Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

If there's one thing working in the NGO (non-government organization) world has taught me, it's empathy.

When I first envisioned the outline for this post I figured I'd speak quite generally about the importance of understanding issues from other perspectives. However, after much consideration, I've decided to focus a bit more on my own experiences and build from there. So here we go...

My entrance into the world of human rights advocacy was somewhat accidental.

When I was much younger I started reading the newspapers aloud in my room - imagining I was the anchor of the nightly news; so I think it would be fair to say that my infatuation with journalism began there. However, after seeing the killing of Michael Gayle and the resulting legal action play out on national television, things changed for me. I saw the work Carolyn Gomes was doing, at that time with Jamaicans for Justice. I wanted to be making a difference in the same way Carolyn  (well, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, O.J.) was. 

So I changed my mind about journalism and thought I wanted to be a lawyer for a while. I would change the legal system; I would ensure that the right people went to prison and that justice was served. I was "hopped up" on this for quite some time, but then during the month of completing applications for the University of the West Indies (and the University of Technology - because Daddy insisted I cover all bases) I finally came to the the realization that I really did not want to be a lawyer - I simply wanted to help people somehow. Eventually, I told myself I would be able to achieve this through journalism (my first love). 

After University (at the undergrad level), I began my life as a Junior Sports Reporter. I decided to focus on the lesser mentioned sports. It was an interesting time. Shortly after, I decided I wanted to pursue a Master's Degree because I knew I needed to do more. Sports Journalism was cool, but that was really not the kind of change agent I wanted to be. While completing my degree I started volunteering with an NGO.

That was the moment my whole life change. 

When I started working in the NGO world, I had to learn to leave my "preconceived notions"; biases and everything else at the door every morning and not bothering to pick them up when I left. I was able to comprehend society on a completely different level. The level at which one needs to understand systems of oppression; systemic desensitization; prejudice - in order to fight against it. 

From my position of being the younger daughter born to a middle-class, nuclear household in a fairly "good" neighbourhood, I would not have been able to - without the help of my immersion in advocacy- understand issues with such ease. While I think I've always had a predisposition to wanting to understand people and to assist where possible, working in the NGO sector taught me invaluable lessons.

In today's world we've adopted more of a "see more and do less" culture. We want to see all that is happening; we want to talk about it; and then go home. We want to talk about it; sprout our own opinions loudly; but we do not want to listen... and it's hard to listen to ideologies that go against the very systems you believe in. 

If we all took more time to understand systems of oppression; to understand different perspectives; to really find common ground in all our interactions; then we would probably be in a better place as a nation; a region...heck, the whole world would be a better place. 

Given the definition of the word above many people don't believe it can ever be a reality, or that they can ever empathize with anyone. However, if we took out everything after "understand", but before "another" - it would read: the ability to understand another. We can all attempt that at least.