[OSList] emergent governance

Mon May 21 07:05:06 PDT 2012

Hi John:  

Here’s an example of emergent governance from a man who intuitively
practices Open Space putting his heart of compassion into action. 

Our non-profit, the Family Support Network, Int’l umbrella’s a homebuilding
project called JRMD in Burundi, Africa. They have raised enough money to
build over 3,200 homes for the Hutu/Tutsi in an effort to bring peace and
reconciliation to the region.  The JRMD, founded by Prosper Ndabishuriya,
recruited young adults from both Hutu/Tutsi tribes to put their lives on the
line and work together as a symbol of unity in this war torn country.  I’m
not sure if Prosper has corresponded with Habitat for Humanity, but it seems
Habitat might be a good fit to help with the village building project, while
he focuses on raising funds to finish the school and orphanage for the
orphans and set up micro-enterprises.  To learn more visit: www.jrmd.org

John, please send a copy of the HfH proposal you referenced below to both
Prosper and myself.  I think it would be useful.   

Prosper is an inspiration and a Community Weaver.  I hope those of you who
are moved by this project will donate your time or dollars.  Please contact
him directly if you are interested in setting up speaking engagements where
he can share his extraordinary story. I promised you will be moved. He is a
man of honor and a true spirited worker who practices OS in governance of
the village. 

This suspect this project is an example of emergence governance as the
people have self-organized and are doing what they love to ensure all
inhabitance of the village thrives.  Please visit the JRMD website
it’s a
truly inspiring example on what can happen when one lives by the principals
of OS. 

In service to the greater good, 

Cheryl Honey

Community Weaver

From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of John Engle
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 2:23 AM
To: Artur Silva; World wide Open Space Technology email list
Cc: Raffi Aftandelian
Subject: Re: [OSList] emergent governance

Greetings from Haiti,

I appreciate the thread and it has me thinking about work we're doing right
now with Habitat For Humanity. They've built a new village of 150 homes and
will have another 150 added to it by December. The village is in the Santo
area, just outside of Leogane, which was part of the earthquake's epicenter.

With 5-7 people per home, we're talking about a new village of 1,500-2,000
people not to mention hundreds of additional people from surrounding areas
that enter daily for water. Habitat For Humanity acknowledges that while
they have tons of experience building homes, they don't have experience
building full villages and helping community members to develop a sense of
community and plan of governance. 

They fear, and for good reason, that if no measures are taken, this nice
village of well designed and constructed homes could become a slum. It also
has the potential to become an extraordinary community known for safety,
community engagement and mutual respect. 

We have a 6-month contract with Habitat For Humanity to help members in the
village nurture a culture of participatory decision-making and to create
together, a governance plan. We're using our approach called Circles of
Change which will include three community wide open space meetings during
the 6-month period. The governance plan will likely be a bit traditional in
the sense that there will be established rules and decision-making
structures. But hopefully, the practice that emerges around how they govern
themselves will include lots of invitation and dialogue. 

Local elected officials will be invited to participate in open space
meetings and other gatherings. In Haiti, local government is typically
underfunded and ineffective. Thus, for communities to run well, it's really
up to the community members. This is generally true everywhere but i think
some of us likely take things for granted that can help make communities run
smoother, which many communities in Haiti don't have: access to potable
water, garbage pick-up and sanitation, paved roads/repair of roads,
effective water drainage systems, fire departments, adequate police (10,000
for a population of 10 million)

Here's more about this project with Habitat For Humanity:

http://www.haitipartners.org/2012/04/partnership-with-habitat-brings-circles
-of-change-to-santo-housing-community/

Let me know off list if you'd like to receive our proposal to Habitat For
Humanity, which responded to the public request for proposal (RFP) they
issued.

Again, thanks for the thread!

John

PS The name of the project went from Santo Governance Project (in
Haitian-Creole: Pwojè Gouvenans nan Santo), based on Habitat For Humanity's
title of the RFP to Pwojè Bon Vwazen (Good Neighbor Project), based on input
from people in the village.

______________________________

John Engle - On the ground regular updates at
<http://www.haitipartners.org/the-blog/>
http://www.haitipartners.org/the-blog/

 <http://www.haitipartners.org/> 

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