I was reminded of this old adage today. I went to visit Barcelona informal settlement where we've been working on a research project to implement a pilot sanitation project.
We first visited in March of last year, and we met a lovely woman who was running a creche (nursery) for children in the area. She showed us around and explained how many children she was caring for and showed us the toilet facilities. We promised to return to visit.
Although our research group went back several times throughout the year, I don't think we ended up returning to this particular creche. I had almost forgotten about it until today when I was speaking with another resident in the area, who turned out to be the neighbor of the woman who ran the creche. She remembered me and asked why I hadn't returned when I said I would. I was caught so off guard because she remembered me, when I had clearly (ashamedly) forgotten her and the promise we had made.
I realize how jaded I've become in many instances to the numerous stories and people I've met through the research that we're doing. In a way it's become an exercise of going through the motions since it feels as if nothing ever changes or happens despite all of the promising discussion and ideas we've had. Yet this simple incident reminded me that what we say should have weight and consequence. Too often we say the right thing or what we think we should say, and yet fail to follow through even in simple matters.
We first visited in March of last year, and we met a lovely woman who was running a creche (nursery) for children in the area. She showed us around and explained how many children she was caring for and showed us the toilet facilities. We promised to return to visit.
Although our research group went back several times throughout the year, I don't think we ended up returning to this particular creche. I had almost forgotten about it until today when I was speaking with another resident in the area, who turned out to be the neighbor of the woman who ran the creche. She remembered me and asked why I hadn't returned when I said I would. I was caught so off guard because she remembered me, when I had clearly (ashamedly) forgotten her and the promise we had made.
I realize how jaded I've become in many instances to the numerous stories and people I've met through the research that we're doing. In a way it's become an exercise of going through the motions since it feels as if nothing ever changes or happens despite all of the promising discussion and ideas we've had. Yet this simple incident reminded me that what we say should have weight and consequence. Too often we say the right thing or what we think we should say, and yet fail to follow through even in simple matters.
