There is something in our human nature that perpetuates a fallacy, the idea that one problem has one cause and therefore one solution: Pests?…DDT, Economic Resistance?… war. Climate Change?… decrease carbon output, and my favorite, Malaria?…Nets! I think that this may come back to some combination of our ego and the market. In one sense we like to package things very simply in order to get the glory for discovering or inventing that magic bullet. From a market perspective, over simplifying complex problems (having one source and therefore one solution) makes it very easy for us manufacture something that others will be convinced to buy for themselves or others. Regardless of that which supports this fallacy, I stand to say that such a simplistic mindset is childish at best and destructively evil under other circumstances.
When we find problems in this world they are almost always the result of a convergence of various contributing drivers and legitimate and sustainable solutions can only be found by understanding the many tributaries, following them back the their origin and cutting them off at the source. I would like each of you to please watch this YouTube video below which tell a story about the destruction of AIDS in Western Kenya. This AIDS tragedy IS NOT the result of lack of understanding although this is important… and it IS NOT the result of a lack of condom availability although they can save lives… this problem is the manifestation of a convergence of social, environmental, economic, health and technological shortages that have contributed to such widespread death and suffering. As you watch this video please refer to the list below, and like looking for purposely imbedded hidden objects in certain children’s picture books, try to identify how each of these topics could be involved with the problem and/or the solution. Enjoy.
The “Hidden” Problems or Solutions
-Health Education
-Business Development Training for Women
-Micro-Credit for Women
-Home Gardening
-Irrigation Availability
-Composting Education
-Youth Empowerment
-Clean Water/ Community Sanitation
-Community Library and Computer Education
-Literacy Training
-Solar Power
-Internet Access
-Primary Education
-Cultural Transmission
-Solar Cooking
-Leadership Development
-Environmental Protection
Solar cooking has been a longstanding practice, tracing its origins to as early as the 18th century. The application of solar cooking for humanitarian needs in developing nations is a more recent phenomenon, taking off in the past three decades. As data from field studies is collected at research sites from Mexico to India to sub-Saharan Africa, more complete—and compelling—evidence on not only the environmental and individual health benefits, but also community acceptability and adopted use patterns, ground solar cookers as more than just experimental projects, but as realistic energy alternative solutions that individuals and communities can rally around in practice and in concept.
As of 2004, there were 50 different major designs with over a hundred variations; recent advancements have only added to those totals. One of the most common varieties is the box cooker, which was the representative type in a study by Pohekar & Ramachandran comparing solar cookers to other cooking forms:
On absolute and relative scales, the box cooker compares favorably to the others, especially in several key categories. Sun energy comes at no cost. Solar cooking does not release any air pollutant. Solar cookers rank best in cleanliness, requiring the least amount of cleaning—no strong chemicals needed to maintain surfaces, less water consumed (the latter particularly important in arid regions). Regular use of solar cookers throughout the year decreases dependence on other energy forms. It is estimated that a solar cooker can save, on average, 1160 kWh of electricity, 650 kg of firewood, or 205 l of kerosene per year. Comparatively speaking, from a South Africa study, frequent users of solar cookers consume 44% less fuelwood and 78% less charcoal than counterparts who rely on stoves. Financially, solar cookers make sense. After a mid-range initial cost for a cooker, the user reaps the benefit of daily supply of free solar energy. Over time, cumulative savings on fuel costs can potentially offset the price of a cooker; researchers estimate that a “pay-back” period can be achieved, on average, in two years’ time to as short as eight months. By using a solar cooker one is reducing future costs for the individual (such as fuel savings) while capturing societal costs or negative externalities (such as pollution).
