I've got it, the secret to development! Come close and I'll fill you in... The keys to success in any organization, be it NGO or profit-driven enterprise, are it's people!
I know, it's nothing earth shattering. And my sample size here is essentially two, IDE and EWB, but I'm certain this holds true in any organization. You can spend billions of dollars designing projects that are so participatory, so gender empowering, and so sustainable that they bring tears to George Roter's eyes (EWB Co-CEO), but without investing in your key people, it's over.
I'll use IDE and EWB to illustrate this point, but take note that I think both organizations are full of potential and mostly full of talented people working towards the same goal.
I arrived at Livingstone IDE in May, two days after the Team Leader had passed away. I found the office lacking in leadership, focus, and a clear set of objectives. Mornings would arrive late and full of confusion. Activities seemed to just happen, planning was ad hoc with little follow-through, and worst of all, I'm not sure my co-workers understood why they were doing what they were doing. (All understandable given recent events).
I spent months gently nudging people in the right direction, having informal coaching sessions, and asking powerful questions about our strategy. One day I started seeing calendars appear on the walls, daily agendas taking shape, and dialogue starting to surface about challenges and lessons learned.
It's gotten better. This week, with nothing to do, my teammates bestowed upon me a permanent market and a pad of flip-chart paper. My weapons of choice! I brought out every inch of leadership skill that EWB has taught me over the years and the team has officially given me the title of "Organizational Development Coach"!
First order of business, I formally introduced the concept of the Impact Chain (also known as Logical Framework or Results Based Management). It's a tool for planning activities that works in reverse from the conventional model. Basically you start with your intended impact on society and work backwards to figure out what steps are needed to achieve your goals. I'll give an example (skip ahead if you'd like):
---
INTENDED IMPACT:
Farmers are food-secure year-round, with an improved quality of life and increased health.
OUTCOME OF YOUR ACTIVITIES THAT LEAD TO IMPACT:
Farmers grow high-quality, nutritious food for sale and for family consumption.
DIRECT OUTPUT FROM ACTIVITY:
Farmers receive the skills and knowledge required to produce vegetables.
ACTIVITY:
IDE conducts training in the field for farmers on soil management, irrigation, pest control, and harvesting.
INPUTS REQUIRED:
Fifteen person-hours total of time, flip-chart paper and markers, two field staff to conduct training, lunch for staff, and fuel for the motorbike.
---
I also facilitated a discussion on what leadership meant to us as a team, and what motivated us as individuals. The core theme of the week consisted of three questions:
1) Where are we currently as a team?
2) What does success look like to us, and what's blocking our realizing it?
3) What would it take for each of us to go home at night feeling proud, and wake up in the morning excited again?
I felt like a million bucks! This is it, I've found my calling in life, I'm gonna grow up and be an Organizational Development Coach! I went and celebrated with a chai latte... "I'm basically the best EWB volunteer to ever hit Africa..."
Today that energy fizzled away once I sat down and the old attitudes started creeping into the office. I started thinking... Would the team have recovered without me two months ago? Probably. Did I have an effect on their planning and critical thinking? Probably. But now that they have a good thing going, will this improved mindset last once I leave for Canada? I'm not convinced. There goes my "EWB Volunteer of the Year" award...
There may be hope still. Two weeks from now I'm presenting my findings to head office. My recommendation is simple and clear: invest in your people. Convoys come every other week to train farmers on the latest leadership and innovative business skills, but I'm not sure management sees the potential in their own staff. I want IDE management to invest in leadership and professional development for their field workers, but also to invest in relationships. In fact, I attribute my success thus far 100% to relationships. Anyone who knows me can attest, I'm a pretty easy going and friendly guy. I'll steal a phrase that's used to describe our other CEO, Parker Mitchell, "Intimate but professional", and that's one hell of a way to build trust with people in an organization!
With every bit of influence I have in IDE, I want to enshrine this concept into their organizational culture. Every visit to Livingstone from head office should include a casual half-hour chat over ice cream or a Fanta. This would provide a non-threatening and equalizing environment that can foster openness and feedback, which the usual boss-subordinate relationship can stifle completely. The opportunity is there to learn about the team, their individual motivations, and see a side of their employees that I guarantee will never come out under current circumstances. If they realize the benefits of this type of investment.
So what about EWB? I can't even begin to express my appreciation to EWB. I've learned more about life, leadership, and engineering itself within EWB than three-plus years in engineering school. No wonder EWB is playfully referred to as a "leader factory" and is often compared to an MBA program for it's focus on skills development. Aside from the focus on it's people, EWB is unique in another way. The organizational structure is described as a pancake, rather than a hierarchy. A week after signing up for EWB, you can pretty much walk in to the CEO's office and chat about development, your hopes and dreams for the future, or simply to tell him a funny story about your cat Scruffles.
My experiences with EWB and IDE have given me huge insight into effective management. Believe you me, a weak field staff implementing a well designed project won't take you far, but give me a mediocre project with talented, and highly motivated field staff and now you're cookin'!
As for IDE, there's a visible difference these days in the way the office runs and interacts. What changed? Well, I arrived. But did I actually bestow upon them some magical beacon of knowledge and create leaders where none had existed? No, not really. I firmly believe the skills were ever-present, but not fully realized. I believe that through coaching, a person becomes aware, takes responsibility, and accesses their inner wisdom in order to take action for personal growth. Coaching has had this much impact in three months. Let's see if we can multiply it's effect by transferring the role of coach to people who will be there for the long run, the IDE management. At least in my opinion, the title "manager" resonates highly with mentor, coach, and servant of the people.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Call for Submissions!
