Winnipeg day 3

Hello Everyone,

Some random observations:

- No one in Winnipeg wears a bike helmet. This is jarring as I come from rules loving Ottawa where everyone wears a bike helmet.

- I'm showering daily, which is a real departure for me.

- Winnipeg is a surpringly poorly laid out city for one that was built largely after the invention of cars and on a very flat piece of land.

It was a slow day yesterday. I was helping out at the canteen again, but we ended up leaving early (about 9pm), as another volunteer from a diferent social services group came in.

This led to another observation: the impulse to help is a noble one, but to be effective it has to be coupled with the question of 'am I actually helping? '

When the new volunteer came in, it meant that there were 4 of us in a small canteen that could fit 2 people comfortably. We were now in each other's road. At one point, 3 different people gave a client slightly different information about what was for dinner. At that point, you're not helping, you're adding to the confusion. You're actually making the problem worse.

I'm not an expert on this, but my understanding is that the history of people trying to helping disadvantaged communities is cholk full of well meaning people making the problem worse. Usually because they come in with an idea of what people need (Jesus, Capitalism, etc.) and a sense of their own importance. Thry are guided by what they think the problem is, whatever else they may say.

There's a binder at the facility where I'm helping out that lays out guiding principles and how they work in practice. I can't say that I love a lot of the airy language in it, but at its core, it's about putting the needs of the person in need first, and working backwards from that. Like 'play-based' daycare, everyone says they do that, but few actually do. It's hard. The things people need are not always what you think they need.

In our case, it means accepting that you can't solve people's problems. You can't stop forest fires or systemic racism. The best you can do is not make the problem worse.

Wes