What is Development?

So, seeing as I will be spending the two years working in development work and so on, I think I should take some time to discuss the implications of the work that I do, the work other organizations do, the role of development workers and NGOs in general, and the role of AID money.

This is a very complicated subject. And I’m not sure if my discussion will help anything or anyone. It might even make me doubt the work I’m doing here, but that’s okay. I just think it’s important to discuss.

The mission of the Peace Corps has three parts. One of them I happen to be currently excelling at, and that is the third one. It is to help promote the understanding of other cultures on the part of Americans. I imagine this blog is helping you understand Beninese culture more than you ever believed possible.

Another part of the Peace Corps mission is to help Beninese understand American culture. I hope I am carrying out that just as successfully.

The first part is to help people of interested countries meet their needs for trained men and women (for development). And although this is first, it is only 1/3 of the mission. Some volunteers here discuss the realities of Peace Corps service. Are we really here for development? Can we really accomplish anything in development? Or are we just really here to exchange cultural ideas, create a more open world that will hopefully lead to development, one day?

I mean, how much can one volunteer do? In only two years? I have seen the difference volunteers have made in individual lives, but how much does that really aid development? For development, the whole country has to move forward.

For development to happen, INFRASTRUCTURE is paramount. Things like schools and roads. And internet. (Oh, my kingdom for good internet!) For example, one of the problems facing the mechanics in Kérou is that if they need a material (iron, etc), they have to order it, and thanks to the conditions of the roads, and thus the non-inclination of people to travel them, getting these materials takes forever and is expensive.

So for the country to move forward, they need better infrastructure. And that has to come from the government; individual citizens can’t build roads. I know you conservatives/neoliberals/libertarians out there are saying, “Oh, just let free enterprise build these roads!” With what? There is no capital for businesses to build these roads, no matter how much they would ultimately benefit from them being built. (And besides, it’s the American and State governments that build our roads)

Of course people here distrust their government. This is understandable, considering the rampant corruption that exists. There are signs all over Porto-Novo that say, “Those who pay their taxes build their city.” But some many of these businesses in Benin are informal. Hardly anyone actually pays taxes. Oh, and also you don’t have to pay property taxes if your house is still “under construction.” So people leave a part of their house unfinished so it is “under construction” in perpetuity.

So we go around the government—the neo-liberal’s dream—through NGOs and what not. But do NGOs actually benefit society? Or are they just taking over what SHOULD be the responsibility of the government? Are they weakening the government to the point that the government will be destroyed and irrelevant? And not in a good way?

While to some this might seem like a good idea, but on the other hand, to whom are NGOs accountable? Maybe their donors, maybe the public. Here is a story of accountability actually working:

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was an organization which claimed to be a proponent of women’s health (Komen). One day it decide to cut funding to an organization which provides reproductive care to (mostly) low-income women, just because that organization happens to provide a service that some people find objectionable. The Internet (or at least the part of the Internet that I frequent) exploded with outrage. Just a few days later, Komen reversed its decision, but the damage was done. Many began to doubt that this charity truly supported women’s health. Even beyond this particular instance, people began to delve into the realities of Komen—once a lauded organization, above all suspicion, immune to questioning. But now people were asking questions, and what they found was that this organization—among many other flaws—owned stock in companies, such as ones that produce machines for breast exams. Therefore, they financially benefit each time a woman is convinced to get a regular check up—not necessarily a bad thing—but furthermore, would actually suffer financially if a cure for breast cancer was found, which is their stated goal. Also people started questioning their habit of putting the “pink ribbon” design on things that were unhealthy, even known to increase your risk of cancer. As this information came to light, this organization was shamed, and has since lost a lot of its reputation and revenue.

And so the public held Komen accountable. But what if they hadn’t made that monumental mistake—of forgetting that women cared not only for the health of their breasts, but for the health and rights of their vaginas as well? Perhaps Komen would have continued profiting off the illnesses of women’s breasts, with very few people being the wiser.