Ok people, this one is for all of you out there. I want to challenge you to think and submit some ideas for me to explore. Here is my situation:
I have about three or four weeks left. At the end of this experience I have three main objectives:
1) Increase the capacity of the small-scale Zambian farmer
2) Increase the capacity of my organization, IDE, to help small-scale farmers
3) Increase my own knowledge, learning, and experiences in the time remaining
I also have a couple of deliverables for the end of my placement:
1) IDE head office wants a formal presentation on my work and any fresh ideas or perspectives I can bring to them
2) The UBC Co-op Engineering office wants me to submit a 15-20 page technical paper, or technical-ish paper
So what's my plan? I am currently trying to define the problem, and then spend three weeks intensively researching, reflecting, and developing theories. This will include interviews will any relevant stakeholder that you help me identify, and if I have to, I'll get on my bike and spend three weeks roaming village to village looking for answers. My method is: come up with a hypothesis or major question, then go at it!
What am I asking for from you? I want help in forming a hypothesis, a problem. I want you to think seriously about development. Think about the most ambiguous question you can, then think about the absolute simplest question you can, and reply to this blog post. There is no hypothesis or question too vast or too narrow. To get this ball rolling, here is a list of some ideas I've had:
1) Our goal is for farmers to keep increasing their income, quality of life, and increase their overall wellbeing in a continuous spiral up and up out of poverty. How can we accelerate this process?
2) How can monitoring and evaluation of a project best be used and disseminated within an organization in order to improve the effectiveness of our interventions, and how can it be used to motivate employees?
3) What are the key traits of highly-effective, high-impact field staff? What external enabling environment is required for them to reach their internal full potential?
4) What is poverty? What does "the end of poverty" look like? Is it possible?
5) What strategies are needed for farmers to best integrate and make use of the market/private sector/value chain? How can we ensure the farmers don't turn from "vulnerable farmers" to "vulnerable market players" once integrated into the market system? Is the market system we are integrating farmers in to inherently flawed, and therefore not the best approach to poverty reduction?
6) and 7) Take a closer look at the role of technology in development overall, or the supply chain development of one technology specifically?
8) How to best increase IDE's capacity to help farmers? What does this mean? How do we achieve it?
I want to know what interests you, and thy humble narrator shall seek and provide answers (or try). So my final plea: help me help the farmers, IDE, and myself. It would be helpful if my research and exploration can satisfy either of my two required deliverables, but if not that's fine too. And I know most of your readers don't usually comment, but please do this time.
So that's it. Let's start this process of collaborative exploration. Thanks :)
I have about three or four weeks left. At the end of this experience I have three main objectives:
1) Increase the capacity of the small-scale Zambian farmer
2) Increase the capacity of my organization, IDE, to help small-scale farmers
3) Increase my own knowledge, learning, and experiences in the time remaining
I also have a couple of deliverables for the end of my placement:
1) IDE head office wants a formal presentation on my work and any fresh ideas or perspectives I can bring to them
2) The UBC Co-op Engineering office wants me to submit a 15-20 page technical paper, or technical-ish paper
So what's my plan? I am currently trying to define the problem, and then spend three weeks intensively researching, reflecting, and developing theories. This will include interviews will any relevant stakeholder that you help me identify, and if I have to, I'll get on my bike and spend three weeks roaming village to village looking for answers. My method is: come up with a hypothesis or major question, then go at it!
What am I asking for from you? I want help in forming a hypothesis, a problem. I want you to think seriously about development. Think about the most ambiguous question you can, then think about the absolute simplest question you can, and reply to this blog post. There is no hypothesis or question too vast or too narrow. To get this ball rolling, here is a list of some ideas I've had:
1) Our goal is for farmers to keep increasing their income, quality of life, and increase their overall wellbeing in a continuous spiral up and up out of poverty. How can we accelerate this process?
2) How can monitoring and evaluation of a project best be used and disseminated within an organization in order to improve the effectiveness of our interventions, and how can it be used to motivate employees?
3) What are the key traits of highly-effective, high-impact field staff? What external enabling environment is required for them to reach their internal full potential?
4) What is poverty? What does "the end of poverty" look like? Is it possible?
5) What strategies are needed for farmers to best integrate and make use of the market/private sector/value chain? How can we ensure the farmers don't turn from "vulnerable farmers" to "vulnerable market players" once integrated into the market system? Is the market system we are integrating farmers in to inherently flawed, and therefore not the best approach to poverty reduction?
6) and 7) Take a closer look at the role of technology in development overall, or the supply chain development of one technology specifically?
8) How to best increase IDE's capacity to help farmers? What does this mean? How do we achieve it?
I want to know what interests you, and thy humble narrator shall seek and provide answers (or try). So my final plea: help me help the farmers, IDE, and myself. It would be helpful if my research and exploration can satisfy either of my two required deliverables, but if not that's fine too. And I know most of your readers don't usually comment, but please do this time.
So that's it. Let's start this process of collaborative exploration. Thanks :)
Monday, July 28, 2008
Of Guilt and Altruism
(This song matches my headspace when writing this, not really for the video itself. Actually my connection is too slow to even see the video, but it's a favourite song of mine.)
There's something to be said about true altruism. I may or may not have experienced it today. I haven't decided. And I don't think I deserve that title based on what happened. There's also something to be said about altruistic silence, but I feel this was an important experience to share.
This morning I woke up and started bathing. My host father Jukes caught me in the hallway and asked a favour. He had to pay a deposit for something urgently and asked to borrow some cash, he would pay me in a couple of days.
