2009年3月24日

改版

趁著學期空檔,把版面改得更乾淨些。跟上一版一樣,結構全用圖拼的,沒有任何CSS語法,費時費力,但卻是唯一會的方法...

~舊版紀念~擷取-3

2009年3月18日

Grameen Bank & Yunus

Muhammad Yunus 從小到大,這份報告算是少數我真正有興趣去研究的,可惜礙於英文,太多時間花在閱讀及寫作,結果沒時間作較深度的思考是個遺憾。兩天前寫結論時心裡一直掙扎,是否要寫些重要的省思,但後來決定放棄,一是時間不許可,二是用英語去表達思考還是太費神、費時了。

最後,我決定用中文來留下這些省思,這是此文的由來。

很高興可以因這份報告的緣故,去歸納、整理尤努斯葛拉敏銀行的工作。除了聖經及一些屬靈書籍外,「窮人的銀行家」是一本影響我很深的書,推薦一讀。

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1972年尤努斯放下在美國的教職、研究及生活,回到剛剛建國卻滿目瘡痍的孟加拉。過去一起赴美求學的五位孟加拉同儕中,只有他作此選擇,回到一個街上充滿乞丐、四處可見餓死的母親及嬰孩、沒有乾淨飲用水的祖國。"I knew that I had to return home and participate in the work of nation building. I though I owed it to myself" (Yunus).

當那位富有的少年官來求問永生時 (路18:18-30),耶穌告訴他:「變賣所有」及「跟從」。耶穌要轉變他的 identity,從 rich ruler with all things 到 follwer of Jesus with nothing。對我們來說,這意味著「有意識地」「選擇」放下,才能明白及發現自己在基督裡的 true identity。的確,耶穌並沒有要求所有的跟隨者都如此做,但我們不能因此稀釋這段經文所要給我們的 impact,我要成為耶穌基督的 follower,我必須決定「為他放下」,then I'll become "a real follower of Christ" and find my "true identity" in Him.

尤努斯願意放下 (美國生活、大學教授的身份地位及至妻女),終於他找到生命為之燃燒的意義與目的,也為許多活在苦難中的帶來祝福,在這位穆斯林的身上,我似乎看見基督教導的實踐。

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尤努斯第二個讓我感動的地方,是他的「與窮人同行」的工作哲理。

"Grameen Bank branches are located in the rural areas, unlike the branches of conventional banks which try to locate themselves as close as possible to the business districts and urban centers" (Yunus).

Service at doorstep 的理念是「與之同行」,真實的瞭解與同理才為受助者帶來真正的生命轉變,但花時間與他們在一起,瞭解他們如何工作及生存,並在他們的苦難中,藉著自身流露出的內在信心、力量及盼望來激勵他們,這些都是極困難的。

Our God is the one who is willing "to live in solidarity with us, to share our joys and pains, and defend and protect us, and to suffer all of life with us" (Nouwen 1982, 13). 在盧雲的思想中,compassion 的意義遠超過仁慈或同情的流露,compassion 的真正含意是 "to suffer with",神「憐憫」我們,所以基督「與我們受苦」、「為我們受苦」。

在尤努斯的身上,好像看到一個 incarnational ministry 的影子。

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尤努斯第三個讓我感動的地方,是他的 "people-centered" 的工作哲理。

"In Grameen, we see the poor people as human 'bonsai.' If a healthy seed of a giant tree is planted in a flower-pot, the tree that will grow will be a miniature version of the giant tree. It is not because of any fault in the seed, because there is no fault in the seed. It is only because the seed has been denied of the real base to grow on. People are poor because society has denied them the real social and economic base to grow on. They are given only the "flower-pots" to grow on. Grameen's effort is to move them from the "flower-pot" to the real soil of the society. If we can succeed in doing that there will be no human 'bonsai' in the world. We'll have a poverty-free world" (Yunus).

