Connect mid-month RAP: 6/16/23 ~ A Cultural Children’s Library

Greetings and Happy Midweek!

And since yesterday (I’m 2 days late this week!) was mid-month, it’s time for another of our RAP sessions (Review And Process, deeper and wider). Each RAP revisits a cross-cultural theme or topic from a previous Connect. This month we are going to revisit the topic of libraries.* We’ll explore an almost unbelievable story of 4 kids & their culture, with a deeply impactfull library connection. It fits neatly into the Harbor dimension of our Global SKILLs 3D Dynamics framework and gives us a shining example of how, in the Harbor dimension, people come and work together toward mutually beneficial goals. It’s a slightly longer Connect too - but bear with me…you will appreciate the story and then we can briefly explore the cultural dynamics.

This past week, the world has watched in amazement as these 4 children (age 13 to, YES, one year old) who were lost for 40 days in the Colombian Amazon jungle were found alive! These siblings are indigenous Huitoto people and were in a plane crash which killed the 3 adults on the plane and left the kids to fend for themselves.

And, some say miraculously, they did survive, led by the eldest sister who, among many fascinating details, fashioned bottles for the baby out of banana leaves and dripped a nutritious ‘formula’ they had made into her mouth! Having grown up in the region, they are being lauded for using their traditional knowledge and skills in extremely adverse surroundings that even the soldiers and native trackers who searched for them said they themselves were struggling to manage.

So, yes, partially miracle - but also, partially knowledge based cultural mastery perfectly implemented and sustained beyond almost all hope. The searchers are taking a back seat to focus on the kids - but they too persevered including valuing input from the trackers’ knowledge base and working together with the kids’ family. For example, Grandma made an audio tape in their own language (hearing that detail brought me to tears!) assuring the kids it was ok if they heard her voice and saw people. As it turns out, they were actually hiding from the searchers, fearing they might be trying to catch them and recruit them into rebel forces which was a reasonable fear since they were on that plane to flee that very threat in their own village area. Can you even imagine?!

We will definitely revisit this epic saga, as surely it will be recorded, in future Connects for other insights - but the one I leave you with today is that these kids are in fact a real life “Children's Library”, and even as we read about them, their wealth of traditional cultural knowledge and wisdom is effectively being shared globally! This incident from one remote corner of the earth reminds us of the wealth of indigenous knowledge which is still very much active and which can indeed be life giving to those who practice it, and enlightening to those who observe it.

How about you ~ what is one ‘cultural riches’ take away you get from these kids’ experience?

Share about that with a friend or note it here.

And check out the Global SKILLs LINKs below for more details on the kids…

Thanks for being part of this Connect community.

Until next week,

Betsy

Global SKILLs LINKs

~ You can find many articles and videos - just google “Columbian kids found” & see what kinds of cultural perspectives & lessons come out in the way the media is covering it and as additional details emerge.

Notes

* Check out these previous Connects which have explored other types of cultural libraries dynamics: 8/25/21 Cultural Libraries; RAPs - 11/17/21 Revisiting Libraries

(scroll down here for these posts: https://www.globalskillspartners.com/blog-1)

** Through my business Global SKILLs and several partner subsidiaries I offer unique cross-cultural consulting and training including:

3 Dimensional Dynamics Model:

1st dimension = HOME ; 2nd dimension = HOST ; 3rd dimension = HARBOR (which we explored this week)

PROACTive Learning Strategies:

PRO = PROfile, PROcess, PROgram

ACT = Application, Collaboration and Transformation

~ contact me for more information on this model and these strategies and how you might use them in your current programming: betsy.barbour@gmail.com

2023 ~ Celebrating 40+ years of working in

intercultural communications and global community building

“It takes a community to build a community”

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Please do not reproduce or share without my permission (betsy.barbour@gmail.com)