I walked back from the ATM. Jukes rolled down his window and I said, "you know, I wouldn't mind if you kept this... for Joshua and Affia. For their school fees, a tutor. You don't need to say anything, I just think they're really smart kids... and... okay, see you." I was quick to seize this opportunity. It may have been stupid, but let me explain.
Affia is my host sister. She's only 11 but always impresses me with her sharp wit. When I say something stupid or tease her about boys she giggles and I can't stop smiling. I've heard she's at the top of her class, and I can tell by the break-neck speed with which she answers when I test her multiplication skills.
Joshua is my roommate. He's the most cunning 10 year old I've ever met. He's no Ronaldino but he can give me a run for my money with a soccer ball. One night we stayed up sharing what it's like to be white or black until we fell asleep; I can honestly say it was one of the deepest and most insightful conversations I've had here. His confidence and personality blow me away.
I've come to love Affia and Joshua like a brother and sister, although they call me Uncle Florin. When I come home from work and I'm frustrated with pretty much the whole world, we sit in a corner of the living room and play computer games or poke fun at our differences until it's time for bed (at which point my cheeks usually hurt from laughing with them).
I noticed something in my first week here: every day as the sun is setting like a giant beach ball over the red sandy hills, all the school kids in Livingstone walk home in a giant herd of matching blue ties and long blue skirts. It saddens me that Affia and Joshua aren't among them but instead have been playing football all day. One night when I tried to covertly find out why, Joshua shyly responded from beneath the covers, "when daddy gets some money."
It breaks your heart. I can see their potential, and particularly in Joshua who is quite behind in math and reading. It's something I've been contemplating in my head and when the opportunity arose I went for it. "You know, I wouldn't mind if you kept this... for Joshua and Affia. For their school fees, a tutor. You don't need to say anything, I just think they're really smart kids... and... okay, see you."
A few hours later I sat under a tree having a cup of yogurt for lunch when it hit me how much money that was, converted from Kwacha to dollars. I was shocked, I couldn't believe I gave that much money to him. I thought to myself arrogantly, "great, I have how much money left for the summer and I blew that much in one conversation?"
Then instantly from frustration and anger at myself for parting with so much money on a whim decision, I suddenly felt the biggest wave of guilt hit me. And with it under that tree came a tear or two.
On Friday I'm going on Safari. The cost for two nights at the hotel is exactly how much I gave to Jukes. When asked to go on Safari a week earlier I jumped at the idea without hesitation. Rewind three months to FutureShop, the day I left for Zambia. "Should I buy it, should I not?" That's all it took to walk away with a new digital camera and 8GB of flash memory. The camera cost about the same as I gave to Jukes. Not to mention how much it cost me to fail a course last semester mostly for my own laziness and poor time management.
I was completely overcome with emotion sitting there thinking about how selfish I was. I had to go back to work but I couldn't move. The amount of money was pretty significant I admit, but a minute ago I was so angry at myself for giving it away. And for what? Joshua and Affia's school fees? I really care about them - like family - and all I could think of was the amount in dollars. In my mind I was flipping between them and the digital camera. Clearly one had more value to my subconscious mind. The rest of the experience is indescribable. That was an hour ago.
So what's altruism? Maybe it was giving selflessly as I stepped out of Jukes' car. But if that was an altruistic act, I feel it completely negated by my selfishness. I hated myself, sitting there with that cup of yogurt in my hand. The emotion I felt was driven by sadness and anger, but part of me felt overwhelmed for another reason.
There's a level of money above which you feel uneasy giving it away. It's just high enough that it actually affects your life when parting with it. When you break that personal threshold of doubt, but you know it can make a world of difference for a friend you care about, it's something truly special. When you do it for the first time, it's an emotional revolution. I felt a surrender of myself to something greater. This must be what it feels like for some to surrender themselves to God or Allah.
There's something to be said about true altruism. I may or may not have experienced it today. I haven't decided. And I don't think I deserve that title based on what happened. There's also something to be said about altruistic silence, but I feel this was an important experience to share.
This morning I woke up and started bathing. My host father Jukes caught me in the hallway and asked a favour. He had to pay a deposit for something urgently and asked to borrow some cash, he would pay me in a couple of days.
I walked back from the ATM. Jukes rolled down his window and I said, "you know, I wouldn't mind if you kept this... for Joshua and Affia. For their school fees, a tutor. You don't need to say anything, I just think they're really smart kids... and... okay, see you." I was quick to seize this opportunity. It may have been stupid, but let me explain.
Affia is my host sister. She's only 11 but always impresses me with her sharp wit. When I say something stupid or tease her about boys she giggles and I can't stop smiling. I've heard she's at the top of her class, and I can tell by the break-neck speed with which she answers when I test her multiplication skills.
Joshua is my roommate. He's the most cunning 10 year old I've ever met. He's no Ronaldino but he can give me a run for my money with a soccer ball. One night we stayed up sharing what it's like to be white or black until we fell asleep; I can honestly say it was one of the deepest and most insightful conversations I've had here. His confidence and personality blow me away.
I've come to love Affia and Joshua like a brother and sister, although they call me Uncle Florin. When I come home from work and I'm frustrated with pretty much the whole world, we sit in a corner of the living room and play computer games or poke fun at our differences until it's time for bed (at which point my cheeks usually hurt from laughing with them).
I noticed something in my first week here: every day as the sun is setting like a giant beach ball over the red sandy hills, all the school kids in Livingstone walk home in a giant herd of matching blue ties and long blue skirts. It saddens me that Affia and Joshua aren't among them but instead have been playing football all day. One night when I tried to covertly find out why, Joshua shyly responded from beneath the covers, "when daddy gets some money."
