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Published: July 20th 2008
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When I signed up for this assignment, I was supposed to come and see how the local Development Committee organized by CARE was doing, and propose a few ideas for moving forward. Turns out there was no Committee yet. It had not been even discussed.
We organized so Mama Hellen, head of the compound, could propose it to the local leaders. During breakfast the morning of the presentation, Mama Hellen made me a confession.
She had struggled to get a hold of the concept of the Development Committee, and was not sure if what she was going to present was what she was supposed to. She politely asked me if I could direct the workshop.
My immediate response was ‘Sure!’. Now, I have seen these Development Committees at work in India, and read extensively about them in Uganda and Cambodia. Some are doing extremely well. Others struggle and even disappear. But this is the first time I was going to witness one starting, let alone, being the one forming it.
9:00 am. All (really?) the local leaders in Pagak start arriving to the CARE compound. There they were: the Boma chiefs, now working as judges
and stripped from their authority in the last years of the civil war; the traders’ representative, the heads of the women association, the youth group representatives… even my Pagak nemesis, James, from the SSRRC, who I had not seen since our little ‘skirmish’ a few days ago…
12:30 m. The local leaders are having lunch with us, all smiles. Even James, who now I call Dr. No, looked excited.
Under the baobab tree at CARE compound, the same tree where locals say the Sudanese People Liberation Army revolution started, the Pagak Development Committee was born. A romantic start for what promises to be a turbulent novel.
By the time I write this, I have already met twice with the Development Committee as a group, and with leaders separately. Some are excited about the idea, particularly leaders of civil associations (traders, youth), professors, and also, surprisingly (or not?), Dr. No and the SSRRC people. Others, particularly Boma chiefs and the Women’s Association, look more skeptic, and their support is basically of the form ‘we’ll move forward because you (CARE) are proposing it’.
I will not bore you describing what the Development Committee is and all the theory
behind. Enough is to say that it aims to promote local solutions less dependent of outside help from NGOs, but it is also an exercise in local democracy and deliberation.
This is hard to implement here, because the Nuer have no tradition of working together as community. They have been always semi-nomads, independent, acephalous groups now forced to settle and live side by side under a state authority due to lack of natural resources (especially water) and the transition to agriculture. Nuer fight for everything, and lynching people is not precisely unheard of around here. There are no gatherings to discuss problems of the community, only public audiences to apply local justice.
The other problems are clientelism and corruption. The SSRRC is too powerful, because they get jobs, money and food for the people, accustomed for years to receive free food in the refugee camps. I have seen SSRRC documents requesting NGOs 45 metric tons of food for 10 people clearing a road that has 6 kms, but that they had estimated in 20kms. The food is known to not be distributed, but sold in neighboring Ethiopia,
Development Committees are viable and useful here. But the application
cannot be naïve. I have left guidelines with strategies to reduce the risk that decision-making in the Committee is captured by the SSRRC and the Boma chiefs. If everything goes right, I should be back next year to see what happened and take corrective actions if necessary. In the end the Committees are also an exercise in improving local governance, but also in improving NGO governance. If the Committee works, that will also force NGOs to work more closely here, and not to compete by spending resources irrationally, making more powerful and richer the local elite.
This has been the most eye-opening field experience I have ever had. I have not decided yet to do the thesis here, but now I have a better idea of the kind of contribution I would like to make with the dissertation. I deeply thank you all for following.
The day I left Pagak was a sample of the things I lived there. We had delicious mandasi for breakfast, had a great discussion with Mama Hellen, the plane did not show up until almost four hours after it was supposed to arrive, and when it did, the CARE mobile did not start
(again) and all the men (and Niubol) had to push.
The whole town was at the airstrip. Planes coming are a big thing here. James and Boni, the SSRRC guys, came to hug me. While they approached, I thought ‘Well, at least we leave in good terms!’.
When Boni hugged me, I understood why. It was three in the afternoon, and both were drunk (or they share a very cheap cologne).
Junko also left Pagak that day. She was crying. She will never come back, as she is getting married in September and moving to Johannesburg later. I have a place to stay during the World Cup!
And that was the field. A Jubalicious weekend awaits, and next week, it is time for injera, sprees and Gyorgis beer. Addis awaits.
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