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Volunteering in Africa
Africa is one part of my RTW trip that will be extremely close to my heart for many personal reasons and I would very much like to help out in community projects. My exploring will take me from South Africa to Kenya (in no particular hurry!) (and including a possible swoop round into Ethiopia, Somlia and Uganda then back into Kenya) and I wanted to get as much information as possible on various projects throughout these countries.
I am keen to be involved with projects that may not have an affiliated charity – projects that only people living in the area would know anything about. What I am reluctant to do is to be involved with projects where people have paid money to volunteer, and not one pound has been seen by people being helped. I would much prefer to be able to walk into a school or village and offer assistance in anyway that I can, but I don’t know how that would be viewed by the locals. I don’t want to offend! The key for me is to be involved and become part of a community for a time. There will be two of us on this trip myself (female) and username Baronbolton (male) and the aim is to be in Africa in 2009/2010 which I appreciate is some time away! At this stage all I am trying to do is gauge what kind of opportunities there may be. I have been to Africa on three occasions but strictly on a holiday basis. I would be most grateful for any general advice about community work, projects and of course temporarily making a home in Africa. Cheers! |
This might fall into the categories of those you are trying to avoid, but I came across this website recently and found it quite interesting.
Life Changing Experiences, TEFL, Volunteer, Work Abroad & TEFL jobs with i-to-i Regards Paul |
Many thanks for the link Paul. I fear however, that you are right; those are the kind or organisations I am keen to avoid. I really need info on the etiquette of riding into town and settling down for a given period of time and offering my help in the community. Information on how easy it is to fall upon a project while on your travels, and any possbile projects people are aware of currently.
I suppose I was hopeful that there may be someone living out there with some familarity on the subject of volunteering. I appreciate your response nevertheless! Cheers. Cha |
I know a place in WEST Africa that would love to have someone to help out ... a village of 2,000 people. But if you're going down the Eastern route then I don't think it will suit!
Best of luck Kira |
small scale project
Charlotte,
Help in Africa is very often seriously counter productive. It takes initiative away from local, volunteers fill positions which should be filled by locals etc. On our trip we have seen so much of the wrong kind of help. We have spoken to so many locals who say that all the aid workers should be kicked out of their country and so on! Have there been any substantial improvement over the last 30 years despite all the aid? I am glad that you recognize you should stay away from the large scale charity orginizations. We have also seen good project though. Those are what they call "the grass root projects". On a very basic level, initiated and controlled by locals, helping them out where they run out of possibilities, knowlegde, leveridge etc. The driving force should always come from the locals. While you are travelling through Africa you will come across such projects, as we did. Just keep your eyes and ears open. I do know about one small scale project set up by two Dutch, I don't know the details but this is their web link; Stichting Tim & Kim Village Unfortunately it is in Dutch only but if you drop them an email.... It is roughly about develloping tourisme, schools, activities in the area (a village in Ethiopia) to create work and infrastructure in order to break through the poverty cycle. Maybe this suits your ideas Cheers, Noel exploreafrica.web-log.nl |
Firstly, Kira, thanks for the response and kind words, but yes, I will be staying on the east coast, save for Namibia.
Secondly, Noel, I appreciate your sentiments exactly. This was my worry; to basically stick my nose where it wasnt wanted, and to upset a community's own way of coping. Thanks for the info on the "grass roots" projects and as you say, throughout my travels I will keep my eyes ears and nose to the ground! I shall try and get in contact with this dutch project closer to the time as well. Whatever I end up doing my choice to be involved will certainly depend on what degree the locals take part and drive the project. Once again, many thanks Cha |
Look up "Peace Corps" volunteers in the countries you are passing through. They are volunteers who live in remote villages and speak the local languages.
They will be able to put you in touch with projects that might interest you and you might be able to help them on current projects your're working on. In this day of the Internet, a lot of them keep blogs. |
In my experience Peace Corps like to beat their own drum and are not interested in people just pitching up and making themselves available. They are also not very helpful in divulging information on potential projects outside their sphere of influence.