It breaks your heart. I can see their potential, and particularly in Joshua who is quite behind in math and reading. It's something I've been contemplating in my head and when the opportunity arose I went for it. "You know, I wouldn't mind if you kept this... for Joshua and Affia. For their school fees, a tutor. You don't need to say anything, I just think they're really smart kids... and... okay, see you."
A few hours later I sat under a tree having a cup of yogurt for lunch when it hit me how much money that was, converted from Kwacha to dollars. I was shocked, I couldn't believe I gave that much money to him. I thought to myself arrogantly, "great, I have how much money left for the summer and I blew that much in one conversation?"
Then instantly from frustration and anger at myself for parting with so much money on a whim decision, I suddenly felt the biggest wave of guilt hit me. And with it under that tree came a tear or two.
On Friday I'm going on Safari. The cost for two nights at the hotel is exactly how much I gave to Jukes. When asked to go on Safari a week earlier I jumped at the idea without hesitation. Rewind three months to FutureShop, the day I left for Zambia. "Should I buy it, should I not?" That's all it took to walk away with a new digital camera and 8GB of flash memory. The camera cost about the same as I gave to Jukes. Not to mention how much it cost me to fail a course last semester mostly for my own laziness and poor time management.
I was completely overcome with emotion sitting there thinking about how selfish I was. I had to go back to work but I couldn't move. The amount of money was pretty significant I admit, but a minute ago I was so angry at myself for giving it away. And for what? Joshua and Affia's school fees? I really care about them - like family - and all I could think of was the amount in dollars. In my mind I was flipping between them and the digital camera. Clearly one had more value to my subconscious mind. The rest of the experience is indescribable. That was an hour ago.
So what's altruism? Maybe it was giving selflessly as I stepped out of Jukes' car. But if that was an altruistic act, I feel it completely negated by my selfishness. I hated myself, sitting there with that cup of yogurt in my hand. The emotion I felt was driven by sadness and anger, but part of me felt overwhelmed for another reason.
There's a level of money above which you feel uneasy giving it away. It's just high enough that it actually affects your life when parting with it. When you break that personal threshold of doubt, but you know it can make a world of difference for a friend you care about, it's something truly special. When you do it for the first time, it's an emotional revolution. I felt a surrender of myself to something greater. This must be what it feels like for some to surrender themselves to God or Allah.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Weekend of Development - Part One
This is a long story, but I wanted to take a break from the intellectual socio-political analysis and just give you an idea of life in Zambia. I've sorta divided it into chapters by day, so it should keep you busy as I'll be on the road for the next week or more and can't post...
THURSDAY
Clean shaved, freshly polished shoes, and a crisp ironed dress shirt, I was off to work! No use really since I'd soon be sitting in the back of a rattling pickup, four freshly slaughtered chickens as my only friends. The shoes soon covered in blood and my clothes a dusty brown. In no time the truck screeched to a halt and I was joined by a group of farmers who were on their way to the meeting we were facilitating.
We spent the day discussing a new structure system to implement with the farmer groups. Basically, the ratio right now is three field staff to about one thousand households so we are developing this hierarchy structure for improved two-way communication. At the end of the day Mrs. Thole (lady in the red cap) ran this sweet energizer with the group. Try to pick out the key message...
As I walked home that evening, something wasn't right. I got super dizzy and I could barely figure out where I was heading. I didn't sleep much that night.
FRIDAY
With a pounding headache the next morning the best thing to do, I decided, was get on a bus and go watch some football. On the way to Lusaka I self-diagnosed heat exhaustion, so now I was at least satisfied with knowing the cause of the suffering. As a side note, pretty much any bus ride you take, you will have the pleasure of listening to a guy like this preach at you for about an hour before the bus takes off. Hooray for ultra-Christianity!
That night at the hostel revealed more problems. I gracefully bowed out of a drinking match and headed to bed early, only to be awoken minutes later by an obnoxiously loud and highly intoxicated Irishman. "C'mmmmmoon ya lousy Canuuuckk, get back to therre bar", he shouted as he ripped the blankets from me and touched my forehead. I can't quote this next part because of his excessive profanity, but the gentleman had discovered that I had an incredible fever. My trusty thermometer confirmed about 39.2 Celsius. Sure enough I had Malaria. I wouldn't have gone to the doctor had my friend Mina not insisted I accompany him - he was suffering from severe constipation for some days now.
A night of chills, hot flashes, and night sweats so profound I thought I wet myself at one point, but I survived. Amazing how quickly a $6 medicine can make you feel well, and more amazing is how many thousands of people, mostly children, die each year from this preventable and treatable disease.
SATURDAY
Six more hours on a bus took us to Chililibamwe, the venue for the World Cup qualifying match between Zambia and Swaziland. Somehow the tickets we wound up with were in the VVIP section. Yes, two V's. We were surrounded by federal ministers, the Zambian chief of police, and others who arrived by motorcade! Sadly, President Mwanawasa was unable to join us as he was busy on international business.
Zambia scored, avoided elimination from the World Cup, and the crowd went wild! It's hard to describe the emotion in the stadium that day, but this will give you a taste...
Seconds later I nudged Brian. "Dude, that camera over there's right in our face!" The cameraman on the field was clearly focused on the only muzungus in the whole stadium. Our phones wouldn't stop ringing now with calls from friends and coworkers who saw us on TV. We later found out that we were featured live on Zambia's National Broadcasting Channel (ZNBC), TWICE! When the game finished we grabbed a beer, still in the VVIP area, although others were being encouraged to move along. The army surrounded the perimeter of the VVIP area with batons and tear gas ready to go as we celebrated within.
