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Member Care Update--March 2016
Expanding the global impact of member care
Living in Integrity
Moral Wholeness for a Whole World
Five Years on, what’s next for Syria?
Humanitarian Practice Group webinar is to be steamed live 15 March 2016
Image from UNRWA via AP
This Update encourages us to live in integrity—consistent moral wholeness. It is based on the premise that personal transformation is crucial for social transformation. We include three resources to support us as we consider the cost, the character, and the courage needed to live in moral wholeness.
Integrity Resources
"The simple act of an ordinary, courageous man is not to take part, not to support lies!
Let the lie come into the world, even dominate the world, but not through me."
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Lecture, 1970
1. It’s Time to Wake Up
Transparency International
Watch the one-minute video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43xUxOPxq3I
Note: The opposite of integrity is corruption—moral distortion and moral decay. Corruption is not an “all or nothing” issue. It is more nuanced, subtle, complicated, and closer to home, than we may think.
2. Global Integrity
Moral Wholeness for a Whole World
CORE Member Care (Member Care Associates weblog)
Note: Integrity at all levels is our weblog topic for 2016. The entries so far feature definitions, core competencies, leadership problems, and facing ourselves (excerpt below). Have a look and leave a comment!
http://coremembercare.blogspot.fr/search/label/global%20integrity
“From the Armenian genocide at the dawn of the 20th century to the horrors of Darfur at the threshold of the 21st century, the human capacity for evil is as jilting as it is unfathomable. Even more disturbing is our calculated silence and rationalized inaction in response to such atrocities. The reality of evil and suffering, from the horrors of genocide to the darkness of our own hearts, is pervasive and perplexing….
Are we wired for self-deception? From a social psychology perspective, our need to calm cognitive dissonance [the disconcerting sense of disharmony between our ideal self and actual self] compels us to distort our memories, our motivations and our morality….[We must] consider the challenge of personal responsibility and what may contribute to moral courage and everyday heroism or destructive inaction and self-justification in the face of evil and suffering.”
Facing Up to the Challenge of Evil and Suffering (2013), Friends of the Trinity Forum, Geneva-Genève (excerpts from the Introduction and Conclusion, Michèle Lewis O’Donnell, pp. 4, 33).
TEDxPlaceDesNations (December 2014)
Vincent Cochetel
Note: This 20 minute story is moving and informative.It could also easily be used for training and group discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F5CsD2ekSA
“When it happens to you, there is no time for thinking. No time for praying…Then the process of dehumanization started…” (excerpt from talk)
“Why do we carry on with humanitarian work after living through a terrible ordeal? Victim of kidnapping, abuse and torture, this UNHCR staffer has devoted his life to helping refugees. He calls for an end to impunity for crimes against humanitarian workers….Today, far from withdrawing from humanitarian work, he is more determined than ever to improve the rights of refugees worldwide.” (Introduction to the video)
Final Thoughts
“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
Member Care Associates
MCAresources@gmail.com
Member Care Associates
is a non-profit organisation working internationally from the USA and Geneva. We provide and develop supportive resources for workers and organizations in mission, humanitarian, and development sectors. Our services include consultation, training, research, and publications.
Global Integration (GI)
GI is a framework for actively integrating our lives with global realities
by connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of human wellbeing
and the major issues facing humanity, in light of our integrity and core values
(e.g., ethical,humanitarian, faith-based).
More MCA Resources
Global Portal for Good Practice (website)
Reflections, Research, and Resources for Good Practice (weblog)
Global Mental Health: A Global Map for a Global Movement (website)
Global Integration: Common Ground-Common Good (updates, materials, webinars)
Global Member Care: (volume one): The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (2011)
(e-book version is available on Amazon)
Global Member Care (volume two): Crossing Sectors for Serving Humanity (2013)
(e-book version is available on Amazon)
Share your comments and resources on the MCA Facebook page
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