[Beth]

Hey, Evelyn

I found myself thinking about holograms when reading your post. It isn’t exactly a correct analogy, but the idea is that the whole is represented in each part. Thus, wherever we start, we have a path to the larger frame or picture, which means that where we start isn’t as important as starting. You have so much heart for people and for life, I think you could follow any of the paths you mentioned, and it would lead you to your deepest heart.

Beth

[Beth]

Hey Hayden,

You are so refreshingly self-reflective and open! Thank you for sharing so deeply the process you have been going through. Your initiative has shown in this class and with that baseline, I am confident that you will find ways to live your values about animal protection and advocacy. I hope we will learn of them as we go forward in the class.

You identified the 4-6 week mark as being challenging (and so did Olivia in her response) this reflects my experience, too. It makes me remember my teaching days when as professors, we gave each other knowing looks around week 6 because students hit a slump and had difficulties maintaining their energy. I am realizing that on the student end of it, you all as classmates have helped me navigate my slump.

Thanks!

Beth

[Beth]

Method Initiative Exercise 9: Second Personal Essay

I started this class because for several years I have wanted to organize a “clean up Merida” project. I never acted on this idea because I didn’t know where to start and it seemed fruitless and overwhelming. The class has helped me realize that I could just “jump in” with my idea on my own and then let it grow from there. “Start with where you are and what you have”. Making a poster for my cart that says “I “heart” Merida” and picking up trash on Paseo Montejo on Sunday mornings has proven to be an energizing place to start because it both feels good to “do something” and because there has been positive feedback from people on the street every time I have gone out.

Thinking of “who” has the problem has been a different way to approach the problem than anything I have done before. When I started, I considered the trash on the street the problem. It is for me and it is for most of my friends. I wasn’t sure it was for local people. In thinking through what the negative feelings are and for whom, I realized that the feeling evoked by the trash is disgust, overwhelm and hopelessness. These are the feelings that paralyzed me and perhaps others. Though I have had formal conversations with friends and acquaintances that have confirmed that others have these feelings, the consistent response by strangers on the street thanking me for picking up trash reinforces the idea that others want it to be different but also don’t know how or where to start. With this in mind, I have gotten some supplies to share with others who want to join me on Sunday mornings while I work on organizing a larger community event.

The idea of iterations has helped me see the process as one that is expected to evolve. When the class started, I had in mind a city-wide event that would look like the Love Modesto event with which I was peripherally familiar. While I still have that as an eventual goal, the feedback from people who have organized similar events is to start small and learn from them how to scale up. Josh’s feedback that my Sunday morning pickups WERE a start encouraged me to keep it up.

It has been refreshing to have a structured purpose in reaching out to people that I might have been timid about reaching out to before. I have yet to make a real “cold call” because everyone with whom I’ve spoken has been someone in my community with whom I’ve had at least casual contact or a referral by someone with whom I’ve spoken (Classmates have been invaluable in giving referrals). I do feel the groundwork has been laid for making cold calls and I feel more comfortable and prepared to do so. I have had so much positive feedback that I expect people to be open and receptive to the idea of a clean-up event that would invite broader participation from the community. My challenge now is to establish a group of people committed enough to the idea to be on a “steering committee” to organize and plan an event. I have a visit to a local church scheduled. I am hopeful they will be interested in starting a project in their community and that there will be a person or two interested in heading up the project with me.

While I had difficulty completing the spreadsheet, it did make me think of what items/expenses to expect and how to obtain them. I have a better idea of what will be needed and thus have a list of things to bring to the table when organizing an event with a specific group. I believe that some of the people I have talked to in the business community will be willing to provide some financial support and “in kind” help such as with advertising or supplies. I think I still have a long way to go on this but it has gotten me started in assessing the costs and the benefits of the project to those who participate. Since I am not looking for this to be a “money-making” event, I have a different perspective than others. However, I also don’t want it to be a “money-losing” event.

I am thinking about how to make the event “sustainable”, as in not creating more trash and minimizing the need to buy new things with which to do the work. I am still pondering how to dispose of the trash collected. There are recycling centers that I would like to enlist as well as the trash collecting services that are already used by the city. I have discussed with classmates and others some options for how to have the volunteers identifiable when they are going about their work. Love Modesto uses T-shirts, and I like that idea because people are proud of them and wear them throughout the year providing more opportunities to get the word out. The idea of “repurposing” t-shirts that people already have doesn’t address the need to make them the same and identifiable from a distance. I am exploring what the most “sustainable” t-shirt might be and how much it would cost. Having a t-shirt be a part of what the volunteers “get” would be significant here. I have not settled on a solution to this but I am working on it.

