The Art of Serving

One of the best parts about long walks is the opportunity to meet so many different people from different parts of the world. In my last post, I alluded to the fact that I met many individuals with varying nonprofit backgrounds.  One of the topics that came up time and time again was about the “art of serving”, discussing what truly is helping vs causing more harm than good when it comes to community development. Admittedly this has caused more questions than answers in my mind, however there are a few common themes that I would like to share that I believe to be true.

First, the program/project idea should be community generated.

Let me paint a picture: When traveling internationally, more often than not it is easy to identify differences from your home country. These differences could be an aspect of culture or state of developmental progress, they may be enjoyable or cause inconvenience. Whatever the situation may be they are still observable differences to a way of life you are accustomed to. For example, in my opinion, sometimes it would be nice if Nepal had better plumbing so I could  comfortably use a bathroom without standing in water or the inability to flush…  Yet my Nepali counterparts have never complained about this.  Get them talking about the electricity load shedding though, that’s another story!  The point that I am attempting to make is that it is very easy as a Westerner visiting a developing country to make quick decisions about what a community may be lacking.  By listening to the voice of a community, you can correctly identify their greatest needs and even empower their ability to change their environment in a way that is beneficial to them in their everyday life.

A prime example of a project gone wrong occurred not too far from where I am currently living.  There is a caste in Nepal that lives in the caves nearby my village who forages for food and makes small wood crafts to sell to the market place.  Due to the seemingly undeveloped community, many NGO’s have extended a hand to support them.  One of these NGO’s assessed their situation and decided what they really needed was a proper bathroom. The NGO raised funds and built a beautiful porcelain toilet in the middle of the woods and considered the project a major success.  A few months pass and the NGO conducted a community visit to see if any additional support was needed. The community thanked them for their donation and eagerly took their visitors to the site.  Upon arrival it was readily apparent that this bathroom had not been used for its intended purpose but rather turned into a shrine, with pictures of their gods covering every inch. Toilet included! When asked why they chose to use the toilet in such a manner, they responded that this was the most beautiful, clean place they had making it the perfect place for their gods to live!

A second example I heard occurred outside of Nepal, but relevant all the same.  A farming community was gifted a number of tractors to alleviate the physical hardships the men and women faced to grow crops to feed their community. During the next annual site visit, the NGO found that the farms looked about the same but the state of the communities homes had drastically improved! Apparently the community had used the tractors until they ran out of fuel and then took the tractors apart to add roofs to their homes and other creative improvements with the remaining components. Because although it was easier to plow the field with the tractor, their greater need was a proper shelter from the upcoming monsoon season.

What both of these situations have in common is that they implemented a project prior to asking the community what they need. I’ve learned that many successful NGO sponsored projects begin with a community driven workshop, where members can come together and identify areas in their life that they could use additional support in improving.  Such workshops could range anywhere from an hour to a significant amount of time based on the communities discussion with an end goal of identifying the situation and its magnitude and developing a plan together for resolution. After such workshop the NGO can assess the voices of the community and determine what can be done to support their project.

A second aspect that is important in a community development project is achieving long term sustainability. During the planning stages of a community development project, one needs to include and train local team members so the work can continue on after you head back home. Building project? Train new carpenters and architects. Educational program? Teach locals to be experts. Relating to my experience as a project manager overseeing the development of an anti-trafficking and child rights awareness program, it would be easy for me to pull material offline that I think is best, craft an implementation plan, and distribute tasks to our Program Manager to implement. Instead, I’ve tried to use my expertise to teach new skills and provide the tools needed to execute the project themselves.  This has included teaching PowerPoint classes and excel tips and tricks, correcting English mistakes in development plans, demonstrating a “white boarding” session and facilitating brainstorming meetings as well as providing my own suggestions and ideas for discussion. My goal is to leave the team with a flawless program that can be implemented in the remaining schools of Makwanpur long after I’ve returned home to my Western style bathroom.

Many books have been written on this topic over the past decade, a few of which I’m eagerly adding to my kindle to continue to education myself on this topic (after completing Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance). In the meantime, I’ve so appreciated the emails and comments that I have received to date on my posts!  I’d love to hear your opinion on this topic and any similar situations you have come across within your experience.