Relationship: The Unique Driving-Force behind Sahara Partners
“Tea making in the Sahara requires more than tea leaves, fresh mint, sugar, and water. Time spent together is the most valuable ingredient in the tea.”
Welcome to the Sahara Partners’ Blog! After an extended delay due to a world pandemic, all of the members of our organization arrived back in the Tindouf Refugee Camps in the fall. As a recently established humanitarian aid organization, we believe that we bring a unique approach to community development work. The guiding principle behind the vision of Sahara Partners is “relationship-driven community development.” But what do we mean by relationship?
Relationship can be defined as “the way in which two or more people are connected.” For us, however, the word relationship conveys much more than that. The quality of a relationship can be measured by the depth of understanding between people. Building a strong relationship requires one of the most precious commodities in the world: time. We believe that you can’t truly understand people if you haven’t spent time with them. This is also reflected in Saharawi culture during the tea making ceremony. Tea making in the Sahara requires more than tea leaves, fresh mint, sugar, and water. Time spent together is the most valuable ingredient in the tea.
Establishing a strong bond between two or more people also requires a heart to listen and understand. It means cultivating an other-focus rather than a me-focus. Listening and understanding also requires time. Furthermore, in the local translation of our name “Sahara Partners,” the word we choose for “Partners” denotes a companion, comrade, buddy, partner, or friend. The connotation also encapsulates a person with a shared interest or goal. We cannot accomplish that vision or goal unless we ask and listen.
When we asked our local friends what the word “relationship” meant to the Saharawi people, we found many of our own values reflected in their answers: connectedness, time-spent together, history with a person (i.e. you have known them for a long time and have lived life together), friendship, and a common bond or tie between two people. In the minds of many Saharawi, relationship means walking through life together; it is a shared history and future. Normally, when Saharawi talk about another person, they refer to them based on the relationship with that person. Thus, relationship, whether close or distant, is at the heart of each daily interaction.
Many organizations are project-driven and are able to accomplish much, but, unfortunately, a project-focus can sometimes mean that the locals have not been thoroughly heard during creation of the program or trained in the execution process. Experts in community development work agree that the best development work, one that is truly sustainable, empowers local leaders and individuals to operate the program on their own without outside help.
Therefore, Sahara Partners sees the person is more important than the project. We have a long-term focus. We approach development work with the goal of establishing programs that are ultimately led and sustained by locals. In the process of creating programs, we also desire to listen and understand what are the felt-needs of the local community.
With this in mind, we again return to the vital importance of relationship. As our website indicates, “Sahara Partners exists to collaborate with the Saharawi to empower and equip them to sustainably develop their communities”; we accomplish this by building relationships with locals and listening to them. Saharawi people: we are here to sit with you, listen, and just be together. As our friendship is cultivated and trust is built, we will accomplish more and better together.
