Ruminating on the Radio

Megan Schiebe of Travel Volunteer Search interviews me on blogtalkradio’s Global Humanitarian Discussions. You can listen to the 14-minute interview via the widget or links below:

Listen to internet radio with Megan Schiebe on Blog Talk Radio

blogtalkradio interview with Jennifer Lentfer (blogtalkradio site)

Global Humanitarian Discussions Interview with Jennifer Lentfer (itunes)

Some paraphrased quotes from the interview:

“Our individual learning process of how we develop our role or calling as helpers is one of the most important parts of our effectiveness.”

“How do we struggle with the fact that helping is hard and that there aren’t any simple solutions to helping the poor?”

“Whatever you’re involved in, critically ask yourself, who is driving this initiative?…Who decides how resources are spent will tell you a lot about local ownership.”

“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are…One of the hardest things to do is challenge our own assumptions.”

“Ask the deeper questions. Be curious. Why are people so poor? What makes these children so vulnerable? Linking the big issues to what you’re trying to do locally is one of the hardest things to do in this work…You have to commit yourself to this learning process.”

“Ask yourself the questions: What is most needed for long-term change? Who are the local leaders who are already doing great work who need those resources? Let’s honor their efforts first.”

“Every community has important assets. They might not be monetary, but they are key assets nonetheless…When we come from the perspective of ‘we have so much, they have so little’ we can miss this.”

“What we’re doing is secondary to the relationships we build.”