Agree 100% about supporting local initiatives and not massive multinational NGO's with massive overheads. What skills do you have that you can hand over to others if they need it? Blunders: A Swedish NGO in Kenya spent millions building a massive fish factory on the banks of lake Turkana to help the local nomadic herders to take up fishing. Once complete the income from selling the fish didn't cover the feul cost for sunning the engines to keep the freezers cold in the very warm climate. Then that section of the lake dried up and now it's just a massive big white shed in the middle of a desert. And the "fishermen" have gone back to their thousand year old nomadic herding. The NGO learnt the hard way and now they listen to the locals knowledge before implementing some very effective projects. |
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Most of the "help" Africa receives ends up making both the people and the nations even more dependent than they were from before. It basically creates nations of beggers, and beggers out of nations. So pick any potential project very carefully,if you genuinely want to help them, and not just make yourself feel better by thinking you're helping them. Erik |
okay...cheers guys....I am clearly getting the picture.
My volunteering is not something I want to do because I seek to increase my karma points, I can assure you. If anything it is far more to do with learning about the cultures, the people, the way of life, and if at the same time I can offer something then all the better. I aimed to study African Studies at Uni but missed the boat, in fact travelling got in the wyay. I have a deep-rooted interest, curiosity and passion for Africa. It would be amazing to become, if at all possible, for a short while, part of a community. We shall see where my travels take me. Thanks for the input and I am sure I will stay far far far away from western organised project. Cheers! |
Thanks for the postings
For all the contributions here about NGOs and the like --- Thanks!
I mirror your sentiments, expressed here far more eloquently than I have managed in one or two other threads on occasions. There is a clear and over-whelming theme which is gratifying in a funny sort of way; sometimes you think that you are alone in "seeing through" the hype etc associated with the "Aid Industry". Charlotte, Good luck with your aspirations: I have only very slight experience in the Dark Continent, but I reckon that if you travel around with your eyes & mind wide open you will find what you are looking for and recognise it when you do! :thumbup1: Dave |
CG;
Poverty is a complex predicament and the aid industry surrounding it has a cast of characters and organizations equally complex, and interesting. Eric D and Bossies are right on about this. Your wish to help in any manner is admirable as is your solicitation for info. BUT wow Bossies and Erik D...you guys must be experts in alleviating poverty based on your judgements of Peace Corps...could you please please please share with us your solution before you accept the Nobel Prize;) The Peace Corps is a highly respected agency but is not an NGO or a charity. It has been recommended for the Nobel Prize a number of times in recent years and if you do your research, you'd note that its one of the most respected aid organizations in the world. But just like with any character/organization in this field there are some bad apples that accompany the good ones. |
[QUOTE=MotoEdde;143311]CG;
BUT wow Bossies and Erik D...you guys must be experts in alleviating poverty based on your judgements of Peace Corps...could you please please please share with us your solution before you accept the Nobel Prize;) QUOTE] Well if you review what I said you will find it to be true regarding Peace Corps. Check their website. They only accept you if you volunteer for more than 1 year. They don't work with other NGO's They don't readily provide information on potential opportunities They have a "We will save you from yourself" attitude. I was surprised how many volunteers are more excited about PC on their CV then the work they are actually going to do. I am Namibian where PC have a ongoing mission supplying teachers. I worked in the north of Namibia for a number of years building schools and clinics and watched the PC come and go and befriended a number of them and still keep contact with them... VSO who are also active in Namibia are not too disimilar to PC but they do interact more with local initiatives outside their sphere of influence. These big charitable NGO's need to start thinking outside the box and develop projects that help locals help themselves. Teach teachers to teach, do not provide teachers for pupils. |
CG - two links I've found that might be interesting for you:
