When we decide to create a “community driven” project, it naturally leads us to face complex issues.

During the process, we empowered elders to voice their opinions and come up with concensus among other members of the community. Which means that we just have to trust elders to lead and community members to collaborate together to make decisions. As we all know, there is no such a thing as “perfect community.” Some may not get along with others, people from outside of the community move in, some are wealther than others, and etc…

Operating a small place like a “Ibasho cafe” in a real community, there are still a lot of issues related to human dynamic as well as how to operate it. Local elders struggle to earn enough to operate the cafe, purchasing materials and equipment, organizing events. Hence, they have to be creative to operate it within a limited budget. Elders are asking around their neighbors to donate not only unused goods or foods but also their time and skills to maintain this place. There are constantly differences of opinions among the community members, and challenges still remain in terms of communications.

Some may say that “this situation is not a success becasue elders have to struggle and being frustrated.”

When I look at this situation, I would say “it is a success or at least, the way to success…”

Here is why:

• Elders are empowered enough to voice their opinions how to run the place, instead of being imposed to follow a perfect operation plan developed by others.
• This place brought already exiting community issues to the surface, so that community elders can recognize and manage how to handle them.
• Because financial resouces are limited, elders have to use their creativity as well as human capital that they developed for long years.
• Elders are learning new skills to operate this cafe, while they constantly complain 🙂

I personally believe that “success” should be defined by how much decision they can make, creative they have became, and how many more people they talk to everyday.  Yes, I still feel a bit guilty about not helping them everyday and being simply in a supporter’s role. However, I also always have to remind myself that I should not “provide too much help for them,” just to satisfy my feeling and emotional needs.

I hope that elders at the Ibasho cafe and community members will also feel the same way as  I do (hopefully)!