The Zambian national team coach emerged and proceeded to immediately ignore everyone else and start walking over to greet us. Now there's something to be said about having white skin in Africa. I don't think for a second that the coach would have come over, ZNBC cameras pointed at us, or had such a warm reception in the VVIP section had we not been of white skin. This really frustrates me. Who are we to deserve this special treatment?!? We're five 20 year olds who irresponsibly spent more in one weekend than some Zambians make in six months, yet we are treated like celebrities on the street and like saints in the villages. I really dislike this but it's something you can't shake. (Granted, it's either this scenario or incredible racial tension in some other countries).
To be continued...
THURSDAY
Clean shaved, freshly polished shoes, and a crisp ironed dress shirt, I was off to work! No use really since I'd soon be sitting in the back of a rattling pickup, four freshly slaughtered chickens as my only friends. The shoes soon covered in blood and my clothes a dusty brown. In no time the truck screeched to a halt and I was joined by a group of farmers who were on their way to the meeting we were facilitating.
We spent the day discussing a new structure system to implement with the farmer groups. Basically, the ratio right now is three field staff to about one thousand households so we are developing this hierarchy structure for improved two-way communication. At the end of the day Mrs. Thole (lady in the red cap) ran this sweet energizer with the group. Try to pick out the key message...
As I walked home that evening, something wasn't right. I got super dizzy and I could barely figure out where I was heading. I didn't sleep much that night.
FRIDAY
With a pounding headache the next morning the best thing to do, I decided, was get on a bus and go watch some football. On the way to Lusaka I self-diagnosed heat exhaustion, so now I was at least satisfied with knowing the cause of the suffering. As a side note, pretty much any bus ride you take, you will have the pleasure of listening to a guy like this preach at you for about an hour before the bus takes off. Hooray for ultra-Christianity!
That night at the hostel revealed more problems. I gracefully bowed out of a drinking match and headed to bed early, only to be awoken minutes later by an obnoxiously loud and highly intoxicated Irishman. "C'mmmmmoon ya lousy Canuuuckk, get back to therre bar", he shouted as he ripped the blankets from me and touched my forehead. I can't quote this next part because of his excessive profanity, but the gentleman had discovered that I had an incredible fever. My trusty thermometer confirmed about 39.2 Celsius. Sure enough I had Malaria. I wouldn't have gone to the doctor had my friend Mina not insisted I accompany him - he was suffering from severe constipation for some days now.
A night of chills, hot flashes, and night sweats so profound I thought I wet myself at one point, but I survived. Amazing how quickly a $6 medicine can make you feel well, and more amazing is how many thousands of people, mostly children, die each year from this preventable and treatable disease.
SATURDAY
Six more hours on a bus took us to Chililibamwe, the venue for the World Cup qualifying match between Zambia and Swaziland. Somehow the tickets we wound up with were in the VVIP section. Yes, two V's. We were surrounded by federal ministers, the Zambian chief of police, and others who arrived by motorcade! Sadly, President Mwanawasa was unable to join us as he was busy on international business.
Zambia scored, avoided elimination from the World Cup, and the crowd went wild! It's hard to describe the emotion in the stadium that day, but this will give you a taste...
Seconds later I nudged Brian. "Dude, that camera over there's right in our face!" The cameraman on the field was clearly focused on the only muzungus in the whole stadium. Our phones wouldn't stop ringing now with calls from friends and coworkers who saw us on TV. We later found out that we were featured live on Zambia's National Broadcasting Channel (ZNBC), TWICE! When the game finished we grabbed a beer, still in the VVIP area, although others were being encouraged to move along. The army surrounded the perimeter of the VVIP area with batons and tear gas ready to go as we celebrated within.
The Zambian national team coach emerged and proceeded to immediately ignore everyone else and start walking over to greet us. Now there's something to be said about having white skin in Africa. I don't think for a second that the coach would have come over, ZNBC cameras pointed at us, or had such a warm reception in the VVIP section had we not been of white skin. This really frustrates me. Who are we to deserve this special treatment?!? We're five 20 year olds who irresponsibly spent more in one weekend than some Zambians make in six months, yet we are treated like celebrities on the street and like saints in the villages. I really dislike this but it's something you can't shake. (Granted, it's either this scenario or incredible racial tension in some other countries).
To be continued...
Weekend of Development - Part Two
We left the stadium satisfied, only to realize the bus which we already paid for had left without us. We wandered the streets for an hour, surrounded by thousands of completely hammered football fans. One guy stole a scarf right from around Brian's neck, while my Zambia toque also went missing. Tired and annoyed, we got on a minibus packed with shouting drunks.
Mina and Mark left for Lusaka while Helen, Brian, and I stayed at this ballin' government lodge in Kitwe. Soft beds, hot water, and satellite TV were exactly what we needed. We found out in the morning the other guys nearly got in a brawl with the bus driver who was drunk as a fish. The four hour drive took them almost nine as the bus wouldn't top 30km/h.
SUNDAY - TUESDAY
We took off for Kabwe. The three of us are in a unique position this summer. Being at different offices of the same organization, we have the opportunity to turn IDE into Zambia's most effective NGO through collaboration, and collaborate we did! We spent the day in a meeting with field staff and found ourselves huddled around a laptop that evening on my friend's bed watching Braveheart and putting together a report for IDE's Country Deputy Director. Very impressed with our initiative, he assured us the findings would be considered and implemented during the upcoming strategy session at headquarters. Lesson learned? Collaboration + Mel Gibson = EWB Impact!