YOU ARE INVITED TO OUR ORPHANAGE CENTER - Thorn Tree Forum - Lonely Planet Volunteer in Kenya for FREE in August!! - Thorn Tree Forum - Lonely Planet Kira |
cancel your RTW trip and start a profitable business in a poor country. Will do some good,
and you'll learn a hell of a lot more about those fascinating "cultures". "We do no benevolences whose first benefit is not for ourselves." (Mark Twain) |
Consider Advance-Africa.Com
Hi,
My organization locates grassroots projects and sends volunteers to them. Volunteers will typically live within the orphanage/school/hospital etc or within a walking distance/short bus ride. You will not offend anyone by walking to the project. Many of our volunteers choose to walk distances that even locals would normally take a short bus ride. Projects that host volunteers are able to have the accommodation fee go to them. The extra is used for airport pickup, communication expenses etc. Some of the projects we have in Kenya include; Dream Project Children's Home - African Children & Orphans and Brightstar Kindergarten - Kenya Slums - African Orphans & at need Children We are locating others in throughout Africa and uploading on the website soon. Most of the administrators of these projects have no access to the Internet and cannot be able to recruit volunteers. Without our service, they would not be able to get volunteers. They are not known to donors and therefore do not get funding. We target only projects that are absolutely in need. Some Orphanages attract so much of donor funding and corporate funding – we avoid these; they also tend to get all the International volunteers because they are well known. See: Volunteer in Kenya | Volunteer Opportunity Abroad | International Volunteer Work All the best in your tour |
The Voice of Evil Humanitarian speaking...
Hi all,
as with a lot of threads here, this one has become more and more interesting as it deviated further away from the original request... but at least it also shows that, not only for overlanders and travellers, it remains always a good topic to discuss over a beer - or, the new alternative indeed to the local pub, the bulletin board... I find it most amazing that the strongest opinions seem to come from people who have, let's be honest, zero experience, other than just seeing it from a distance, on television, or reading an article of a fiasco (a very good one for that matter - perfect example of the huge mistakes that have been made and still are being made) that dates from years ago. Let me first of all say that I am part of the 'evil' humanitarian business. I am the country director of one of those multi-national NGO's (I do quite like the use of the term 'multi-national' here - it immediately makes it sound the equivalent of Chiquita, BP, or alike), working in a country where most of you (and that included myself when I was overlanding in Africa - yes, I have traveled 7 months through Africa, so I have experienced that part as well) would hardly dare to travel through. We work mainly with refugees, and amongst other activities 'run' a refugee camp quite in the middle of the desert, providing amongst other services daily water for 27,000 refugees (300,000 liter water a day, every day - try to do that with grass-root work in a place where last year there was 4 days of rain, and where there is hardly or no wells - and despite hydrogeological surveys, not to be found either), primary and secondary health services, education, protection programs - and I won't bother you more with the other ones). Arrogant to think that a lot of those people would be dead now if it weren't for the assistance we (or more in general the 'evil' humanitarian business) are providing them, either of plain and simple thurst or hunger, dyphteria, typhoid, cholera - or any other ones of your choice... Less true because it is arrogant? Don't think so... but maybe other people who have actually been in those refugee camps might have a better opinion about it... Is it a business? Of course it is - how else would you run an organisation, humanitarian or not... Are our staff more or less motivated than volunteers just because they are paid? I doubt it... Do we have overhead that has no direct benefit for the beneficiaries? Again, of course - but have you thought about all the overhead that went into the apple that you bought this morning in the supermarket? Why would that overhead be less in providing a service to refugees, especially in a country where everything is hugely expensive, where 40% of my fleet has been carjacked in 2 months (yes, we are one of those white Landcruiser driving organisations - but to make it maybe less bad for you, not the shiny UN ones...), where I have curfew as of 6pm so I have at least to try and make life for staff working in those