Sometimes, development can be
so easy! Our partner organisation RDF is a grass root organisation of Mbororo
people, a nomadic tribe. They work mainly for their own community. I admire
their passion and commitment, but also their projects.
For example, in one of their
communities, there was no access to clean water. So they decided to install a
tap where everyone can easily get water from. Once they installed it, they
found out that the women of the (mostly traditional Muslim) community would
hardly leave the house. They used to go to the river together to carry water
and wash dresses. But now that there was water in the community, they didn’t
have to go there anymore.
Instead of telling them; well
you have clean water now you have no reason to complain, RDF saw a new problem
here. The women were not able to meet each other that much anymore, they had to
wash their dresses at home.
So, they installed a basin at
the water tap where the women can wash their dresses. Sometimes they saw women
who came to wash the same dress every day, to be able to meet the other women.
But, at the water basin, there was no space to dry dresses. So as soon as the
dresses were washed, they had to go home to dry them.
Again, RDF saw the problem and
decided to solve it. They put a fence around the tap. If needed, they can tell
the men of the village that they did it to keep the animals out (Mbororo people
are keeping a lot of cattle). At the same time, the women started to use the
fences as a place to dry their dresses. Now, they can spend a lot of time
together, they have access to clean water, they don’t have to walk far anymore
to reach the river, they don’t have to carry water from very far. But the
social aspect of the river has just moved to the tap.
For me, this example shows how
simple it can be. But it also shows how important it is to involve the local
people. I heard a story from another partner organisation. They work with
disabled people and someone in Europe decided to donate a wheelchair for one of
their beneficiaries. Very nice of course and people here need wheelchairs.
Where it went wrong is that
they sent an electrical wheelchair. Looking at the roads here, this is very
difficult to use. And then, no potential beneficiary has access to electricity.
And even if they would have, it might be too expensive for them to charge the
wheelchair every day. So now they have a wheelchair which no-one can use while
many people are in need of a wheelchair.
In Knowledge for Children we
call this ‘feeding the hippos’ based on the great Ted Talk of Ernesto Sirolli (the first 5 minutes are great, the rest is of less interest to me).
I believe that involving your beneficiaries, following up with them and looking
at your projects and its side effects, is the best way. We keep trying!