The real benefits are not without drawbacks which, in part, have kept solar cookers from becoming more commonplace. Solar cookers need requisite sun intensity and duration in order to be successful, so that cookers are, at best, compliments to other cooking forms. Maximum temperature achieved purely from sunlight (and not supplemented by other fuel sources) is 300 degrees Fahrenheit, so dishes typically need 2-4 hours to be fully cooked, thereby also limiting the type of dishes users can realistically prepare. These shortcomings notwithstanding, field evidence demonstrates the above considerations are not total prohibitive factors. In Bolivia, 92.7% of participants in a solar cooker program continued to use their cookers three to five years after the course ended; in total, 62.4% of all participants use their cookers at least once a day during the dry season. From a Somalian refugee camp, 94.3% of households continued to use their solar cookers after a trial period. And whereas 75% of all households had exclusively relied upon wood-burning stoves, that percentage dropped to a mere 3.3% following introduction of solar cookers. Continued use by program participants is strong evidence that users are satisfied to the degree of adopting solar cooking as a viable energy alternative.
Aside from pure practicality, solar cookers are especially palatable to many organizations engaged in development work because solar cookers represent a form of environmentally responsible and sustainable energy alternative. Increasing evidence is showing that from user experience, benefits do indeed extend beyond the pragmatic. A survey of 1,200 homemakers—participants in a large-scale solar cooker program in India—yielded a fascinating take on how users internalized the benefits of solar cookers. While 86% of respondents reported the cookers relieved “drudgery” of meal preparation and 92% were satisfied in that cookers required less attention, one of the top answers was “exposes to the novel way of cooking” with a 94% response rate. Saving fuel and money are often associated with solar cookers and 88% of respondents agreed, but the second-best overall response was that the cookers “reduced the dependence on fossil fuels.” Lastly, health concern was well-represented in the survey with homemakers reporting benefits from “less soot formation on utensils” (60%) and “drives smoke away from the kitchen” (75%), but the top-rated response in the entire survey from 96% of all participants was that cookers “promote environmental cleanliness.”
In these responses, we humbly find the benefits rationalization process incomplete, because while the well-defined, practical features of solar cookers are real and impactful to recipients, so are those conceptual—even ideological—benefits perceived by users and potential users. Reducing fossil fuel dependency is important, environmental responsibility should be reflected in our daily practices—and solar cookers are one way to address these ends. That seems to be a consciously shared consideration. In this respect, the wants of both parties—promoter and practitioner, alike—come to confluence as partnership in a cause, elevating the project above the standard donor-recipient relation that underpins many development efforts. The question of benefits, then, turns on itself: exactly what is gaining what, who is benefiting from whom?
-Contributed by SCHAP Teammate Thien
[These posts represent a preliminary attempt to create creed of irrevocable laws for community driven humanitarian development work. They are not meant to be complete or polished. These are purposed to serve as a foundation for collaboration and wikiality-based perfection. If you have contributions, suggestions, criticisms, additions, supporting example, stories, and best even, personal anecdotes, please feel free to post a comment and we will update the post. I hope that you are here to both learn and collaborate so that together we can perfect this creed.]
One principle that I have learned through my experience in the field, as well as doing my time wading through thick World Bank source books, is the critical need for demand driven projects. What does this mean? Many failed humanitarian projects probably started out something like this…”Oh, I am sure that this person/ community needs such and such thing that I am capable of administering. Let me get it to them.” This is referred to as supply-based development work: I have something available, and I am looking for someone to give it to. What is the difference between the way that a sixteen year old treats the car that his parents picked out and bought for him and the car the he worked ALL summer for, found, bought and spends every evening fixing up? Of course when someone has asked for something and has worked for that thing then it will mean more, be taken better care of, and will ultimately serve its purpose better. In working with any rural community development assistance, your rule of thumb is to work with community leaders and help them to work through their own problems and the possible solutions to those problems. Let them know that you are willing and able to assist them in some aspects of a project out of the technical or monetary realm of a community, but that they need to decide what their community needs most, and they need to ask you for your help so that they can achieve their objectives. When you set the scene this way, as opposed to simply coming in to “save the day,” many very positive things emerge: 1) Like EVERY other aspect in life, people are more interested in and committed to ideas that they “came up with themselves;” 2) The project becomes a community project that the community owns and is responsible for… as opposed to the project of your organization to whom they will forever look to for answers and money; 3) You find that their ideas are often way better than anything that your text book could have taught you anyways; 4) You are not in the limelight, and instead the community leaders are. If this succeeds, they will look good and if it does not, they won’t look so hot. When all eyes are on you you usually dress to impress and rise to the occasion. Plus, when the project goes great, then the community will be more conducive to following the leadership of the community leader; having a community who loves the NGO, but disregard the leadership of their chosen leader is not a very sustainable model for perpetual progress at all.