conditions for 12 or more months as bearable as possible, where power and water is non-existing so yes, I do need a generator to run things or water tanks to prevent my staff starting to get really smelly after a few days... Am I (or my colleagues for that matter - I take myself the liberty to speak a bit on behalf of...) looking down on small grass-root organisations doing fantastic field-work? Not at all, on the contrary even - but let's also be realistic, and see the things they are not able to do, just because of scale... and as someone in the thread pointed out quite rightly, skilled people is also pretty essential - which again does not mean I consider them all as unskilled, on the contrary - but a bleeding heart sentiment is in this world just not sufficient anymore. I know very well that running an orphanage looks very useful and can be very rewarding - but people tend to forget (or just don't know) that very often orphanages are used by local people to put their kids there just because they think they will have a better future, or because the family structures have changed and the new father does not accept the kids, or a lot more other reasons you can think of. I could give a lot more examples but that is not the point of this reply - I just wanted to point out that the situation is a bit more complicated than it might seem from a distance - or even when having seen it with your eyes when traveling or overlanding. Yes, the 'big' humanitarian world has made enormous mistakes, yes, the UN is a money-guzzling organisation which is often lead by political motives - but also yes, people in the field are most often driven, dedicated people... Ok, got it of my chest :) You can all shoot now... oh, and in case you were wondering, I work and live in Chad - so please all of you feel free to come by and stay for a couple of days, have a few cold beers, take the rest before continuing, and continue this discussion while enjoying the luxury humanitarian expat life I am leading... cheers/jef |
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AND question all you want, but getting nominated for the Nobel Peace prize over 7 times is not questionable... |
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On the other hand, if the logistical nightmare is so terrible, and everything so difficult and expensive because of the country, I would expect a well-run multinational organisation to choose a local person as "country director", not a NGO hopper with no local knowledge whatsoever, who is likely to be fooled at each and every turn. I don't believe that no competent person could be found in Chad willing to work for your dismal salary and terrible benefits. Which points to the reality that aid work is in fact a "job program" for (sometimes idealistic) first world people, with no need for results nor accountability. Same thing for voluntary jobs. Which brings us back at the original question. |
Now it's getting interesting
You can get a degree in it nowadays; disaster management and all that.......:rolleyes2:
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NO this is not a good topic to dicus over a beer! A dicussion over LR versus LC or something of the kind is a worthy discussion over a beer. This is NGO farce is something where actual harm is done! But I guess this issue will never come to a resolution because there is to much money involved! Don't you NGO people see that doing your kid's homework won't help him!! cheers, Noel |
Picking up on the link someone put earlier in the thread, about TEFL opportunities...does anyone have experience/opinions on how this is viewed in various parts of Africa? Would the 'well-educated' Africans who have asked for all NGOs and aid workers to bugger off, as stated in a couple of posts, also have a similar view of teaching?
I ask, partly because I am interested in doing this on my trip through Africa (having done a year in China a few yearrs ago) and don't want to stick my oar in where it is not wanted, and partly because it would be interesting to know what sort of 'services' are welcome, and which ones are not. I can see how young Westerners paying thousands to go and build huts to make themselves feel generous (not that it is bad per se, maybe just misguided) could be damaging. Especially when I have read reports criticising the lack of overall structure/follow-through/continuation in these sorts of projects. Is there still a need, or a demand, for English to be taught? And if so, do they need native speakers of English to help with this or are they quite capable of teaching it themselves? Apologies if this is a slight de-rail, but I would be interested to know how teaching compares to the big bad NGOs. |
teaching
You have to look at the bigger picture, in the long run!
