Importance
of solidarity
SOLIDARITY IS MORE
THAN UNIONS
It is about working with people on the things
that matter to them. It is also about removing
the boundaries that prevent us from working
together.
It is about believing that what hurts my
neighbor also hurts me, that when I need a
neighbor I have no right to expect help if I
have not first help others. It is both an
emotion, a goal, a process, and a state of
being. I try to tear down
the fence that prevents others from
experiencing the wealth and opportunities I
experience, but I also act
for them here and now.
SOLIDARITY IS
DEFYING BOUNDARIES
These boundaries that get in the way can be race, nation,
gender, wealth, indeed anything upon which a
segregation can be created. These walls create several effects.
First, that people on one side cannot experience the privileges
that are largely arbitrarily awarded to people on the other side.
Second, that those on the latter side cannot appreciate life on
the first side, and therefore feel they are justified in their
current position. Third, it creates resentment, often both ways.
SOLIDARITY IS FROM
COMMUNICATION TO
ACTION
So Solidarity can flow from communication, but it requires action
to become a real and present force.
Sometimes that action needs to be
confrontational, to improve the lot of one
group relative to another, and sometimes it
needs to be conciliatory, taking down the walls
and bringing people together as equals. I can’t
claim to be an expert in deciding which is
which. What I do know is that without
Solidarity, without considering the needs of
the other, without looking at what I have and
realizing there are few valid reasons that I
should have so much when others have so
little, is a necessary step towards creating a
more civilized world. The endless pursuit of
profit at the expense of others, or the
maintenance of these divides simply prevents
us from relating to each other properly as
humans. As such, they prevent us from
experiencing life in all its fullness
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
SHORT-TERM &
LONG-TERM PROJECTS
short-term projects
• take a few hours, days, or weeks to complete
• require less money to complete
• typically cost less, they usually require fewer approvals to get
started and completed
• leaders may simply keep track of expenditures in a
spreadsheet
• typically depends on the type of product or service being
developed
• typically have a limited impact.
long-term projects
• take months or even years to finish
• require more money to complete
• more complex projects might require the use of more
sophisticated accounting
• software packages to track and monitor forecasting and
spending.
• have a larger impact on the business, community or
employees.
• tend to be complex.
1. Have you tried answering a survey form?
2. What was the survey form all about?
3. What is the purpose of that survey?
The essence of assessing community action
initiatives is to know, identify, and validate the
current and immediate needs or situations of
the community. From the results of the
assessment members of the community may
come up with or formulate relevant activities
and projects that will address the community’s
needs and situation.