10.11.04 - 13:05

Why Development Work Often Does Not
(an essay by Molly, aged 24)

I knew this would happen. I told everyone I knew that it would happen. "I know I'll become jaded," I said. "I'm sure I'll become discouraged. I know my experiences will bring disillusionment." Yet there I stood, just another stupid kid thinking "better to light one small candle than curse the darkness" and drinking my Kool-Aid.

So, I must ask, is my work really accomplishing any good?

I am working on projects for which I am the most enthusiastic supporter. There are two general attitudes that stand in the way of success:

One. That everything that happens is by God's will. Yes, children die. People starve. Maybe it's because families didn't pray enough. Or maybe it was simply in God's plan. There is no use in preventative health, because only God has control. There is no use in developing healthy habits. The small changes that have come about from the international world, such as vaccinations and use of mosquito nets, are due to...

Two. Everything should be given, not earned or paid for. Vaccination campaigns work because not only are the vaccines free, but "volunteers" are actually PAID to administer them! Yes, this even includes health staff. UNICEF pays a generaous per diem to doctors and nurses just for providing a health service. Everyone expects a per diem.

One frustrating example: I need to find malnourished children for the nutrition center, but I can not get help from hospital staff to measure kids in each neighborhood, because the workers would demand a per diem just for being outside of the hospital for a couple of hours. Even though the governent is ostensibly paying them for duties which SPECIFICALLY INCLUDE the nutrition center. I have been told time and again, "you could do it." But no, I put my foot down. I will not work for those who do no work themselves. I will organize and advise, and I am always here to help. But I am not here as free labor.

Mauritanians have come to depend on and expect foreign aid. It does make sense - why work if you can get it for free? Especially if what you receive is infinitely better than anything you are capable of producing on your own? But it is also an incredibly defeatist strategy, one that keeps Mauritania from becoming strong. Part of me wonders if, as others have said, it might be better in the long run for all foreign aid to leave Mauritania. Would the work ethic return? Would people begin to feel pride in their country again? Would it force Mauritania to become stronger, to finally move forward? Or would there be complete instability, starvation, and disease? I don't know.

There is also the idea that the more fortunate are obligated to help the less fortunate. So, of course the US should be donating to Mauritania! They should be giving more! We are so rich and it is selfish to keep it all to ourselves. And, well, I understand this. It's part of the reason I'm in the Peace Corps; I am extremely fortunate to have all the opportunities I have had, to have the life I have. I feel the need to share everything I have with those who Fortune has not blessed. It's just that there needs to be true sustainable development, which I have yet to see. When I leave, I have the unsettling feeling that all my projects will leave with me.

Being eternally dependent helps no country. And it doesn't help that the goal of most Mauritanians is to leave Mauritania, in order to make money and send it back. Brain drain, as they say.

So. None of these are new observations or insights, but they are newly understood by me. Do I feel that what I am doing right now is worthwhile? Yes, but for completely different reasons. I believe my chief success is showing Mauritanians what a "real American" (i.e. one not in the movies) is like. And exposing them to different ideas, which I think is helpful to anyone. Primary false assumptions dispelled: all Americans hate Islam, love Bush, and are eternally promiscuous.

And of course, being here is mostly a selfish move. I am becoming much stronger, and my horizons widening. I am learning new languages, traveling to exotic places. (Not that endless brown sand dunes and scraggy bush don't lose their exotic appeal.)

I am still conscious of how very young and naive I am. But it can't be helped, except by time and experience.

previous - next