I have now developed relationships with a number of “movers and shakers” in Merida who have voiced support and interest in the project. These conversations have not just been beneficial for moving forward with what I want to accomplish, they have also been personally satisfying. I have heard their stories and gotten to know them beyond a superficial level. I learned that Ireland used to be the worst European country for cleanliness until someone thought of starting a national movement to change it and thus was born “Tidy Towns Ireland”. This is a national competition for being the “tidiest” town in Ireland. It started in 1958 and is still going strong. According to my friend, it was pivotal in turning around the national “consciousness” of taking care of and pride in the country of Ireland. I wonder if something like that could be part of my project. Could we develop recognition for neighborhoods that decide to clean up their streets? Give them acknowledgments that would matter to them? Ireland has gotten my synapses firing. I also learned that there have been neighborhood structures in Mexico before, something like the Neighborhood Watch program except for keeping the neighborhood clean. It is an idea that has not continued, but there may be those who remember it and who would be motivated to help a new iteration come to life. Another conversation was with a young man who grew up in Campeche, a World Heritage Site city and the one with the designation of “the cleanest city in Mexico”. He grew up with that being emphasized in his schooling, in his home, and in the city-wide identity. He was shocked when he moved to Merida and saw the condition of the streets with ever flowing trash. Each of these people is part of my “circle” now and I will have no problems connecting with them as the community wide event plan evolves. All of these examples have seeded my own ideas that I will bring with me when developing our Merida project(s).

My next steps are twofold. One is to continue with my Sunday morning clean ups soliciting others to join me and the second is to meet with the church community that was a referral by a Padre in Merida. Now that I have a contact in the radio community, I will reconnect with him, too, and explore other media avenues for getting the word out. I have become a bit more trusting and relaxed (less stressed) about allowing this to grow organically as I continue the assignments and meet with more local people.

REFLECTIONS

I enjoyed writing this essay more than I imagined. I had felt pressured to “catch up” and was more in the mode of “getting it done” than actually benefiting from the process when I first sat down. However, as I began to write, I realized that I am more focused about the project than I was before. When the class started, I examined a few extraneous avenues before landing on “just” a clean-up project as a good goal. This was largely due to speaking with people who have done their own versions of “clean-up projects” that have endured decades and that have helped raise the awareness of trash and of stewardship. The experience of talking with people has been rewarding and effective in moving me forward both with ideas I want to incorporate and those that I don’t. Having had so many spontaneous contacts on the street on Sunday mornings has been fueling my determination to see this through. Meeting someone with a radio program last Sunday confirmed to me that local interest is there. I feel ready to take the next steps.

[Beth]

Method Initiative Exercise 8: Spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E16hqhGB-l6Nr5xt–H9v0wdBXCd4tMU/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103466500027298511172&rtpof=true&sd=true

Project ASSUMPTIONS

I don’t really have a 2 year plan. My goal is to find a community with which I can launch one clean up event from which I can learn in order to replicate with the same community or grow it to other communities. In order to do that, I only need a few supplies that I believe I already have. We will need water and trash free snacks which I am hoping to generate as donations either from the community itself or a business partner. I think the longer range plan will be directed from the initial experience.

In this plan, I assumed I could get a number of business partners. I think I could work out a plan to generate $100 per month from one of them each month in order to supply what is needed for the clean up. In order to do this I will need more specific numbers as to the actual costs.

I spent at least 4 or 5 hours looking up costs but what I know at this point isn’t sufficient to really know what be needed down the road. Part of my vision is that getting people from the church or school to form a “steering committee” and that the vision of the event will come from that group. Thus, the monetary needs will be driven by that plan.

I can’t really say this felt motivating to talk to others about my plan beyond what I am already involved in doing. It made me aware that I don’t want to be the sole driver of it. I want this to belong to the people who are doing it and so I want the plan to be driven by that. Thus, those are the people I want to talk to first.

REFLECTIONS

This exercise made me consider what the costs would be and how I imagine covering them. I don’t see this as a “profit generating” project. It is a community building project that will need some supplies and refreshments for participants (at least at the beginning. It may evolve to include other items requiring money but I don’t know what those will be yet) I don’t think much will be needed at the beginning and I think with the contacts I have already made and with donations those things can be covered.

I need more time and some assistance to figure out how to develop a web presence that could be used to advertise beforehand and to celebrate after. I need to find someone who could help me think that through. Again, I can have the idea about how to do that and do it with the people who will be participating in the project.

[Beth]

Exercise 7 – Create a Visual Model

Old Problem: People feel discouraged, overwhelmed and hopeless about trash in the streets.

Old Solution: Hold a clean-up event in either a school or church community or both based on city pride and stewardship. Establish a leadership group from the communities involved to develop the details of the event and for the group to take ownership of the event.

New Problem: Same
New Solution: Same

The link below is my list and my visual model.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VngjF0aDwPm1wxOEoBLRgLc281eptX6A/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103466500027298511172&rtpof=true&sd=true

REFLECTIONS
I feel like I do understand the project better after thinking of the people/groups that need to be involved. I have revised several times and added groups but am already thinking of more but want to get in what I have done thus far. I realize that such an event needs a plan for cleanup AFTER the trash has been collected and my list and visual plan doesn’t include this component. Also, there needs to be a plan for water and refreshments that isn’t included. I am thinking about how to do these things in the most sustainable way.