Self Selection is also taken a step further. Often times the NGO will let the community know that they are available for assistance and planning, but that they are considering many different communities and that they will be only working with the most serious and committed leaders— only working with the communities who are willing to give the most to the project. Let the community say, “Pick us! We won’t let you down. We can contribute 10% of the project cost like you demand and we will make sure that we have the volunteer labor force you require.” Do you see, if you get them to say, “Over here, pick us” and they put pressure on the demand side, then you are positioning yourself to have an eager partnering community and the success of your project will be dramatically increased.
In creating your own organization, looking at the growing processes of other groups is essential. In an attempt to convey the importance of establishing a well-thought-out and properly executed humanitarian aid organization, we offer to you our knowledge of relations between developing countries receiving aid, and the programs offering it, as well as the outline of the way in which SCHAP came about:
Establishing a sustainability-focused organization goes back to my academic curriculum. A lot of things that I’ve studied and continued to study focus on the corruption of the humanitarian efforts in other countries: we’ve created dependencies and corruptions in places that they didn’t exist before. People are having difficulties, and you go in and think you’re doing something better, but it’s only making things worse. Instead of giving into such routine, however, I thought it important to consider the larger impacts certain projects would have on a region. In our world, we’re largely trained to focus on whether our efforts, or all aspects of life, are sustainable or not—whether they will continue into the future. I wanted to be a lead agent in bringing a sustainable project to developing countries in order to avoid falling into the chasm of “another one of those humanitarian aid organizations.”
There are a ridiculous amount of organizations that are doing no good, and there is a ridiculous amount of money that is also being wasted. Not everyone is evil or corrupt, but a tremendous amount of the large scale of humanitarian aid that goes on should not exist. It’s misleading to believe that they are all improving the lives of the people they reach out to. Numerous amounts of humanitarian organizations weren’t even created to help people, just in order to fulfill a political agenda.
However, not all humanitarian aid has been wasteful or uncaring in its structure. On the other side of the spectrum, organizations have been able to lend a hand to improving relations between developing countries and the United States. Everyone is now looking at the US as an evil empire, but now they can look at the US in a better light, and have more hope for the future. As part of SCHAP’s agenda, we’re getting young people involved that are learning about places in the world, who then grow and aspire to leadership and politics and business; they are able to bring up with them other people who are genuinely able to respect other parts of the world as well. We’re improving relations domestically and abroad. We’re doing things that will help to foster relationships organically: relationships require time, trust, communication, and they need to develop over time.
The establishing of SCHAP as such a successful organization, set apart from the weaker programs that are founded on the basis of in-and-out rather than sustainability, has been an extremely rewarding process. Two of SCHAP’s main goals are 1) to empower the recipients of our project and to help them become global citizens by bringing technology and an opening to the world to them, and 2) to empower people like you, who don’t have a direct course to become involved with humanitarian work; thusly, to empower our teammates with the necessities they need to help the world, and thereby empowering them to become global citizens as well. Our goal is to create and empower global citizens, even if there are on completely different sides of the spectrum.
Other gratifying experiences have occurred throughout the process, such as when we were asked to meet with Chief Dickens and his counsel (they’re responsible for governing West Kadem, the county that Matoso is in). He asked us to teach him how to perform these types of projects in other areas under his jurisdiction. To feel the compliment of the man asking for my advice proved that we had done something right. I realized that we had been successful.
Every time that I talk to Maurice [SCHAP’s chosen leader of the new Matoso] and he tells me of all the success in Matoso, and that our work is still successful, it is extremely gratifying. There are forty-five kids in school, twelve people learning to use the computer, and a clean town; it’s amazing.
