More Haiti Reflections, and the Dominican Republic too. . .

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-401557

This is video from the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (DR) from CNN. It is from the town of Jimani on the border betwee the DR and Haiti. Healing Waters has a water system in Jimani.

I spent 5 weeks in the DR last summer and was blown away by the poverty there. In all of my experiences and travel in Latin America in the past decade, including visiting and/or doing development projects in half a dozen countries, I had never seen poverty as severe as what I saw in the Dominican Republic.

Now Haitians are fleeing Haiti because they see more opportunity in the DR. This is a remarkable comparison to me. The poverty in the DR is stark and overwhelming, but compared to Haiti it is almost a paradise.

This really makes me stop and pause and pray for our brothers and sisters in Haiti and our brothers and sisters in the DR who are trying to help the people of Haiti. Amazing.

Great article on leadership and management

JJ Gomez, the National Director for Healing Waters

in the Dominican Republic. He exemplifies good

leadership and good management (two different skills)

JJ Gomez, the National Director for Healing Waters International / Aguas de Unidad sent me the article/study on leadership and management below. I thought it was really good, so I wanted to share it here.






The Law of Empowerment
By Dr. John C. Maxwell

Biographers universally agree that personal insecurity factored heavily in the downfall of former American President Richard Nixon. Rather than empowering others, President Nixon clutched at power so tightly that he lost all sense of morality and ethics. Obsessively fearing his critics, Nixon authorized a domestic espionage group to spy on his political opponents. When members of the group were caught burglarizing the Watergate Hotel, Nixon tried unsuccessfully to cover up the incident. Eventually he resigned in shame, having left a dubious legacy of scandal.

Nixon's behavior in office violated the Law of Empowerment: Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others.

Today, at a time when managers must do more with less - less people, less budget, less margin for error - leaders have no choice but to empower followers to share the load. Insecurity simply isn't compatible with survival. Even so, human nature resists empowerment. Let's look at three common tendencies that make empowerment a tricky task.

Three Obstacles to Empowerment
1) Desire for Job Security
The number one enemy of empowerment is the desire for job security. Weak leaders worry that they will become expendable if they train up talented subordinates. As a result, they retain a monopoly on select knowledge in the hopes of positioning themselves as irreplaceable. Some misguided leaders even go as far as undercutting those they perceive as potential rivals. Not wanting to be surpassed, they intentionally make others look bad from time to time.

Insecure leaders who prize job security are fiercely territorial. They stake out their turf and refuse to delegate. They want to be the go-to-guys so badly that they may senselessly refuse to train and empower others who could offer them assistance.

The truth is that the only way to make yourself indispensable is to make yourself dispensable. In other words, if you are continually able to empower others and develop them so that they become capable of taking over your job, then you will become so valuable to the organization that you become indispensable.

2) Resistance to Change
Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck asserted, "It is the nature of man as he grows older to protect against change, particularly change for the better." By its very nature, empowerment brings constant change in that it encourages people to grow and innovate. Change is the price of progress.

Insecure leaders view change as a threat rather than an opportunity. They fear change rather than inviting it. As a consequence, insecure leaders have been known to act coldly toward newcomers. They cling to the established order and generally resent anyone who may disrupt it. Instead of empowering incoming personnel, they avoid working with them.

3) Lack of Self-Worth
Many people derive personal value and esteem from their title or position. When either is threatened, they feel as if their self-worth is under assault. Accordingly, they will firmly resist anyone or anything that could reduce their status.

On the other hand, author Buck Rogers says, "To those who have confidence in themselves, change is a stimulus because they believe one person can make a difference and influence what goes on around them. These people are the doers and the motivators." They are also the empowerers.


Summary

Enlarging others makes you larger. The purpose of power is to be distributed, not hoarded, but only secure leaders are able to give their power away. Recognize and resist the natural inclinations to keep a tight grip on power. In the long run, you'll be rewarded for letting go.

I'll close with a quotation on empowerment from decorated war hero and former vice presidential candidate, James B. Stockdale:

"Leadership must be based on goodwill... It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers... What we need for leaders are men of heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers. Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away."

Amazing Photographer + Big Heart = Powerful Photographs and a Good Friend

Photo by Bryce Boyer from the D.R.
To see more of his DR photos, go to:

http://dominicanrepublic2008.blogspot.com/

When I was in the Dominican Republic for five weeks last summer doing my work with Healing Waters International, I had the privilege of co-leading a group of Healing Waters and Compassion International friends during my last week there. The group came down to help inaugurate a Healing Waters system and also visit the children that they sponsor through Compassion international. There is an amazing synergy between our organizations and this trip was a great manifestation of that synergy. (that was an academic sounding sentence, sorry about that, there is still a lot of academia left in me.)

