Building Family-Community Traditions
Editor's note: This month, Community Spotlight departs from the format used in past issues. In this edition, we introduce the notion that, often, families in communities across the country engage in activities that are not based on intervention by concerned leaders or community agencies but, instead, are based on activities whose roots are in traditions handed down from one generation to the next.Typically, these traditions are not intended to address a problem but seem to have as a foundation the desire to encourage unity and cohesion among members of the family and/or community. This motivation may exist at a very subtle level of awareness or at a very explicit level of awareness. Regardless, these activities help members connect with each other in ways that help form bonds members can count on for support.
To begin, we share with our readers the experiences of NPIN team member, Debbie Reese.
I have a fond memory that I think of from time to time. In my mind's eye, I can see my grandfather, grinning at me, with a big chunk of mud on part of his teeth, lips, and face. Mud?! You may exclaim. Let me explain...
I am Pueblo Indian from one of the small Pueblos north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Visitors to New Mexico often remark that the homes there seem to rise right out of the earth. In a certain sense, they do. Constructed of adobe, homes are made of materials that frequently come from just a few feet away from the site of the home.
As a child, I was part of a large, extended family. Both sets of grandparents were a big part of my life, as were cousins, uncles, and aunts. Many homes in the Pueblo and Hispanic communities of New Mexico started out as single-room structures, large enough to provide shelter for a husband and wife. As children were born, other rooms were added on to provide additional space. These homes feel odd to visitors--they don't have any hallways! Just one room after another.
At times, an ambitious family might work together to build an entirely new home. This process was a significant part of my childhood. Together, we picked a spot across the road from my grandparents' home and began the process of making adobes. This involved--very simply--digging a hole in the ground about 200 feet from the chosen site for the new home. To the clay soil, we added sand, straw, and water. We mixed the adobe mud, pressed it into wooden frames, and left the wet bricks to dry in the sun. Each weeknight evening when my father returned home, we would gather to make another batch of adobes. On a productive summer evening, we could make nearly 300 bricks. Everyone took part in this activity--from my 2-year-old sister (who mostly played in the mud and water) to my grandfather (who worked fairly steadily). At times, frivolity would strike, and rather than make adobes, we would all engage in mud-slinging, mud-and-water fights.
This home-building activity was important in many ways. We worked together, side by side, from the youngest to the oldest. Everyone had a role; everyone contributed to the process; everyone was significant. In addition to this valuing of the individual parts of the extended family, we were learning important skills and developing important dispositions.
It would not be fair to tell this story without noting that a project of this magnitude can create stress and angry feelings among individuals. There were times I would have preferred to read a novel or watch television, and I was not allowed to do so. To some it may be construed as dictatorial child labor. The lessons learned, however, about group membership and support are significant to cultural groups--they ensure their survival.
The key factor in this building activity is the togetherness aspect of the work. It doesn't take a community to build a house; it can be built by a contractor. But building a home as a family, extended family, or community has the potential to strengthen bonds as participants learn to support and depend on each other.
The Families Book: True Stories about Real Kids and the People They Live With and Love (Erlbach, 1996) includes a chapter written by a farm family. On a farm, families often work together and share responsibilities. Twelve-year-old Sean writes of the joy he feels helping plant vegetables and herbs and selling them to local restaurants. Fourteen year-old D.C. writes about their other business--raising collie dogs. He talks of caring for newborn puppies, and how it can be emotionally difficult to sell them after caring and growing attached to them. However, over time, this commitment to working together as a family and community develops more effective relationships and builds stronger communities.
Similar activities take place in families and communities across the United States. Perhaps they are not of the same magnitude, but magnitude is not the key factor. For example, many neighborhoods organize annual street potlucks, in which they close both ends of their street for an evening of festivity. The families come together in the street to share food, games, and friendship. They learn about each other and form bonds that support them in times of need or times of joy.
These types of activities can also be incorporated to build cohesiveness in a school environment. Building a new playground allows each person to play a significant role. Children can participate in assisting with the playground's design, while parents, children, teachers, and community members can come together on specific "work days" to construct the site. This activity worked so well for a school in New Hampshire that several years later they expanded their playground so that new families in the school would feel that same sense of cohesiveness.
Other examples can be seen in the traditional activities families take part in at holidays or other celebrations specific to their home culture. At family gatherings, stories from times spent together are told and retold. These stories join with the activity to serve as an element that holds the family together. Wolff (1993) notes that family stories promote family awareness, intergenerational sharing, an understanding of family and self, and an appreciation for the uniqueness of the family. Stories link past, current, and future generations together, shaping and building the family's heritage.
Perhaps in recognition of the importance of building community, the Institute for the Study of Civil Values set out to help neighborhoods develop plans to improve the neighborhood. The program, called the Social Contract Project, has successfully implemented several projects in Pennsylvania. In Queen Village, a South Philadelphia neighborhood, the Queen Village Social Contract called for a new plan to establish a partnership with local schools, provide a summer day-camp for kids, and implement an adult literacy program. Each goal was achieved, and groups in the neighborhood have been working together since.
For more information on neighborhood and community development, visit these Web sites:
The Social Contract Project, on the Web site for the Institute for the Study of Civic Values. URL: http://www.libertynet.org/~edcivic/sochome.html
Organizing for Neighborhood Development: A Handbook for Citizen Groups.
URL: http://tenant.net/Organize/orgdev.html
A List of Community Development Stories, maintained by Business Growth Partners, Inc.
URL: http://www.bicgrow.com/bgp/cd/category.html [Editorial Note: As of 4/2/98, this link to the Business Growth Partners, Inc. Web site is no longer active.]
Sources:
Erlbach, A. (1996). The families book: True stories about real kids and the people they live with and love. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.
Wolff, L. O. (1993, November). Family narrative: How our stories shape us. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association.
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