My motivation to talk to people remains high. I don’t know if this did anything to change my motivation, but it did highlight who I need to talk to in order to accomplish the task

[Beth]

Hey, Joe,

Looking forward to hearing from you this week, if these difficulties continued or if you feel like you broke through any log jams.

See you tomorrow,

Beth

[Beth]

Hi Hayden,

I am happy to hear you are feeling you are homing in on how you want to proceed and are feeling more confident in your ability to do something meaningful with your project. It sounds like community is key!

Beth

[Beth]

Hey, Evelyn,

I have been asking myself how anyone with regular responsibilities of kids, jobs, other parts of their lives are managing what this exercise required. I am retired and I felt like my entire week revolved around completing this assignment. I am glad I did it, and it was a good experience for me, but it consumed my week. I think Josh said this is the most time-consuming week, so I hope it gets better for you and those who have full lives outside of this class.

Beth/Mom

[Beth]

Hey, Olivia,

It sounds like a hard week. I hope you are taking a deep breath!

I have a question in response to what you are experiencing. I wonder about you beginning by trying to identify the “cause of their emotional attachments” as opposed to taking a step to get rid of stuff or a commitment to not adding anything for “x” amount of time. It seems taking action first helps bring to awareness what gets in the way of making those concrete steps. It seems easy to me to go around in circles when you start by trying to figure out “causation”. In taking action, I would agree with Hayden that group support is great, think AA where people stop drinking and get support to continue and to address the challenges that come up when they do. They also have support when they “fall off the wagon”.

Looking forward to being able to talk more,

Beth

[Beth]

Initiative Exercise 6 – Ten People Closer to the Problem

Old Problem: People feel discouraged, overwhelmed, and hopeless about the trash in the streets
Old Solution: Create a Merida clean up event that focuses on taking pride in and loving our city with the focus being schools, churches, and businesses.
Advice received:
Conversation 1: Former Executive Director of International Organization, organizes international events
1. Establish a goal for how many people or neighborhoods you want to begin with.
2. Talk to groups you are targeting for participation and look for local people willing to take a
leadership role and be on a “steering committee”. Engage them in developing the vision so that the event reflects their ideas and goals for the community. You need a team to do this.
3. Each of these leaders can then develop their own teams to carry out their part of the project (like fundraising, logistics, advertising etc)
4. If you need donations, find public ways to acknowledge those who help.
5. Have in mind from the beginning if you want it to repeat, and think about frequency.
6. Since Campeche has the designation of “cleanest city in Mexico” think about having students Merida doing a field trip to Campeche to see how students there are taught about civic pride.
7. Consider having some music at the clean up sites.
Referral: a couple who live in Guadalajara who have been community workers.
Conversation 2: Former director of Sierra Club, current Board President of Merida English Library and organizer of many fundraisers to benefit youth in Merida
1. FOCUS! Don’t try to do too many things at once. Make it a clean-up and start small with measurable results for success.
2. Find local community “champions” for your steering committee. Find the people who are the “movers”
3. The local people you work with need to “own it” with you. They need to be involved in the vision and detail planning.
4. Get people on board who know government officials that could make introductions.
5. The steering committee needs agency. They need to be involved in defining “what is it we want to do together here” and in being able to act on the plan.
Referrals:
1. Stepanie Carmen – influencer on Mid-City Beat
2. Padre Jose
3. Kimmy Suki
4. UADY (local university) contact Andreas (he will send me the name and contact info)
5. Jane Mallones with Yucatan Kids who does volunteer work with kids in Yucatan

Conversation 3: Founder of Yucatan Giving Outreach, volunteer organization in Merida that
has active projects in about 30 different locations including Alzheimer’s homes, orphanages, drug treatment programs, delivers food and water during floods and hurricanes (and the
pandemic)
1. If you use “I Love Merida” it is only inside the Periferico. If you want to include communities outside of the periferico, it would need to be “I Love Yucatan”.
2. Consider going to the asientomientos (literally “squatters” camps of all women who have been widowed or abandoned and are living on lands the government has given permission for them to occupy.) They have no services and are essentially forgotten.
3. Don’t go to the government now. There was just an election and everything has changed.
4. Get local people involved in the planning and implementing of the project.
5. Don’t worry about permits. You don’t need permission to pick up trash anywhere. Referrals:
1. We had a very involved conversation about the government, police, justice department and protective services that pre-empted any follow up with these entities at this time because of political upheavals.
2. She has the contacts for the women leaders in each of the encampments and can do introductions.
Conversation 4: Anglican priest (Mexican) very involved in the community and with numerous projects going in his congregation
1. Know your community membership. This congregation has a group in Centro and one in the south of Merida made up of very different communities.
2. Send a project summary that I can share with the leader of the south Merida community.
3. Go with the Madre that leads that community to meet people and get a feel for the community.
4. Be prepared to speak only in Spanish with this community.
5. Think ahead of time how frequently you want to do a clean up.
Referral: Madre Layda, spiritual leader of congregation in south Merida who he will speak to and connect me with.
Conversation 5: Restaurant owner, native of Ireland
1. Make sure it isn’t a “gringo” thing. Get locals involved.
2. Ireland went from being a horrible place for litter and trash to a leader in Europe. The project was called “Tidy Towns Ireland”. They worked with schools and developed civic pride keeping their spaces clean and also planting gardens and having green spaces. You can
look up how that project unfolded.
3. Kids are key. Get them involved and they will pull along their parents.
4. Utilize local media and social media.

