The Zawadi Exchange is a creative design of Asset Based Community Development forming and connecting the lives of people towards the hopes and dreams of neighbors within the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana. Stemming from the Swahili language, Zawadi, meaning “gift,” represents the artistic exchange of the hopes, dreams, talents, and intentions of neighbors towards economic and community development. This design of social exchange is lived out as neighbors listen to neighbors, as neighbors connect their talents together in collaborative efforts, and as neighbors invest in each other’s gifts and talents.
Formidable to the work of the Zawadi Exchange is the act of listening. The central leader in this exchange and act of listening is what is known as The Roving Listener, an individual dedicated to “roving” the neighborhood listening to what people care about enough to act upon. Hearing what people care about, the roving listener connects people and their talents together for the purpose of community and economic development. In the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood, neighbors have been connected together with other neighbors by any number of endeavors from gardening, art, music, cooking, to caring for animals, or health initiatives. Above all, the Zawadi Exchange is designed towards working with neighbors and investing in the lives and dreams of people in order to provide spaces for the mutual celebration of our lives together.
Formidable to the work of the Zawadi Exchange is the act of listening. The central leader in this exchange and act of listening is what is known as The Roving Listener, an individual dedicated to “roving” the neighborhood listening to what people care about enough to act upon. Hearing what people care about, the roving listener connects people and their talents together for the purpose of community and economic development. In the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood, neighbors have been connected together with other neighbors by any number of endeavors from gardening, art, music, cooking, to caring for animals, or health initiatives. Above all, the Zawadi Exchange is designed towards working with neighbors and investing in the lives and dreams of people in order to provide spaces for the mutual celebration of our lives together.
copyright 2008