More Must-Reads

To follow the last post, here are some more must-reads, from a variety of other bloggers:

Six Non-Obvious Points about Conflict, Security, and Development (Africa Can…End Poverty)

Somewhat similar to Chris Blattman’s post about things he kind of believes, this one lists a few messages that Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, thinks are important but not always discussed. My favorite is #6.

3 Roles for Aid (and let’s stop kidding ourselves) (Waylaid Dialectic)

Here, Terence, who I don't know much about other than what I've garnered from reading his blog, describes three types of aid – development, band-aid, and keeping-it-together. In short, development aid is a lie, band-aid aid is unsustainable but at least honest with itself, and keeping-it-together aid tries to stop things from totally falling apart.

Dear Everyone Who’s Ever Thought of Starting an NGO (Blood and Milk)

International development and public health expert Alanna Shaikh, known for her International Development Careers newsletter, tries to stop people from starting NGOs. Why? “You’re not going to think of a solution no one else has, your approach is not as innovative as you think it is.” Harsh, but true. (She also offers advice for the people who are going to do it anyway).

Finding Meaning in Africa (Shotgun Shack)

Experienced aid workers often have little patience for, well, a lot of things. People who go to Africa to find themselves, or do anything for themselves while pretending it's for others. People who jump into “helping” others when they have no idea what they’re doing. People who insist on starting their own NGO (see the post above for why not to). Here, another well-known anonymous blogger, and co-founder of the hilariously cynical Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like, writes about an encounter with someone who fits all of those descriptions, and raises the question of whether Westerners' pictures of Africans are often just documentation of our own experience of seeing “Africa.” (Also, read Emily’s comment at the bottom.)

The Logic of Compassion (Bottom Up Thinking)

The anonymous blogger here, known only as MJ, discusses different sectors of aid projects, and mentions a stark criterion for evaluating projects: “If you took the total cost of the project and divided it up between all the intended beneficiaries, would they prefer to receive the cash or the benefits of the proposed project?” Perhaps the folks at a certain project (or two) here in Rwanda should ask themselves this question…

If I Had Only Known… (How Matters)

This is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking blogs out here. In another post geared toward students, Jennifer Lentfer discusses a myriad of things she wishes she’d learned in grad school. For example: Most young aid workers come into the business with “a worldview in which change in poor people’s lives is possible with our help.” But, in her mind (and mine), “The jury is still out on this.”

Going Deeper: A Letter to My Fellow Do-Gooders (One World Children’s Fund)

In a guest post for the One World Children’s Fund, Lentfer writes about the harm aid can cause to beneficiaries' self-confidence, self-reliance, and initiative. She calls on aid workers to question themselves and to make sure this work isn’t really all about us. Otherwise, she warns, we risk unconsciously perpetuating colonial attitudes in the places we live and work.

What the People Wanted (Msafiri Mzungu)

This post from Msafiri Mzungu is actually an image – depicting all-too-accurately how what the people want usually differs dramatically from what donors want to give (which also often differs from what is actually given in the end).