5. Don’t try to get connected with the government right now.” I know the incoming governor but everything is up in the air.” Give it a little while to know how it will land.
Referrals:
1. Julie Hoover started the “Green Merida Group” came from NY where she was involved in the subway system (didn’t get exactly what). I’ll connect with her and let her know about what your working on. Then I’ll connect you.
2. I’ll connect you with the local business group when you are ready to act.
Conversation 6: Restaurant owner, native of Mexico City (known as Chilangos here)
1. Focus on the pride people have of Yucatan.
2. Start with any group of people picking up and get some social media attention. Get people joining you on your Sunday morning clean ups.
3. Find a school that already has some kind of club that could fit in to this project and engage the students.
4. Find recycling folks who are already engaged and more open.
5. Communication is key. You need to have a clear and simple message with concrete directions for how people can help. Have a QR code, pass out cards or stickers with info on how to connect and it needs to be SIMPLE.
Referrals: Our time ran out and I didn’t get any specifics. They want to participate and
offered to put up posters in their restaurant and to do the clean ups with me and connect me with other business community leaders.
Conversation 7: Founder of “Facelift Yosemite” now an international program of clean-up programs in climbing areas around the world.
1. Get logistics identified; do you need permits? how many volunteers will you need for “support”? what needs to be done ahead of time? what needs to be done when it is over?
2. Find a way to identify people who LOVE Merida specifically to engage them.
3. Decide if you are going to do any sorting with what is collected because it will need to be planned.
4. START SMALL! Have a successful experience that you can grow on. Pick a specific area.
5. Find people with media connections.
6. One person knows everything. Everyone else reports to that person and are in charge of specific aspects.
7. Take photos. Document.
8. Identify supplies. We use safety vests, grabbers, gloves, bags, water.
9. Consider raffle prizes for those who helped.
Referrals: I didn’t get any. He invited me to connect again with any further questions.
Conversation 8: Environmental Educator
1. Use the film Waste Land as an introduction. It is inspiring and motivating.
2. Tap into people’s personal feelings and pride to motivate. (Sort of Spodek method like) not just a business transaction.

3. Have children make posters with their art to put in public places to reminds people/ invites people to care for the public spaces.
4. Think about repurposing t-shirts of a similar color that can then have personal art or writing to communicate the belonging to the clean up group to avoid buying new, or use something like a bandana with hand painting.
5. Contact the sanitation services in the area about making more containers available. Referrals: I didn’t get any
Conversation 9: Event coordinator for a non-profit organization that coordinates all activities for a small Maryland town that has earned the designation “Coolest Small Town in America”
1. Recognize that the first year is the hardest and start small. You will develop contacts, word of mouth and learn things that can be used for following events.
2. Clothing is hard and expensive. Think of other ways to identify the participants, maybe a pin or a bumper sticker that would start a conversation.
3. Tap into already existing groups so you don’t have to gather people one by one.
4. Have a specific goal like “we are picking up litter from Street A to Street C”.
5. Find a way to quantify the results. The participants love a measure of what they have done and it can be compared from year to year. (number of bottles, bags, their group has counted cigarette butts!) You generate data to be shared and used to increase interest.
6. Use the “second safest city in the Americas” as a point of generating pride and desire for stewardship.
7. Utilize your personal pick up days to get spread the info about the event.
Referrals: She couldn’t think of any right away but said she would be mulling it over.
Conversation 10: School shop teacher who has participated in and led community clean-up projects with his town and Boy Scouts
1. We incentivize with recycling money or money per km of cleanup
2. Increase the availability of garbage cans on the streets
3. Make the area not to big or overwhelming. Probably an hour or two is more than enough time.
4. Think about ways to keep it clean. In the same way graffiti attracts more graffiti, trash on the street is like permission for the next person to throw theirs on the street, too.
5. Think about utilizing treats as rewards for participation and something to eat at the end. Referrals: He couldn’t think of any

New Problem: Same as old problem
New Solution: Hold a clean-up event in either one or both a church community and a school community based on city pride and stewardship. Establish a leadership group from the communities involved to develop the details of the event and to take ownership of it.

