An Act of Cultural Arrogance?

Mil disculpas for the delayed update. Excuses: We were busy getting ready for the Feria, and then really not too much has happened in the last couple of weeks. We are in the heart of the dry season, and the bees are not doing much of anything because of a lack of nectar flow.

The forage crops garden is coming along relatively well, although I made a tactical error in planting: Some of the seeds we planted in standard rows, but others we simply scattered al voleo (broadcasting method). At Ivor´s farm we planted all the fields in rye as an end-of-season cover crop, and simply scattered them without covering; therefore I followed the same method here in our garden. But it seems that the broadcasted, uncovered seeds were eaten by birds: I failed to take into account that in larger fields the amount of seed consumed will be negligible, but in a small garden a couple of birds can eat every last semilla. Two Sopachueños warned me of that danger when we planted, but I ignored their advice based on my own experience. Moral of this story: Bolivian farmers know what they´re doing! They´ve been farming this land all their lives and know its intricacies much better than a foreigner with one year of agricultural experience. Luckily, we hedged our bets and the other half of the seeds, planted by Don Tomas in the traditional rows, are doing just fine.

Naturalist writer Edward Abbey once referred to the Peace Corps as ¨an act of cultural arrogance.¨ He was referring to the tendency of young American idealists to think that, as ¨civilized, well-educated¨ people, they can simply arrive in the Third World and ¨help¨ the poor, ignorant locals to improve their lives. They quickly learn that, as suburbanized housecats with little technical experience and no grasp of local customs and intricacies, they have little of substance to offer and instead much to learn from the supposedly ¨backward¨ peoples they came to help. Bellarmine President Joseph McGowan also once referred to this phenomenon as ¨the Peace Corps syndrome.¨ (Of course, given the extravagant mansion Dr. McGowan lives in, I take his advice on social justice with a grain of salt...)

Of course, Abbey´s indictment is not unequivocally true: Since the Peace Corps is defined principally by the actions of individual Peace Corps volunteers, whether or not PC service is an act of cultural arrogance depends in each case on the actions and mindset of the volunteer. I, for one, struggled with this problem before coming to Bolivia: Even though I postponed my PC assignment by a year in order to gain some agricultural experience working for Ivor, still I knew that with one year of experience in Louisville, Kentucky I would have little to ¨teach¨ Bolivian farmers who have been working the land their whole lives, and who are following generations of local knowledge handed down by their forebears.

With that in mind, you might be wondering, what are we doing here? Why not instead use the American citizens´tax dollars to fund international NGO´s or government social programs? Well, for me, part of the answer has to do with the value of giving one´s time. Some of the most lasting benefits that Peace Corps Volunteers can offer come from their simple willingness to leave the familiar, comfortable life in the USA and spend two years living in a foreign place, learning the language, participating in traditional customs, working together with local folks. In this way, we show a great deal of respect to people that aren´t used to receiving much respect. Sending a check does not achieve the same effect.

Of course, cultural interchange is not the whole story. The projects matter a great deal, and Peace Corps Volunteers can in fact offer substantial support to communities through their work. Admittedly, generally speaking we are not experts and will probably fail as much as we succeed (e.g. my al voleo planting). But then failure is also a very good teacher, a stern tamer of cultural arrogance.

These are a few preliminary thoughts on what is for me still an open question. Maybe after two years of service my ideas will be clearer. I would appreciate any thoughts you guys have on the subject...

In the mean time, assuming the road blocks are lifted I am heading to Sucre this weekend, so I hold out again the possibility of finally posting some Sopachuy pics for you all to see. Be well and never stop questioning yourself!