It Takes a Village to Change a Mind
Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – Discussing the challenge to change minds on open defecation in Asia. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” —Galatians 6:9 If all your friends are doing it, would you jump off a cliff? That sounds like something your mom might have said. But what if the cliff is really just a big rock on a bank, and there’s a beautiful, clear swimming hole down below? Perspective changes everything, doesn’t it? Peer pressure can sometimes be great. In parts of Asia where open defecation is still widely practiced, tradition says that’s how things are done. But times are changing. Education is spreading. Nudges from the community to break with tradition and use a latrine can save lives. It takes a village to change a mind, and that’s happening throughout rural Asia right now. Proactive Communities Make Open Defecation Less Socially Acceptable In the hours after dusk and before dawn, a ritual as ol...