“I’ve only worked with a salary for nine months in the past eight years, which was also the only time I’ve paid rent since 2003 (the international development organizations I volunteer with, or the other programs I participate in usually cover my costs of accommodation)… I’ve been supporting myself with the money I’ve managed to scrape together by living a meager life, saving what I could (while paying off all my debt) from the small living allowances I’ve received while volunteering.” (p.106)
First, I want to say that the opinions shared in this post are strictly my own, based on my personal experiences and point of view. Second, I want to make clear that what I’m saying is not meant to apply to the world of international development work where people are employed overseas with healthy salaries, often focusing more energy on policy, funds/project planning and distribution (which is also very important), rather than on the implementation of work. The people I’m focusing on may work with the partner organizations who receive that funding, helping to carry out the projects that ultimately benefit the disadvantaged.
In my mind, there is a clear difference, on the ground, between volunteer work and development work. It’s not a question of intention: some people sign up with the intent to do development work, only to be stuck in service delivery, while others sign up for a very specific task, and end up changing an entire organization. With the way that needs and support change so rapidly, you never know exactly what you’re getting yourself into until you arrive overseas.
That said, I’ll start with volunteer work: for me, whether someone pays to participate in a program to help construct houses (for example), or if they spend a few weeks or months while on holidays helping out a local NGO, or if they volunteer with a big organization to work in a hospital where local professionals aren’t available, these people are stepping out of their regular life, in order to help others for a specific period of time. The work they do has significant impact on the local community while they are there, and once they leave, the services they provided will either stop, or be continued in a similar manner by another volunteer. This, in my mind, is volunteer work.
Development work, on the other hand, goes beyond volunteer work by incorporating two important factors: local empowerment and sustainability. These buzz words can be interpreted in many ways, but what I mean by local empowerment is that while the person with a particular set of skills could very easily do the necessary work on their own, they make it a priority to share those skills with a local counterpart (or more than one), so that when the foreign aid leaves, the local community or organization has somebody who has been empowered with some of the skills that were brought, and can continue to benefit from those skills by employing them on their own (rather than depending on another round of foreign aid).
As someone who believes in empowering locals, the task usually involves looking beyond the contract or job description that was signed when you were thousands of kilometres away, and instead reevaluating the needs and strengths of the organization and its people once you arrive, so that you can dedicate time and resources to the projects and people who really want to learn from what you have to offer.
For some people who go overseas hoping to find that counterpart or project, it can be extremely frustrating to be stuck behind a desk everyday as if they were back home getting paid; for others, it can be overwhelming when they had intended to share specific skills, but the organization is asking them to help with a million other things that are outside of their scope of understanding.
Sustainable development is often defined as ‘development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ When working with local communities or organizations, I don’t focus on how the work we’re doing will affect the physical environment in future generations, or any other theoretical impacts that are bigger than our actual project; I focus on how the practical skills I’m empowering others with will allow them to meet their own needs moving forward, and I try to introduce or enhance systems and structures that facilitate this process. If I don’t see the work doing this, then I wouldn’t consider it to be development work, increasing the capacity of the local community or organization for the future; it is volunteer work, providing services to assist with immediate problems in the present.
If I take my last partner organization as an example, they had more than ten other volunteers working with them during the eleven months I was there. Most of them were designers or design students. Most of them came with specific skills and ideas that they shared or imposed on the organization during their stay. Most of those ideas got shelved once the volunteers left. A couple of the designers incorporated their ideas into existing products, and came up with new ones that are still being used. One was open to talking with me and management about ways to improve profitability of existing products by simplifying designs and decreasing overhead, and she worked with the actual craftspeople to develop the product motifs. The more involved the organization’s existing systems and staff got with new products and ideas, the more sustainable they became.
Again, both volunteer work and development work as I define them are extremely important, and appreciated overseas. Many organizations and communities prefer a volunteer who comes with tangible, immediate short-term solutions to pressing problems (especially when it comes to health care or funding). Many organizations and communities are resistant to change, and when people like me try to encourage them to see the bigger picture and realize their potential to impact it, this push is often met with hostility and confusion, often directed directly at the facilitator of change; you need to have thick skin and a passion for what you’re doing to not take things personally, and to not give in to immediate needs (without ignoring them either).
One of the most rewarding things said to me in the past year came from another volunteer, who told me (much more poetically) that I’m very courageous for being so patient, pushing on with actual development work in an effort to see the potential of my partner organization realized, while so many other volunteers get discouraged and give up on that idea.
And as I continue to receive messages of respect and regards from my last partner organization as they reap the benefits of our hard work together, I know that it’s great to do volunteer work, but exceptionally greater to contribute to an organization’s long-term development.
Travel. - Not All Men Are Monsters - Sex. Travel. Food. Life. - Brian Johnston 
It is so easy to get disappointed by how things are not going our ways, when we can see so clearly what need to be changed for the way forward. However, an economic improvement or a move up the social ladder is not always directly proportional to an increased awareness or understanding to change mindset.
It is so easy for people from developed countries to envision the changes we need to make to grow in a certain direction, only because we have seen them happen as we grow up and being educated. For many people in organisations in developing countries, these new ideas are not seen, and being told to do things in a forwarding way, may just seem (to them) as impossible as being told we will be American’s next top model the next day.
I felt a lot of resentment when I started in my last organisation. Ideas I had or wanted to implement were met with reverse racism and comments like ‘it only works in rich countries’.
I kept quiet and just worked alongside them and implemented some ideas and failed some. After many months and tantrums later, they were more opened to suggestions and discussions. Sure, they would tell me to do it myself. I would often do it with them watching. They might/might not want to pick new ideas up. But at least it has been proven that it is workable in that setting. I can only believe that new ideas have been planted in their sub-conscious and one day they will use it.
It is natural to keep thinking that we have failed, but the ideas that people in organisations we work are as firmly set as the ideas we have for them. So, maybe we might not see the changes we wanted while we were in placements. But hopefully, as time goes, and new people come and go, they will get accustomed to many ideas we tried to initiate. Just think how fashion, music and movies have infiltrated their culture!
Patience and disappointment we may have (and lose)over the time, and the need to measure our success in many ways is strong. But the urge to measure our failures shouldn’t let us lose our confidence and well intentions. Just like developing a cure for cancer/HIV has taken decade(s) after billions of useless test samples and shoot-downs from the press, we are still so sure that one day the cures will emerge. So rest assure that some of your great ideas and quirks are being practised somewhere even if it seems like it is going nowhere!
Btw, ever thought of adding some bling to your patch and hip-hop to some Mozambican tunes? 😛
I totally agree with your entry and the responder. I firmly am holding on to the ideas of capacity building and sustainability where I am. It is a slow process but there are those couple of people who are with you and then they are encouraging to others along with you and slowly the ball starts to move.