So very true.

Beran

>From: Michael Ba Banutu-Gomez <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: USING COOPERATION TO BUILD,              NURTURE AND SUSTAIN
>DEMOCRACY IN THE GAMBIA FOR 21st
>Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2002 08:38:38 EST
>
>Happy New Year To All.  This is part one of three. Enjoy reading it.
>
>USING COOPERATION TO BUILD, NURTURE AND SUSTAIN DEMOCRACY IN THE GAMBIA FOR
>21st CENTURY
>The Gambian Association of Midwest 3rd Annual Conference
>September 1-2, 2001
>Chicago, IL
>
>By
>Michael Ba Banutu-Gomez, Ph.D.,
>Assistant Professor
>Rowan University
>College of Business
>Department of Management & MIS
>2001 Mullica Hill Road
>Glassboro, New Jersey 08028-1701
>Tel. 856-256-5425
>Fax: 856-256-4439
>E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>Part I
>
>Good morning, members of the Gambian Association of Midwest, parents,
>spouses, fellow Gambians, friends and guest. It is indeed an honor to be
>awarded this blessed opportunity to address you. Thank you for your
>attention
>and consideration.
>Fellow humans, "have you ever watched a flock of geese flying in their
>traditional "v" formation? I read in a book written by Philip R. Theibert
>(2000) that two highly respected engineers learned that each bird, by
>flapping its wings, creates an uplift for the bird that follows. They
>proceeded by saying that together, the whole flock gains something like 70
>percent greater flying range than if they were journeying alone. Fellow
>sisters and brothers, today I'd like to talk about we all can improve our
>efficiency by working together to nurture and sustain democracy in The
>Gambia
>for 21st Century."  I also thought it will not be fair if I did not read
>this
>fable I came across while I was preparing for this important conference. It
>goes like this " AN OLD FABLE
>     There once was an important problem to be solved and everybody was
>asked
>to solve it.  Everybody was sure that somebody would solve it.  Anybody
>could
>solve it but it looked like nobody would do it.  Somebody was sick and
>tired
>of the problem going unsolved because it was everybody's responsibility to
>solve it.  Everybody was waiting for anybody to solve it but nobody
>realized
>that everybody would never take the responsibility to solve it.  So, it
>ended
>up that everybody blamed somebody when nobody did what anybody could do to
>solve the problem. (Anonymous)."
>     Sisters and brothers, now, as so often it is the case, people in and
>out
>of The Gambia, are blaming other people for the social, economic and
>political problems that we now have in our society.  I believe that this is
>because many people living in and out of The Gambia hold a negative view
>regarding the use of alliances, reciprocity and exchange to accomplish work
>and solve problems for the 21st century democracy in The Gambia.  They
>believe, "I've failed if I have to go to my neighbors for help - I will
>look
>bad."  We tend to seek who is to blame for problems and to view persons we
>cannot control as our enemies.  This tendency limits our perception of the
>many possibilities of a particular situation and it distracts us from
>coming
>up with positive ideas that may help to solve various social, economic,
>democratic, instability and political problems we now face in The Gambia.
>We
>try to influence the people who we believe are to blame for problems by
>criticizing them because they have influence in our society or control
>financial and human resources needed to solve our nation's problems and
>have
>to cooperate if plans to solve those problems are to be implemented.  We
>need
>to remember that they cannot be ordered around and will only work with us
>to
>solve mutual problems when they choose to.  For this reason, I believe it
>is
>very important for us to understand how reciprocity works and how to set up
>mutually beneficial exchanges in The Gambia.  To do this, we Gambians in
>and
>out of The Gambia need to understand how the principle of exchange
>operates.
>     I am convinced that, reciprocity is the foundation of all social,
>political and economic transactions among people in any nation that wants
>to
>sustain democracy for their people.  Most people view an employment
>contract
>as an exchange, "An honest day's work for an honest day's pay."  A person
>who
>helps another may not expect immediate payment for his or her efforts but
>some eventual compensation is expected.  Whatever form exchanges take,
>unless
>they are roughly equivalent over time...over time, negative feelings will
>develop.  These negative feelings will deter and suppress our process in
>nurturing and sustaining democracy in The Gambia for 21st Century.  For
>this
>reason, exchange enables people to help each other and work together for
>long
>periods of time without strong feelings of injustice arising.  During times
>of rapid and extreme change, such as our modern day and age, I believe
>exchange is especially needed because the need for help to adjust to those
>changes increases tremendously.  I believe that during this current time in
>our nation's history and development, sustainable democracy, free and fair
>election is more urgent than ever before if we want to succeed as a nation
>and have a stable society for our children and our children's children.
>Therefor it raises the urgent question each of us should ask ourselves, "Am
>I
>contributing to the improvement of The Gambian society to the best of my
>ability?"  I believe we Gambians need to realize that each of us will be
>able
>to influence others only if we can offer something they need because power
>comes from the ability to meet others' needs and not to control citizens.
>Each of us needs to ask ourselves, "Are my actions and attitude
>contributing
>to the positive development of a peaceful and sustainable democratic
>Gambia?"
>
>     Fellow sisters and brothers, what happens if one person's idea of fair
>repayment for help is very different from the one who helped them?  The
>basic
>problem, facing those of us who wish to establish equitable exchanges in
>The
>Gambia, is reconciling the differences in the ways different people
>perceive
>and interpret the same activity.  Further more people can look at free and
>fair election, democracy and sustainable development and interpret it
>differently based on their own perception and how they see the world in
>which
>we live in today. My conviction is that, the center peace of our
>interpretation must respond to the need of creating a sustainable society
>that is stable and democratic. Fellow sisters and brothers, to solve this
>problem, it is necessary for us to know what the person, whom we want to
>influence, values.  Usually people know exactly what they want in return
>for
>giving help, but often they will settle for a rough equivalent, as long as
>positive feelings continue to exist.  For this reason, I feel that it is
>the
>responsibility of each of us Gambians to share our knowledge, experience
>and
>skills with all of the people in and out of our continent.  Instead of only
>thinking how we can enrich and strengthen our own families, ethnic group,
>religious affiliation and those who belong or support our party with our
>nation's resources. Fellow sisters and brothers, I say to you today, each
>of
>us has an important role to play in the social, economic, democratic and
>political development of our country by reaching out to assist with the
>solution of problems and to collaborate in the support of positive projects
>which are being initiated by people, from families, ethnic groups and
>political beliefs different from our own.  In other for The Gambia to
>develop
>and sustain democracy successfully, we need to view the people we wish to
>influence in our society - not as our enemies - but as our allies!  As
>Gambians, we need to be willing to explore and work hard to understand our
>world from their perspective - especially the pressures they face by the
>unstability of our nation in this world.  We must thoroughly understand and
>respect each other's needs.  Knowing all this will help us become aware of
>each other's key goals.  When we no longer view a person who is from an
>ethnic group, party affiliation, religious affiliation different from our
>own, as an enemy, but instead, as potential ally, we can more easily
>understand their world and thus, it is easier to discover what they value
>and
>need.
>
><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>
>
>To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
>at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>[log in to unmask]
>
><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>


_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>

To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>