Doing development work without doing more harm

Photo of a boy in Chiapas outside his home. His family receives water from the Aguas de Unidad / Healing Waters Project in his community. Before the project this boy was sick a lot and his growth was stunted. Since the project opened he has been much healthier and is growing normally.

I was forwarded the article below by the CEO of Healing Waters, Ed Anderson. It really cuts to the core of issues around development and how important it is that we are aware of what we are doing, sustainability, appropriate technology, and community involvement. Below the article I have posted some of my own thoughts and commentary.


Help That Makes a Difference: Change our Worldview


The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem.
Brian Fikkert, co-author of When Helping Hurts posted 12/15/2009 09:50AM

What's the biggest change needed in how charities and federal agencies deliver aid to developing nations? Brian Fikkert, co-author of When Helping Hurts, David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, and Dale Hanson Bourke, author of The Skeptic's Guide to Global Poverty, suggest the best way to help.

"We were happy in our village before you folks told us we were poor. We didn't have many things, but happiness doesn't come just from having more material things. What makes you think we want to become just like you?"

The audience, a group of American donors and development leaders, looked bewildered as Emily, a community development worker from Liberia, took her seat. Finally, one of the U.S. donors spoke up. "Yes, of course we share your goals, Emily. That's why we keep on bringing you more capital and technology." Emily listened helplessly, realizing that her message had fallen on deaf ears—again.

Americans are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, and we coexist with 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 per day. The situation is simply immoral.
We must do more, but we must do it differently.

For the past 60 years, the majority of American assistance has flowed out of a materialistic worldview, which assumes that wealth is produced by material things, namely capital and technology. In this view, America is "developed." We have arrived, and they have not. The assumption is that if we provide them with more capital and technology, they will be able to be just like the U.S.—a country where families and communities are disintegrating, where addictions are on the rise, where mental and emotional illnesses are exploding, and where rampant consumerism is
bankrupting all of us.

The need for more capital and better technology persists. People really do need improved access to clean water, better health care, decent education, and a living wage. But they, and we, need something far more profound. Whether we realize it or not, we all are longing for an intimate relationship with God, for a sense of dignity, for community and belonging, and for the ability to use our gifts and abilities to develop creation. The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem.

The practical implications for providing aid are enormous: Spend more resources on supporting people-empowering processes and less on bricks and mortar; help people to steward the gifts and resources they already have; include the materially poor as full participants in selecting, designing, implementing, and evaluating any intervention; build the capacity of indigenous churches and Christian organizations to work in highly relational, gospel-focused ways; promote the use of spiritual tools—prayer, meditation, fellowship, and Bible study—in addition to material tools in all
poverty-alleviation efforts; and embrace that both they and we are fundamentally
broken and in need of the healing that only Jesus Christ can bring. We are all developing nations.

There are a couple of quotes in this article that really speak to me. The first is the quote from the Liberian aid worker. We have a tendency to try to "fix" problems from a very "westernized" and "first world" perspective. If we could just get a laptop and cell phone in the hands of everyone, wouldn't life be better? The reality is that those of us engaged in development work need to go into communities and ask the locals what they want instead of telling them what they need. This simple, basic rule of good development work is so often overlooked. We have an overwhelming desire to fix problems, we forget to stop and ask what problems the community feels are most in neeed of fixing.



The next quote from this short article that really resonated with me was, "Americans are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, and we coexist with 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 per day. The situation is simply immoral."



This quote is spot-on. There are so many severe problems associated with poverty that could be fixed so easily like irradication of basic diseases, providing safe drinking water, etc. Very basic investment in the community, and community involvement are key to resolving these problems.



The next quote was so good they used it as the byline for the article, "The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem." WOW! These guys got it right. It is not that every country and city needs to look like a first-world destination, but the basic needs and human rights of every person must be realized, which would look an awful lot like the New Jerusalem.



Some thoughts for reflection. Enjoy!