I decided not to post this report online for free viewing since it's a bit sensitive but if anyone is interested with a legitimate goal of learning about the broader challenges we face in the development sector, I can email you a copy.
We went for a tour of Brian's village with a farmer named Harrison. He told us about his plan this year to increase production while learning new skills from IDE. He told us his goals five years from now to have borrowed and repaid successive microloans facilitated by IDE, and his ten year plan of becoming a commercial farmer. We joked about him owning an industrial scale irrigation system and a combine harvester ten years from now, but to be honest I wouldn't bet against it. Even more encouraging were the dreams and aspirations he has for his family and children as they grow up. For a guy who's 28 and lives in a mud hut without electricity, I was inspired and greatly humbled in his company. Harrison is one of the thousands of farmers we work with daily.
Harrison also has a bunch of puppies on his property, so in the interest of increasing the "OMIGAWD CUTE!" factor of my blog...
WEDNESDAY
I returned to Livingstone satisfied having beat Malaria, conquered Swaziland, and demonstrated EWB's strengths in leadership and initiative to IDE's top brass. I arrived home and capped off the night with some karaoke - gospel style!
Mina and Mark left for Lusaka while Helen, Brian, and I stayed at this ballin' government lodge in Kitwe. Soft beds, hot water, and satellite TV were exactly what we needed. We found out in the morning the other guys nearly got in a brawl with the bus driver who was drunk as a fish. The four hour drive took them almost nine as the bus wouldn't top 30km/h.
SUNDAY - TUESDAY
We took off for Kabwe. The three of us are in a unique position this summer. Being at different offices of the same organization, we have the opportunity to turn IDE into Zambia's most effective NGO through collaboration, and collaborate we did! We spent the day in a meeting with field staff and found ourselves huddled around a laptop that evening on my friend's bed watching Braveheart and putting together a report for IDE's Country Deputy Director. Very impressed with our initiative, he assured us the findings would be considered and implemented during the upcoming strategy session at headquarters. Lesson learned? Collaboration + Mel Gibson = EWB Impact!
I decided not to post this report online for free viewing since it's a bit sensitive but if anyone is interested with a legitimate goal of learning about the broader challenges we face in the development sector, I can email you a copy.
We went for a tour of Brian's village with a farmer named Harrison. He told us about his plan this year to increase production while learning new skills from IDE. He told us his goals five years from now to have borrowed and repaid successive microloans facilitated by IDE, and his ten year plan of becoming a commercial farmer. We joked about him owning an industrial scale irrigation system and a combine harvester ten years from now, but to be honest I wouldn't bet against it. Even more encouraging were the dreams and aspirations he has for his family and children as they grow up. For a guy who's 28 and lives in a mud hut without electricity, I was inspired and greatly humbled in his company. Harrison is one of the thousands of farmers we work with daily.
Harrison also has a bunch of puppies on his property, so in the interest of increasing the "OMIGAWD CUTE!" factor of my blog...
WEDNESDAY
I returned to Livingstone satisfied having beat Malaria, conquered Swaziland, and demonstrated EWB's strengths in leadership and initiative to IDE's top brass. I arrived home and capped off the night with some karaoke - gospel style!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Everybody Loves Bob...
[NOTE: TWO POSTS PUBLISHED TODAY, SCROLL DOWN]
It was labeled 'an exercise in mass intimidation' by the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai (Chan-ga-rai), when Zimbabwean voters went to the polls today. The choice was clear: "Robert Mugabe" or "Robert Mugabe". To understand the current crisis in Zim, let's look back a couple of decades...
1980
Led by independence war hero, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe declares freedom from British rule.
2005
White farmers forcefully evicted from their land after refusing to share land with natives. Zim food security hits rock bottom.
2008 - March
Elections show Tsvangirai a majority winner but Mugabe's electoral commission hold back results for over a month. A run-off is planned for June 27, 2008.
2008 - Today
Painting the opposition as a puppet of imperialist agendas, Mugabe swears civil war before ever giving up power. After months of intimidation, torture, murder, and abductions of Tsvangirai supporters, the opposition leader dropped out three days before the run-off. Voters in Tsvangirai strongholds have been chased from their homes or beaten into submission by election day.
Outcome: Robert Mugabe was re-elected.
But why all the fuss, he's a national hero, right? To quote the Zambian Post, these days "inflation has topped two million percent, fuel and food shortages are daily, manufacturing is at 25% capacity, and agriculture is essentially inexistent. The currency has depreciated from Z$ 200 million to Z$ 700 million per US$ in just three weeks. The highest paid civil servant in Zimbabwe makes the equivalent of $15 a month, enough to buy 52 eggs at a cost of Z$ 2 billion each."
This is something I've been following closely since before even leaving Canada. It's interesting being here in Livingstone now, a border town to Zim. They've already set up a refugee camp a few miles out of town with tents, food, and water ready for 15,000 (recently upgraded from 10,000) people. Should the UN trucks start to roll by, the sight will be reminiscent of a scene from 'Hotel Rwanda' or the international segment of the 6 o'clock news. I assure you though, my dear readers, that 1) Zambia would never allow anything to spill over the border, and 2) Mugabe has no real desire to come for a visit anyway. Oh, and if anything does go down, be sure G.I. Joe will arrive by helicopter to get my ex-pat self out (a luxury that my friends and colleagues here don't have, but that's another story).