As long as Westerners keep hopping in to help out and teach kids, as an example, the authorities will not bother to set up a decent system to teach locals how to teach! Consequently the dilemma of this thread will still be relevant in 30 years! If you go look for a post where you can teach teachers how to teach or improve their skils, you might break the vicious circle! So, yes. It's my opinion that even teaching is disturbing the natural processes and devellopment if not considered with great care. cheers, Noel exploreafrica.web-log.nl |
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Personally I think they should all be shot (gap year companies that is!) and let the 'decent' NGO's get the 'right' people in to do the job .. Kira |
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We found it very helpful to have someone in the position of a 'semi-teacher', in that they were easy going, friendly, not part of the school hierarchy; in other words, not in the usual authoritarian position of teachers. So when left to speak with them they gave a very good idea of where they came from, their society etc. It provided a stark contrast from the usual, repetitive, phrasebook/category type work, 'The Restaurant', 'Buying Tickets' and so on. Do you feel this is an appropriate function for native English speakers to provide? Is this sort of work used in Africa yet? Certainly my experience teaching in China was that this is as helpful over there (with caveats) as it was to me. The kids would often come back to my room after classes, chat about where I came from, my family and so on. They'd play games on the PC I had, or show me their favourite films, music, cartoons and so on. They were able to discuss things they normally would not. Would value your opinion, and/or anyone else's, on that :-) Quote:
Sad to say...I was one of those GAP year kiddies, or at least partly. Not the hut building type, but the TEFL type. Neither did we pay more than would cover our teaching program and orientation time in Beijing IMO. As you say, my school didn't help me out at all, so was a bit in the dark. Being honest, I would say that my time there was useful to half the kids (the brighter ones) but not the others. With the lower sets, their discipline problems (try controlling seventy 13 year olds when you can't speak Chinese and the school don't assist you in any way!) and lack of any basic English hampered what they might be able to get from me being there. With the brighter kids I would say they did find a good deal of use, particularly as a contrast to the methods usually used to teach them (not that one way is better than another necessarily). And when I had a few chances to teach the older (16-18) year olds, they were able to use me for things they wouldn't normally learn in a class IMO. It's a knotty issue, this altruism lark! Liked the quote from Twain though. Assuming that Noel and Bossies' views, that teaching the teachers is a more beneficial use of time (and I can see why, good point), what can be done for work in Africa then? Be that 'charitable' in any way or not, do you see any volunteer schemes currently available that are worthwhile/that aren't destructive? Just to throw that into the mix ;-) |
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Forums like this one & other travel orientated ones are the way to go ... if you can't get a 'job' with an NGO initially Kira |
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Aid-dependency is unhealthy, but the fact is NGO's, large and tiny, have an important role in all societies, even the wealthiest. You can't rely on governments and market forces to solve all problems. |
Hello Charlotte
Join CouchSurfing !!! I have found that joining couchsurfing.com is fantastically useful in 'getting local' - you can build up a network of LOCAL people, who live and work in the various areas. Everyone on there have been incredibly helpful - especially in Africa, cos everyone is keen to welcome visitors. Not an AID ORGANISATION in sight! I am planning a trip next year, and have already hooked up with a school teacher in Mali, a community worker in Algeria, a farmer in Angola and hope to increase my network so I have a local network in every country I visit. Just to give you an idea - this is the map of local members for the countries I was looking in, along the west coast (and a few on the East) http://www.d-z.co.uk/picture1.png Ofcourse - there is the added benefit of, once a member, having a GLOBAL COUCH to crash on, whenever you travel! |
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Seems I stepped on some sensitive toes here... I would not consider comparing my experience with others as arrogant, and certainly not very much to do with where I come from... all I wanted to do here was to give a point of view from the inside... And did I even remotely indicate that I ask for some recognition for what I am doing? I think one of my points was indeed that it is just a job, with some specific conditions maybe, but nothing more than that... As for expats versus national staff, one of the targets that most international NGO's have, is to train local staff so that the number of expats can be reduced over time. Of course, if you say that the country is filled anyway with competent people, there would be no need anyway for extra education, or any form of development, would there? Finding a person with the right skill set and experience in the country that ranks 174 out of 177 in the human development index charts, well, it might be challenging... I presume that you know about the results I need to provide, or the accountability that we have here since you are so confident in making an easy statement... would you not consider providing 300,000 liter of drinking water a day in the middle of the desert, every single day, for 27,000 refugees, as a result? Would you not consider assuring primary health care for the same population, in an environment where there is basically nothing, and therefore reduce the mortality rate, not as holding quite some accountability? Or, in the same environment, setting up an educational system for 14,000 kids reflecting the educational system where they come from (in this case Darfur, which they fled for their own government or for other rebel groups), so that, when they return to their home country, they at least will have some basis to help build up their country again, and not having lost 3, 5 or 10 years without any form of education? Is what we are doing the right thing? I honestly don't know - the same way that I also don't know if it's a good thing if doctors want to keep at all cost a patient alive, even if all hope seems to be lost... but if you feel arrogant enough to know that all international NGO's should pull out because it is only 'a job program' and therefore leave those people to solve their own problems, and come up with a decent alternative to take care of 180,000 refugees fleeing the Darfur region, plus about the same amount of people internally in Chad fleeing for inter-tribal and ethnical violence, please feel free... you might find it to be a bit harder though than just making some easy, cheap statements... And by the way, I am still with my first NGO - but I guess you would still consider that to be an NGO hopper... But, as usual, safe travels, and still always welcome for a cold beer in Chad... |
forgot about this thread.
