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Pillars of Project CURA Simple Living, Cultural Sensitivity, Service and Community Simple Living Simple living is about making choices. They become aware of the choices that the poor are forced to make as they consciously journey with them. Doing with less becomes an eye opener and a challenge that leads to a conscious understanding of how easy it is to be materialistic in our consumer society. "'Living simply' is a statement that there is another way to live other than the type of lifestyle promoted by the greater society. I think that simple living shows that poverty is not a mark of shame, but that there is more dignity in a simple life, so long as it is rich in love and spirituality. By consciously & actively living simply, I hope that my life can say that everyone has choices as to how to live their life, maybe not so much in wealth and riches, but a choice in attitude and responsible decision making." —Eleanor Han Cultural Sensitivity The service component of volunteer work abroad is much more than just working. It also involves cultural exchange. Cultural exchange is an important component of a successful volunteer placement because you are traveling internationally and immersing yourself in a country with a set of cultural norms different from those back home. Working abroad you will be exposed to new ways of accomplishing day-to-day tasks by working side-by-side with local people. Cultural exchange is also a service in and of itself. By volunteering, you are providing a unique opportunity for a local person to learn about your culture and share perspectives and ideas with you, face to face. a) Let the local people
decide, what is best for them and b) the ultimate goal is "empowerment" and
not "pitiful charity". Threatened by homogenistic tendencies of an American dominated global culture, sensitive volunteering is also helping traditional cultures and societies to survive. Only with this kind of sensitivity can cultures interact as equals and our world's rich diversity be sustained.
Community This applies to the community within our group as we live and learn together throughout the project and also to the community that we will be living and working within. This part embodies the importance of cultural sensitivity listed above. Service On Work
And what is it to work with love?
Work is love made visible (An excerpt from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran)
How do these tie together? It comes down to Empathy. One doesn’t serve others through sympathy, rather it is through empathy that one truly gives Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone. Empathy is being able to relate to someone. Empathy is the natural chemical secreted by the pineal gland to cause appreciation for the feelings of other beings. Sympathy is a man-made equivalent made by Bristol-Myers. It is used to facilitate the artificial stimulation of such responses, usually beamed through microwave transmissions to assist in the jerking of tears in special episodes of "Webster" and the like.
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