REFLECTIONS:
Is your understanding of the seven principles changing? If so, how?
I would say that my understanding is deepening. I’m realizing that acting is more important than thinking or “perfecting” and that talking to people is, indeed, a “superpower”.
How did you feel about the exercise before starting? Were you anxious, excited, confused? How did your feelings change as you did the exercise?
I did feel anxious to start with but realized I just needed to jump in. Once I got started, I was buoyed by their interest and encouragement. I still got a bit tired of talking to so many people in such a short time, but it didn’t stop me. I just felt I could have used a little more digesting/processing time between the conversations.
How did you feel during the conversations? How did the other people seem to feel? Did you get advice beyond your expectations? Did you learn from the conversations? Do you feel your understanding of the problem and the quality of the solution improved? Do you think the people you talked to are interested in learning how the project evolves? How would you
characterize the conversations—boring, fun, exciting?
I spoke with people this week that I have pondered talking to and found them to be very open, interested, and willing to help. Without exception, they were interested in my idea and want it to come to fruition. More than one person has put something together like this that has grown in unforeseen ways and contributed beyond their wildest imagination from where they set out.
One thing that almost everyone said was “start small and build on your success”. This wasn’t new or surprising, but since it was so universal I am taking that very seriously. There were ideas about using kids’ art, about unique ways of quantifying the results that gave a new twist. Using Campeche (the cleanest city in Mexico and 2 hours from Merida) as a teaching opportunity for kids in Merida was also a new thought and one that fascinates me.
Without exception people were interested in the outcome and those who live here want to participate. Those who don’t live here want to hear about the results and are open to further conversations as the project development continues.
I also had a very distressing conversation about the changes happening since the most recent
election. I don’t want to write too much about this but it has the potential of changing our lives here in a way that would make us reconsider living here. This will take some time to know how it will unfold.

[Beth]

Ten People Closer to the Field

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1USCw_yfTWtIzeh0p-MWDQMHVzrnzO-9U/view?usp=drive_link

[Beth]

Initiative Week 5 – 5 People Who Feel the Problem

1. Martha, a single mother of 2 who cleans houses for a living told me about the level of trash being thrown in the street being so great that it sometimes prevents cars from being able to pass because it is things like mattresses, furniture, car parts, etc. “I get so upset when I see the piles building up! The city is a big part of the problem because it announces that it will come by for the trash and then never shows up. Even if you call them, they don’t respond to complaints. Also, people just don’t learn in their homes not to throw their trash on the ground.”

2. Vicky, a yoga teacher who lives in Merida now but moved here from Tabasco state reports the problem of people just tossing anything in the street like bottles or candy wrappers . “It bothers me a lot. I feel like it is just customary behavior that needs to be taught in the home first and also in schools. I didn’t really learn until I was 15 and I traveled to another city that was different and I really liked how clean it was. It made me change my attitude”

3. Rita is a professional Mexican woman with her own business married to a man from Canada. She immediately identified “I feel angry and totally frustrated that nothing is ever done about people leaving piles of garbage in the street. There are laws but even if you complain nothing is done about it. I feel embarrassed when we have visitors and we drive by a corner with large piles accumulating there. People aren’t well educated and they don’t want to pay 20 pesos a month for garbage collection. They just feel like they can drop whatever they want wherever they want.” She suggested neighborhood groups that talk to one another and keep each other accountable.

4. Diego is a physical therapist in his 30’s. When asked how he feels when he sees people dropping litter in the street he says “I feel angry and disappointed. I came from the cleanest city in Mexico. We were recognized for it as a World Heritage City and we grew up taking pride in our city by taking care of it and keeping it clean. When I see how people throw things without even thinking here it is frustrating.” He also said that people need to be educated and that getting young people engaged with Tik-Tok videos might be a way to make it fun and engaging.

5. My fifth person was unavailable in time for me to write this up.

REFLECTIONS:
Before I started the conversations I was thinking I had to find specific people who would be experiencing the problem, for example restaurant owners on the Paseo. What I realized is that I could really talk to anyone, so that’s how I started. I had a conversation with the friend who cleans our house, my yoga instructor, a friend who helps foreigners navigate all the governmental systems when they become residents, and my physical therapist. I had a conversation with the young person who works in the bulk food store set up but was unable to finish that one. Before I started I felt a bit intimidated, fearing people would think I was an outsider and that I was being critical of their city. Those feelings changed immediately when I had my first conversation because the people wanted to talk about it and were positive about a project that addresses this. I talked about my interest coming from how much I love Merida and each of them were enthusiastic to talk about their feelings and experiences. They were also very positive and encouraging about doing something about it with my project.

I am feeling encouraged about my project and excited to find ways that the people I have talked to can participate, as each of them has expressed an interest in finding out more. Though the assignment wasn’t to get advice, some offered advice and I think could be helpful. I can’t exactly say my solution is better developed but I’m motivated to keep moving forward.

Every time I have had a conversation for these exercised I have walked away feeling happy to have had that conversation and buoyed by peoples’ interest.

[Beth]

Hayden, I have just now seen your response and encouragement on this weeks topic. Thank you so much! I remain in catch up mode as I’ve been unable to do anything this week, either, but I am letting go of the PUSH.

[Beth]

Catch up week reflections

How has this workshop compared with your expectations or other classes, if any, on similar subjects?

