Development Work..the debate continues but where are the results...

This past week Kristof had an article in the NYT Magazine praising Do-It- Yourself (D.I.Y) development projects around the world. You must read the article to understand some of this blog. The web address-

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/magazine/24volunteerism-t.html?ref=magazine

The article was excellent and caused a great debate between Matt and I as we sat, prisoners in our house, held up by the 105 degree heat.

At first, Matt and I disagreed about what we thought. Matt agreed with Kristof and I, for the most part, disagreed with Kristof. I was under the impresson that by allowing D.I.Yers in the field we were taking away from the professionalism of the field. However, after many days of thinking about this idea, then reading many blogs by people working around the world in the field of development, who also received Masters, through university programs, I realized I was being selfish. I was trying to hold on to the field as something only us trained in the field could do successfully. I have totally changed my point of view and written this in response to the following blogs:

http://findwhatworks.wordpress.com/2010/10/30/diy-follow-up-part-2-of-5-questions-of-elitism-or-just-what-is-a-%E2%80%9Cprofessional%E2%80%9D/

http://talesfromethehood.wordpress.com/

http://findwhatworks.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/diy-follow-up-part-1-of-5-how-complicated-can-things-really-be/

My response:

As a graduate of NYU's International Education program with a focus on Development Education and a current Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, I am perplexed at how to respond to your recent post.

You have valid points. However, you over estimate what a graduate degree prepares you for. If someone does not already know the importance of knowing your community or audience, involving the community and the important members of the community, and using past lessons as guiding principles, then I suppose they do need graduate school.

However, I think these principles are common sense. This is how we should live our lives in general; learning from past relationships and adjusting accordingly, learning about the culture we are trying to be apart of, learning from past mistakes in any professional field and correcting them for the future and learning how to interact with others effectively are all the same principles on a different scale. Why would we act differently in the field of international development?

If you have successfully volunteered at a soup kitchen, worked at an inner city school, worked in volatile communities anywhere and formed relationships there and become an agent of change with that organization, then you know the guiding principles and what it takes to enter into a place you do not naturally belong. If you have ever earned the respect of those you work with thus enabling true dialogue about how to move forward between all involved then you have also earned the right to add to the academic discourse that goes on in the classroom.

I agree with you that what it takes to be successful is a commitment. But, I also think what it takes is cultural humility and I think sometimes grad school strips us of this notion. We think we know so much, theory, lessons learned etc, yet we know nothing until we are on the ground and we hear, feel, smell and see what is all around us in that certain situation. D.I.Yers are in the field, on the ground, learning the theory while doing the practical work that is so desperately needed. Me, I sat in classes in NYC in a controlled environment so far removed from the reality and learned the theory, so excited to have the background that everyone told me was so necessary. To then go into the field and throw theories out the window because any good development worker knows the two do not always go hand and hand, when the problems and reality hit you so bluntly in the face.

When I get furious, seeing so much money squandered away, while the orphaned kids in my village are scavenging for food on a daily basis, I constantly remind myself the field is learning and evolving. I also remind myself of the development theorist Samuel Huntington and Immanuel Wallerstein and how Botswana is a young country growing and learning. This is what keeps me going, hoping for the best while aware of all the shortcomings of this field and I try to remember development is an evolving process that is natural, as well as forced.

There is not one organization that I see working perfectly; there is more, of what you call ‘professional organizations’, that need to be shut down than I can count. Moreover, I find that professional organizations have no real incentive to succeed. I mean if they succeed and reach their goals, there is no need for funding or the organization any longer, thus making them obsolete. Why implement your programs and reach the desired outcomes, if you are no longer going to be needed and thus left without a job?

The closest parallel I can think of is looking at the education system in America. It, too, is broken like the field of aid and development. So, Charter schools have been created, many times run by people how know nothing or very little bit about education. At first, as an educator I was insulted or reluctant to believe that this was the best solution. I still do not even know where I stand on this idea of creating a new system without fixing the old. But, after years of watching charters and a true investment in fixing the system and seeing public school perform better to keep up with the competition, who am I to judge this? What if one succeeds and we can learn from it, wasn’t it worth the investment, wasn’t it worth the unknown or the possibility of failure to help secure a better future for those kids that were involved and that will be involved in the future? Or what if one fails, and we learn what not to do the next time, wasn't that also worth it in the sense that we now know more and how to move forward and be more accurate next time? Isn't this the way the most innovative ideas have presented themselves throughout history?

With all the money that is wasted on moving development workers in to their field assignment, for their kids to go to private schools, cars for their organizations, personal housing payments, diplomatic pouches, flights home, lunches and workshops, I think the money invested in D.I.Y is a drop in the bucket, comparatively.

Doctors are known for being elite and for that I am thankful. Doctors hold our lives in their hands sometimes and for that we need the elite and the best. Similarly, we as development workers hold the lives of many in our hands and we are still not completely working at 100 % and are not seen as elite, much less effective, amongst members of other professions, even if we were educated at the top schools. We flounder and do not always know how to approach the problems that plague so much of the developing world. Therefore, since we, as aid workers, do not have the answers/results nor are we even close to coming up with one, until I see the perfect solution that we in the development field have come up with, I am willing to look at, learn from and accept D.I.Y approaches that are not so caught up in the bureaucracy but rather on the ground trying to do what they can.

