Development Work... Dun Dun DUUUUUHN

There seems to come a point in every Peace Corps volunteer’s service (at least in Senegal that is) where they question whether or not we should be doing this at all.  That’s rather vague isn’t it?  Let me clarify.  The “we” is westerners and the ‘this’ is development work in Africa.  At first glance the answers seem so clear and usually include any number of complex arguments such as “Duh”, “Of course”, or “What are you racist or something”.   Yes development work seems so simple and righteous; I’m here to tell you that it isn’t.  Yes today is my day and I am quite disheartened. 

I’ve been writing this post in my head for most of the day and I must say you are lucky to be reading this version.  The previous ones, pondered in the heat of my frustration, weren’t exactly family friendly.  In any case I’ve cooled down some so perhaps I can say a few intelligent things on the subject.  Back story time! I’ve been working with a welder in Toubacouta to make very simple rope pumps for wells in my area.  The design is wonderfully cheap, easily repairable, and efficient. I have so far installed one pump in my village and it works wonderfully.  Long story short the pumps have promise.  There is a women’s group with whom I work very closely and they were slated to get the next two pumps.  They have two wells and 6 basins and the plan was to put one pump on each well to help fill the basins.  These would only cover half of each well leaving the rest open for people to pull water with a bucket for watering close to the well or to fill the basins if the pump breaks down.   The most important part of this plan though was that the women’s group would contribute roughly 30% to the total cost of the pump.  This way they would take ownership of it and have more of an incentive to maintain it.  So why all the was and were and would you may ask?  Well unbeknownst to me some American study abroad students from Dakar took it upon themselves to “Help” the poor people of my area by raising money from the States to buy 4 pumps for the group along with about 50 watering cans and 4 extra basins with absolutely zero village contribution. 

Where do I begin?   First I take a breath because just reading that again makes my blood boil.  So yes what’s the big deal?  They’re helping people right?  Africa is poor its great to come in and give it lots of stuff and money right?  White people are angels and gods and lets all worship them because we could never do anything on our own?  Ok that one went a little far, but you catch my drift.  Here’s what upsets me about this situation and it isn’t that they stole my project, although they did.  These kids come in and want to do something good and useful: that’s fine good for them, but they have absolutely no idea what they are doing and in the process are not only doing something that is utterly unnecessary and redundant, but they’re doing it in a way that is actually harmful to the overall development of the village.  Yes that’s right, bad development work isn’t just annoying it’s harmful.  Think about that next time your friend tries to convince you to write a check to some “wonderful” NGO. 

Let me explain myself.  These students are putting in two pumps per well making the pumps the only way that anyone can pull water.  There will no longer be any room to pull water the traditional way with a rope and bucket.  This means that should the pumps break down there is absolutely no way to water the fields.  This could mean total crop failure and massive loss of income.  Had the students taken the time to get to know the women’s group they would have learned that they are sponsored by PISA, an Italian development organization, and that PISA is planning on putting in two more wells and several other basins.  With these students putting in basins as well this could at the very least muck up the organization of the site and at worst take away PISA’s justification to add more wells.   The current two wells are old; I give them 5 years tops before they need massive repairs.  Two extra wells would be far more valuable than just pimping out the current ones and adding extra basins.    

I find myself now in a really odd position and I don’t like it.  The right thing to do is to put on the breaks and at most install one pump per well and hold off completely on extra basins.  This way PISA could come in and install their wells and basins and then we could install the remaining two pumps.  This is the right thing to do but no one is going to want to do it, and if I push the issue I’m going to burn bridges.  If I do nothing though and the pumps cause problems for the group then this threatens to poison the well, so to speak, for my very large project of 52 rope pumps that I am about to launch with another volunteer.  Regardless of how these 4 pumps turn out it’s going to be very difficult for me to convince other groups to contribute to the cost of the pumps when these first ones were given as gifts. 

Worry not there’s icing on this cake.  These students want to start their own NGO in the states that installs rope pumps in Senegal.  They have known about this technology for all of one day and they think they’re ready to take people’s money in the name of developing the poor villages of Senegal and facilitate installation through their friend while they sit comfortably in America.  Hold on I need to go vomit.  Ok I’m back.  I probably sound pretty harsh right now but I just can’t stand this kind of development.  Everyone wants to be a hero.  Raising money for someone else’s organization lacks glory I suppose so people decide to go it alone when they are absolutely unqualified to do so.  Where’s the plan for follow up to make sure the pumps are functioning and being used correctly, where’s the supplemental training to help increase agricultural production and teach IPM and pesticide safety (yes water pumps enable greater production which thereby encourages pesticide use and the people here have no idea how to apply them safely), where’s the selection system to make sure that pumps are getting to those who really need them and not just those who have friends in the right places, where’s the impact evaluation to ensure that the results of the pumps are recorded and available to the greater development community, and where’s the respect for the dignity of the Senegalese people who deserve more than gifts from guilt ridden upper middle class Americans who would rather write a check and feel like a hero then humbly work with someone to enable them to succeed on their own. 

On the whole Americans have absolutely no idea how to do development work.  We want quick fixes so we throw massive amounts of money and resources at problems, which only serves to create an atmosphere of dependence and subservience from third world countries.  They deserve better.  All the while we idolize those who give, knowing very little of whether or not their gifts are making any sort of a difference.  Take Greg Mortenson for example.  Building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan sounds wonderful and it has earned him millions of dollars and three Nobel Peace Prize nominations.  Low and behold he’s one of the worst development workers in the world.  He drops off schools with almost no knowledge of the local village dynamics and zero collaboration with local governments and is somehow surprised when the schools aren’t being used.  The drop and go method of development looks great on paper.  It enables NGO’s to up their numbers as quickly as possible, netting them massive donations, but lacks any long term impact.  This isn’t just inefficient it’s immoral.  Taking someone else’s hard earned money and wasting it while claiming moral superiority and near saintly status is incredibly wrong.   

Quite a rant huh?  My biggest fear though is that I’m not any different.  Am I in this to truly help people or am I in it just to feel like a good person.  Why me? There are Senegalese NGO’s that could probably do my job cheaper and more effectively and with more dignity for the villages they serve.  So why me? Everyone wants their piece of the glory and I would be lying to say that I’m any different.  I want to feel like I’m making a difference.  I have to have faith though that my stay here is a net positive for the village.  I try to be a catalyst for them to take action rather than just give them things.  Maybe I’ll succeed and maybe I won’t.  I honestly can’t say.  What’s important I think though is to keep questioning.  Development work is not as simple as it appears and as much as we would like to be heroes, doing so at the expense of true progress is selfish.  There is too much work to do to waste time and money on heroics.  Save it for the movies.  Back to village for me…