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So what are you gonna do when your groomed successor takes over? Quote:
Are you really saying that there would be no Chad national willing to work for your salary and benefits? Please call home for a reality check. What's the average per capita yearly income in chad compared to your "daily" salary? 0.5 -1 ? Quote:
Question remains, if it's not a white guys job program, why does a guy from the first world gets all the money? Because of his non existant "master in water emergencies"? because he has no experience whatsoever with NGO's (your words)? Quote:
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that "we're making a difference". Yeah right. The moment they stop paying you, you're out of there next day, off to your first world bank account, or traveling around 'oh so beautiful' africa depending on that stuffed account. So far for "doing the right thing". Quote:
A well-known editor of an east-african newspaper once wrote a dry article about the aid business titled: "What do NGO's do when they're not neglecting refugees? " it's still a tough question to answer. |
Interesting article in yesterday's Telegraph Magazine about President Kagame of Rwanda in which he relates the immediate aftermath of the 1994 genocide.
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Charity
My Wife and I are spending a year in Africa working for Charities in 2013
So if anybody has got ideas on where we should go, please put them forward. We are already committed to 3mths at an orphanage in Uganda, and another 3mths at one in Ethiopia, so we have 6months undecided. We will start our trip Cairo to Capetown next month and will be visiting different potential projects along the way. So as I said if anybody has any ideas or suggestions let me know. Cheers Paul:scooter: |
Tim, I was traveling in that area just after the genocide and I passed through Rwanda. It was the worst NGO circus I've ever seen, with clean-cut NGO professionals whipping around town in their brand new Land Rovers and Land Cruisers (and in at least one case a Jeep Wrangler), competing viciously for press coverage....which translates to donations and therefore job security.
No doubt many NGO workers are highly motivated for all the right reasons, and I'm quite certain many of them do good work, but what Kagame says is also a completely accurate reflection of what it's like in the immediate aftermath of a major, marketable and photogenic catastrophe. It was a circus, and profoundly depressing for me. Of course I have no answers, and no real alternatives aside from prescribing a major dose of humility for any and all. What if no one stepped in to help out in such situations? Mark |
I heard that Haiti was the ultimate NGO nightmare, huge nunber of NGOs, little coordination and the city clogged with white SUVs.
Kagame is right and the growing awareness is a good thing. edit - around 10000 NGOs in Haiti this spring - - - 1,4 million in the US means one for every 228 Americans. Does anyone think we need more NGOs? What Africa need is fair trade and less corruption. NGOs are not the solution. |
NGO's: What's the alternative?
I see this long dead thread has been recently revieved. Unfortunately, I guess that many of the former combatants here have long since lost interest/forgotten about the interesting arguement that was going on here.
