This week’s inspiration was spurred by the topic of insurance. You’re thinking ‘insurance?’ and I’m saying yes. I attended an inspiring fundraiser put on by Business Chicks CEO Emma Isaacs last Saturday, raising funds for The Hunger Project. It was a brilliant night & nearly 30K was raised to support THP’s work. CEO of THP Cathy Burke shared so many incredible stories on the work that the Hunger Project is doing globally, primarily to educate women and girls and thus, create effective solutions to ending hunger. Powerful stuff.
Of all the stories, there was one that really stayed with me. It was the story of a group of women in Bangladesh who get together to talk about all of their businesses and efforts, weekly, to support each other and continue their learning. Each week when they come, they pop a handful of rice into a little vat. The lid goes on. The rice piles up over time. That rice is their insurance. If one of the women is affected in the group either personally or in the business sense, that rice is bagged up and sold, and the proceeds go to helping the woman rebuild what was lost, whether it’s her little fish farm, her home or an equipment failure. How powerful, yet totally simple is that, for a sense of community and some common sense financial planning? When we think insurance, it’s a very cold, black and quite policy acquisition via the internet or phone at best.
It made me think about community, and how wonderfully supportive a true sense of community is to people. It also made me think about these nuclei we’ve built as westerners. 2 adults, 2 children on average being super parents, and still predominantly the women, trying to jugging the family, the work, the home… We’re offered constant tips on how to have it all, how to get it all done in a day and how to meditate and make sure we ‘get the balance right’. Often the second income in a family, goes towards a lot of the outsourcing needed to pull it all together and stay sane.
What if we were bombarded with ‘how to build your community’ articles inspiring us to pool resources and all work together outside of our immediate families, to get the job done more easily in family life. I recently had to ask a friend if she could babysit one evening after exhausting all the grandma and babysitter options. I cannot tell you how uncomfortable and indebted I felt for her giving up her night to come over. The extent of my discomfort took me by surprise. I don’t think we should feel that uncomfortable asking for help. Do you?
It has made me think about ensuring a greater sense of real, tangible and ‘drop of a hat help’ type of community. In the age of 1000s of friends, followers and fans. Who can you ask for help?
Bon weekend everyone!
