Shannon Fernando-Rubera was rejected from all 13 medical schools she applied to in 2007. Instead of reapplying, she got on a plane to Kenya and lived in Kibera, one of the largest informal settlements in Africa. That detour became her actual calling.
Fifteen years later, the organization born from that rejection, Alabaster International, has spread to Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sri Lanka, brokered an unprecedented agreement between the Ethiopian and Kenyan governments to share a drought-resistant crop called NSET, and earned recognition twice from the Clinton Global Initiative.
Shannon and Joe dug into the philosophy that drives the work: communities are partners, not victims. The best solutions already exist within the cultures being served. Aid is a short-term band-aid; sovereignty is the real goal. And the simplest framework she lives by: permission and proximity. You can't lead from a distance, and you don't lead at all without being invited in.
#PermissionAndProximity #AlabasterInternational #TreeAgainstHunger #WomenLed #communityled #themeasuringpost
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