I've worked as a volunteer (read: for food & lodging), NGO's, namely one that involves doctors not restrained by sovereign territories. UN contracts & commercial companies working in Africa solely for the purpose of making money. Yes, you will find crack pots working in charities who believe thery're doing the right thing by removing local children without proper authority & other righteous wrongdoers. There's no end to the embarassments. Having said that, there are countless people who have actually given up the comforts that people in Antwerp take for granted to go a live in a grasshut in Africa, doing emergency surgery by car light, fixing generators with #8 fencing wire + a coal miners sock. And equally importantly, running a set of accounting books that are transparent & balance out. The thing is, many of the doctors could earn megabucks doing breast implants in LA, but they don't. They do it for $1000 a month and 3 squares a day. Yes most expat NGO workers make several fold more than local staff. If you paid less for international workers no-one would do it for more than a few months. Who wants to come home to 2 years of mortgage repayments & bills to pay? If you pay more to local staff, who usually earn very good salaries in local terms, it starts to skew the economy. Anyway, I could go on, but I'll wait and see if anyone gives a damn about this topic anymore. And yes I still drive a white Landcruiser, not fond of Rover's, but that's an entirely different conversation. One final point to make to the haters out there. It's too easy to sit in Antwerp and criticise the situation. Why don't you tell us all how it should be done? Cheers. CJ. |
Well, a surgeon in Antwerp doesn't really make that much in global terms, around 26.000$ a month.
In my view his best contribution would be to keep cutting open Belgians but to use part of his profits to help a few (5-10) talented local kids in and through (local) med school/nursing school. am confident that in the medium term 5-10 locally trained docs have more impact than 1 hard working lad, even if these 5-10 docs defect and migrate to new jersey, they'll be sending far more cash home for investments, which have again a wider impact than the lone surgeon struggling in da bush. Alternatively, start your business, fight to make a profit and try to raise the productivity of the (people in the) place. I combined it, using the profit (mainly extracted from NGO/int. organisation staff ) of a business to train a number of students, also in med school. It's in fact a smaller investment than obtaining & operating a Landcruiser in Yei. |
Hi Uganduro,
Good to see you're still passsionate about this issue after a long pause in this thread. I re-read my own thread and I think I need to clear up the fact that I no longer work for an NGO, in fact now work for a commercial company that is only working in this region because it can make a profit. I have worked for a medical NGO in the past in West Africa. In my opinion, the business model (including replacing charitable aid with investment) must replace the development model for any significant development to take place in Africa. Unfortunately, succesful businesses have a habit of being nationalised around these parts. Your idea is an interesting one, but not without precedent here in Africa. Usually this kind of unmonitired funding you describe often gets turned into a Landcruiser as well. I've seen many such incidents where an overseas 'investor' like a charitable group/rotary club/concerned individual sends money to build a church/school fees/hospital. After 6 months the 'investor' comes to see how the project is getting on, only to find no well/school/church/community center, but the local bigman has a new house. Coincidence? Perhaps. Also crucial to this idea is people at home coughing up more money to train somebody in Africa. As pointed out earlier in this thread, that kind of unrestricted funding is the holy grail for NGO's and extremely difficult to come by. Still, give it a go mate! Another point to consider: lack of infrastructure. Friend, there are few places to train people in this continent. Indeed, I'm unaware of any surgical school in Southern Sudan. In fact there is no Baskin Robins, Juliper on tap, traffic lights, landline telephones. Neither are there good roads (5 hours to travel to Juba, the capital, 160kms away) electricity, a functioning government & clean drinking water. If my log lines are cut, I've got 3 days until I too, will be drinking from puddles of water formed in the pot-holed road. Maybe it will be a few more days for me, because our Landcruisers will be filled with Perrier water and cucumber sandwiches. You seem to think that there are scores of qualified and experienced locals just hanging around being stepped on & ignored by jack-booted expat tree-huggers who are only here to advance their political career back home in Europe. The truth is: Anybody who was able, got the hell out of here when they could. Yes, you will find Sudanese doctors in London. Probably more than you will here. Along with a largely non exsistent infrastructure, Africa suffers from an acute shortage of skilled people willing to work here. I'm a little bit confused by something you said: "Alternatively, start your business, fight to make a profit and try to raise the productivity of the (people in the) place. I combined it, using the profit (mainly extracted from NGO/int. organisation staff ) of a business to train a number of students, also in med school. " Does that mean you have done this already? My final point is, what about the big scale tradgedies going on in the world? Darfur for example. Thousands upon thousand of people rely on the self centred, money grabbing & bereaucratically bloated evil NGO's. You might find that the good people of Belgium will start to suffer from donor fatigue quite rapidly when faced with the bill inherent in running a large scale refugee camp. What's your plan there mate? CJ. |
Alive... but not really kicking...
