Language of Projects

20Nov10

It is in part from my fascination with Foucault – that it’s quite impossible to create a completely different world. What we know, we know and so we use it, question it, shift it, create new subtleties and provide the space for that new understanding – that new moment. But to create a new world that is distinctly unique and separate from the world we live, that would just be in reaction to and not a new world…

Recently, I’ve been in touch with the language we live by…how sometimes, we translate our language into another language, and that in the language we transfer, it doesn’t always transfer the meaning. They’re small oddities, but the deeper down this rabbit hole I go, the more I’m seeing how cultural influence makes language a language.

I’ve started holding an English club for teachers/others wanting to learn English. In giving them phrases for знакомство they commented on having learned ‘I’m glad to see you’ which is the translated Russian version. In English, we’d more often say, “It’s good to see you.”  Directly translating what we’d say didn’t help. Today was the second meeting of  this club and what’s becoming the new key to unlocking the mystery to my site – one of those venues that will lead into those amazing realms of inspiration, action, and connection…above all, connection.

On Projects, the not-so-everyday routine

We’re still looking for donations to begin to start the remodeling…and if you donate soon, your donation will be matched by a friend of mine. Also, see the thanksgiving challenge. This project is of utmost importance and radicalness, so before you forget, DONATE! In the planning stages of the project, the director of my college told me, “Every year, we get money to refinish the dormitory. Instead of spending all of it on painting the walls, it’s important that we spend it on creating something better than what we already have; therefore I dream big.”  This is the way I want to model my life, and this is the way that the project is modeled. Therefore, instead of just dreaming big, help us act big. In America, it’s difficult to imagine a world other than what we know in our problematic America, but everywhere is important and has its own intertwined story, and with your help,  opportunities in Ukraine can be better for people living with disabilities…check it out here.

We’ve finally started the training part of the HIV pandemic transformation. In the past years, the world has been focused on equipping Africa with skills, resources and equipment to respond to the seriousness of the virus, but now, focus is shifting towards Eastern Europe. In Ukraine, it’s predicted that if nothing is done, in 20 years, 50% of the population will be HIV positive. The project at my site is responding to this by providing a different world and outlook for the HIV challenge through education and art…..

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Direct translation of ideas and words into another language is a faulty substance. And so, the further through the rabbit I go, the more that languages, possibilities and ideas inside my head dance. Sometimes it’s an ordered square dance with rules and routines and plays. Other times, it’s a tantalizing tango between Russian and English, battling for statements and dominance. I wish, one day, that these languages will swing dance, that they’ll be the free-flowing thoughts and ideas in any language that takes the lead. But for now, inside my head, English has lost its foothold as the dictator who’s started tumbling down a cliff one foot at a time.

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