What's my point in all this (aside from the history lesson)? First Mugabe: he's one of a few African "Big Man" leaders left over from the fall of colonialism. Think Cuban cigar, big golden aviator sunglasses, and a decent sized Rolls Royce and Benz collection. Not to mention ultimate control of the country, economy, and military under one man. Whenever someone talks about "African corruption", that's what comes to mind, right?. But wait, shouldn't that be "Zimbabwean corruption"? (Florin's second point to this rant).
I don't blame you. I personally can never tell if Alex Trebeck is holding a little Ethiopian or Tanzanian boy in the commercial, or whether Angelina wants to adopt a Sudanese or Kenyan baby. It's just an "African".
From what we see in the West on TV, it's easy to generalize Africa as a homogeneous group. But in reality, the 53 countries of Africa are as different as those of Europe in culture, language, politics, economy, and people. Zambia, in contrast to Zimbabwe directly to the South, is considered the region's breadbasket. It is a jewel of peace and prosperity surrounded by shady characters such as Zim, DR Congo, and Angola. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa is a leader of economic reform and anti-corruption efforts here at home as well as internationally. On language and culture, I don't need to leave Zambian borders to find 72 distinct tribes and languages. It's difficult to think otherwise when Western media paint Africa as a big country full of wars, famine, and Mugabe-like leaders.
Finally on democracy. Zambians have strong opinions on politics. It is a topic of high interest among almost every person I meet. Even in Zimbabwe, a country rampant with political violence, people struggle to reach the polling booths to take democracy and the future of their country into their hands.
All this talk of democratic responsibility leaves something to be desired at home in Canada. For a fun experiment, compare Canadian election turn outs on a day of sunshine with those during a rain storm. I would bet a percentage difference in the double digits. Perhaps people underestimate the power of an individual voice in creating change? Or maybe it's easy taking democracy for granted when you're not bleeding for it.
As a neat coincidence, today's Zimbabwean crisis falls on Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. Given the state South Africa was in twenty years ago, maybe there's hope yet for a place like Zimbabwe. As for us at home, we should be inspired by the will of the Zimbabwean people for a free democracy, put down our toques and maple flavoured taffy, and take reign of our hard fought democratic rights!
It was labeled 'an exercise in mass intimidation' by the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai (Chan-ga-rai), when Zimbabwean voters went to the polls today. The choice was clear: "Robert Mugabe" or "Robert Mugabe". To understand the current crisis in Zim, let's look back a couple of decades...
1980
Led by independence war hero, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe declares freedom from British rule.
2005
White farmers forcefully evicted from their land after refusing to share land with natives. Zim food security hits rock bottom.
2008 - March
Elections show Tsvangirai a majority winner but Mugabe's electoral commission hold back results for over a month. A run-off is planned for June 27, 2008.
2008 - Today
Painting the opposition as a puppet of imperialist agendas, Mugabe swears civil war before ever giving up power. After months of intimidation, torture, murder, and abductions of Tsvangirai supporters, the opposition leader dropped out three days before the run-off. Voters in Tsvangirai strongholds have been chased from their homes or beaten into submission by election day.
Outcome: Robert Mugabe was re-elected.
But why all the fuss, he's a national hero, right? To quote the Zambian Post, these days "inflation has topped two million percent, fuel and food shortages are daily, manufacturing is at 25% capacity, and agriculture is essentially inexistent. The currency has depreciated from Z$ 200 million to Z$ 700 million per US$ in just three weeks. The highest paid civil servant in Zimbabwe makes the equivalent of $15 a month, enough to buy 52 eggs at a cost of Z$ 2 billion each."
This is something I've been following closely since before even leaving Canada. It's interesting being here in Livingstone now, a border town to Zim. They've already set up a refugee camp a few miles out of town with tents, food, and water ready for 15,000 (recently upgraded from 10,000) people. Should the UN trucks start to roll by, the sight will be reminiscent of a scene from 'Hotel Rwanda' or the international segment of the 6 o'clock news. I assure you though, my dear readers, that 1) Zambia would never allow anything to spill over the border, and 2) Mugabe has no real desire to come for a visit anyway. Oh, and if anything does go down, be sure G.I. Joe will arrive by helicopter to get my ex-pat self out (a luxury that my friends and colleagues here don't have, but that's another story).
What's my point in all this (aside from the history lesson)? First Mugabe: he's one of a few African "Big Man" leaders left over from the fall of colonialism. Think Cuban cigar, big golden aviator sunglasses, and a decent sized Rolls Royce and Benz collection. Not to mention ultimate control of the country, economy, and military under one man. Whenever someone talks about "African corruption", that's what comes to mind, right?. But wait, shouldn't that be "Zimbabwean corruption"? (Florin's second point to this rant).
I don't blame you. I personally can never tell if Alex Trebeck is holding a little Ethiopian or Tanzanian boy in the commercial, or whether Angelina wants to adopt a Sudanese or Kenyan baby. It's just an "African".
From what we see in the West on TV, it's easy to generalize Africa as a homogeneous group. But in reality, the 53 countries of Africa are as different as those of Europe in culture, language, politics, economy, and people. Zambia, in contrast to Zimbabwe directly to the South, is considered the region's breadbasket. It is a jewel of peace and prosperity surrounded by shady characters such as Zim, DR Congo, and Angola. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa is a leader of economic reform and anti-corruption efforts here at home as well as internationally. On language and culture, I don't need to leave Zambian borders to find 72 distinct tribes and languages. It's difficult to think otherwise when Western media paint Africa as a big country full of wars, famine, and Mugabe-like leaders.
Finally on democracy. Zambians have strong opinions on politics. It is a topic of high interest among almost every person I meet. Even in Zimbabwe, a country rampant with political violence, people struggle to reach the polling booths to take democracy and the future of their country into their hands.
