As we prepare for our next journey to Zambia I am reminded of the power of practicing not knowing.
We recently received the exam results for several of the Living Compassion girls in Kantolomba. Zambia has national standardized exams that a student must pass to move from grade 7 to grade 8 and from grade 9 to grade 10. Anyone who does not pass the exam must repeat the previous grade or drop out of school, which is what most students do. Not all of the Living Compassion students passed. Conditioned mind was quick to point out the “disappointment” of this. However, with some good, old-fashioned practice, recording and listening and being facilitated, we realized the gift of not knowing.
Is finishing school always the best option for every girl? What is the impact on a girl who does not have the language skills to hold a conversation in English, let alone learn history or math or science in that language, of sitting in such a classroom day after day?
Is making it to grade 12 inherently the best achievement? Are there other possibilities we are overlooking?
Is there a way a program can support girls individually, to look at what best supports this young woman? And this one?
The answer to each question ... I don’t know!
And that I don’t know that comes from Life is so different than the I don’t know that conditioned mind would like to insert: “I don’t know what to do about these girls not passing their exams. I don’t know how to make a difference. I don’t know…”
The conditioned I don’t know is born of endless assumptions, designed to frame the question in a way that obscures the portal to insight. It all happens on the ground of something wrong.
But the Life I don’t know is an opening, it IS the portal to insight. It is the exhilarating moment of seeing the assumptions brought into relief and the invitation to throw them off and open our arms to Life’s possibilities! “I don’t know!” we exclaim with a big smile and huge sigh of relief! What a joyous invitation to roll up our sleeves and explore in the field of Nothing Wrong!
So off we go, equipped with our shiny, new I don’t know! And so excited not only that we will have a grand adventure in discovering all of Life’s possibilities but also in the delightful awareness that this training to live in the excitement of Not Knowing is an orientation that will serve us everywhere, all the time!
For all you Africa blog lovers, we will do our very best to start posting around February 25 (but the truth is we don’t know!)
Gassho
Jen