Anyhow, Compassion International sent down a photographer with this group of people named Bryce Boyer. In the week that we spent together, it became very clear that Bryce is a talented photographer and has a HUGE heart for the work that Healing Waters and Compassion do. I really cannot say enough good things about him, and consider him a good friend after spending a week in the DR with him and seeing the way he interacts with people, especially kids. I have used a few of his photos in my blog posts.

I wanted to share a couple of differnent links with you about Bryce. First is his website as a professional photographer (shameless plug.) He does amazing work and has shot for some REALLY high end magazines and newspapers. http://www.bryceboyer.com/

The other link I want to share is the blog he put together after our trip to the DR. His posts provided some amazing insight to the issues of poverty and safe drinking water in the developing world, and I was so impressed with his perspective and his amazing photos. http://dominicanrepublic2008.blogspot.com/ I have cut and paste his most profound post below, but please jump over to his blog that he wrote to see some AMAZING photos.

If you saw a hit and run, would you tell anybody by: Bryce Boyer
Thursday, September 11, 2008

If you saw a hit and run, would you tell anybody?
Visiting the ghettos in a third world country can feel like a punch in the stomach. Like witnessing a terrible car wreck... an accident in which no one want to take responsibility for the victims who are left writhing in pain.

How can I witness such a need for the basic necessities of life (like healthy water) and not tell someone about it. I just got back from a trip to the Dominican Republic taking photos for two fantastic non-profits that are doing something to help: Compassion International & Healing Waters. It feels good to have done something to contribute to their efforts.

My parents have sponsored children through Compassion International for over 25
years. We always had pictures on our refrigerator to remind us of them. This was
the second international trip I've made taking marketing pictures for Compassion
Int. (You can see my Africa trip blog here).

Compassion's focus is helping the poorest of the poor children of the world. Thru community churches, they mobilize thousands of volunteers and staff to help over 1 million children around the world get food, medical attention, education, and encouragement. In America, sponsors help make this possible with $35/month and letters to their sponsored children.

Compassion realizes they can not help the poorest of the poor children of the world if the children are sick all the time because they don't have access to clean water. Healing Waters is a non-profit NGO (non-government-organization) that has a passion for installing clean drinking water systems in some of the poorest areas of the
world. I don't want to bore you... check out their site here if you are interested in what they do.

I hope my pictures will help spur someone into action. Volunteer, here or abroad. Donate. Go on a trip. Sponsor a child. Do something.
Posted by Bryce Boyer Photography at 9:02 PM 0 comments

Amazing Blog Post in support of Healing Waters

A child at a Compassion International site

in the Dominican Republic with a cup of

clean drinking water from the

Healing Waters system

Compassion International, the child sponsorship organization that is a partner with Healing Waters, posted an amazing story on their blog today and I want to share it with you. It not only deals with the impact that the safe drinking water has had from the Healing Waters project, it also talks about the investments in the community that the church has been able to make with the revenue generated by the project.

I have cut and pasted some excerpts below. The link to the whole story can be found here:
http://blog.compassion.com/inside-a-healing-waters-international-project/

Inside a Healing Waters International Project
Written by: Adones Martinez

Since the Healing Waters International water project opened at the Comunidad Cristiana El Santuario Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church in 2006, church members have had more opportunities to decide on matters that can benefit the ministry and the community of Barrio Mexico in southern coastal town of San Pedro de Macorís in Dominican Republic.

The church’s leadership calls for periodic members’ meetings where all ministry managers update the assembly on their ministry. Since all the ministries overlap in some way, these reports help the church make the best decisions.

The ministries include Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program, the Healing Waters International water project, a school and a community holistic vocational center.

These church meetings have become a forum at which the community, represented by the believers, can discuss the best ways to manage resources.

Milqueya is a mother of eight and grandma of seven. She and her husband still live with 11 children and grandchildren at home. Milqueya and her large family enjoy the benefits of the decisions she’s been helping her church make as a voting member. One important decision was the incorporation of the Healing Waters International water project.

In the past, even the least harmful water source wasn’t safe enough for Milqueya. She bought water from the trucks that drove past her home.

Miqueya paid only RD$20 for a 5-gallon water bottle, avoiding the RD$35 price at local stores. But the truck-bought water was making her and her family sick.

“The water caused us stomach diseases. But after we began to drink the water
from the church, we are always healthy and we don’t have any stomach problems.”

After the Healing Waters International project began, the community’s health has improved.