To know that organizations such as SCHAP are able to be established and consequentially able to flourish is inspiring. However, the reality is is that far too many groups pay little attention to the importance of recognizing in advance the effects of a project. By gathering more information in regards to establishing your own humanitarian aid organization (or to joining an already established one), we hope that you, as an prospective global citizen, recognize the close ties of cultural and diplomatic relations between the United States and developing countries as a result of such efforts, and the necessity for proper execution and planning.
I perceive culture as those aspects of our life experience which helps us to understand our own existence, the purpose of our lives, manage our relations with other people, define our identity, find and reinforce meaning in various life experiences all the while collectively utilizing those aspects of our environment for survival. From an anthropologic perspective, culture naturally evolved in human populations for survival purposes. During this stage of our human development, adherence to these cultural dynamics meant life or death. Today, we live in a global world. A world that in many ways is defined by the cross section of countless cultures allowing us to take those dimensions of various cultures; the aspects of human organizing and self-identifying that we prefer rather than the ones which we are force to adhere to.
As cultures are blurred with the passage of time, so are the definitive lines dividing western culture from that of developing and third-world countries. In regards to such global changes, when I prepared for our first project, I was very concerned about how our culture would affect the lives of our project participants and beneficiaries, for better or for worse. I wanted to be sure to not cross the detrimental divide between minor influence and cultural imperialism. During the process of my reconnaissance and the actual carrying out of our project with our volunteer team, I came to realize that their culture was already extremely washed out by western “culture”—from their clothes, to consumerism, to media, to technology, and to politics. We could see strains of westernization in almost every aspect of their lives and everyday it seemed to replace more and more of their indigenous culture, but by their own desire. There are some cultures in the world, the Maasi people in Eastern Africa, various groups in Central America and the Amazon, the Menanites in North America, and various Muslim groups throughout the Islamic world who are quite adamant about preserving their existing culture and safeguarding against osmotic cultural transmissions from the West. Other than that, most peoples who I have come across seem quite intent to learn everything about “us” as possible. Some learning may result in their betterment and some may have a neutral or even negative effect on their existing cultural value systems. However, the ubiquity of western culture in this world makes me realize that if various groups are not exposed to aspects of western culture by me, then it will be by someone else. Because of this, I have come to realize that more important than considering the extent that our culture will “rub off” on the rural people we work with is the preserving the cultures we interact with: setting up oral storytelling by the elders of a community to tell stories that used to run so deep in a tribe and are now being forgotten, supporting the teaching and performance of cultural dances from the elder women to the young girls, creating venues for traditional ceremonies, helping leaders to reinforce values. All the while I always try to record and document such activities and events.
The acknowledgment of some certain culture-blending allowed us to better communicate with local leaders, as we were free of the fear of overstepping boundaries or interfering with tradition. From a distance, I maintained very regular communication with community leaders in the continual planning process. Once the team was there, I spent a majority of my time constantly meeting with local leaders as well as the community at large, and organizing and planning the execution of our project. At times they insisted that things were done their way, against our opinion and it turned out OK, other times we insisted certain ways of carrying aspects of our projects out, and it also turned out fine. For the most part thought, coming to a consensus was easy to achieve and underlined everything that we did. This process of deliberating was always very interesting and rewarding.
In all, awareness and sensitivity to the cultural divide is necessary when approaching a new project (or revisiting an old one). In order to foster bettered communication, and greater understanding between parties, you must acknowledge the existing culture in the area you are attempting to work in, and also realize that living in fear of “westernizing” the region can be avoided with careful planning and consideration of their customs and traditions.
Increased communication is always welcomed!
[These posts represent a preliminary attempt to create creed of irrevocable laws for community driven humanitarian development work. They are not meant to be complete or polished. These are purposed to serve as a foundation for collaboration and wikiality-based perfection. If you have contributions, suggestions, criticisms, additions, supporting example, stories, and best even, personal anecdotes, please feel free to post a comment and we will update the post. I hope that you are here to both learn and collaborate so that together we can perfect this creed.]
The Key here is to ensure that you, as a project developer or project volunteer, are making the most of your time and involving the players who are able to make things happen. In most things in life if you want to get things done… you go to the person who is in charge, the person with influence… so why not in development work? Different things make a person a key player, but once you identify them, sell them on your ideas and involve them; your project, assuming that you are doing good things, is sure to move much more effortlessly than if you were fighting the battle on your own.
