Stubborn determination to continue dreaming

By: Khelen Rhodes Kuzmovich

“There is nothing quixotic or romantic in wanting to change the world. It is possible. It is the
age-old vocation of all humanity. I can’t think of a better life than one dedicated to passion,
to dreams, to the stubbornness that defies chaos and disillusionment. Our world, filled with
possibilities, is and will be the result of the efforts offered up by us, its inhabitants. Just as life
was a consequence of trial and error, the social organizations that bring us the full realization
of our potential as a species will issue from the ebb and flow of struggles we jointly undertake
across the globe. The future is a construct that is shaped in the present, and that is why to be
responsible in the present is the only way of taking serious responsibility for the future. What is
important is not the fulfillment of all one’s dreams, but the stubborn determination to continue
dreaming. We will have grandchildren, and they will have children too. The world will continue,
and whether we know it or not, we are deciding its course every day.”

Gioconda Belli, The Country Under My Skin: A Memoir of Love and War. NY: Anchor Books,
2003.

Dreaming about the future is difficult, even though it should come easily to me. I can look at my past, at my family and their lives—I can assess my education, my skills, my place in life and on this earth—and I can dream pretty easily about my future. So it was profound to hear the young adult members of the health committee in Las Macias speak of their dreams for the future despite their current reality. Las Macias is a small, poor rural community in the department of Boaco in Nicaragua. The health committee there is made up of individuals who work toward improving the health in their community through the help and training of Project Amos. They educate their community on nutrition, hygiene, preventing anemia and diarrhea, and more. In speaking with the mostly young members of the committee (they are in their late teens and twenties), I had the privilege of hearing about their dreams for the future. Many of these dreams ran along similar themes—getting a university education and learning to speak English. Some wanted to travel to visit family (and to work) in the US or Spain. One young woman dreamed of getting a better education in order to return to Las Macias and help her community develop and improve. Yet no one in Las Macias has ever gone to college. Not many have finished high school (the high school is an hour away by bus so they must have enough money for bus fare and their families must be able to afford for them to go to school rather than work).  It was especially disheartening listening to the young women. Most of them want more out of life than getting married, raising children, and maintaining their households yet the schoolteacher was the only woman in their community currently working outside of her home. And yet they dream. They dream of a different and better future not only for themselves and their families but for their community as well.

When talking to these young adults I had trouble figuring out how to respond. Do I encourage them to keep dreaming, that they can do whatever they set their minds and hearts to? Do I ask them if they are afraid their dreams will never come true? What do I do about my realistic reservations that their lives may not actually get much better? Should they keep dreaming? Or should they resign themselves to enjoying a life like the ones of the majority of the people in their community?

How do we keep dreaming, keep pushing for change against all odds? Who am I to not be able to imagine a better future when these folks, who have no grounds for doing so, are able to dream their dreams? How can we be both realistic and hopeful?

What I love about the above quotation from Nicaraguan author Gioconda Belli is that it applies to both me in my life situation and to the members of the Las Macias community. Belli writes, “What is important is not the fulfillment of all one’s dreams, but the stubborn determination to continue dreaming.” I guess I disagree in some ways with this sentence; I do think the actual fulfillment of dreams is important, especially when those dreams are as simple and vital as being able to provide healthy food for one’s children. It does, however, push me to recognize the importance of being stubborn enough to dream amidst the “chaos and disillusionment.”

Perhaps one way to be in solidarity with the young adults of Las Macias is to keep dreaming on their behalf. Only through being able to imagine a better future can we find the strength and encouragement to work together for change.