So that we can see one another (Part II)
“We deserve equal time…We deserve equal measure of resources – just because we are here.” PART II of interview with Onyango Otieno
“We deserve equal time…We deserve equal measure of resources – just because we are here.” PART II of interview with Onyango Otieno
Innovative solutions to social challenges are often born in the most unlikely places.
A trailer from the film “We Want Development (but at what cost?)”, about the development of a port in Lamu, Kenya. (c) Thirsty Fish 2012
“In his breakdown, he not only owned up to embezzlement, but also to having let down his own family, his community, his people, and the generations to come.” A guest post from Rajasvini Bhansali, Executive Director of IDEX.
A self-described aid agnostic shares his thoughts on CDA Collaborative Learning Project’s new book, “Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of International Aid.”
A colleague told me recently, “Working for an NGO, it’s like family. I can bad-mouth my mother, but you can’t.” A discussion of Tori Hogan’s new book, Beyond Good Intentions: A Journey Into the Realities of International Aid.
Leaders from four African organizations sat down to give their “real”, though too-often-unheard insights on site visits from the perspective of the ones being visited.
“Development work had become more about systems and structures than the actual lived realities of people,” argues Mette Müller, founder of Best Self Experience. Can important concepts like ’empathy’, ‘understanding’ and ‘compassion’ enter the way we deliver aid?
2011 has been a “shake-up” year for those involved in “flipping the aid system” to put more local and national actors in the driver’s seat of development. How-matters.org is shutting down until January 15th to reflect and plan for 2012!
Good Fortune is an Emmy-winning PBS documentary that is a provocative exploration of how massive international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit.
“If your general impression [is that most grassroots organizations are incapacitated], then you’ve been driving a white SUV through a village to get the ‘authentic’ feel of some project.” ~Marc Maxson of GlobalGiving’s Storytelling Project
“Half the stories of community change are not about NGOs at all, but individuals. It’s time NGOs realized they’re not the center of the community, and figured out how to work with the individuals who are.” ~from my interview with Marc Maxson of GlobalGiving’s Storytelling Project
Sharing excerpts of twelve papers on international development and aid effectiveness from my reading pile.
“‘The system’ whereby foreign donors give handouts, and not sustainable initiatives that are drawn from the needs of the communities, is a problem.” ~R.F.M. community activist, Zimbabwe