Mike Dietzel

CTL 490
Ann Wertz
9/4/14
Social Change
Everyone wants to make a change in the world. We see injustices all
around us. How can we stop it? The answer lies in the realm of social change.
So what is social change? Is it different from charity? How do we make this
change and will the outcome be positive or negative? Hopefully the results
betters all individuals involved but what are some pitfalls which can derail the
success of the social change?
So what exactly is social change? According to Leadership for a Better
World, social change addresses each persons sense of responsibility to others
and the realization that making things better for one pocket of society makes
things better for the society as a whole. An example of social change in my life
is when I was able to participate in was the annual mission trip to Nicaragua. I
realized that I have been extremely blessed in my life time. As we have heard
many times from Fr. Wathier, what we have received as a gift we must give as
a gift. The people of Nicaragua nor myself did anything to deserve our present
material condition. Why was I lucky enough to be born into a loving and
supportive family in a safe town in the United States? I felt a strong
responsibility to do whatever I could to help better these peoples lives and I
was not alone. Our mission included putting electricity and lights into rural
churches, educating farmers on better ways to rotate crops to produce better

yields, and what type of grasses to grow to provide the best nutrients for their
livestock. This is social change because our efforts were aimed at making
changes at the root of the issues. By putting lights in the churches they could
use this space during the night hours for social gatherings and worship and by
educating the farmers they will be able to healthier livestock and increase their
crop yields in volume and nutrition.
This type of service differs from charity because while charity is certainly
beneficial, the giver and receiver of charity are more removed from each other
than in social change. Social change requires more time and interaction
whereas charity can be a donation. Another distinction in my mind is that
social change and charity have slightly different results. Charity seems to
provide services for the existing condition where social change targets the root
of the problem and tries to eliminate the problem as a whole. In a sense,
charity is like the man who gives the others fish and they can eat for the day
but social change is similar to teaching the others how to fish so they can eat
for the rest of their life.
In my experience with both charity and social change it is interesting to
see who is affected most by the change being made. While the receiver may be
benefited materially, in Nicaragua, my spiritual life was drastically changed.
The Nicaraguans opened my eyes to what it means to trust in God and their
lifestyles 100% supported the fact that money does not buy you happiness.
They lived simple lives. Often technology and our fast pace world hinders our

priorities and leads us astray from what truly satisfies us: faith and
community. Certainly the goal of social change is to improve the lives of others
but I know that the Nicaraguan people certainly impacted my life more than I
could have impacted theirs.
This result from social change is common. Many participants in social
change seem to get more from their involvement with the people they are
helping than anything else. This shows how beneficial social change can be to
all involved in the work. I know the work we did in Nicaragua was positive for
their future and I too was positively impacted by the time I spent with them.
Although my experience was very positive, I can see how some pitfalls
may arise from service in third world countries like Nicaragua. If individuals
start to feel a sense of superiority then clearly they have missed the intentions
of the service. This type of a mentality could lead to paternalism. An
understanding of the seven Cs of social change would certainly reduce the
chances of a pitfall occurring. The seven Cs help an individual realize their
responsibility to others in their communities while maintaining an attitude of
gratitude when they see the conditions that others may be living in.
Through the information available from Leadership for a Better World the
distinction between social change and charity is clearer. Also, we know that
social change can be very influential and positive for a community but in order
for this result some precautions and proper planning need to be accomplished

to avoid pitfalls. But we cannot expect social change to occur overnight. It

takes dedication and patience as successes may take some time.