It’s time to create a tribe.. A tribe of Water Warriors. It wasn’t that hard when I was working with the kids at the Shikshangram Shelter.. they created a tribe just in themselves and then whoever came to visit joined with the full open hearts. All it needed was to show a few pics of the beautiful smiling faces and the hearts were caught. That tribe is alive and well.. visitors come and go to Shikshangram and I am no longer the driver there having moved on to work with the core issue – that of lack of water.
And now its time to make another tribe .. those who will champion the cause of respect and honour for water. Its not so different really , its just that the children who will have their tummies filled from creating this tribe don’t have faces yet. At least their faces are not yet in my camera lens. I can’t tell people .. ‘look this little kid is going to have clean water to drink because you helped.‘ I can’t say.. ‘look this young teenager will get to go to college because you put your hand in your pocket.‘ But it is just as important. Because as the water flows so the change begins.. and so the ripple moves on out.
So how to create this tribe?
My mentor.. my friend and confidante, miles away in South Africa but oh so close by whatsapp and skype.. has given me a push.. ‘Make an event’ she said.. ‘do something jump up and down.. get your tribe working for you .. so you don’t have to do it all yourself.’
Good idea .. what’s next – ah ha .. a fund raiser.. and tribe gatherer – give them some wine, feed them nice snacks – tell the stories, inspire the minds, allow the impetus to encourage them to reach into their pocket of abundance and turn that glass of wine into a flow of water.. a torrent – a deluge, that can feed a family, water the oxen that pulls the plough, hydrate the buffalo who gives the milk that mother makes into delicious curd, and such refreshing buttermilk. Make a flow that waters our larger family.
Creating a tribe begins with a seed. An idea, it came in the form of an article sent by a friend .. it was written in different terminology – about creating 1000 true fans – I don’t want fans.. but I do want a dedicated tribe.. an extended family.
So to start:
What is a family – what is a tribe?
From the Urban Dictionary – A group of people, usually of the same blood (but do not have to be), who genuinely love, trust, care about, and look out for each other.
From Seth Godin: “A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.”
The shared interest: That’s up to me to create and to provide the tools to communicate.
Now its time .. time to invite the friends, find a beautiful venue, inspire those who are close to me to begin to work for this far off project. How to make it near and dear.. once again that is up to me.. myself and I.
For it is neither ‘near’ nor ‘dear’ to us here in Oz.. in our comfort zones, seeing the famines on TV, seeing the refugees struggling on the news. Knowing it is not really touching us.. not yet, not here.. not now.. but our friend.. oh that mad woman Shazar – she is taking off again soon.
So calling all slightly mad ones.. for you need to be just a little mad to really get the parable of the butterfly and the tornado. It is this: when we put our hand in our pocket here – and pull out just a little .. no more than you can afford mind.. but as a old friend used to say.. ‘that which does not pinch you’ .. that which you can let go of and forget tomorrow.. that small amount or large if you are so inclined – can create such a tornado in another land.
Here it comes the breath of wind – the grease that makes the wheel go round.. in this universe that is often known as money.. is it a dirty word?.. no.. not unless you are holding onto it for dear life and thinking it is something you cannot share.. then it becomes tainted and old and acquires a smell of dis-ease.
When the breath of wind blows and it becomes light like the feather it is .. and moves from one hand to the next and the next and the next with no thought of the attachment… it can go round and round and become bigger. Because what leaves our hand as a few cups of coffee.. in another land becomes a week of good dinners and when it cycles to something as essential as rain water harvesting it becomes a part of a year of water supply. And what is that year of water supply – it is two to three crops – the rice paddy growing – green so intense it is almost unbelievable – feet in the water – butterflies floating overhead – the mango trees laden with flowers – the fruit to come, the sugar cane strong and thick growing – hiding the snakes below – and water – water flowing – the smile of the farmer – relief showing in every crease, no more the victim of the money lender.
And as he ducks his head to enter the low door of his simple family home in the evening – after his days work in the field, he can smell the aromas of the cooking – and his children run to show him their book and their efforts from their day at school.
He takes a dipper of the precious water and washes his feet before entering his house. Water that some time back was steeped in pain because his wife had walked 3 kilometres to fill her container and the children had not gone to school that day because they too must attend the hard master who only turned on the piped supply for two hours every morning.
But now.. simply because of you – water flows, the children go to school – they learn to read – the future comes closer to their possibilities – the house before shored up with mud and sticks is repaired – the ox shelters and lows deeply as it buries its muzzle in the abundance of feed in its trough – the children sleep with full bellies and the street dog outside curls up by the door replete with the scraps scraped out of the dish in gratitude for the barks at the stranger passing by.
And does the ripple stop there? No .. for further down the winding path of the village road the landless low caste family live. Are they hungry tonight? They were .. just last week .. there was no food on the plate and no fire in the hearth – but now – the water has come and with the water comes the crops and with the crops comes the need for those to harvest – work – blessed work, means food on their table and the ripples expand – and the waves go out – and the village begins to prosper and community builds and the families become a tribe again – a village tribe who can share and grow and find the way forward once more ..
So you might ask .. what does our tribe here do? It grows and creates another tribe far from our home but connected .. connected as our whole earth tribe .. our Water Warriors.. our family .. our human family.
Let’s start the ripple now.. throw the pebble in the pond – begin the wave – flap the butterflies wing.
Friday 27th July 2018 – Turning Wine Into Water – An Event – flapping the butterflies wings – in Perth. Please come: Book Here.