I think the work of EWB is much more about power than anyone has realized or has wanted to admit.
It was funny: last week, the Southern Africa overseas team was busy preparing for a visit from Conservative MP, Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The plan: to take him to rural sites where we work to explain the purpose and methods of our work.
Well, in the end, he didn't show. He called off scheduled field visits in Zambia, and cancelled plans for field visits in Malawi. Instead, he stopped into Malawi to seek support for Canada's bid to be a member of the UN Security Council, while meanwhile the Conservative government is in the process of closing Canada's office in Malawi because budget funds are being directed to Latin America.
All of this I'm not much upset about. It's simply politics. EWB hasn't rubbed up against politics much to date, at least not in the uncomfortable way of "we want something and they don't want to give it to us." Politics is easy when everyone wants the same thing: EWB's push for better aid was a lesson in that--who could say no, that worse aid was what they wanted? But when there is a desire (e.g. moving aid money to Latin America) that is opposed to another desire (e.g. EWB's for poverty reduction in Malawi, Zambia and Burkina Faso) then things get interesting and get difficult. And they usually get decided by those with power.
Power--it's a taboo word, for sure. All the way from the village chief, to the Parliamentary Secretary. But I believe it is fundamental differences in power that have us inside this global system of inequality. Which is why I want to get more power to small Malawian farmers, chiefly by economic-agriculture opportunities.
Related, but tangential: I read this article today, posted up on EWB's forum. It's scathing, but contains some truth to be sure.
Link: We must all sneer and scoff at the corrupt jackasses of Africa
Author: Matthew Parris from The Times
Excerpt:
Heaven only knows what these well-paid and fashionably sunglassed recruits to "a career in Development" are in Africa for but it is not to bother the political elites. If you work in development in Africa and are not bothering a political elite you have some serious questions to answer about meaning and direction in your life.
intriguing link and interesting point about the gap between foreign development efforts and politics.
ReplyDeleteit disgusts me that many foreigners i know in malawi have no idea who the key political players are, they don't read the newspaper - don't keep up with the latest political drama and can rarely pronounce 'bakili muluzi'. their only interest in the elections is whether the roads will be clear to get to the supermarket and back. maybe where they come from politics does not affect whether there is bread on the table, here it does.
every single malawian gives a shit about politics because it affects their daily lives. that being said the fight against corruption is complex and on an individual level limited in scope.
so what do you suggest? as a non-national you don't have a vote and you typically haven't been here long enough to have a vested interest in which way the elections go.
the best you can do is NOT bribe the policeman, instead let your car get impounded and face a long drawn out expensive court case for speeding, all for the good of your principles.
someone is funding the anti-corruption bureau and i hear it is making headway. the fact is that international donors have criteria for funding (or withholding funding) and some of these relate to corruption and at the moment i think this is the most appropriate level and the most POWERFUL way the two worlds can meet.