Still Alive
I would like to offer my MALI CHALLENGE to all of you. For one week, try and do as many of the following. Afterwards, report back to us letting us know what was hard, what was easy, and what you gave up on.
1) Pick one favorite rice dish and eat only it for lunch and dinner every day. You can only add meat on one day.
2) Only electricity that can be used is flashlights, t.v. (pick one channel), phone, and radio
3) Only running water that can be used is toilet and the outside hose to fill up buckets
4) Go out of your way to greet each of your neighbors twice a day. Ask after their family and how they slept. Do the same with as much of your extended family as possible (phone is OK).
Development work is very frustrating. As we’ve learned from the literature, just giving them something never works in the long run. To make changes, you have to show them how to solve problems by themselves through experimentation. This is really hard because most of the people are convinced that if they just had lettuce seeds, if they just had a tractor, if they just had electricity, all of their problems would be solved, if only they could find someone to give it to them. They are convinced that the solutions to their problems are ‘out there’ in the world of NGOs and white people. Little by little, we have to show them that the solutions that really are out there won’t work until they reinvent them. That the solutions they come up with can work just as well. That they, not anyone else, have the power to solve their problems. One big cultural difference that we’ve noticed is the following: in individualist America, the phrase ‘not my problem’ is common, whereas the equivalent here is ‘your problem is my problem.’ Culturally, they are used to others helping out when there is a crisis. After all, the community needs to take care of itself. We, however, are used to fixing our own problems.
1) Pick one favorite rice dish and eat only it for lunch and dinner every day. You can only add meat on one day.
2) Only electricity that can be used is flashlights, t.v. (pick one channel), phone, and radio
3) Only running water that can be used is toilet and the outside hose to fill up buckets
4) Go out of your way to greet each of your neighbors twice a day. Ask after their family and how they slept. Do the same with as much of your extended family as possible (phone is OK).
Development work is very frustrating. As we’ve learned from the literature, just giving them something never works in the long run. To make changes, you have to show them how to solve problems by themselves through experimentation. This is really hard because most of the people are convinced that if they just had lettuce seeds, if they just had a tractor, if they just had electricity, all of their problems would be solved, if only they could find someone to give it to them. They are convinced that the solutions to their problems are ‘out there’ in the world of NGOs and white people. Little by little, we have to show them that the solutions that really are out there won’t work until they reinvent them. That the solutions they come up with can work just as well. That they, not anyone else, have the power to solve their problems. One big cultural difference that we’ve noticed is the following: in individualist America, the phrase ‘not my problem’ is common, whereas the equivalent here is ‘your problem is my problem.’ Culturally, they are used to others helping out when there is a crisis. After all, the community needs to take care of itself. We, however, are used to fixing our own problems.