“Since we’ve been running the project, there’s not been any health problems
reported,” says Ana Ivelisse, manager of the Healing Waters International
project. “The National Ministry of Health comes and tests our water to certify
it.”

Not only is the water from the church the purest, it is also the most economic.

For RD$10, half of what she paid for the truck-bought water that made her family sick, Milqueya can take her 5-gallon water bottle home, saving her family’s limited resources for other living expenses.

Proceeds from the water project go toward human and social development to serve and benefit the community through education, health and nutrition.

In the field of education, the Healing Waters International project provides 20 children from Barrio Mexico with a scholarship so they can study at the church’s school.

The project also pays for a watchman who protects the property and equipment of the Compassion-assisted child development center, and a housekeeper who cleans the center’s building.

The proceeds also support the church’s vocational school, which trains locals in a variety of jobs, including computers.

Motorcycles, carts and trolleys arrive each day, taking home 41,000 to 45,000 gallons of purified water each month. The church donates another 600 gallons to the community.


The highest water consumption in the year comes during the summer months when the temperature reaches around 34 degrees Celsius, and the children are home for school break.

The 600 gallons of water that the church donates to the community benefits many groups, including the Compassion-assisted children at Cedina Student Center, the students in the church’s school, the medical staff and patients at a local clinic, and some neighbors in times of special need.

When the community holds a sports event, the church is always willing to support it. Pastor Ventura Taylor says,

“We serve the water in small bottles and we donate it to them as a way of our
church being committed with that activity, which has to do with the social and
cultural development of the community.”

A label is put on the bottles specifying that it is purified water from Comunidad Cristiana El Santuario Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church and Healing Waters International.

God Smiles when we use our abilities (and when we are smiling too!)

Some happy kids in the Dominican Republic, smiling a lot despite having so little.

JJ Gomez, the National Director for Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad in the Dominican Republic, shared the bible study/reflection below with me. It really resonated with me so I want to share it with you. Enjoy!

GOD SMILES WHEN WE USE OUR ABILITIES

"He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do" (Psalm 33:15 MSG).

After the flood, God gave Noah these simple instructions: "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything" Genesis 9:1,3

God said, "It's time to get on with your life! Do the things I designed humans to do. Make love to your spouse. Have babies. Raise families. Plant crops and eat meals. This is what I made you to be!"

You may feel that the only time God is pleased with you is when you're doing "spiritual" activities like reading the Bible, attending church, praying, or sharing your faith, and that he is unconcerned about the other parts of your life. Actually, God enjoys watching everything you do, whether you are working, playing, resting, or eating. The Bible tells us, "The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives" (Psalm 37:23, NLT)

God especially enjoys watching you use the talents and abilities he has given you. God intentionally gifted each of us differently for his enjoyment. You may be gifted at mechanics or mathematics or music or a thousand other skills. All of these activities can bring a smile to God's face.

You don't bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding your abilities or by trying to be someone else. You only bring him enjoyment by being you. Anytime you reject any part of yourself, you are rejecting God's wisdom and sovereignty in creating you. God says, "You have no right to argue with your Creator. You are merely a clay pot shaped by a potter. The clay doesn't ask, ?Why did you make me this way?'" (Isaiah 45:9, CEV)

In the film Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Eric Liddell says, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel God's pleasure." Later he says, "To give up running would be to hold him in contempt." There are no unspiritual abilities, just misused ones. Start using yours for God's pleasure.

What is success?

Photos of kids in the DR fetching water for their family from a Healing Waters system

A friend of mine shared this Ralph Waldo Emerson poem with me a few years ago. . . enjoy!

What is Success?

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people

and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,

a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier

because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Another good quote, from a beer bottle in the Dominican Republic

A photo of some kids in the Dominican Republic

I spent five weeks in the Dominican Republic (DR) summer of '08. I found this great quote in a most unlikely place, on the label of my beer bottle. There is one major beer producer in the DR, Cerveceria Nacional, and they produce just a few beers, with Presidente being the most popular. (Sort of the Budweiser of the DR)

A few years ago they decided to produce a boutique beer. Boutique beer requires a trendy name and label, and in the DR, Trendy=English. So the beer is called "Cerveza One" and nobody really knows how to pronounce it. The label has a quote in English on it as well, which is ironic for a boutique beer produced by the national brewery in the DR.

That was a long explanation for a short quote, but here it is, directly from the "Cerveza One" beer bottle from the Dominican Republic:

"Life is no more than a series of consequences that could be shifted by the action of one individual that could inspire many to unite over one common goal. That individual could be you."