November 5, 2009
I am staying this week at a small family-run guest house in Jinja, Uganda, a small city 60 km from Kampala. At the house are also two young, short-term interns (3-6 months) associated with the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD - www.fsdinternational.org). I have spoken with one of them, Kate, from Washington State, in some detail and these conversations have had a major impact on me.
In this posting I would like to tell you about her work for FSD. Kate was assigned by FSD to work with a major NGO that assists HIV+ people in a variety of ways. Her work is in a small village near Jinja and her task has been to talk to people who are HIV+ and develop a plan with them of a project that would help to sustain them economically, to meet basic needs more effectively. From conversations with the assistance of an interpreter of the local language, she found that between harvests the people have little to eat. They usually eat only one meal a day at that time because they have no way to preserve food. She had heard of a nearby village that was drying food for preservation and learned of someone near Kampala who was an expert in canning and asked the people if these activities were something that they were interested in doing. They were extremely enthusiastic about the idea. Because the village is close to a major tourist center in Uganda (where I went whitewater rafting and where bungee jumping and kayaking are also very popular) there is also the possibility of selling these products to tourists for income generation.
So, Kate wrote a proposal for a seed grant ($200) from FSD describing the plan she and the villagers put together. Kate is leaving Uganda in a few days, having finished her 9-week commitment. Within that time, she co-developed the plan for food preservation, wrote the proposal, investigated how they could make driers using local equipment, hired a carpenter to construct the driers from wood and sheets of metal, brought in the canning consultant to teach the group members how to can, experimented with the group about what to dip the drying food in to attain good results (as far as appearance and taste go), wrote another grant for an additional $600 to build more driers, found local restaurants that would be interested in buying their products directly (rather than going through the local market and paying the cost of a middle man), and helped to set prices, and design marketing strategies. This morning at breakfast I tasted the first jar of pineapple jam produced by this group! I was amazed! Kate gave a lot of credit to her group, which has become very cohesive in supporting each other, transparent in sharing what they are doing with the money that is available, and open to discussing problems and issues. It is their project and she is hopeful that they will continue to develop their skills and organization after she leaves. She hopes that in January another intern will be assigned to further support them in their goals. FYI – I just check the FSD web-site. As I expected, interns and volunteers for FSD pay their own travel and maintenance expenses because there is no way that developing countries could afford to pay them. What they get is an incredible learning and growth experience. People of all ages and skills are involved.
Kate and I also talked about responding to requests for direct help from local people. “Will you help me to get glasses? My eyes are not good and I have trouble reading.” (This is a request from a student at Makerere University that I am currently dealing with.) “Will you pay my test fees so that I can take my exams?” “Will you pay for the medicine of my sick baby who will die without it?” “Can you give me money for food? My children are hungry.”
Kate doesn't believe in giving things to people, except insofar as helping them to get started with self-sustaining activities. I asked if this was because she thought such gifts encouraged dependency. I couldn't tell, but it seemed like for her it was more about wanting people to help themselves and not look for hand-outs. I guess that is close to what I asked, but it seemed like there was a shade of difference. I thought I detected a certain moralistic judgment about giving to people who are not “deserving” it, but I am not sure.
For me, the whole issue feels extremely complicated. Philosophically, I much prefer to give to organizations which can support communities, and groups and for which there is (hopefully) some sort of accountability process. But what about the student who needs the glasses? It is so hard for me to say “no” when I can say “yes.” (The other day I misplaced my glasses for a few hours and I was so grateful to know that if I needed a new pair I could get them. So I do have a small amount of experience to relate to his.) And the needs are so great. I can't possibly meet them all. And what does it mean for me to meet just this one? Will it make a difference “in the scheme of things?” Does that matter if I can just help one person right now? What about the other people who also need help right now? I find this all pretty confusing and even a bit upsetting. I have adopted the strategy of not making individual donations because it seems simpler than trying to figure out when and where to make them. But I can't say that I am comfortable with it.
Note: I did text the Makerere student that I was willing to meet with him and perhaps some others in the class to brainstorm ways he could get his glasses. I do believe there are some charities (e.g., Lions Club) that have that as a project. I would really like to see students as a group figure out ways collectively that they can support and assist each other. Somehow that seems like a better long-term investment in needs meeting than simply paying for his glasses. And it involves my supporting them in a way that I am more comfortable with. But I still struggle with the issue.
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