Thanks Cam for making me aware that this thread, apparently, still creates some emotional reactions... and emotional they definitely are - often not hindered at all by any real knowledge...
Maybe to put a few things in perspective (and my former fellow townspeople will surely find enough reason to speak with authority about the work we do or not do): I used to work in private business, for blue-chip companies, back home and in Europe, making LOTS more money than I make now - and before you reply with a smart-ass remark asking if I should now earn a medal or something, no, I don't - I just love the work I do and I love being here... no altruism there from my side... but at least I have seen both sides, unlike many others here... Secondly, the time of expat doctors, teachers, builders etc is long past, apart from emergency situations where most victims don't really care about who saves their lives, as long as someone is there. Right now I manage a staff of about 200, with zero expat doctors, zero expat teachers, zero expat builders - yet we're working in about 700 villages and serving a bit over one million beneficiaries in health services. I still do have quite some expats working here but all of them either with a specific technical knowlegde (public health, coordination, complex logistics, international finance and donor regulations, ...) - but if I have the chance to find local capacity, trust me, I will - expats are only a pain in the ass to manage, not to speak even about the costs (although, again to put things in perspective, especially for all those who so perfectly know what it is all about, and how things work, the expat salaries here are on average about 3 times higher than local manager positions). Of course, all the experts here can without doubt come up with many examples where countries like Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, CAR, South Sudan and Congo-DRC showed good management skills, due diligence, and the right competences to get things work in a decent way (that is probably why the suggestion to increase local productivity - as an expat of course...) Thirdly, whether you like it or not, donors (not only institutional ones, but also private donors) still have more confidence in INGO's than NGO's - although I am sure that the good people in Antwerp will love to give their money rather straight to a local Congolese NGO that they have never heard of and are not capable of following up instead of to a well-known organisation like MSF who, indeed, spend money on expats and overhead just to ensure that the money is well spent... Fair? I don't know, but the question is irrelevant since it is the reality... Fourthly, but this is of course something that definitely the good people in Antwerp will care less about, in a lot of countries (Sudan, Chad, Congo - just to name a few), expats serve as well as a safety for national staff. An international NGO has far more opportunity to be critical of governments (while at the same time trying to keep the balance because after all we need to continue working) than local NGO's - even Bashir will think twice before arresting an expat staff and therefore creating an international scandal, whereas local staff without the backup and protection of expat directors and therefore governments are literally often free game - if you don't know what I'm talking about, just look at what happened in Congo in June... Finally, and then I will rest my case: of course there is abuse, mismanagement, lack of coordination, wrong type of programs etc... you will find very few (if any) experienced NGO or humanitarian workers who claim the contrary... the same like there are overlanders who travel without any respect for of knowledge of local culture and environment - but does that mean you say all overlanders are bad? Or that you even question the fact how it is looked by locals who have to survive on 1 USD per day when you pass by on a bike that costs with everything included often 10,000 their day income? And after all, even if all those horrible expat arrogant and greedy NGO workers earn too much, at least it's often spent on local restaurants, shops etc... or on businesses set up by real altruistic Antwerp people, so nothing lost, is there? But must important, for all: enjoy your travels, enjoy local cultures, keep a critical spirit - and drop by for a beer (luckily with my huge salary I got an amazingly well stacked fridge - at least if the power keeps working)... |
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