Advertisement
Published: August 13th 2007
While I've been here in East Africa, I've been exposed to the world of NGOs... where everyone talks in acronyms and comes together for a good cause. Well, the second part is up for debate because in the past month and a half, I've started to develop some mixed feelings about NGOs and whether some countries are better off without its help.
I can't help but wonder if NGOs and aid work is actually detrimental to the development and sustainability of a 3rd world country. For one, the administrative costs that goes into these projects are ludicrous. I met a really nice Canadian engineer who was stationed in the DRC to develop a water system for a local village. The amount of administrative costs that Evelyn described absolutely stunned me. For one, they needed to remodel the compounds, so they invested over $20,000 in the upgrade to cement the place. Also, the nuns who own this building asked for another building to be built, so they built that for them as well, on top of paying rent. She told me about the cost of using the satellite phone, which is $12 a minute; the cost of internet; the cost of
flying in all their food supplies; etc etc. The NGO decided to pull the plug on this project b/c there was not enough progress for the amount of money they were spending. Does this even surprise anyone? So pretty much the NGO spent all their money on setting up this project base, only to abandon it a year later. Evelyn isn't going to tell her local staff b/c they would react by looting and stealing from the offices. According to her, this is legal in the DRC, where if you need something, you can just take (steal) it, with even the police and military engaging in this convenient method. Her team is going to wait until the last moment, after they've shipped out most of their valuables, so the local staff could help themselves to the things left behind. I asked her if there was at least some sort of progress in the village, so that the hundreds of thousands of aid dollars went to some use and more importantly, so that the villagers could actually benefit from this project, but she said no. They would need more time to make the project self-sustaining for the villagers to take over.
I found this really annoying... the idea that NGOs go to a village, where they are revered by the eagerly waiting locals as heroes and rescuers (remember that scene in Hotel Rwanda where those seeking shelter at the hotel cheered when the UN arrived and also, how Don Cheadle's character kept reassuring everyone that everything will be all right once the aid workers arrive...well I think it's sort of like that with NGOs and local villagers in Africa). This immediately creates a dependency mentality from the locals towards the aid workers b/c once they see a foreigner, they think that food, sanitation, healthcare and shelter will all be taken care of and their village is in for an upgrade. This is not the fault of the aid workers themselves, many of whom I bet get into this work thinking that they are going to get Africans finally out of poverty. I've met several aid researchers and workers who initially came here with buckets full of idealism only to have become totally disgusted by the state of aid work in Africa. We always think of Africa as a place in need, and how we want to donate $5 a month
to educate and provide a future for a starving child, but it doesn't work like that, or at least it doesn't seem to work like that based on what I've seen and heard.
Africa has received the most aid out of any other part of the world, yet they are still the most poor, under developed region in the world. Why? Corruption? Lack of resources? Unfavorable climates and conditions? Maybe a little bit of all three, among other factors. Regardless, it got me thinking about how aid work has created a culture of dependency, laziness and idealism from the locals. Dependency because the Africans receiving the help start thinking that they can't do things or make progress on their own unless aid is there; laziness because it has created a dependency on others to do the work and bring about the change; and idealism because the locals give blind faith to the fact that things will all be better now that the NGO workers are here. I've heard that US Aid goods are being sold on the market... and I've seen it with my own eyes at a local shop in Rwanda and at the markets in Uganda! I've
heard that donated mosquito nets are being used as fishing nets or food covers to keep away the flies... and I've seen this at local markets being sold to foreigners as local souvenirs. I've heard that the seeds donated to local villages are being cooked and eaten b/c what's the point of planting, farming and maintaining crops when food is being donated anyway? Surely the UN World Food Programme won't let them starve. The people receiving the aid know how to make the most of the aid they receive, and some sure do milk the system.
Another thing that really bugged me was all the second hand clothes I saw... the old Shaq Orlando Magic shirt, the Denny's Diner work shirt, the Riviera Elementary School c/o 1988 shirt, etc. They are all raggedy, worn, stained and hole-infested, and makes the Africans who wear them look as bad as the state of the second hand clothes themselves. Where are their traditional clothes? Well, why would they bother wearing or buying them when they can buy these second hand clothes at a fraction of the cost of traditional clothes.
