So my new insights:
- When I went to Nicaragua in 2002 (where I first caught the development/travel bug - I remember coming back and watching every plane and wanting to be on it, and having an intense hatred for our consumerist lifestyles) I was only there for three weeks - and thought I had just scratched the surface of development work. But after being here for almost eight months, I've realised that I'm still on the surface - because what really enables development work is a knowledge of culture, of language, of customs, of place, and these things take a lifetime to develop. I think I'm showing some of my Generation Y characteristics here - of just wanting to be able to achieve good and great things without having the patience to discover what they are or how to do them (but I think I will find that in any career choice I make...)
- A debate I've always had with myself, but has returned due to a conversation last week - what is development actually for? The obvious answer is that development workers want to provide those less fortunate with the opportunities and freedoms we have - like access to medical care, education, shelter, drinking water. But sometimes I think development can cross the border from providing basic human rights to telling people what we think is right - or even instilling Western values in them. Do we really want people to 'develop' to be just like us? At what point does disparity (of incomes, opportunity etc.) become ok - even a matter of choice?? I think these are the questions that a lot of people working in development never ask themselves.
- The NGO vs. private company debate has caused me to question human nature. I have heard many people say that NGO's are corrupt (wasting time and funding and shuffling paper around) because they have no profit to motivate them. But this is why NGO's are started (in my understanding) - because of an altruistic idea of helping the less fortunate. Is that not enough of a motivator?? Or only for the people who started the NGO? Meanwhile, the private sector, which is motivated by profit by definition, often scorns projects that aren't money spinners - which usually ends up leaving the poor behind.
- Something that concerns me about some development workers I have met is that they have a 'holier than thou' attitude - that this is the only worthwhile thing they could be doing, in fact the only worthwhile thing that anyone could do (I can say this because I used to be there). However - and this is the Christian coming out in me now - I think there's not really anything that anyone can do to make their life any more worthwhile than someone else's. As long as they are not hurting others by what they do (consciously or unwittingly - so its not just drug dealers or murderers I'm talking about here) then people are free to do whatever makes them fulfilled. Essentially, by thinking this, these development workers are saying that all people should be the same and have the same motivations - a ridiculous idea when its stated so clearly.
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