Development is important, but where to?

Before we work for development, we should ask ourselves where the development should lead to, where does our own development lead to, where does the traditional development of the other country lead to, and which values have made their development different from ours?

People from other cultures have completely different values than we have, which we do not know, and because they also think completely different to us, we cannot understand their values at all. First, we must learn to see things in the way they see them, before we know which parts of their culture we destroy by our work, which are perhaps much better than ours. So for example: the hospitality that goes, in many countries, much further, which has no limits, which is often an expression of the consciousness that we all live together in this world, and that life on this earth is only possible, if we live it in a global community. Often, an egoism and a consumption is created through our development work in these countries that previously had no experience with this and are fundamentally destroyed by it - at least from the view of these countries, which, as I think, is more real than ours.

Then it should also become clear to us, that in a society that does not know school education, we cannot change anything with intellectual work. To build schools in all remote areas of the country is a beautiful intention, but if people do not know by their own experience, what school is good for, they will never go there, or send their children there. The education they know is usually shaped by family, tradition and attention for the older ones, which we lost completely. All intellectual knowledge leads to nothing, if they do not have an emotional experience of deciding something on their own differently to their traditions and changing it. Otherwise they will only become slaves of the western culture, which they cannot form, because they do not understand it.

The only possibility to help for development in a country is to go as a human with other experiences into this country and to live there in the same way as the locals do - to forget all requirements of the western one; however, not to forget one’s own experience, because with this we know then, equipped with the same possibilities as the locals, how to find the way to change something, to construct something in the society, to change values, to create new possibilities that correspond with their interest. And because we do not bring anything material, we will know that this is something, an example which is possible for everyone in this country, since it develops independently of the west. It will create on the people a much more positive impression and will not lead, as unfortunately all too often happens, to dependence and consumer behaviour.

Real change becomes possible only if we clearly visibly connect our fate with the fate of other people. Only then, confidence on both sides develops, and, only then, unplanned beautiful changes will happen, which will create completely new possibilities.

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