Buy the second hand clothes? You mean to say that the clothes
toothbrushes!
the kids have to leave them here b/c they might misuse them if they take it homethat are donated by the West are not being freely distributed to the Africans? NO! They are being SOLD at the local markets and I've seen it everywhere. I've heard that in some local markets, westerners come to buy "vintage" clothes! Clothes that once arrived onto African ports with the good intention of clothing some naked African baby running around a village is being bought by someone like me, who probably donated the clothes in the first place.
I could go on and on about what I think about aid in Africa... but I'll refrain for now because I don't know and understand the entire situation and system myself, so I feel a bit uneasy passing too much judgement on this.
Although I was totally jaded by NGO work, I accepted Amanda's invitation to check out the work she's been doing in a little village called Shibanze, which is near Bungoma, a border town in southwest Kenya. Just to give a little background on Amanda, she is a nutritionist from Canada, who came to Africa for six months to work for a Community Based Organization (CBO), which is not as big as an NGO, but they still do
Baby Laila's mom
With the produce shop Amanda helped her set up for the second time (the first time, her husband took all the produce and sold it back to the market to buy alcohol) similar work.
During her time with the village, Amanda has helped members of this village on so many levels through funds that she raised from her hometown in Ontario. For one, she helped supply a bare school with basic necessities, like concreting the mud-walled classrooms, installing chalk boards, buying school materials, clothing the children in school uniforms, creating a hand-washing station, building toilets, digging and setting up a water well, and creating this thing (sorry for the vagueness, I don't know a better word) that converts cow feces into energy, which she and I both don't understand how, but it does. She also used the donated money to buy a cow (Mattea) to supply the school children with milk and to sell the extra milk to earn money to pay the teachers proper wages. She has also re-educated the kitchen staff and the school teachers about proper nutrition so the kids won't suffer from protein deficiency, which creates the bloated bellies in children, thin hair, loose skin, under development and death. The thing I've noticed here is that people eat for the sake of eating, not for nutritional content or for the joy of eating flavorful cuisines, hence the
the ladies
all came to say bye to Amanda on her last day Kenyan staple of bland ugali (stiff porridge of maize flour) which they eat
everywhere despite it having no nutritional value. But she taught them how to make soy milk and other protein-packed dishes to feed the children for lunch.
She has gained a lot of trust from the villagers, and has helped create a women's group to empower the local women, who in many cases face physical abuse and neglect, while living in a polygamous society. One lady, Baby Laila's mom, has an alcoholic, abusive husband who spends all his money on alcohol and is unable to support his four children. So Amanda helped Baby Laila's mom set up a small business with tomatoes, onions and other vegetables. He ended up forcing her to sell some of the goods back to the market to get money for alcohol. Also, some of the men don't work and have too much pride to let their wives work, so in the end, these ladies don't have the means to eat properly or provide for the children. Amanda told me of a lady who got beaten by her husband because the food didn't have enough salt, despite the fact that he's not earning
enough to buy salt. Or another lady who ran a small business without her husband's knowledge, since he wouldn't allow her to work. When he found out, the jobless husband beat her for doing such a thing. So you can see how a women's group is very much in need here.
We arrived into Bungoma on the 4th of July, planning on meeting some of her friends for a celebration. But with all the fiasco of getting here from Jinga, we were too late and exhausted so we went straight to her home and crashed.
The next day, we went to a local wholesale shop (like a mini version of Costco) where the owner wanted to donate some goods to Amanda, so she could distribute it to the school she helped expand. We took loads of cooking oil and hopped on a matatu and boda boda to get to the school in Shibanze.
I had already heard about most of the work she had done, but seeing it for myself was something else. It was inspirational to see the changes that she brought about here, and added truth to the idea that one person can make a
difference without the support and pull of an NGO. Which got me to thinking that perhaps she made an even bigger difference by herself than any bureaucratic NGO could have done with a team of workers.
But not all the work Amanda did was easily achievable thanks to the Kenyan man running this CBO. I forgot his name, but I'll refer to him as Joe. He pretty much was inspired to start this school after he saw his uncle run a successful volunteer program with medical students from overseas (mostly Americans). Aid work is a huge industry here, so a local who is able to set one up can be guaranteed some sort of financial benefit if he or she makes the right connections. I guess it's entirely unfair to jump into conclusions about this, but things just don't feel right when Joe's mom suddenly has a new concrete bathroom built in her home while at the same time, there isn't enough money to pay the teachers their wages.