All this talk of democratic responsibility leaves something to be desired at home in Canada. For a fun experiment, compare Canadian election turn outs on a day of sunshine with those during a rain storm. I would bet a percentage difference in the double digits. Perhaps people underestimate the power of an individual voice in creating change? Or maybe it's easy taking democracy for granted when you're not bleeding for it.
As a neat coincidence, today's Zimbabwean crisis falls on Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. Given the state South Africa was in twenty years ago, maybe there's hope yet for a place like Zimbabwe. As for us at home, we should be inspired by the will of the Zimbabwean people for a free democracy, put down our toques and maple flavoured taffy, and take reign of our hard fought democratic rights!
On "Development"
The emails and messages I get on Facebook sometimes, one would think I'm on a noble humanitarian mission, curing the ills of malnourished orphans, work worthy
of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize and a pat on the back from Mother Theresa herself. I'm not sure if that's true, or at least not in the way you might envision.
Despite the romantic village adventures on the back of a motorbike, the thought of having direct impact in the field makes me laugh. There are two huge barriers to my work on the ground: language and knowledge. Even if my Nyanja skills went beyond mere "silly muzungu" entertainment, I don't have much valuable skill or knowledge of agriculture. The mechanized child labour of suburban lawn mowing is the closest I've come to farming, and what I know about vegetables I learned from a Greek salad at Boston Pizza. Instead, my time in the field is spent observing, taking notes, hanging
with the women who usually feel left out of the men's training circle, or playing with the group of children that inevitably forms around a muzungu when he arrives
in a village.
So what am I doing you might ask? I'd like to think of myself as a facilitator of positive change. An Indianan Jones of potential-unleashing. An organizational development ninja!
In reality I'm a neutral third party observer with a bit of business sense in an office sturggling with organizational issues. Chronic under-staffing coupled
with poor planning, not sticking to schedules, and a whole whack of poor communication make this a frustrating situation for a perfectionist control
freak like me. Thing is, the NGO's mission and the project on paper are golden. Every conversation I have with my coworkers leaves me feeling envigorated with hope, but in reality progress seems slow, and can be increasingly discouraging. The last couple of weeks have been rather frustrating for me. My creative juices stifled, I've been reluctant to post until I could regain a good perspective of the situation. The
next steps for me are to create some open dialogue between my coworkers and run an analysis of team strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). My hope in the end is to facilitate a shared vision of where we are heading and how each activity we engage in will take us a step further. I also want to encourage better planning, implementation, and time management while I'm here. What do I know about all this? Well, I'm no motivational coach or HR consultant yet. The skills and capacity actually already exist, they just need to develop into a beautiful flower of
efficiency, and that's where I can help.
So that's what "development work" is about for me. Though I may be complaining a bit, I actually much prefer this "development" over building schools or volunteering in a hospital. I assure you any Zambian can lay bricks and sweep hospital floors better than you or I could. On the other hand I like the potential of my work. If I manage to achieve my goals in the office and help break down these organizational barriers, the secondary level of impact that would result on the ground would be immense! The two guys I work with, Gilbert and Victor, are pure field facilitation brilliance, we just need the right environment for this brilliance to fully emerge.
Wish me luck!
of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize and a pat on the back from Mother Theresa herself. I'm not sure if that's true, or at least not in the way you might envision.
Despite the romantic village adventures on the back of a motorbike, the thought of having direct impact in the field makes me laugh. There are two huge barriers to my work on the ground: language and knowledge. Even if my Nyanja skills went beyond mere "silly muzungu" entertainment, I don't have much valuable skill or knowledge of agriculture. The mechanized child labour of suburban lawn mowing is the closest I've come to farming, and what I know about vegetables I learned from a Greek salad at Boston Pizza. Instead, my time in the field is spent observing, taking notes, hanging
with the women who usually feel left out of the men's training circle, or playing with the group of children that inevitably forms around a muzungu when he arrives
in a village.
So what am I doing you might ask? I'd like to think of myself as a facilitator of positive change. An Indianan Jones of potential-unleashing. An organizational development ninja!
In reality I'm a neutral third party observer with a bit of business sense in an office sturggling with organizational issues. Chronic under-staffing coupled
with poor planning, not sticking to schedules, and a whole whack of poor communication make this a frustrating situation for a perfectionist control
freak like me. Thing is, the NGO's mission and the project on paper are golden. Every conversation I have with my coworkers leaves me feeling envigorated with hope, but in reality progress seems slow, and can be increasingly discouraging. The last couple of weeks have been rather frustrating for me. My creative juices stifled, I've been reluctant to post until I could regain a good perspective of the situation. The
next steps for me are to create some open dialogue between my coworkers and run an analysis of team strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). My hope in the end is to facilitate a shared vision of where we are heading and how each activity we engage in will take us a step further. I also want to encourage better planning, implementation, and time management while I'm here. What do I know about all this? Well, I'm no motivational coach or HR consultant yet. The skills and capacity actually already exist, they just need to develop into a beautiful flower of
efficiency, and that's where I can help.
So that's what "development work" is about for me. Though I may be complaining a bit, I actually much prefer this "development" over building schools or volunteering in a hospital. I assure you any Zambian can lay bricks and sweep hospital floors better than you or I could. On the other hand I like the potential of my work. If I manage to achieve my goals in the office and help break down these organizational barriers, the secondary level of impact that would result on the ground would be immense! The two guys I work with, Gilbert and Victor, are pure field facilitation brilliance, we just need the right environment for this brilliance to fully emerge.
Wish me luck!
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