Resources for Good Practice
Update November 2013
Member Care in Mission/Aid
Global Lifestyles
Stay updated with key member care resources for your work in mission/aid.
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This month we focus on some of the enriching and challenging experiences of living globally: i.e. living and working in different nations/cultures and keeping in touch with our globalising world. The resources include four recently published books: two books to help support people who live internationally (counselling the globally mobile and managing long-distance relationships); and two books with “memoirs” to learn from people who live internationally (being a global mom/family and dating long-distance via email). The Update concludes with two additional items for developing our “global competencies” (TEDTalk on understanding human diversity and web resources on educating global citizens).
Keep in mind that much of the globally mobile world operates in sharp contrast to the globally immobile world—i.e. those whose lives are obstructed by the causes and impact of poverty. Responsible global lifestyles impel us to stand in solidarity with the poor and vulnerable in this world, confronting together the “global life-stifles” that especially wreak havoc in the majority world.
Warm greetings from Geneva,
Kelly and Michèle O’Donnell
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A much traveled person knows many things
and a person of great experience will talk sound sense.
Ecclesiasticus 34:9
Supporting the Globally Mobile
Just released!
Belonging Everywhere & Nowhere: Insights into Counseling the Globally Mobile by Lois Bushong (2013). “Bushong, a licensed marriage and family therapist, delves into the…world of how to effectively counsel clients raised outside of their parents' home culture. The readers will discover what are the basic characteristics and counseling skills effective with Third Culture Kids (those who have spent the majority of their developmental years outside of their passport country). Because of the rapid growth of the expat community, counselors must look at the uniqueness of working with children who grow up as a Third Culture Kid, the common presenting issues for adults TCKs and what often lies hidden beneath the surface. The book is filled with practical examples, interesting stories, tips, charts, resources, theories, techniques and discussion questions for further study.” For more on the author’s work as a counselor, visit her website, Quiet Streams (http://www.quietstreamscounseling.com/).
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Just Released!
201 Great Discussion Questions For Couples In Long Distance Relationships by Lisa McKay (2013). “Do long distance dates sometimes feel like hard work? Pick up these 201 fun discussion questions for couples. Learn new things about your partner's childhood, family, work, passions, life now, the future, what if, and much more. Guaranteed to spark hours of fresh conversation, make you laugh, and help you get to know each other better...” "Thorough and well written! A must for newbies to long distance relationships! It helps keep the monotonous out of the daily conversations." (Janeen Andrulis, amazon review). This book is only $2.99! www.modernlovelongdistance.com.
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Note: See also the author’s website and weblog, Modern Love Long Distance. It has a mixture of informed advice, real-life stories, and thought-provoking articles on relationships and communication. It also includes material by long distance veterans for people in long distance relationships (website: www.modernlovelongdistance.com; weblog: http://modernlovelongdistance.com/index.php/blog/).
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Sharing Global Memoirs
Just Released!
Global Mom: A Memoir—Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, Five Languages, One Family. by Melissa Dalton- Bradford (2013). “After more than twenty years living internationally…writer Melissa Bradford shares a fantastic journey of motherhood that will inspire any family. Follow this family of six on their passage—extraordinary, hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant—from Bright Lights (of New York City) to the Northern Lights (of Norway) to the City of Light (Paris) to the speed-of-light of the Autobahn (in Munich). Continue deep into the tropics of Southeast Asia (Singapore) and end your voyage in the heights of the Swiss Alps (Geneva). As varied as the topography…this multicultural tale traverses everything from giving birth in a château in Versailles to living on an island in a fjord. From singing jazz on national Norwegian T.V. to judging an Indonesian beauty contest…the whole family learns languages, cultures, cuisines—where they, in short, learn to love this complex and diverse world and, most importantly, each other.” http://www.familius.com/global-mom
Recently Released!
Love at the Speed of Email by Lisa McKay (2012). “Two humanitarian workers defy the uncertainties of distance and the isolation of working in some of the world's most challenging locations to build a long distance relationship entirely via email. Along the way, the narrator struggles to understand the impact of her nomadic childhood and find a satisfying answer to that simple question, "where's home?"...” "Love at the Speed of Email is part grand romance, part travel memoir and part essay on life's most precious gifts. Lisa McKay is a phenomenal writer; clever and comedic, poignant and pitch-perfect. You will love this love story.” (Susan Meissner, award-winning author of The Shape of Mercy and A Sound Among the Trees) http://www.modernlovelongdistance.com/
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Final Thought
Developing Responsible Global Lifestyles
The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009; TEDTalk with subtitles in 40 languages). “Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice—and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. Inspired by Nigerian history and tragedies all but forgotten by recent generations of westerners…” http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
Oxfam's Global Citizenship (online educational resources). “Oxfam supports…enabling young people to develop the core competencies which allow them to actively engage with the world, and help to make it a more just and sustainable place. This is about a way of thinking and behaving. It is an outlook on life, a belief that we can make a difference. We think the best way for teachers to deliver these core competencies is by following a Learn-Think-Act process with their students.” http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/global-citizenship
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See also our MCA weblog:
CORE Member Care: Reflections, Research, and Resources for Good Practice