And here, in Benin, the internet isn’t prominent. Misinformation is everywhere. There are very few regulations as to what you can claim, what you can do. Some people even create NGOs because they are unemployed and need a job. So if they can convince outside organizations to give them money for whatever development dream they have concocted, then they have an income. They don’t really have much expectations in the way of accountability. At least government officials are forced to be accountable on somewhat regular intervals. At least there are international organizations which can hold governments accountable and offer incentives, though this is a very arduous process.

Even the NGOs with the best intentions, however, can be harmful. Let’s say you see that people in Benin are malnourished (this is a prominent problem). So you say, “Ah, let’s send them food” and suddenly tons of food arrives in Benin. So some people get their food for free, and they get to eat for a day. But then what happens is that the price plummets, so that all the people who were producing food before can no longer make a living. Now they have food they can’t sell, they can’t make money, so they stop producing food and they go hungry. This turns into a vicious cycle where, with our intention of saving the world, we actually make nations dependent on our Aid, in a crisis from which they cannot escape.

So what do you do??? When there are people starving, isn’t it your responsibility to feed them? But this does not ultimately benefit them, in fact they are worse off. So do you let people starve to death as you try to instruct the rest of the nation to develop? What do you do about the corruption of the government? What about the exploitation by Multi-National Corporations?

As a little peon of a volunteer, there really isn’t much I can do about those huge problems. And that, I think, is one of the beauties of the Peace Corps. We are individual volunteers with individual projects, working for the betterment of the nation and the world. We are not given a lot of capital. And even if we do get grants for our community, the community actually has to contribute a significant portion to the project as well. Therefore, we know we have the dedication of our town. We are there to help build something, not to just hand something to our community already complete.

And if all else fails, at least we can work to develop relationships with people across the globe. I will learn more about other cultures, other ways of life, and I can share with them American culture as well. We all learn and grow, and hopefully if there is enough learning and growing, then these nations will progress, and the developed world will good partners to this end.

Okay, that last part is way to idealistic. Lets admit that relationships magically growing into development, is not a realistic outcome. Making a difference in the lives of individuals and my own personal growth, that’s a realistic goal. And that is the least I can hope for in the next two years. If I do more, then that will be excellent.

[I think this is the secret to surviving the Peace Corps. To have the lowest possible expectations for everything—yet hope for the best. For example if I had been mentally preparing to live in a hut, no electricity, no running water, in a village of 1,000 people or less, then I would have been as happy as a clam to find out I was living in Kérou, and saved myself from a lot of fretting, and saved you from having to listen to me.]

I received an interesting piece of advice from another Trainee here, who in turn received this advice from a doctor. Their point was on a (metaphorical) battlefield, who do you try to save? The people who only have a scratch don’t need your help. They will be fine until you have more free time to help them. And there are some people that are wounded beyond hope. The people that have limbs blown off and are moments away from bleeding out; those are the people that you would be wasting your time on. And as much as it hurts, as much as you want to save them and make them a miracle, you actually need to walk away and help the people that have a more realistic chance to survive. The ones who are severely wounded, but for whom there remains hope. And that’s what you need to do for development. You don’t need to help the people that are mostly well off. You can’t help the “poorest of the poor”, or would be wasting your time doing so. You need to help the people who are still very poor, but have a chance to make it. (And for the “poorest of the poor”, I would recommend that there be some sort of social safety net, but that is getting back to government and infrastructure).

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how my views on this change over the next two years. Stay tuned!

