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Truly sustainable development will only come about when those targeted have complete ownership and belief in the work. One of the major problems that I have encountered in achieving this ownership and belief is the vast discrepancy between the pace of international funders, which are ultimately being operated as businesses, and those they are trying to help. While understandable, funders who wish to see quantifiable results within given time frames display an ignorance of the realities in the developing countries they seek to assist.
Those acting as intermediaries between these two parties often face the impossible task of reconciling two polar opposites. They are often presented with more money than can be spent effectively to achieve sustainable development. Money ends up being pumped into projects that have not been dictated by the people and are therefore likely to fail. Of course it is also true that if development work is carried out over a long time with no tangible results both sides, partner organisations and government agencies will lose belief in the value of the work.
Some development workers seem to favour the approach of securing maximum funding and initiating the maximum number of projects in the hope that a percentage will succeed and sustain; while others prefer to work at the slow pace dictated by communities who often face far more pressing concerns than those the development worker’s long process hopes to address. There is no "right" way to work, and every situation has to take a number of different factors into account. It is up to partner organisations and volunteers to decide which way to lean.
It is a very delicate balancing act and anyone involved in development work must be reconciled to the idea that one, or the other or both parties will become frustrated at the pace of work and will at one time or other lose patience and belief in the project. To overcome these frustrations it is important that those involved share a belief in the validity of the work and also that they possess a level of charm, empathy, cultural awareness and patience.
I am currently working on a three year project designed to rehabilitate a watershed in the Philippines. The area, covering about 300ha, sufferers from problems common all over the Philippines and the developing world in general: high unemployment and the dwindling and abuse of resources. The project hopes to reforest the area with a mixture of forest and economically beneficial fruit trees, to rehabilitate water systems and initiate a culture of water taxing, to educate children, to diversify farmers' crops and teach them small business skills, to find employment for women and promote the proper disposal of wastes.
While I am sure everyone involved from the sponsoring body to the people involved would agree that to alter the lifestyles and practices of over 3000 people in 3 years was unlikely, still the five people employed to carry out these practices are expected to fill out monthly reports on spending, trainings carried out and life changing stories. Provisions have not been made for the fact that it may take two years to talk to people, educate them about the ideologies driving the project and empower them to make decisions about what direction they would like the project to take. The donor demands that money be spent throughout, with tangible results. Although all those involved on the ground are Filipinos it is a very western story, with a western backer.
Projects I have encountered that have met with more success have involved a development worker making a long term commitment, sometimes as long as 10 years, to living in one barangay (small village or community often of about 100 households). While the wage of the worker is paid by the government the money being used for the development work is mostly generated from within the community, thus ensuring development work is done at a pace dictated by the need seen by the community. If, for example, the community is persuaded that all the people should have toilets (and this is not necessarily as obvious a necessity as it may appear), and persuaded enough that they will part with, or fundraise for money to build these then it follows that they will look after and utilize them.
In one project it took a worker 9 years to change a community of tree poachers into a community that have replanted their own forest, are managing it and turning in a profit, and are in fact so committed to the work that they took the government agency responsible for the environment and natural resources to court over their poor management of the forests, and they won. It is a truly wonderful story and one that has been used in development guides all over South East Asia, but although the group are actually making an income from talking to and showing other farmers groups around their site (in tours sponsored by donor agencies) this story is one that has not been effectively replicated anywhere else. There are countless projects going on throughout the country working to rehabilitate denuded watersheds and still very few success stories.
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Kat Birch
Kat Birch, The Philippines
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