empower me, alone?

One does not necessarily achieve empowerment, but rather it is a process of growth and change, continual throughout our lives. So says Paolo Friere (1973).

Rather than being a specific state, it is instead a way of interacting with the world (Gutierrez, L.M., 1994).

interviewing women in refugee camps, camps that have been around for 60 years, makes one reflect on freedom, power, control and value.
today I am going to Jalazone refugee camp in Ramallah. I will talk to women there about their communities, and hopefully gain some understanding about how they flourish and what it means to make a life there.
these are not what most people think of as refugee camps. they are indeed villages unto themselves. they have camp leaders and councils, schools and hospitals - provided by UNRWA.

I want to see how women see themselves. I have met many very confident, powerful female leaders in similar circumstances in Honduras and Colombia. They were the heart of the community, knew who did what and how to get anywhere.

I'm doing research on community resilience. why are some communities able to thrive in extremely adverse situations? how do they retain cohesion and internal commitment when the individuals within the communities are pressured by so many external factors that could lead to depression, hatred, anxiety or apathy?

my hypothesis is that people are stronger when they are together. we know this is true. it is intrinsic and not controversial. I struggle sometimes, however, with the self-directed and self-involved and self-validated nature of my daily life and modern daily life in Canada, and throughout the West.
we are taught to be independent, to go what we wish, and only rely on ourselves at the end of the day.

where has that left us?
why do we have such high rates of environmental destruction, substance abuse, domestic abuse and chronic disease?

I think we've lost something, something human and vital in our belief, our false belief that we can go it alone. maybe today I can put some words to that.
just some thoughts.