Selfish Altruism

I care passionately about humanitarian issues -sometimes I can't help it so it shows even in my writing- and this is one of the reasons that must have prompted me to continue with my work in the field of both local and international development, over the past few years. Because of the nature of my work, I am wont to travel quite often, both within and without. Therefore it is from some personal experiences that I speak about certain matters in this blog post.

Many-a-time I have found myself the youngest member of every team, panel, action group, etc... that I am participating in to pursue and realise a common goal through our work. In some instances, a few people have taken offence to that but have been quickly turned over the moment I had proven myself. So in a way, proving myself as a person capable of rationally discussing and working with people considered "elders" in a community to collectively address inequalities as we bring about social change and justice through our work, has been a normal routine for me. So much so that I'd even devised various strategies of going about it among the different communities that I deal with constantly in my work -from African to Caucasian. The plus side of proving yourself this way is that the same respect that you accord your target group is usually reciprocated on your part by the same people. Usually I give more hours of my time towards connecting with people whenever I am new in a community -it is very important for me to do that- as then I can perhaps be seen as less of a stranger, an intruder into their normal way of life. To some other people in my line of work, that would be a wastage of an important resource -time- as it would deviate from the stereotypical approach of "engage & leave" that most are used to. My work involves analysing issues that affect people's lives, setting goals for improvement and taking action, by means of empowering and/or encouraging participative processes. However, in some cases, we may be met by highly demanding situations that necessitate the intervention of "relief workers". A relief worker is someone who works for a short period of time, in a high-risk area. Being a relief worker also requires an ability to adapt to intensely challenging situations and being able to withstand emotional strain. In return, relief workers compared to development workers, usually have such model neat and short working contracts, and are also compensated for their services much more highly than the latter group who spend more time working in an area or working on a specific issue. Because of the intensive nature of the work there usually exists a rapid turnover of staff and consequently, frequent breaks for rest and recuperation are required so that workers are kept in such a mood as to keep their eyes focused on the work they are mandated to do all the while. As a result, people are usually constantly flying in and out of the conflict/disaster zone.

From my experience, the sudden increase of foreign currency in the local area as a result of an influx of development and relief workers is usually a formidable disruption to the local economy making life even harder for most of the indigenous population as the economics of demand and supply takes over. I am not arguing the case that relief work is not good. Far be it from me to say that. Relief efforts have actually saved hundreds of thousands of lives and most of those working for the United Nations and other non-governmental organisations as relief workers have done such a good job. It is however the paradoxical contrast between relief and development work that I would like us to focus on:

A day ago now, I was meeting with a continent representative of another international charity organisation in our location. A few minutes into our meeting, I felt belittled and insulted by some of her comments about what we (my team & I) were doing. For (her) good measure, she had mentioned to us how she had just been meeting with the steering committee of the charity she works for only the previous day in Toronto, Canada. She also said she would be in this location for about another week and then move on to another country the week after that and another the week after that... For all I know, I didn't care if she went to Mars the next month. My issue of contention with her came about when we talked about what strategies really work in typical African communities. As a relief worker, her mind was set on the strategies laid out in the manual(s) that she had perhaps been given and she had gone through before she made her trip. Needless to say, she too, would be very well compensated for her "relief efforts" while she was on this trip. As a development worker, my mindset is geared at considering the best strategies that empower the intended beneficiaries of a program to become active participants in the community development process that directly affects their lives, rather than become passive recipients of relief interventions conceived and implemented by the relief agency. Getting back to my mate and I there, because we come from two divergent schools of thought, we failed to understand each other and then it soon became about how 'still young' I was and therefore 'not experienced enough' to pass judgement on a matter like that. I couldn't answer her back because at that point I felt that perhaps I would give her more than my mind and possibly then, lend actual credence to her accusation there. And for a moment I tried to remember all of those times that I've met with community leaders from both high and low echelons of power in various developing countries (and you know what power they can yield!) and how a few minutes into our conversations, I have usually been called "a brother". Then it hit me that surely, for some people, disaster should be big business. And when it comes to (some) relief workers, they actually inhabit a rather odd international hinterland which is not really within the confines of any one location/country that they maybe working in. To them, one disaster may as well be the same as another, although the details and geographical location may differ. And that my friend up there possibly lived in this other world too, miles apart from mine.

But it's this absurdity that niggled me. Why is it that acute disasters have such a high profile and such generous budgets while chronic disasters grumble on, ignored and getting worse and worse every year in most if not all of the so-called 'developing countries? I am not saying that this money should not be spent but surely its logic should be questioned. Isn't there an alternative? The very way in which we fail to avert these disasters by failing to commit to managing them in their nascent stages and then dramatically or even extravagantly, dealing with them when they finally occur as "emergencies" is most certainly illogical and very uneconomic! Why should the resources and motivation for real development be consumed by our heroic 'relief efforts'? Because this makes us as a society feel good?

Tonight I go to bed with tears in my eyes. Alluta continua!

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{Photo in post is of a bird's nest with a cuckoo egg, among a nest of songbird eggs. Bio: When the Cuckoo egg hatches, the tiny hatchling Cuckoo pushes all of the other eggs out of the nest. These unfortunate eggs drop to the ground and perish. The adult songbirds then feed and care for the Cuckoo chick, not realising what has happened.}