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Tales From the Hood
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Tales From the commented on the article |Seriously, Jeremy? Now you're worried about responsible journalism? Some of us have friends working for NGOs and getting shot at in Peshawar, NWFT, Kandahar...
True or not, you just had to get that statement into print, huh?
Thanks, dude.
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Tales From the commented on the article |Great post, Michael. It echos what many of us feel or have felt at different times. I think your last point is the crucial one:
We are relevant, as outsiders, to those conversations about, say, local governance in DRC. 'Cause, well, if things already worked fabulously well, we wouldn't need to be there. However, it is absolutely critical that we approach those situations with humility and respect and in a manner which communicates clearly that we are also learning right along with those whose capacity we say we're there to build.
... right. Enough preaching to the choir!
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Tales From the commented on the article |In step #2 you can substitute obscure language and/or obscure cultural trivia for historical/political trivia. "... your idea would probably work, except for the fact that the upland Akah are patrilineal/matrilocal and practice clan endogamy..." or, "... but the real problem with that strategey is that it fails to consider the concept of 'dao duc' as manifest in modern Vietnamese society..."
Then roll your eyes and forever after blow off those sub-humans foolish enough to admit to not knowing what you just said...
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Tales From the commented on the article |Most of us get or got into aid work because we feel or felt a strong sense of moral absolute. Black was black, and white was white. And most of us - sometimes within minutes of arriving in the field for the first time - saw immediately that nearly everything was in shades of grey.
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Tales From the commented on the article |Very pleased to see that "Highway to Hell" made it in, if even only in the comments thread.
Not to too-shameless self-promote, but... consider checking out: http://talesfromethehood.blogspot.com/2008/09/let-me-tell-you-folks-its-harder-than.html
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Tales From the commented on the article |I would view products like Plumpy'nut and packaged ORS as tools to use in very specific situations, probably mostly (gr?) in relief settings.
It may be messy to quantify, but don't you think that over time the comparative effectiveness of Plumpy'nut/ORS would diminsh due to the factors you mention (supply chain issues, managerial competence...) to the point that the net positive affect on a population is comparable to -or maybe even below- that of the local solution? That's not counting the unexpected cultural complications: all sorts of location-specific reasons why the imported product may be used incorrectly or not at all by recipients.
Except for those specific and usually short-term interventions where dramatic change is needed very quickly as a matter of survival (usually relief contexts), my vote goes to the "less effective local solutions." -
Tales From the commented on the article |Maybe the happy middle-ground would be for celebrities to stick with simply drawing attention to problems, but leave the tasks of identifying and implementing workable solutions to the professionals.
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