Who are the key players? The simple answer to that question is that it is the person/ people in a community who have the most influence: those who people look to for counseling, advice and leadership. In most rural areas in Africa, you will find that there are two forms of conventional, recognized, male community leadership: the political leaders and the traditional rulers. Political leaders are the elected/ appointed individual associated with the state/ federal government (like in the States, you have various tiers of this leadership). In each area they have different names, but in essence you have the community leader, the regional leaders, state leaders and federal leaders. On the traditional side, again, Africa specific, you have compounds, clans and tribes. Often the traditional leaders, even those with relatively small jurisdictions, are referred to as His Royal Highness. Their leadership goes back generations and their appointment is a mechanism of their culture. Often times these leaders are involved with decision-making, solving social problems, mobilizing community members and ensuring security. Theo community-based political leaders, on the other hand, focus on administering state law, allocating state budget, running government programs and general community development (In Nigeria, this position is even called the Community Development Committee Chairman). As mentioned, they have different functions and it is very important to engage the local leaders (and regional leaders if necessary) so that they can use their social and political capitol to influence your project for good. Furthermore, if you want to be a star, then you would, once obtaining the respective leader’s buy-in, ask him for support based upon the specific nature of his position (i.e. ask the community leader to help you set up a committee to maintain the water project, and ask the traditional leader to talk to the heads of compounds to make sure that the project is not vandalized or thieved). Be aware, these men will often times abuse their positions of leadership and will look for monetary kickbacks and incentives. Don’t be dissuaded immediately. Often time they are very genuine people who want the best for their community and figure that they might as well try to get something for themselves. I speak to them in a very stern fashion and tell them that I am only interested in working with community leaders who are not only willing to work with us for free, but who would make personal sacrifices in an effort to benefit their community. Self-interested leaders will quickly lose interest and the one that you can work with will remain.
In addition to the political and traditional leadership of an area, there are many other types of key players who you should have your eyes out for: elders and not necessarily traditional leaders. They are just old people who everyone listens to and respects because of their age. Often times they are brilliant and other times they don’t have a clue… either way, it is important to give them the respect of running the projects by them and seeking support. You will also come to find that many communities will have some type of women’s network in place, and that the female leaders can often times be extremely dynamic and influential. Do not pass them up.
The other key players may be wealthy members of the community (obviously this is relative) or simply the people who everyone else likes… the social leaders.
If you are patient and wise enough to build relationships with these key players and get them to buy-in to your project, then you will find a high level of support and cooperation from the entire community.
[These posts represent a preliminary attempt to create creed of irrevocable laws for community driven humanitarian development work. They are not meant to be complete or polished. These are purposed to serve as a foundation for collaboration and wikiality-based perfection. If you have contributions, suggestions, criticisms, additions, supporting example, stories, and best even, personal anecdotes, please feel free to post a comment and we will update the post. I hope that you are here to both learn and collaborate so that together we can perfect this creed.]
Looking among the hundreds of thousands of communities in the developing world, it is not very difficult to stumble upon need. One challenge as a humanitarian is to decide where and how to execute the limited resources that you have available; any humanitarian organization has a finite amount of money and a finite amount of field agents with a finite amount of time. So, despite the ubiquitous demand, the decision makers are faced with the challenge of deciding how to allocate their energy and with which community/ region to carry out their project as well as the actual scope of that project.
