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Back home we used to participate in talko every now and then. Sometimes, as an example, when a neighbour started to build a house or a shed neighbours did the concrete foundation structure on talko. I guess the word isn't familiar to many of you over in America...
I found this text partly describing the "talko" phenomena from a speach held in a UN seminar.
Over the years, the international community has come to understand that volunteerism is not uniquely a one-way street running north to south. We are learning to combine the strengths of international and domestic volunteers of all nationalities. Together they share skills for the betterment of communities. Volunteers work in service functions but also contribute informally and spontaneously through mutual aid and self-help initiatives.
Many people, both in the north and the south, might not be aware of the various forms of volunteerism in their home countries. They might not realize that volunteerism is, in fact, deeply imbedded in national cultures through traditions of caring and sharing, even if it is not recognized as volunteering in the formal sense. Volunteers -- call them what you may -- can be good neighbours who join in to dig wells, fix roads, repair schools and build homes. They help those in need in a spirit of trust and reciprocity.
Such reciprocal relationships are alive and well in LDCs. In Rwanda, the word is dufatanye. In Tanzania, it is harambe. In Bangladesh it is known as kela. Mutual aid is present in other cultures as well. In the Andes, they speak of minga. In Finland, work for the common good in communities is called talko. On the other end of the globe, the Maori people in New Zealand call it whanaungatanga. It means bringing people together and working like a family.
I could have named the database "The Gedcom Whanaungatanga", but "The Gedcom Talko" seemed better...
I found this text partly describing the "talko" phenomena from a speach held in a UN seminar.
Over the years, the international community has come to understand that volunteerism is not uniquely a one-way street running north to south. We are learning to combine the strengths of international and domestic volunteers of all nationalities. Together they share skills for the betterment of communities. Volunteers work in service functions but also contribute informally and spontaneously through mutual aid and self-help initiatives.
Many people, both in the north and the south, might not be aware of the various forms of volunteerism in their home countries. They might not realize that volunteerism is, in fact, deeply imbedded in national cultures through traditions of caring and sharing, even if it is not recognized as volunteering in the formal sense. Volunteers -- call them what you may -- can be good neighbours who join in to dig wells, fix roads, repair schools and build homes. They help those in need in a spirit of trust and reciprocity.
Such reciprocal relationships are alive and well in LDCs. In Rwanda, the word is dufatanye. In Tanzania, it is harambe. In Bangladesh it is known as kela. Mutual aid is present in other cultures as well. In the Andes, they speak of minga. In Finland, work for the common good in communities is called talko. On the other end of the globe, the Maori people in New Zealand call it whanaungatanga. It means bringing people together and working like a family.
I could have named the database "The Gedcom Whanaungatanga", but "The Gedcom Talko" seemed better...
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