With the money that Amanda raised, she set up micro-economic programs such as a small-business loan system, where locals can pitch a business plan and get a loan to
start the business. Joe is the one who hands out these loans (money that Amanda raised), and so far, all the women have been rejected. When we were in the villages, some of the women were complaining that while Amanda was away for a week in Uganda, Joe came around threatening and yelling at them for no reason, and declining their loans. This is just one of the MANY Joe stories that took place during the week that Amanda was gone.
As we walked around telling the villagers that Amanda would be leaving tomorrow, you could see the devastation in their eyes when she announced one by one that she would be returning to Canada. I mean, really, you could see the change in their eyes as they processed the reality of her departure, that they were not only sad to see her go, but sad to see their hope and chance for a better life leave as well. That's what I mean about the dependency syndrome. Most of them immediately assumed that I was the person taking over Amanda's role, but when she explained that I'm just visiting, they again got that dire look in their eyes. Then
Amanda and her chicken
Baby Laila's mom gave her this as a show of gratitude for helping her leave her husband they said, "Why don't you stay? We need you." I don't blame them because they also realize that once Amanda leaves, Joe is no longer under a watchful radar, and is thus free to act on his own will.
Mama Jamila is the third wife of her husband. Their family is considered to be fairly successful, and it's apparent just by looking at her house. It's a mud hut as well, but its walls are cleanly smoothed and painted in beautiful colors. She gave us the warmest welcome with delicious chapatti and jam, soda and bottled water (!). While we were on our way out of the village, a heavy downpour stranded us into a local woman's home. It was great fun there, and the ladies gossiped about many of the Joe's woes, among other things. And upon realizing that Amanda was leaving the next day, they wanted to finalize anything that they could get from Amanda, which again, I don't blame them for b/c they live in a culture of dependency. During this rainy day detour, the ladies were talking about Baby Laila's mom, and how she wants to leave her alcoholic, abusive, pathetic husband. So in this
hut, on a rainy afternoon, the master plan emerged...
The ladies said that if Baby Laila's mom doesn't get out now, she never will, and they urged Amanda to help. Since Amanda had received $200 from a person in Canada to specifically help Baby Laila's mom, after much hesitation, she agreed to their plan. We agreed to meet at 11 a.m. in another village away from Shibanze. This whole plan was both exciting and scary. We asked over and over again if the husband would find her and beat her for leaving him, but all the ladies including Baby Laila's mom agreed that it was better that she left him, explaining that just the other day, he was chasing her down the street trying to beat her.
The next day, Amanda had a list full of things to do for her last day in a place she called home for six months. After sorting out morning errands, we hopped into a matatu to the agreed upon village and met Baby Laila's mom and another woman who would act as a translator. We walked around the village and checked out many rooms for rent, most of which were completely
unsuitable for a woman and her four children, as the mud rooms had holes in the walls and an insecure lock. The one we eventually settled on was a room made of concrete in a seemingly safe compound. There was a school nearby so Amanda went to enroll the children, while another lady and I went to look for a mattress and blankets. Amanda paid for the first 6 months of rent, the school and uniform fees, and a large supply of chapatti flour and cooking fat (to make and sell chapatti and samosas), which should give Baby Laila's mom enough time to become self-sustaining. I was left with a feeling of excitement for her new life, but had a nagging pessimistic thought of what would happen if the psycho of a husband came in a drunken rage to confront her. Life seems so ugly sometimes.
After seeing the work that Amanda had done, and seeing the changes that she has brought to this village, I conclude that the best way for someone to really make a difference is to find a village on their own and help the people learn how to help themselves. Beyond second hand clothes
Matatu runs out of gas
in Uganda, just 5 km from the Kenyan border! and food donations, I think that what Africa needs is a restructuring and reeducation of their own capabilities. Nothing about them makes them more inferior or inadequate to achieving this, so they just need to realize that they can bring about change on their own, rather than continuing to live in a cyclic culture of dependancy. All they need is just a little push and support.
If there is anyone who is interested in working in this village, keeping an eye on Joe, and taking off from where Amanda left off, I can put you in contact with Amanda... who is now off on another project in Nicaragua. I'm sure she would be thrilled to help and get you started. Since it's a small organization, you are really working for yourself and planning your own projects, with Joe just having the "boss" title. The possibilities are endless for a project like this.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.404s; Tpl: 0.025s; cc: 24; qc: 107; dbt: 0.2787s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
AMANDA
non-member comment
so happy
Wow, you don't know how happy it makes me to see this entry. I miss them SOOO much! I'm super glad to see someone else that they were able to make such a wicked impression on! You can't help but love these people!