Here is Kristof’s response to the Find What Works blog critical response:

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/a-postscript-on-diy-aid/

If for some reason you are interested in the field of aid and development I have found some great blogs from people working in various sectors of the development field:

http://www.aviewfromthecave.com/

http://goodintents.org/blog

http://africasacountry.com/

http://lessonsilearned.org/

http://onmotherhoodandsanity.blogspot.com/

http://penelopemc.wordpress.com/about/

http://www.owen.org/blog

http://texasinafrica.blogspot.com/

http://bloodandmilk.org/

-laura

Coming Together

Coming Together
Its been some time, I know but thought I would tell you all about the sponsored walk we did today with our youth group, Bright Future. As most of you know, Laura and I both spend a lot of our time working with this group and trying to develop them to be more productive, responsible, empowered individuals. We have been meeting for about 10 months and developing wonderful relationships with many of them. After all, they keep coming back so something is working!!!
Anyways, we had some t-shirts designed by a good friend and Peace Corps volunteer here, Ryan Mannion and then sent the logo to Jim Pike in Indy. Jim printed and donated all 35 shirts to our group and we brought them back from our trip home. Thanks Jim, means a lot and they are the hit of the village, everyone wants one. We told the group that the shirts were done and they needed to raise 300 pula for shipping (they didn’t know we brought them back), so we decided to do a sponsored walk on Youth Day in our district.
Three hundred pula should not be that hard for 25 people to come up with but the reality is that not one of these members have a job and a source for income other than boyfriends and an occasional family member. Most sit around day after day craving something to do, wishing they could find a job, and realizing the possibilities are very minimal with their educational background. While lack of motivation and laziness is inherited within the culture and greatly affects the youth often and early, I truly believe many of these kids (I call them kids but youth here is 15-29 years old) want to succeed in one way or another.
We met at the kgotla this morning and starting collecting sponsor sheets and money in hopes our goal of 300 pula was reached so that everyone could get their t-shirts. After collecting 660 pula the shirts, yeah we more than doubled the money, were handed out. It was awesome as each and every person made sure it looked nice and was the right size. After some decided it necessary to apply colored eye make-up, we had a photo-op and were off.
It really was a nice opportunity for them to show off to everyone that they are a part of something and trying to move forward. We strolled very leisurely through the village, singing and dancing at times while passerby’s looked on. Some asked what we were doing and the common response was “raising funds and awareness for our group and youth activities.” We walked for about and hour and a half, ending at the Kagisano Women’s Shelter, an organization that has taught our girls about gender based violence and currently is receiving a grant from the Ministry for our Youth group.
Yeah we wrote a grant through the Women’s Shelter many months back to the Ministry of Youth here. We got the entire grant, 1.2 million pula over two years to continue life skills trainings, going back to school, and learning business skills through a poultry farm. That is basically the equivalent of 150,000 US dollars. It is crazy; we have been operating this group with NO money and all the sudden the Ministry wants to use our group as a pilot project. GREAT – lets do this. We constantly see money thrown away here, but now we get to send 14 girls back to Form 4 and Form 5, basically high school, FOR FREE. Everything is paid, EVERYTHING. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them to finish these all-important educational years. We will start the interview process very soon and select a final 14 to start in January. I wish the funding were for 18 so that everyone could go, as telling some they didn’t make the cut wont be easy.
I really can’t believe that is happening. I shouldn’t get too excited until I see them in their uniforms on the combi going that first day.
So from NO money, to a lot of money, we will be spending most of the time remaining in Botswana training new facilitators for life skills and continuing trying to empower this group. We have become very close to many of them and only hope that their futures will be brighter and filled with more opportunities.
Pike, thanks again for the shirts, I cant wait to see how many people come to the next meeting wondering if we have more. While the group is open to anyone, the shirts solidified Bright Future’s spot in the community, hopefully for years to come…………

Pula o Kai?

Where is the rain? Yeah summer is approaching and approaching rather quickly this year. It has consistently already been in the 90’s and the Kalahari is as dry as it can get, I believe. Technically speaking, its not even summer here yet. We are waiting for the rain to come, when it will happen? Nobody knows. Traditionally speaking, we were told it will rain on Sept. 30th, “it always does” but this year the ancestors were wrong.

Living in the desert is quite a challenge at times and this year seems to be no different. Laura and I constantly talk about spending most of our day thinking of water, whether it being downing liters at a time or trying to find a swimming pool for relief. Thankfully our water at home has not gone out; although we do know people that have now gone two months with nothing from the tap. It is only a matter of time if the rains don’t come.

One very interesting thing this spring compared to last is that everything is still blooming, the trees, flowers and fruits. Last year we had ample rain to get these very things sprouting and going, but even this year with NO rain, everything is blooming. It’s such as weird phenomenon that the desert can still flourish for some time without any water and some species obviously don’t need anything. I know, they have adapted over time, year after year with no water, but its still a bit bizarre to think about......

This past weekend was Botswana Independence and allowed for a four day weekend so we decided to visit a few friends up north. It was so nice, we spend the entire day at the Ntimbale Dam, a man made dam to supply water to many villages up there. We were able to swim the entire day in nice clean water, what a relief and so fun considering it’s a rarity here in Botswana. The only option we have near us in to go to the capital and raid one of the nice hotels there, but can get expensive and you still have to travel to get there. By the time you get home on the bus, you feel like going straight back.

Furthermore, the weekend was capped by attending the Kalanga festival at Domboshamba. The Kalanga are the predominant tribe up north and it was nice to around different people, experience traditional food, music and dance. Although the festival was still a typical Botswana event, it was nice to be in a different part of the country. When I say typical event, I mean most people sit outside next to their cars with house/pop/techno music bumping between cars in a drunken stupor. It’s quite entertaining and can be as fun as you want to make it really. It’s the thing to do when you go out as there really isn’t anything else to do here. It is too expensive to sit in bars so most people hangout outside and chill. In fact, some will call it a “chillaz” session if you can imagine.

So, hope all is well with you all and your enjoying the nice cool autumn air, baseball playoffs starting, a new NFL season (Colts need to get it together), and whatever rain you can send our way, please do. Its no wonder the word “pula” or water is so dominant here, including the currency.

-matt aka thuso