Development Challenges Continued..

Hello loyal reader (the singular form was purposeful!).

Spring term, known as lent term here in England, is in full swing and keeping me busy. My studies continue to help me peel back the layers of complexities associated with the field of development. This term I am continuing with my core course on development as well as starting two new courses- one on emerging health threats and the other on public management of development. I am also auditing a class on basic education in developing countries. A nice combination to round out my education, although quite depressing at times.

One of the challenge we have been talking about in great deal is the sheer number of actors and their often diverging priorities- international agencies, local governments, external governments NGOs, media, donors, and list goes on and on.

For example- the United Nations created the Millenium Development Goals to unite agencies and countries around a set of priorities that will help eradicate poverty by 2015. It is quite clear by now that many countries will not meet a lot of these goals. Supporters of the goals suggest that regardless they create a common thread for which to rally the development community and hold everyone accountable for improvement. However, critics argue that this big picture approach dismisses historical evidence that the most successful programs are often locally initiated and not externally defined. Here is an entertaining quick video outlining the MDGs.

Critics of such wide-sweeping reforms are looking for alternative ways to provide funding for promising initiatives in developing countries. Global Giving is a marketplace bringing together donors and social entrepreneurs venturing to ameliorate social ills. This idea is challenging the old notions of how aid should be distributed and decreasing the number of steps between giver and receiver.

Even the business community is getting involved in development work. The Global Business Coalition recognizes that the corporate sector can leverage its assets - financial and human capital- to make headway on some of the leading infectious diseases that are taking millions of lives each year- HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Launched by Richard Holbrooke, the former US Ambassador to the UN, the network has over 200 participating companies from 6 continents. A recent article in the Guardian discussed the work that businesses such as Coca-Cola are having on communities around the globe.

Let us not forget the newcomers to the development industry. Hollywood stars are constantly in the news for raising money and awareness about their favorite causes. Some laude them for their humanitarianism and others criticize them for impacting policy while not being accountable to anyone but themselves. A group of musicians just re-created Michael Jackson's "We Are the World" to raise money for Haiti.

At the same time modern technology and ease of travel is enabling common folks to move from eye-witnesses to ireporters. As the line gets blurred, journalism as an industry is bleeding into development. CNN's Anderson Cooper recently rescued a young boy who was injured during looting in Port au Prince, sparking intense discussions about the objectivity of journalists in emergency settings.

It seems like development is no longer monopolized by young idealists... others are trying to elbow their way in to the industry.

Cultural awareness

My travels to Spain and Portugal were fabulous and I thought I would walk away with all of these great cultural observations, which I did, but actually this post will be a reflection of a different type of cultural observations. During my time in Israel a good friend came to visit me, and seeing Israel through her eyes made me re-appreciate a few things unique to my country. Sometimes you need someone to hold up a mirror so that you can appreciate the finer naunces of your own culture. So here are just a few of them:

• There are these collective vans in Tel Aviv that are the alternative to buses. The process of getting on a sherut is quite unique- you literally flag the driver down while on his route, he stops mid-traffic and picks you up while others honk incessantly or drives right past you if his van is full (this is not the interesting part, although could easily confuse a visitor!) The thing that amazed my friend is that you don't actually pay when you board the van. Once you sit down you pass up your money via the other passengers. There will literally be several hand offs to get the money up to the driver and then an equal amount to get your change back to you. And this happens each time a new person gets on the sherut!
• There seems to be a general shortage of respect for the elderly in many western countries and Israel is no exception. However, without fail, whenever an older person gets on the sherut, the person sitting closest to the front will get up and move to the back so that s/he doesn't have as far to go. I have seen children, young moms, punk kids on cell phones, and adults all do this for their elderly. Kind of warms your heart knowing some things are still sacred.
• Israel shuts down on Saturdays, the Sabbath. No shops or museums are open and most restaurants are closed as well. So there are much fewer things to do on your Saturday. However this has probably helped foster an adventurous culture where families often go on day trips and picnics. My first Saturday in Israel my family packed up the entire refrigerator and we were off on our adventure. We ended up having a lovely picnic in this national forest between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. I can't remember the last time I did something like that in the States and really appreciated the quality time that we had together; after all isn't that what the Sabbath is all about.

I could go on and on but I will keep this short and sweet. I am so used to these aspects of Israeli life that I don't even think twice about their peculiarities to oustiders. David Brook wrote a compelling piece from a more objective perspective about the finer elements of Israel! