Country Director for Save the Children USA in Bangladesh
“This is development work,” he said to me as I sat across from him. I was in the offices of Save the Children USA with Kelly Stevenson – the country director. I had lost count of how many meetings I’ve had with him – though I was grateful for every single one.
My view of development work and fighting poverty has certainly changed a lot since I first started this project. For one thing, I had come into this project with an overly consumerist attitude to fighting poverty.
Having started by using my money saved for an Xbox 360 to help the poor, I foolishly assumed that helping the poor would be as easy as buying an Xbox 360. That is, I thought if you had the money, you should just be able to do it.
But it’s never that easy. And, if anyone tells you it is, they’re lying.
The first thing I learned is that non-profit organizations don’t run like for-profit organizations. “Duh!” some of you are no doubt saying right now. I always assumed that non-profits would be as eager to take my money to help the poor the same way Best Buy would be eager to take my money and give me an Xbox 360.
But it’s never that easy.
Staff in Barisal - Working on My Project Means Other (Bigger Funded) Projects Go Temporarily on the Backburner
One thing I learned with Save the Children USA is that every level of their staff plays a fine balancing act. They work in a world where the need is so great and the resources are so very finite. Every time they give their attention to one project (or one person), it comes at the cost of ignoring something else.
In such a reality, you can’t help but feel a bit guilty. Every meeting I have with Save the Children was coming at the cost of something else. I also realized that – if they were purely utilitarian or doing it by the numbers – they’d never give me the time of day. I mean, when you have multi-million dollar grants to deal with, who would have time for a kid with a couple of grand?
Then there are emergencies.
Meeting to Discuss "Challenge Poverty" Projects
Emergencies in Bangladesh are like a giant reset button. No matter what progress you make or what you have scheduled – it can all go down the drain when an emergency comes. Whether it’s violence that delays a trip or a cyclone (like yesterday’s Cyclone Alia) – when an emergency comes, everything stops. No matter how important.
Over 100 days ago, I flew to Bangladesh in order to complete Challenge Poverty. The goal was to complete a Pond Sand Filter for a rural village & to help repair a school damaged by Cyclone Sidr. Although I know Save the Children is doing their best, there are a lot of hurdles and a lot of things to take care of before any of this is complete. I still don’t know when it will all be done.
It’s never as easy as it looks.
0 Responses to “It’s Never As Easy As It Looks”
Leave a Reply