“Because truly responsive care goes far beyond providing a basic means of survival. If we treat every crisis as it were a survival situation, then we end up only designing for someone to live from day to day. But if we treat it as if it’s about renewal and rebirth, then we’re focused on creating and generating life. This is where design should play an incredibly important role. Our sole purpose is to provide a better environment for all, whether it be for someone from the Upper East Side or from East Africa. Using design to introduce the opportunity of rebirth into somebody’s life, whether it is something that may seem frivolous or a product or structure that would help a family grow, is just as important as having each other. So the idea of a soccer ball is extremely important because in any part of the world, if you drop a soccer ball on the ground, forth kids are suddenly talking.” – Cameron Sinclar (Interview: design like you give a damn)
This caught both Geoff and my attention (he was reading over my shoulder on the train home) and in a small way captured something really exciting. Something exciting in design but perhaps even more so in following Jesus. I love it when there is this magnificent overlap, even if it is small.
I must also exclaim over part of an interview I saw last night on the ABC – Julian Burnside is a barrister who works with asylum seekers along with all kinds of other pro-bono work. There is a short quote on the top of his website by James Thurber (…which reminds me, I never did finish the Thurber Carnival, I wonder where it went?)
“All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why. – James Thurber
It kind throws a pointer at that Vocare stuff again. And then read this (from the interview with the ABC last night),
“PETER THOMPSON: For both you and your wife Kate, your work with refugees goes beyond the courtroom.
JULIAN BURNSIDE: Yes, yes, it does. Kate set up spare rooms for refugees partly as a symbolic response and partly as a practical measure, because people who come out of detention centres need somewhere to live. Kate had the simple practical idea that many Australian houses have got a spare room, so that’s a neat way of solving a housing problem.
PETER THOMPSON: You’ve opened your own spare room?
JULIAN BURNSIDE: Absolutely. You can’t encourage people to do that and not do it yourself. So, we’ve had refugees living here since early 2002…”
He does it! He lives what he preaches. I am inspired.
And this pushes on illustrating sharing life, and diatribo (props to Kim Hammond for the word). It is inspiring, it is difficult, but when we participate then we are His hands and feet.