I think I was expecting this to be a workshop of “doing the thing” not “talking about the thing” and it has been just that. The group interaction has been supportive, which I expected, and the guest speakers have been incredibly inspiring in the passion and the results they achieved from their projects. I didn’t know we would have the opportunity to hear from them and it was a welcomed surprise. This is more like workshops I have taken to learn something specific vs. any classes I have taken. When I was in an administrative position in the county, we had a “Leadership” program that used workshops for learning and practicing but it was a top down imposed program. The adoption of this program didn’t include any working staff and so it didn’t connect to anyone’s real passion.

I don’t think I expected to feel the amount of pressure I feel about the assignments. It is more challenging to get them done than I thought. I have truly enjoyed every conversation that I have had and getting them scheduled around the normal life things has been more challenging than I expected. The week of 10 interviews left me feeling exhausted and uncertain I would be able to maintain this for 30 weeks. Having the assignment ready for posting on Saturday morning at 10 am my time feels like a huge crunch to do the work, write the work, reflect on the writing, post the writing.

How has interacting with others factored in?

People are my main interest. Listening to/reading their ideas of projects motivates me and stimulates my curiosity. I truly enjoyed my advice conversations with every one of the participants I spoke to. I not only enjoyed their advice, but liked having the time to hear more directly about their projects from them. It was fascinating to me how being asked for advice sparked my thinking in fun ways.

Any suggestions for improving the experience?

I don’t know how to make it feel less like a marathon but I still don’t know that I can do this for 30 weeks. Having just been out of the loop for a week leaves me feeling really jammed to even start thinking about anything again. I’m running at about 25% energy right now, not able to be upright more than a few minutes at a time and I don’t know if I’m coming out of it or still in the middle of it. I also have a pile of life things that have to be handled that didn’t get handled last week. I realize this isn’t concrete suggestion about how to improve, but my brain doesn’t have a concrete idea to suggest.

What have been your biggest surprises so far?

Something I didn’t anticipate was how much I would be deeply looking at my own sense of purpose. I, like Jim shared today, am probably closer to the end of my timeline than most in the class (recognizing that none of us know and the end could be at any moment). So, how I spend these moments with which I have been blessed has been my major pondering. I am realizing that I care about the trash situation in Merida, but that isn’t my passion. Connecting with people as I pick up trash is the gold for me. Looking into someone else’s eyes and connecting as a human who cares to another who cares, that makes my heart sing.

What do you think the rest of the class will be like? Or the leadership part?

Thinking too far ahead makes me anxious. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do about interviewing five people with “the problem” because I’m having a hard time defining who that is. I have some ideas but my mind is on this week’s assignment, not next week’s. I can say I’m excited to watch my friends and how they evolve in their ideas.

Confession: I am typing this directly into the forum and am not sitting on it overnight. I need to get this done so I can continue to the next assignment. I have the energy right now. I don’t know if I’ll have the energy in an hour or tomorrow.

[Beth]

@ Bonnie
Welcome to the group! Thank you for sharing your reasons and about the challenges you have faced in taking initiative in your life up until now. I look forward to hearing more of what ideas you choose to follow. Beth

[Beth]

Old Problem: People feel discouraged, overwhelmed, and hopeless about the trash in the streets

Old Solution: Create a city wide clean up event that focuses on taking pride in and loving our city

Advice received:

1. Decide on the day you want to do the event, make it meaningful.
2. Have businesses offer employees time off to participate, maybe even paid, then get publicity for their participation.
3. Use some extrinsic motivators like challenges/metrics that demonstrate how much garbage was collected.
4. Take photos of individuals and a blurb from them about why they are participating, of with what they have collected.
5. Photos of people doing the work
6. Use students who may need hours
7. Tweak the project to more directly address the community building that was mentioned in the discussion, maybe not just clean up but other ways to contribute that demonstrate city pride. e.g Include options like tree planting, community garden etc.
8. Talk to enough local people to know that the identified emotions/ problem identified are actually a feelings/problem for them and not just you. Talk to them about what projects would make them feel the community pride.
9. Look at other kinds of community projects for ideas/guidance like “I Love My Parks” day
10. In looking at having a “trash free celebration” at the end of the day, have people bring their own containers for food, drink.
11. Get a Mexican partner from the beginning.
12. Get the word out on the radio. Lots of Mexicans listen to the radio regularly.
13. Get professionals that are connected to kids involved so they can help bring kids into the project. Clubs, classes, teachers
14. Seek sponsorship for drinks, snacks, and celebration.
15. Share stories of people with a photo and quotes about why they participated and about their experience in doing so.
16. Use local “buy nothing” groups
17. In order to have a celebration without creating trash you could have a bring your own utensil policy.
18. Partner with an already existent organization that the community is familiar with
19. Make more options than clean up available as volunteer options.
20. Need a local person as the face of the event.
21. Utilize the help of LoveOurCities so you aren’t reinventing the wheel
22. Get a board together to work with you including at least half local people
23. Connect with local government for permit needs and to be respectful of letting them know what you are working on.
24. Focus on community building nature of the event.
25. Settle on an identifiable name for your event/group.
26. Get more specific in your own head about what you want to do, what you want to accomplish. Avoid mission creep.
27. Develop a planning committee that includes local Mexican people.
28. Connect with people who do these kinds of events and create a vision and mission.
29. Look at establishing a broad brush budget.
30. Develop a way to ensure the group you are addressing is the group feeling the feelings identified in the problem.
31. Include in your plan how to accomplish it without creating more trash (and maybe even including in your goals a way to support the community in creating less waste in the first place)
32. Think about how to identify the group in a way that doesn’t mean buying T-shirts or other things that will end up in land fills. Maybe dying shirts that people already have, making identifying “sashes” that could be made for the group and reused.
33. Consider scaling your project to first be successful. Doing something successfully is better than planning for and not doing a lot of things, or bigger things.
34. Consider getting a sponsor in local government. They might be willing to provide materials for picking up garbage for the event.
35. Look for prominent, recognizable figures in your city (think movie stars, local celebrities) that could endorse and help promote the event. You can hold a rally where that person talks and sets the tone and raises enthusiasm for participation.
36. Plant the seed in the event of ongoing events to maintain clean streets and neighborhoods. Tap into their enthusiasm when they are already participating by having a follow up event they can sign up for.
37. Celebrate with photos, the cleaned up results (maybe before and after) and create the narrative of how this activity makes a difference/matters. People want to do things that matter.
38. See if there are any local laws that should be considered. Go to local municipal government to demonstrate respect and interest in following the laws that may apply.

