To : Theresa Schumilas,
Thank you so much for this genuinely sincere and clearsighted message. I
think that we are many in the health promotion and health education
development field to think and try to get it as you do, going through the
same experiences. I have always considered that anger and frustration are
expressions of weakness - of which my professional life is not exempt from
time to time. Your strong, constructive and sensitive commitment is an
encouragement.

At 20:34 27/02/1997 -0500, you wrote:
>This posting is intended to speak to some of the comments Sam made in a
>posting of Feb 15.  In my paid work, I'm one of the senior management people
>in the establishment who "don't get it" thats referred to in that posting.
>Actually, I would more accurately describe myself as "really trying to get
>it - amid chaos, confusion and crisis".
>
>In my earlier days (before I was a faceless and empty hearted bureaucrat) I
>was intimately involved in an array of community empowering projects - some
>from my paid work and some as a volunteer.  Now, I have the privilage and
>responsibility of directing (within the Waterloo Region Community Health
>Department) a team of 60 people and associated resources toward the goal of
>creating healthy and supportive communities.  I try to remember and submerge
>myself in the grounded community work as often as I can (in between fighting
>for people's jobs) because this activity reminds me of the principles that
>underly all my actions.
>
>The tone of the posting I refer to sounds angry and frustrated, and I know
>that tone well.  I think there are 2 - very different - problems.  One
>problem  is that there are people who we have placed into positions of
>authority who have no grounding in human values - in fact, people who have
>been explicitly taught to keep their personal and work lives separate (as
>though one's values and beliefs can be separated in such a manner.)  These
>people still believe that information is power, and that competition rules.
>In my experience, the only way to "win" over these people is to lead by
>example - and that takes a long time,  a lot of personal energy and a lot of
>clarity in ones's actions.  Frankly, I personally struggle with whether
>these people are worth the effort.
>
>The other problem is one of "getting it" even when you want to. There are
>senior managers,  like me - who are trying to make decisions based in a set
>of explicit values and principles.  We are very isolated and we need the
>support of people like you to make the shift to fully using this technology.
>You seem to feel like your work is vulnerable (the should you be hit by a
>snow plough thing).  I can relate -  I was on a   self-funded leave last
>year (in this community I'd refer to this as being hit by a horse and buggy)
>and returned to see that one of the most community building projects I had
>started had been dropped to lower priority, leaving the community partners
>frustrated and bitter.  After an original bout of  anger though, I realized
>that this was MY fault - not the fault of my temporary replacement.  I had
>NOT established these projects with a vision of long term sustainability.  I
>had foolishly placed myself "in control" of key processes, rather than
>taking my role "out of the loop".  So, under the guise of empowerment, I had
>created dependency.    Its an easy mistake to make - especially when one
>works daily within a system that has a diffuse intelligence to perpetuate
>status quo.
>
>I want you to know that a lot of us are trying to "get it" - and we are as
>frustrated as you.  In my experience, we need cultural interpreters.  When I
>work with community groups (in the literal world as you call it) I always
>look for that person in the group who can act as the bridge between the
>bureaucratic  and the informal.  Its that person who can understand both
>cultures.   I think we need that kind of person with this internet stuff.  I
>feel like I've been trying to get it - I've bought books galore - and I get
>halfway through and throw it down - the jargon is thick and I want to reject
>the trick of holding onto power through language. I've spend lots of time
>surfing - but end up feeling like a passive consumer instead of a producer.
>I've enrolled on listservs to try to "learn by lurking" - but there always
>feels  like there is a powerful "in group"  prepared to judge me instead of
>seeing my capacity.  (And what is so ironic to me, is that these very
>barriers are the kinds of things that community and disenfranchised groups
>raise back to me when I work with them.)
>
>In my paid work, I want to make a strong committment of resources to using
>electronic vehicles and strategies as complimentary to our "walking the
>streets" and "door to door" approaches.     I want to learn enough to be a
>translator of this stuff, so I can be one of the "champions" within  my
>(modest, not rich) institution and increase access for others.
>
>So, first I'm interested in the infodev forum, and I've send the message to
>get enrolled. It returned with some error - but so far I have not let my
>bumbling stupidity halt me -  I'll try again.
>
>But further - I'd like to dialogue more to try to figure out this stuff.
>I'm ignorant about the technology - but I have a lot of (maybe too much)
>"inside" experience with bureaucracy, and I know how it works.  One of the
>barriers within institutions at the moment, I think, is that everything is
>ends oriented.  Process is secondary. We have to continually fight (and
>sometimes lie) to continue community development work - because this
>requires "faith" that people are solutions - not problems.  Institutions are
>not big on faith in people.  I see the electronic workspace as a similar
>problem.  In an environment where short term efficiency rules - its
>difficult even for us "champions" to argue for strategies where the "up
>front" learning curve and investment is great - and the short term outcomes
>are questionable.   So, don't judge me please - understand my environment,
>and help me make the case.
>
>Thanks for the opportunity.  (By the way, this was my first ever listserv
>posting !)
>
>Theresa Schumilas
>Director,
>Family and Community Resources
>Community Health Department
>Region of Waterloo
>
>phone:  (519) 883 2254
>fax:    (519) 883 2241
>email:  [log in to unmask]
>
>


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Marie-Claude Lamarre
Executive Director
<[log in to unmask]>
International Union for Health Promotion and Education
2 rue Auguste Comte, 92170 Vanves - France
Tel : 00 33 1 46 45 00 59 ; Fax : 00 33 1 46 45 00 45
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