Another critical look at "development" in Africa, this time, by Barbie

Another critical look at the trend of young people from more developed regions (or privileged backgrounds) combining volunteering and tourism in less materially developed regions:  Saviour Barbie goes to do voluntourism in Africa.

 

Educate yourself before jumping to do it — regardless of the intentions, you might end up doing more harm than good.

Primer Festival Literário da Matola

Bravo for the people behind the “Movimento Literário Kuphaluxa” for this milestone in promoting writing and literature in Mozambique.

For more information, contact them:

Address: Av. 25 de Setembro, nº 1728, Caixa Postal nº 1167. Maputo.
(Centro Cultural Brasil-Moçambique)

Phone: +258 82 27 17 645 e +258 84 57 78 511

Or go to their blog to find more about them.

Dead Aid: why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa

To buy, click here

This book by Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo generated a lot of buzz when it came out in 2009. Given the buzz and the fact that it became a best seller, I expected something more solid, a data-heavy book like The Lords of Poverty perhaps. With only 150 pages to go over the history and the culture of aid and its impact on a whole continent, the book felt a bit on the lighter side.

It might be unavoidable. Of course, it’s extremely difficult to talk about a complex issue such as this without making generalizations. Then, there will be always at least one example that contradicts any statement or claim made, more so when it’s a heavily politicized and ideologically-charged topic.Which is not to say that the author has some very valid points.

Initially, the author seemed to have ben misinterpreted as saying that all aid in any circumstance was to be avoided—which she then clarified as not being the case. But even then it’s easy to see why some NGOs and donors jumped to attack the book and responded defensively. Let’s Moyo illuminate why that might be the case. She points out that, taken together, about half a million people, between the IMF, UN agencies, charities and NGOs, and government aid agencies, are employed in the aid industry:  

“Sometimes they make loans, sometimes they give grants, but they are all in the business of aid ... Their livelihoods depend on aid ... [In addition, f]or most developmental organizations, successful lendings is measured almost entirely by the size of the donor’s lending portfolio, and not by how much of the aid is actually used for its intended purpose. As a consequence, the incentives built into the development organizations perpetuate the cycle of lending to even the most corrupt countries. Donors are subject to ‘fiscal year’ concerns: ‘they feraed the consequences within their agencies of not releasing the funds in the fiscal eyar for which they were slated’ (Ravi Kanbur). Any non-disbursed amounts increase the likelihood that their subsequent aid programmes will be slashed. With the added corollary, of course, that their own organizational standing is placed in jeopardy.” (Moyo 2009, p. 54)

The little glitch in the aid industry is that NGOs and donor agencies, if they were to be successful, they should be working to make themselves redundant and to disappear. Once established, very few organizations and/or people are willing to do that (jeopardizing their existence or jobs/positions). And so the wheels keep on turning...

Most of the book, though, is forward-thinking, as Moyo proposes a number of alternatives to aid. Worth considering.

The Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business

Not a new book but one that you need to read if you are thinking about (or already are) working in international development.

Published in 1989,  but it still applies.

Rising above war and despair

Leave aside that it’s a short documented by a company. Incredible subculture in Brazzaville, Congo:

Illustrators' take on the exploitation of African resources

Africa needs no saving - just less negative stereotypes / África não precisa de poupança - apenas menos estereótipos negativos

What the real map of Africa looks like - it’s big!

Did you have any idea Africa was this big?

If not, this might be the reason why:

(If you can’t see the video, click here).

Unmasking African stereotypes in the media

Loved this recent article by Imran Garda: “Nine signs the journalism on Africa you’ve just encountered is trash”. It follows the spirit of the blog “Africa is a country” where it was posted:

The ‘African Skies’ even made it
into the titles of a couple of
movies, yikes!

“to challenge and destabilize received wisdom 
about the African continent and its people 
in Western media”

It’s ironic (or very, very sad) that they have to clarify that:

“The title of the blog is ironic 

and is a reaction to 

old and tired images of ‘Africa’. ”

With a lot of irony, Garda lists what he considers the worst nine stereotypes that Western media use when talking about Africa. Quite a range, including darkness and sunsets, issues with languages and accents, wars and dictators, singing and dancing. A funny article to show that Africa is not a monolitic reality, and definitely, definitely not a country.

The point of the article also falls in line with our previous postings on Africa as seen by the media (Spanish) and in campaigns (English), or in international aid (Portuguese).  For the whole article, go here.

Would like to have other perspectives? See what Africans from different countries have to say about themselves here, how a group of men are making fun of how the film industry portrays them, and how Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie brilliantly challenges that single story of Africa.

Good intentions gone bad: what might happen to your donated clothes

A recent video by Oxfam through an article by Do The Green Thing reminded me of something I wrote last year while in Africa about good intentions gone awry. That situation sadly happens too often in international development and for that reason, it’s up to us to do the research and inform ourselves as best as possible, ask questions, and challenge simplistic answers.

While there are some things we might never have a definite answer for, I re-post what I published earlier to show another perspective and add to the discussion:

---

“What do you think of international development?”, asked our new friend Joca. 

“Do you want the political correct answer or the cynic one?”, retorted Fadi.