New problem: Same as old problem

New solution: Get a group of friends and people you have talked to about this project to do a clean up event together that includes identifying apparel.

New People to talk to:

1. Find local Buy Nothing groups
2. Organizer of “I Love My Parks” day in NY
3. Bree Komiski, a friend who has organized events
4. Stockton Mexican Heritage – woman’s name and number who organizes these to follow
5. Jeff Pishney, founder of LoveOurCities.org
6. Kimmi Suki, founder of Yucatan Giving Outreach
7. Carlos Bettencourt, local realtor
8. Padre Jose Vieda, Anglican priest very involved in the community
9. Satelite Merida, local Christian organization
10. Lupita Palafox, has school for summer camps, teaching English, very involved in the community
11. Grax Vida, local graphic designer who became well known during pandemic bringing people food.
12. Coparmex – a business entrepreneur hub on soial media
13. “Ruby’s dad” who has organized trash pick up days. Have name of person who can provide contact info.
14. “Beyond Plastic” organization that has cleaned up Mississippi River, can find info on website.
15. Chris Yeo, friend and scout leader who has organized many highway clean up projects.

Post Exercise Reflections:

Before starting this week’s exercise, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the number of people we were to talk to but just decided to focus on one at a time and proceed. I talked to 9 people.

All of the conversations were engaging and energizing for me. The people with whom I spoke appeared to be genuinely interested and engaged in helping me improve my idea. The local people with whom I spoke were enthusiastic and I think would definitely want to know more about the project and to participate. I did have a couple days of feeling overwhelmed by the scope of what I had proposed and was very uncertain that I wanted to actually do a city wide event, at least to start. My conversation with Josh helped me scale my idea to something that feels more immediately doable and helped me not give up.

The conversations definitely helped me think more clearly about what I am proposing to do and why. That is an ongoing process that I wouldn’t say is “done”. While I do want to help clean up Merida, what I really want to do fundamentally is to connect with my community and help build a community that decreases consumption and waste in the first place. My vision includes regular stewardship of maintaining clean streets, but also finding ways to reduce the trash that is generated. The idea of ensuring that whatever I do doesn’t ADD to the trash generated was a focus of many conversations.

[Beth]

Final conversation:

Conversation #5:
1. Talk to the principal of the school to get their ideas about how to set up a group or club of school children to participate in the project.
2. Have an afterschool workshop that kids can attend to do learn about the environment and trash.
3. Talk to the local government about adding garbage cans to the streets of the city and make sure you also talk to them about servicing those cans so they get emptied regularly.
4. Talk to whoever is in charge of garbage in the city to make available online when garbage is picked up in different locations around the city.
5. Make some kind of game/competition with children around the topic.
Vote for establishing a school program for children to participate and help direct/create

[Beth]

Addendum:

Revised projects
1. Find one local group/person/business with whom to partner. With them, develop a strategy for targeting an area and types of businesses or organizations to set up a “area stewardship program” .
2. Create a clear identity of “I Merida” in cooperation with local sponsors. Approach local government for support and participation through people already affiliated with them to plan a city wide event.
3. Isn’t really different than the above.
4. Create a stewardship program in one local school to develop pride, knowledge, and skills in how to care for our surroundings.
5. This isn’t really a separate idea but one that should be integrated into others as above.