很多時候窮人之所以窮並非他們懶惰、愚笨,而是受限於環境,像是被束縛的奴隸,但尤努斯卻看到他們在貧窮線之下掙扎著生存的「求生能力」。"People so close to the edge cannot afford laziness or stupidity. They have to work and work hard, whenever and however they can. Many of the lazy and stupid poor are dead" (Chambers 1983, 107). 因此,尤努斯看窮人是「人」,不是「專案、工作、計畫」,而且他視窮人為 human "bonsai" but with endless potential,因此他的微型貸款是 collaterall-free 及 no legal instrumnet 的。他的信任幫助窮人活出尊嚴與內在潛力。

然而,身為福音工作者,我們應該可以做得更多,不單只有信任、尊重、看見潛力,更是幫助他們恢復及發現一個更為真實與深刻的 being & doing. 那就是 the true identity in Christ: being made in God's image and being God's children; the true vocation in Christ: having gifts to contribute and being called to be productive stewards of creation (Myers 1999, 115-116).

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最後,尤努斯讓我感動的,是他不受限於過去專業訓練及現在社經地位所給他的框架,反而幫助他用另一種觀點去思維及詮釋現實環境中的苦難,並努力找出解決之道。

"I used to feel a thrill at teaching my students the elegant economic theories that could supposedly cure societal problems of all types. But in 1974, I started to dread my own lectures. What good were all my complex theories when people were dying of starvation on the sidewalks and porches across from my lecture hall…Nothing in the economic theories I taught reflected the life around me. How could I go on telling my students make-believe stories in the name of economics? I wanted to become a fugitive from academic life. I needed to run away from these theories and from my textbooks and discover the real-life economics of a poor person's existence" (Yunus).

當我們看見苦難,自然地,我們會流露同情與悲傷,但同情與悲傷的「感受」無法助人,並且也容易過去。然而,"to suffer with" 又很困難,必須付出極高的代價,因此我們習慣透過同情與悲傷的「感受」來掩蓋自身的「無情與無能」。

尤努斯讓人難能可貴的是,一位大學經濟系系主任 (在當時的孟加拉擁有著極崇高的社經地位),願意進入最貧困的村落,訪視最貧困的家庭,並且不讓自己只是給予短暫的幫助來舒緩內心的罪咎與不忍,而是願意全心、全人地投注自己的生命為這些窮人奔走,至終,這些窮人得到真實的生命轉變,不只是物質或身體上的,更是尋回他們身為人的尊嚴與價值。

我禱告,在神的國度也當興起這樣的將領,不只擁有將才與悲憫,更有對現世清晰的洞察,用國度的視野、基督的心、道成肉身的事奉,為人類帶來整全的救贖 physically, materially, emotionally, and spiritually.

 

2009年3月11日

UNDP prsentation

這學期我修了一門課--Poverty and Development,很喜歡老師上課的內容,lectures, readings, assignments 都讓我很有收穫,但傷腦筋的是老師要求每個人都要作小組報告,五週前的隨機報數下,我被分配了。

我們這組七個人,就我不是native speaker (幾乎沒有國際學生上這門課),每次大家相約討論時我總是最安靜的那位 (其實幾乎沒出聲),終於到分配任務的時候,我自告奮勇"製作投影片",不過這似乎不算個工作啊?!哈...

這幾個禮拜每週一次、兩次、三次的meeting,跟每個人溝通他們想呈現的,漸漸地他們也會appreciate and admire我所做的,我也很高興自己可以對我們的team有貢獻,今天present的時候,我們組員在大家面前肯定我所做的,真是很難為情,不過很謝謝他們。



對於圖像處理與呈現我是非常業餘的,不過個人很喜歡也有熱情搞這玩意,我有個願望,希望有天可以幫很多牧師製作他們講道的投影片,讓信息的傳遞可以更有效率、效果。

  • UNDP 的全名是 United Nations Development Program,是聯合國底下的發展計畫,簡介如下:UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. 他們在2015年之前的目標是致力達成 Millennium Development Goals

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