I’ve just returned from Uganda to Canada, right into the middle of the commercial holiday madness, something I had completely forgotten existed as I sat in my grass-thatched hut in northern Uganda. The guilt laden songs and images of children with flies on their faces and sorrowful eyes (which I have now come to learn is actually terror at seeing a white person and having a camera shoved in their face) are filling the ad slots. This alternate reality has thrown my mind into a dizzying spin of reflections on development and where our ultimate goal is, not to mention the role of so-called western nations (aka the global north, developed countries, etc.).

In many ways, it seems our best position is as a funder. It’s what we have access to (money) that is missing, it would seem, compared to places like northern Uganda where the daily average wage is about 1 USD. When I see the money flowing into advertising, holiday decorations, sports, entertainment, etc. here in Canada, I realize, yes we can fill this gap. Where it gets hazy for me is how to administer that funding. Handing it over to foreign governments, in many cases, just props up corrupt governments. It allows them to continue to allocate no state funding to important sectors such as health, education and infrastructure, and instead use the domestic product money to line pockets of friends and family, or for other nepotistic endeavours. At the same time  these governments are able to gain points both domestically and abroad by saying, “Look, we are building schools, hospitals, etc.” when in reality it is the foreign doner that is, not the state.

It would seem the best way to administer the money is to give it directly to Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and local Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs), by-passing government all together. Yet there is a hazard here too. As the fantastic new theatre production Mo Faya by Kenyan artist Eric Wainaina points out, some people use NGOs as “New Growth Opportunities” and do more lining of Executive Director’s pockets with the money received than actual work on the ground. But I think that is a smaller risk than with governments. As well, with good accountability procedures and stiff penalties for improper documentation, I think we can seriously reduce such hazards.

Why CBOs and local NGOs? They seem to have a better sense of what is needed. They tend to have a better finger on the “pulse” of the community. Far too often I’ve watched as well meaning international organizations come to a region with grand ideas of development. They’ve built orphanages, dug boreholes (wells) and created new schools. While these might be needed on some level, they may not be the most pressing need in the community, nor even that relevant. For example, in one community, a borehole was graciously dug by a group of Canadian engineering students. When the students came back a year later they found the hole not being used. Why? Because the act of walking the one or two kilometers to the communal borehole was an important social time. It was when the women from different communities learned who had eligible sons or daughters for mairriage, and when important information among communities, security and other information was traded.

There is a similar story about orphanages. So much money is spent on setting up orphanages but little is spent on sensitizing communities about family planning, one of the many root causes of orphaned children (compounded by war, famine, etc.). Correspondingly, little is being done, I have been told by locals, to support families, carefully (to avoid dependence and creating an economic incentive for neglecting children), to keep the children in their own families. Orphanages are much easier to get funding for than family support programs or birth control education, incredulously still a controversial subject in many western circles.

My assumption is that our ultimate goal is to reduce suffering, increase human security and facilitate peace. If that is where we are heading, then I think we need to listen more closely to the needs of local people and provide the funding for their projects. To assume that we as the west have the answers, the skills, and the expertise is patronizing to communities. It is belittling to those trained locally. As we see time and time again in Canada, people want self determination. For that reason, I am definitely leaning towards feeling that the best role for Canada and other western nations is as a doner country and supporter.

But give me a week, I might change my mind.

Random thoughts during the holiday season.

Bruce Passmore

Director, Human Security, International Relations

Peace For All International Development Organization

[For more posts by this author, visit http://randommusingsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/]

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