibly grateful to be navigating this crisis with such a resilient and dedicated team.

-Karly, Director of Operations