The truth is, international development has been heavily criticized in the last couple of decades. And not without reason. Fortunately, I don’t think anybody is so naive anymore to buy into the “Oh, we’ll go and save the world” kind of mentality. As pitfalls and mistakes have been exposed, people and organizations have become more savvy about how to generate positive change around the world.

One clear case of good intentions gone wrong was exposed in the documentary “The T-Shirts Travels.” The film shows how secondhand clothing, given away as charity in the West, ends up in Zambia (Mozambique’s neighbor to the northwest), enriching the middle person and ruining the local clothing industry in the process.

‘Every single clothing factory in Zambia went out of business; we do not have a clothing industry left in the country because the secondhand clothes are coming in.’ Mark O’Donnell, spokesman, Zambian Manufacturers Association

You can see the PBS 50-min documentary here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iDNtwVL4sw

Want to know more about the issue? You can read about it here.

Desaparecidos en acción: el por qué del prolongado silencio

Como habrán notado, las entradas en los últimos meses mermaron a un promedio de una por mes. Una vergüenza. Factor contribuyente es que Fadi ha practicamente abandonado el blog, pero la razón principal -si han estado atentos ya lo saben-, es que marchamos a África a salvar el mundo. Bueno, no tan así.

Marchamos a Mozambique a ofrecer nuestros servicios y conocimientos acumulados en 30 años de estudios y 20 de trabajo. Pueden ver un poco de lo que hicimos (todavía vamos a estar agregando cosas por un tiempo) en mi blog y en el de Fadi.

El estímulo detrás de esta iniciativa que veníamos preparando hace tiempo fue la idea de que la sustentabilidad va más allá de plantar un par de verduras en tu jardín y cambiar el auto por la bici. Un mundo realmente sustentablemente no es tal si sólo se limita a un grupete de gente que puede darse el lujo de reducir su consumo a voluntad, tener acceso a agua, aire y alimentos libres de contaminación y otros privilegios. Mientras haya gente que se muera de enfermedades evitables y por ignorancia, esté circunscrita a una dieta insuficiente o insalubre, no pueda acceder a información ni tenga voz -ya sea en su comunidad, su país, o el mundo-, pues de sustentabilidad nada.

Con esa idea marchamos a aportar nuestros dos granitos de arena a uno de los países más sufridos en este momento. Siglos de colonialismo, dos décadas de guerras en los últimos 40 años (primero de independencia y después una guerra civil), desastres naturales y muchos otros obstáculos han dejado a Mozambique un poco baqueteado. En los últimos años viene despegando, al menos en términos económicos y en los números, debido a inversiones de todos lados y mucha plata para "desarrollo". Eso, por supuesto, genera toda otra serie de problemas. Siguiendo el lema de nuestro blog de "ver qué pasa" cuando uno intenta hacer lo que cree que está bien, terminamos descubriendo de primera mano cuáles son esos problemas. Pero eso quedará para otra entrada...

En las próximas entradas retomaremos los temas que veníamos trabajando: alternativas en la construcción, la alimentación, el transporte y otras cosas interesantes que nos vayamos encontrando en el camino.

The danger of a single story / El peligro de una única historia

But, ... isn’t it dangerous?

That’s about the most common first question I receive when telling people I’m going to live in Mozambique for a couple of years. A close second: And aren’t you afraid of getting sick?

Danger. Violence. Disease. 

One has to wonder why are these the first thoughts people have when hearing “Africa.” 

In this video, Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie does a wonderful job of exposing the process that take us to believe in a single story, and why it is so important to look beyond it.

We just completed the SKWID (Skills for Working in Development) pre-departure workshop -developed and facilitated by the Center for Intercultural Learning. There, we watched that TED Talk video again.

Not only is the consideration of multiple stories very relevant to prepare us for our upcoming journey, it also is the underlying link of the postings in this blog. During the next two years, I’ll be looking to tell the other stories of Africa: the stories of success, creativity, entrepreneurship, resourcefulness, care, richness, empowerment.

The other stories that are also Africa.

¡Ay! ¡Qué calor!

Yes, it's been hot ... like 30°C plus, hot! Just like it was back in the Middle East. Except the dry spells end every two weeks or so with a great big thunderstorm - a lovely show of the raw awesome power of nature.

Back in Jordan, we knew that if the temperatures rose above 25°C in May, then for sure the temperatures in August would be greater than 40°C. A good reason to call August "آب الهاب" - fiery August. This usually happens ahead of the "khamasini" storms which are great big huge sand storms that rise from the "Empty Quarter," the desert of the Arabian peninsula. Temperatures will rise to these levels, and with the same affect as when it snows in Amman: everything stops. No one knows what to do, even though they've seen this before. No one dares to go out, to work ... nothing, I mean, absolutely nothing, except to crawl into some cool hole seeking relief from the heat.

Relief does come after a few days when the sand storm passes. Of course, it's great to watch from the safety of the indoors. But if it does rain, then it rains mud ... Ugggh! Just as an ugly an experience as brushing off of your car the 5 cm of snow that just fell. Except, not quite as often as every day for 4 months, and in far agreeable weather!

I'd say all this is good preparation for heading out Mozambique. Speaking of which, the plans are in motion, and we have passed - at least I think we have - the point of no return.