By Suzie Capelli, Posted Dec 05, 2006
Sections: Development Intro Aid Not Trade Moral Dilemmas Aid Workers Handout Mentality Whites, the Forgotten Tribe NGO's and the Politically Correct False Advertising The Church & HIV Donor Disorganisation Humanitarian Aid - A Necessary Evil
Mini-guide by Suzie Capelli
If every time you wanted new clothes, you got them and someone else paid, would you bother looking after the clothes you already had? Probably not.
In countries and institutions used to large amounts of aid, there is almost no effort made to look after assets which have been donated. Recently a government ministry asked for a fleet of vehicles from a large donor. When they were asked what happened to the brand new fleet which had been purchased three years before, they were given reasons why none were in a working condition.
It became apparent that there had been no maintenance on the cars – after all running costs are a pain when you can simply ask for a new car. In the end the donor agreed to fix the cars rather than buy new ones. If they had not, it is likely that another donor would have stepped in to replace the fleet (see donor disorganisation).
Printer ink, I read somewhere recently, is the most expensive liquid on the planet. At my workplace I have been trying to educate people to print less. Printer cartridges cost over $100 in central Africa. I’m not having much success. People here routinely print, edit and re-print several times instead taking the time to examine the on-screen version. As a child of the green movement heyday in the developed world, I find the waste offensive.
But here waste seems to be ok, if someone else is paying and it is even a strange status symbol of sorts. Its almost as if people think “I am in a position where I can use as much paper as I like”. Just like the car example, I have heard of people requesting new printers when the ink runs out. With constant handouts, how can people see the real value of anything?
Arthur is a Rwandan friend of mine, a smart, industrious young guy trying to build up a business in the IT service sector. He is finding it difficult as a SME (Small-to-medium Enterprise) credit from a bank is impossible to get – he needs assets to secure a loan, and loans to acquire assets and build his business. Your classic catch 22 situation.
He recently confided that he was thinking of turning his private enterprise into an NGO, which would allow him access to credit in abundance from the international development agencies. I was disheartened by this, NGOs have a place but that place is not to replace private enterprise. NGOs are inherently unsustainable, as they depend on the whims of donors.
And of course, in general NGO and other donor funding comes on quite a short term basis, in 2 or 5 year cycles. This makes long term planning and projects all but impossible, there’s no guarantee of cash supply. This promotes a handout mentality in that you literally don’t know where your next pay check will come from.
For my last holidays I went to Uganda, where I was approached by high school children asked my times to supply European “pen friends” for them. I was told that such pen friend interactions invariably degenerate into requests (with accompanying attempts at emotional blackmail) for school fees. It was a shame to see that these otherwise accomplished and polite young people saw there only way forward as being in the form of a handout from foreigners.
Let’s come out and say it: tipping sucks.
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