Every organization has its own unique goals and will obviously use their objectives to navigate a portion of this process. Within this process, however, despite the unique goals of the operation, there are several universal principles that must be considered in order to make wise execution decisions. Here are a few of them:
1) Leadership- The single most important variable to the selection process is to find a community leader who you can trust, and even more than that, who you can connect to. It is important that the leader is someone who is not shy from having an intimate relationship with a foreigner and who has the best interests of his community in mind. I always ask several questions when meeting with leaders in order to discern if they are willing to make personal sacrifices for their community and if they are willing to employ their capacity as chosen leader to mobilize community resources to facilitate “public development” (as opposed to something that may benefit himself or a family member directly). The developing world is full of people, leaders specifically, who have their eyes out for NGOs to come and carry out projects in which they will be able to “chop” some of the benefits for themselves. These leaders know the drill and how to talk in order to gain trust. But, at the end of the day, when discussing personal sacrifice, those who are not deeply interested in the well being and development of their people will lose interest very quickly when they discover that there is no strategic advantage to their own pocket. The principles of true leadership know no borders and manifest themselves the same way across the world. The more that you know about leadership, the easier it is to identify individuals who posses these genuine attributes. No matter the need, I cannot and will not invest the time and energy of my organization in a community that does not have a gem of a leader in place. The reason is not that I do not care about the inhabitants of that community, but because I know that precious resources and opportunities will be wasted that could have gone to the legitimate progress of another. Few things are more rewarding then the powerful relationship that is developed between good team leader and a genuine community leader. Do NOT move forward until you are confident in the quality and intentions of the local leadership.
2) True Need- Whether your organization has a very specific objective, or instead has several development tools in its arsenal, it is very critical to take the time to really understand the true need of an area before moving forward. Often times it seems as though you can get a clear snapshot of the need within a short amount of time, just to realize after more time in a community, more walking around and more conversations with various community members, that things are VERY different than they initially presented themselves. Only with sufficient time and exposure resulting in a consensus of surveys and observations can you confidently decide the most appropriate route. Take enough time to explore several different scenarios of project involvement before you commit to project scope specifics.
3) Social Capitol- When first coming into an area, you may not realize how many organized forces are already at work in the given community, already equipped with the influence to make serious traction for or against your project. There are tribal groups, women’s organizations, religious groups, community development committees, youth groups and even other NGOs who must be recognized, approached and involved; collaboration can ensure success, but an overlooking of it will certainly lead to failure. Take the time to discover what social capitol is already on the ground and introduce yourself and your plans to them.
4) Saying “NO”- Our ultimate objective as humanitarians is to make the maximum impact possible with our available resources. Through time in the field, and in being familiar with your objectives you will come to realize that there are areas that will allow for maximum impact, while others do not. Sometimes it may feel like you are turning your back on a willing community when you find a community with a higher need, more potential beneficiaries and more willing participants. Wisdom is required in order to understand that saying “no” to one group is a critical part of this process, knowing that rational focus is absolutely necessary if your project is to be able to deliver real support and assistance. Don’t be afraid turn down willing participants, depending on the nature of your project, too many people on the ship may sink the ship.
At the end of the day, make sure that you allocate plenty of time and energy to the reconnaissance process in order to ensure the best use of your precious resources. Sometimes this preparation is disregarded to the extent that one might have a contact who recommends a project from oversees, and a church group or youth group or NGO make the prep and carry out the project with ZERO reconnaissance on the ground. Although there may be some cases of success, this is a recipe for disaster, manipulations, distortions, waste and ultimately failure. The recipe is not: “well, it’s the developing world, so they must need a school, or an orphanage, or a set of hygiene kits or T-shirts.” Trust me, if you don’t want to be the group that is afraid to go back to their project years later because
you know that is was not effective or sustainable, then commit sufficient time to the selection process in order to choose the best community to work with by understanding the real circumstances on the
ground and their most pressing needs. This process is extremely rewarding and creates the foundation of your relationship with the project recipients. You can’t rush a good thing!
[These posts represent a preliminary attempt to create creed of irrevocable laws for community driven humanitarian development work. They are not meant to be complete or polished. These are purposed to serve as a foundation for collaboration and wikiality-based perfection. If you have contributions, suggestions, criticisms, additions, supporting example, stories, and best even, personal anecdotes, please feel free to post a comment and we will update the post. I hope that you are here to both learn and collaborate so that together we can perfect this creed.]
