The game of curling originated in Scotland, probably in the late Medieval period. At the risk of oversimplification, we may say that it involves one player sliding a large stone disc across the ice, trying to have it end up in the center of the target on the other side of the playing area.
As the rock slides, that player’s teammates run alongside it with brooms, sweeping the ice to clear debris or to polish the surface. This serves to speed up or even slightly change the direction of the stone to align it with the target - all without ever actually touching the stone in any way.
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| Image by "Photo Mix" from Pixabay |
In past models of mission, foreign agencies have “thrown” the stone, and expected local partners to run alongside, smoothing things over and clearing the path. We have made it their job to ensure that our vision for their communities is achieved. In many ways, this echoed and reinforced the model set forth by colonialism.
That isn’t to say that everything ever done was wrong. There have been times when foreign agencies entered new areas where partnership was not yet on the table. The challenge there becomes one of helping local communities imagine their own expanded possibilities, rather than imposing upon them our ideas of what flourishing looks like for their context. With time, patience, mutual respect, and personal relationships, that can grow into partnership.
And as that grows, we who work in foreign agencies see that our role needs to be to step aside - or rather, to step alongside. Not to exit the game, but to take on the role of sweepers; to make use of the resources with which we have been entrusted to help make sure that their stones slide true.
Evan
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