Reflections:
I really enjoyed this week’s task, largely because I love having a reason to talk to people. I chose first local people to talk with who are more connected to Mexican culture and views. I spoke to one gringo couple, one Cuban gay couple and 3 Mexican couples/families. I thought I understood the assignment from the discussion in class and proceeded without reading the details in the book first, so in that regard, I didn’t follow the directions. My first conversations included things like “that’s a great idea” responses and less consciousness about keeping the conversation focused. I think that worked originally because in the Mexican culture, you don’t “cut to the chase” (that’s considered rude) but chat a bit first and inquire about everyone’s well-being. I realize in reflection that with my gringo friends I started more immediately into the conversation. In my final conversation I consciously didn’t give any positive or negative responses to ideas, just acknowledgment and clarification. It worked. I actually stayed more focused in listening and making sure I understood their ideas.
As the feedback from others who have taken the class has reported, people do like to give advice. There was absolutely no issue with people sharing their ideas. Everyone I spoke to had interest in the topic, and all had very personal suggestions and desires to “help”. This is a little concerning to me as I won’t be able to use everything that was shared. I clarified this in each conversation but I’m still wondering how it will fall out when I move forward without using the suggestions that were given. I will wait and see. All offered to be a part of whatever I choose to do.

Project chosen to move forward:
I have decided to move forward with a project in a school to start a program/club focused on community pride and stewardship.

[Beth]

Week 3: Soliciting Advice

Conversation #1:

1. Add something to the t-shirts like “I pick up trash”
2. Do “Pequenas Placitas” or “small chats” with school children arranged by a conversation with the principal
3. Use the graduating university students who are required to do 460 hours of social services work in order to obtain their degree
4. Take a photo of every child/student who participates that includes what they did and maybe a quote.
5. Include composting in the conversation.
Vote for Project starting with school children

Conversation #2:
1. Start a Facebook page for the project.
2. Use connections to the local government to make contact with them to find a way to include them.
3. Get advertisements about the event out in the newspapers, social media, influencers in the area.
4. Use t-shirts with the message of Yo Merida
Vote for community wide event

Conversation #3:
1. Have “Brigades de Limpeza” (cleaning brigades)
2. Develop a clear identity that can be easily communicated.
3. Make use of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
4. Form very concrete goals and objectives for reaching them after you have clearly articulated an “identity”
5. There is something called “Jefe de la Manzana” that exists in other parts of Mexico. It is like a “Neighborhood Watch” with a leader who organizes taking care of a small neighborhood area like a block or several.
Vote for a small event with one group (school, church, organization) and go to community wide event after.

Conversation #4:
1. Use Mexican people as the leaders. Suggested several local businesses that would be well suited to participate including a property management business with lots of community action and ties, a health concierge service also with ties.
2. Make an event once a month.
3. Use a local “influencer” who already has a large (predominantly gringo) audience.
4. Connect with the Merida English Library which has a board of directors with lots of experience in outreach and local connections.
5. Reach out to the governmental leaders through a woman who has already done lots of projects that have been run through local government.
Vote for community wide event but want it to be monthly.

Conversation #5: (scheduled for today.)

[Beth]

Initiative Class

Week #2 Assignment

1. People feel discouraged and overwhelmed by the trash in the street
Solution: Grow hubs of Merida pride centered at schools, churches, businesses, service organizations that each take on a given area over which to be stewards

2. People who live here feel hopeless to change the trash situation in Merida.
Solution: Create an event that is city wide to focus on all of us taking pride in our city and cleaning it up

3. Foreigners feel afraid to try to do anything because they are visitors here
Solution: Partner with local people to have an event that engages many communities and includes local ideas and strategies.

4. People who throw trash on the ground don’t appear to feel badly about throwing trash in the street.
Solution: Start a school program or project that utilizes the enthusiasm of young people to participate and to grow pride in their ability to care for their surroundings

5. People feel angry about nothing being done to clean up Merida and to keep it clean
Solution: Partner with local leaders to establish a community message and norm of clean and happy streets.

Reflections

1. How hard was it to identify problems?
I found it a bit tricky to identify the five different problems around the topic, but I think the five I came up with have a little different focus because of who the problem is being felt by. I began with an idea of A problem, trash in the street. Having to come up with 5 problems made me think in a fuller way of what the problem is and why it is a problem.

2. Was it easy or hard to see them from the perspective of the people they affect?
This was not easy for me when I started because my norm is to think of the problem as one of “trash”. It was a good exercise to look for WHO is this a problem for and WHY is it a problem for them. One of my identified problems is that there are those for whom this is NOT a problem, which may be a bit of a cheat, but to me seems valid. One part of the problem is that there are a large number of people who don’t have any thought about dropping their garbage on the street.

3. Did it get easier with practice?
Clearly, once I started thinking about WHY I think this is a problem and to WHOM, my thoughts changed from just being something I don’t like. What I didn’t address for lack of knowing exactly how to address it is how the trash is a problem for the health of the environment. Lots of what is left on the streets ultimately ends up in the ocean, is attractive to rodents, is potentially dangerous to the health of birds, but that seems a broader and more complicated issue. I felt like maintaining a simpler focus would help me determine actions.

4. Do you think your problems and solutions have much chance to become a viable project?
I do! Thinking of it in this way helped me look at who would have an interest in such a project and what would motivate them to do so. I have ideas for people who I think would be interested.

[Author]

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