Nonprofit Nation Chapter 9:
I found a lot of the information in this chapter interesting but the section addressing employees and volunteers (specifically volunteers) really caught my attention. There’s a reference from 1998 stating that approximately 5 million US adults in that year reported volunteering time for foreign and international organizations. 5 million! That’s a huge number of people. I had no idea that this niche was so vastly populated with volunteer workers.
Mercy Corps:
What impresses me most about this organization is their philosophy of avoiding the Band-Aid fix. It’s important, for example, to help provide food to those who have experienced a disaster – but it’s even more important to follow that assistance with education and resources in order to minimize future reliance on others. It’s the old ‘teach a man to fish’ concept. I was equally impressed that with a few clicks on the website, an individual can select a project (click HERE to see) to help support and then create a fund raising page that can be shared easily on the web or through any number of popular social media. Good thinking!
William Easterly: Why Does Foreign Aid Fail?
The majority of this reading was not a surprise to me. Americans are well known for our attitude of ‘I’ll help you, sure! But I’m going to get mine, first.’ The following quote pretty well sums it up:
“…the poor have no right to complain and no right to turn down the product if they don’t like it. The poor just get foreign aid foisted on them by these ill-informed “experts”, and there’s no feedback from the poor – whether they’re satisfied or not, whether their money even reached them or not. There’s no accountability on the part of these official aid agencies....”
It’s not surprising that this is the root of much failure in the Foreign Aid bureaucracy. Inexcusable? YES. This just screams of fraud. Reminds me of recent monsters like Halliburton and subprime lending.
Image borrowed from HERE
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Aid vs. Trade:
Very similar theme with William Easterly. What I found most interesting here is the reinforcement of the idea that empowering the people is the answer. I couldn’t agree more. People who have lived through adversity are the ones that really know what the problems are. Her statement that ‘Aid cannot solve our problems, I’m firmly convinced of that…’ is evidenced by decades of misspent and misused funds. Removing the corrupt middleman is the only way to successfully empower people to do for themselves rather than being ‘appeased.’
Millennium Goals:
What do I think? Culturally appropriate?
I’m going to agree with one of my group mates who posted that this list may be something that a middle class person in a well-developed country would like to hear. Part of my problem with ‘globalization’ of ideas like this list is this: who the hell are we to tell others what to do? Now don’t get me wrong – some goals like fighting hunger and disease with education and medicine is probably very high on the list of most people… right? Or wrong? What if these ideals were imposed on a community that believes medicine is wrong – and what if that community has held those beliefs for longer than white people have been in North America? What would happen if we made those people take substances that they reject?
What about empowering women? In our culture, of course this is important. What about cultures that do not operate with that kind of open-mindedness? What about cultures in which we view members of one gender as being oppressed – is ‘freeing’ them from that oppression better for them or does it serve to reinforce our own cultural morality (Or both?) Perhaps we should remember to be aware that not everyone wants to change their culture, ideals, or morality just because someone said to. The issue of human rights is a complex one, that’s for certain.
So, do we have the right to tell other cultures to change their beliefs about food, medicine, education….?
Please understand that I’m neither promoting nor discounting any of the issues that I mentioned above. I’m simply asking you to think about potential repercussions.
Personally, I would love to see the Millennium Goals come to fruition. That’s my personal opinion, and really only taken at face value – a list. A list of ideals that are not black-and-white but that are something to strive toward with cultural consideration – and a SOLID PLAN (infrastructure!) … a way to avoid continuing the horrendous inefficiency that Foreign Aid has wallowed in.
Easterly hits the nail on the head when he said there was no accountability. It must be with mixed emotions that foreign countries accept aid from us in the first place. How would we feel if Canada came in and said, "oh you are so poor! here, we will help you be more like us." Would that not kind of piss you off even as you are starving? Something for nothing is rarely appreciated. But if want results and not merely gratitude or a sense of righteousness, then there should be some measurable results. Show us that your people are now better off, and then we can continue to invest in your future, instead of the black hole that is now foreign aid.
ReplyDeleteHumanitarian Aid is one of the few areas of giving that people don't go back and check to make sure things are better, they don't expect a year end report... I spend a great deal of time at my job writing reports and giving reports in phone conferences about how we are making an impact. Just because its in Kenya or Haiti, should we not expect reports?
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about telling other cultures how to maintain a functioning country. Many of the reasons why foreign aid hits challenges is because we do not understand how other people operate. We go in with our own set of standards and notion of what is right and expect to implement this same set of guidelines and expect everything to work out. This is obviously unreasonable. It is not that aid is bad, but our attitudes towards subjects that determine whether a project is successful or not.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your discussion regarding potential repercussions of forcing our cultural beliefs upon others. I feel as though it is a conversation that many people often overlook. Going off of what Teresa said in her blog, there seems to be a general perception in Western countries that because of their higher quality of life they may determine what needs to be changed in other countries. While I admire the nobility of the millennium goals, I hope there is some sort of feasible plan that would not alter the cultural identity of regions seeking aid.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned it in my own blog, but I really like how you highlighted the Mercy Corp projects and gifts. People like to KNOW what they're spending for, and putting a price on things or a goal helps people feel more connected to the organization, and ultimately donate more. As a clearinghouse-type organization dealing with an array of projects under the umbrella of foreign support, this is a great way to present their work.
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