I would say that this may be the single most important issue that needs to be understood, the lack of which understanding has resulted in the utter failure of countless projects. When project are set up to “do something”—build a school, build an orphanage, start a library, donate computers, dig a bore hole, and that is the extent of their objective and planning—then donors may as well keep their money. Organizations may lack the planning capacity or simply assume that a community or state will pick up where they left off. These structures/ systems will never take on a life of their own without meticulous arrangements. I have seen projects that may have had good intent spotting the developing world, but that have resulted in ZERO utility to the community. I have seen empty town halls, libraries and computer training facilities that have never been unlocked once since they were built! Church groups or non-profits often want the satisfaction of feeling like they “did-something,” being able to report to their constituency, “mission accomplished,” without being willing to invest in the time, energy, money, creativity and planning required for real impact. By carrying out such, “activity focused” projects you decrease local trust in non-profit work and deter support for potentially effective projects in the future as you let down community members who were briefly elated thinking that “development was coming to their community.”
If you shift the goal from “building a library” to instead having a functional library five years from now, and making information across the spectrum of learning readily available to all desirous community members, then you will naturally set up systems of sustainability. You will have security measures in place for the books, and a paid librarian/ tutor to run the facility with a clear understanding of where her salary and operating expenses will come from. You will have a mechanism for community accountability and have a commitment of regular communication and support for the first several years in order to assist in problem solving and to follow up with success. You will have a baseline for development of the community and the ultimate impact that was desired.
For every project that may want to be implemented, we have to take the time to ask AND ANSWER the following questions: what needs is this project addressing?, how will this project improve the quality of life of the recipients?, and what measures are required in order to ensure maximum impact and maximum sustainability? Remember to ask, is this a project that focuses on the activity itself, or the impact that it will result in? Create projects that are impact focused, not activity focused. This is the First Irrevocable Laws of Community Development Based Humanitarian Work.
Lots of little kids grow up with big hopes of changing the world. There are all kinds of systematic safeguards in place to gently let such optimistic youngsters down to reality; these safeguards explain to them that the world is just too big, and that things are just too bad for them to really make a difference. However, as dedicated men, women, and adolescents, we close our ears every time that people try to tell us such nonsense. We believe that there are things that can (and eventually) will be done to drastically improve the lives of rural peoples living in fairly extreme poverty all over the world. Organized efforts will be designed and implemented that will dramatically and sustainably increase food production, decrease health hazards, increase literacy and academic learning, increase technical abilities, improve community leadership and governance, clean up environments and support aspiring community entrepreneurs… AND WE WANT TO BE A PART OF THE ACTION! We believe that we are reaching a critical mass of empowered westerners, partnering with local philanthropists and community leaders, and forming a coalition designed to get to work.
This blog is supported by SCHAP, www.schap.info, (Sustainable Comprehensive Humanitarian Assistance and Planning) a San Diego based, young, grassroots non-profit with projects in Kenya and Nigeria, that is working to develop and administer sustainable and comprehensive community development plans. This blog is designed to be a venue for us to publish the research and the developments that we are both creating and finding. We are not putting up information in an effort to get credit for anything, in fact, much of what we will be publishing will simply be regurgitated from other sources; this blog will be a forum where we will be able to bring these ideas together. Ultimately, we will be able to create a junction for those thinking along the same lines to contribute comments and posts in an effort to bring together great thinkers in this field. In addition to the innovations and creation that will come from this blog, we will be able to establish an information platform that students and philanthropists can visit in order to better understand projects they may be considering or are already involved with. Nothing posted to this blog is in stone— we are extremely open to criticism, suggestions, and additions. As these things come in in conjunction with our additional findings, we will be perfecting our suggested measures and publishing new posts.
What on earth can I do to help lower pollution caused by human waste in a community that seems hopelessly saturated with contaminants? If I had $5,000 what is the most effective thing that I could do to improve this community that I love and care about? I am from a rural community and I want to do something for my home community… what can I do? These, and many others, are the types of questions that will be answered on this blog. Please take part in this effort and add your ideas, expertise, and experience. Only when we converge academic knowledge, experience, experimentation, pragmatism, and compassion do we discover feasible and effective ideas to help developing communities in need.
Thank you for visiting. We hope you will return regularly and join our community of social architects. Welcome to this blog!
Cory Glazier
President
SCHAP: Empowering the Capable
