Comments for How Matters

Comment on Local Realities, Local Adaptation by Local Action in Ghana | Spirit in Action International

Local Action in Ghana | Spirit in Action International — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:50:25 +0000

[...] Local Realities, Local Adaptation (On How Matters blog) Share/Bookmark [...]

Comment on The elephant hasn’t left the room: Racism, power & international aid by Yvette

Yvette — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:55:33 +0000

Jennifer, I think this is a fascinating and honest article. It particularly resonated with me not just because I’ve seen these issues but because I’ve experienced them as well. I’m not an in-country national in my current work in Malawi, but as an African-American, I’m often mistaken for one. And somehow, this “identity” that I’m boxed into warrants the way I’m treated in the professional sphere, requiring me to prove myself and my intelligence when others in similar positions who look different than me don’t have to. What I would love to hear from you is where we go from here. I don’t think that this is inevitable; it can be changed through little steps along the way. How do we move forward?

Comment on What changes as an organization gets stronger? by Marc Maxson

Marc Maxson — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:07:41 +0000

If a leader is trying to just maintain 2 or 3 things that embody all of this list, I would say that it begins with being a fun place to be and fun “real” people to work with. That fun can naturally springboard into excellence and a culture that magnetically attracts other people who want to make a difference.

And once you have a fun, inviting culture committed to excellence, you’ll actually start to see that the work you do is meaningful to others, provided you are paying attention to the world and not just yourselves. I’ve been in fun places where excellence didn’t follow, and it was because the fun was internal, not part of an ecosystem of people committed to doing something meaningful.

Comment on What changes as an organization gets stronger? by @SocioSolidarity

@SocioSolidarity — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:26:34 +0000

Good list.
From my experience, clear procedures contribute a lot to the organization’s strenght. They can be burden for employees, but still, their importance rise as organization grow.
And about shared values and unity, as Ian noticed, it is hard to maintain such a spirit especially if people work on different places far away from each other. On the other hand no metter how far they are, organization need a value that wil be its cohesive strenght.

Comment on What changes as an organization gets stronger? by Tanya Cothran

Tanya Cothran — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:09:21 +0000

So interesting to think about! I’m really working on #10 Networking this year. I’ve done a lot of book learning about international development and fundraising in past years and this year I want to step out and start talking to more people face to face!

Comment on What changes as an organization gets stronger? by Ian

Ian — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:17:41 +0000

This is a nice list of positive attributes that a not for profit (or even government or for-profit) organization should have.

One challenge though is that as organizations grow in size (rather than in strength) then it becomes naturally harder to maintain some of these attributes – in particular the sense of shared values, unity and trust become harder to maintain as the distance between individuals within the organization and their ability to identify with the whole becomes larger.

Others such as the resource and skill and knowledge base will increase with size as will the influence of the organization and its capacity to take work to scale.

An interesting challenge on how to get the benefits of scale without the disadvantages!

Comment on Small is Beautiful…Grants, That Is (Part 2) by faisal nadeem thahim

faisal nadeem thahim — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:14:44 +0000

this artical of small grant will helpful for local organizations to get easily access
grantees to donors.local org know the ground realities of their oprational area

Comment on Exchange Visits Among Local Organizations—Here’s How! by Doug Reeler

Doug Reeler — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:20:13 +0000

Exchange visits are not only helpful for sharing skills and strengthening grassroots organisation but they provide an avenue for the development of social movements. As people learn together they develop trust and so the foundation is laid for,working together across organisational boundaries. The experience of the Federations of the Slum/Shackdwellers International is worth taking note of, where horizontal learning is the very basis for horizontal mobilization.

Comment on Are you how-matters.org’s first intern? by Musa Sheriff

Musa Sheriff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:51:07 +0000

Keep on the good work, i am willing to join you with the job and play my role. You can get back to me and i will get back to as soon as possible. Thank, may ‘God’ guide you. I am will tell you more when i get back to you or sent me mail. Tel 002207079257

Comment on Has aid lost its humanity? by Clement N Dlamini

Clement N Dlamini — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:06 +0000

Thanks for the practicality of your presentation which is something we have lost in the development work or aid work. You asked a very fundamental question which in essence means we have replaced the people with words like beneficiaries of aid. This is the very core of the problem because it would seem like we are transacting with people rather than adding value to capacity they already have..”how did they survive before aid?”. I am convinced that there is no curing development workers than going back to being humane in our approach. A question that begs for an answer is, “was aid about humanity from the beginning?”. I cannot speak as an outsider because I am amongst many who have worked with grassroots communities and found myself wanting to change them -without the understanding the development cannot be done for the people but it is done with the people. I sometimes feel communities were better off before we invaded their space with confusing statements and jargon that has made their lives miserable. I suspect there is an agenda in aid that we do not know about. In Swaziland where I am, there is already a strain caused by HIV and AIDS, so asking communities to dance to our music doesn’t make things better -we need to use the strengths perspective approach and give these communities a break.