Source: LIGHTPROCESSES.TUMBLR.COM
I very much enjoyed this article by @courtwrites, especially this part about the reasons behind doing impact work abroad:
"But don’t go because you’ve fallen in love with solvability. Go because you’ve fallen in love with complexity.
Don’t go because you want to do something virtuous. Go because you want to do something difficult.
Don’t go because you want to talk. Go because you want to listen."
This reminded me of the importance of looking at social and environmental problems with creativity+empathy+humility. The past few years I've experienced, first-hand, the importance of committing to that problem and a cause and sticking with it because we are plagued with complex problems that require complex solutions, passion, perseverance and a lot of hard work and teamwork. So we need to have first hand experience and/or be willing to learn and put in the hours, listen and learn. It also made me think of Peter Singer's "Effective Altruism" premises on how if we want to make a difference in the world, we need to not only make a personal commitment, but also remain engaged in the long-term.
To read the full article, head over to Medium.
Oh! And if you want to practice and strenghten your empathy skills, check out this great project: 12 kinds of kindness.