Another complex consideration is what role religious organizations can and should have in development. Today we had Catholic Relief Services (CRS) come and speak to us. The Peace Corps, not surprisingly, is filled with liberal-leaning folks, so we all tend to be wary of religious organizations.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think it’s good to deny the value entirely of religious organizations in development. I think each one deserves to be evaluated on their own merit. In the same way, I think there can be decent, loving, missionaries out there. But when I stayed in Parakou on my way to Kérou, other volunteers and I stayed at a missionary’s house (the family wasn’t there at the time). While I can expect that they aren’t trying to assimilate much to the local culture (in fact, assimilation is kind of the opposite of what a missionary wants to do), it is bewildering to understand what someone who living in a fancy, gated house with a trampoline in their yard is trying to accomplish. More than that, however, their dogs were really, really mean. And I don’t trust people who have mean dogs. I took that as a sign that they are more concerned about not getting robbed than creating a loving environment for people to come and receive the Word they are trying to spread.

On the other hand, someone who is genuinely trying to live in emulation of the life of Jesus, the caring for others, spreading the love of a higher being, I think that is commendable. And that is actually the exact difference from what I see wrong in a lot of churches today. Every church hangs a cross in their building. Why? Why do we spend SO MUCH time focusing on the death of Jesus? Some people assert that this is the whole point of Christianity, but personally I believe this is MISSING THE WHOLE POINT of Jesus’ teachings, his life. People who spend so much time shouting about avoiding hell and thinking they are secure just because they go to church every Sunday, meanwhile they treat their fellow humans like scum, those are the people I can’t stand.

Even Gandhi said something like, “I like your Christ; it’s these Christians I don’t like.”

Jesus preached to love your neighbor. To live in harmony with others. To NOT JUDGE other people. To try to live a good, moral life. To give up all your possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him.

(I remember seeing a comic where Jesus is talking saying, “Love them as I have loved you, feed them, clothe them, shelter them, and let me deal with judging them.”

Then someone asks, “But what if they are gay or worship other gods?”

His response: “DID I STUTTER???”)

It’s frustrating to find many Christians who seem to think the only important thing is saying they believe in Jesus. I think it is more important to live the example that he showed. If you truly want to be Christian, you would strive every day to live as Jesus lived. So I respect organization and people that try to work towards this goal. And I especially respect people that do this without proselytizing outright.

St. Francis said, “At all time preach the gospel. IF NECESSARY, use words.”

The New York Times published an editorial a few years ago, mentioning that if we liberals can get over our aversion to religious organizations, and realize that there really are religious people out there, doing good, and work with them, this effort toward development would go a lot smoother. And I think this is a good sentiment.

Then CRS mentions they are working on the fight against HIV/AIDS. And still insist that condoms are evil.

ARE!? YOU!? JOKING!?

To many volunteers—especially in Africa—this is an unforgiveable stance. I think the Catholic Church does so much damage with their anti-condoms / birth-control stance. We need REAL solutions for THIS world. They insist all that we need is Abstinence and Faithfulness. But here is a quote from a documentary I watched about AIDS in the slums of Kenya:

“All my life, I’ve watched rich Kenyans with their TVs, stereos, fancy cars, big houses. I live next to an open sewer. When it rains, I have to stand on a stool to get out of the river of sh*t that flows under my door. The only real pleasure I have is sex. And now you Mzungu [white people] come in here and tell me I can’t do that because of AIDS? F*ck you.”

http://current.com/shows/vanguard/76337282_the-kibera-slum.htm

I think that if you want to live and work in a diverse society, you can’t go around forcing your morals in exchange for “development” and “aid.” If you want to help someone, this help should be unconditional (like Jesus’s love for humanity). [Or at least based on a set of universal human values, not arbitrary religious morals.]

While religious organizations are good because they involve a very driven and motivated group of people, as well as donors, it is so frustrating, because there are so many rigid ideals that can’t be moved, even for the current realities of the world. Why can’t they just accept that Jesus wants you to love your neighbor, and not condemn them if they happen to be having extramarital sex? I’m not saying we need to open up a condom factory in the Vatican, but let’s not spread lies, like Pope Benedict saying that condoms actually help the spread of AIDS (2009).

Luckily, he later revised his statement, and in fact since then has said that—in the sole case of fighting AIDS—condoms may be acceptable. As a last resort.

Hey, it's a step in the right direction.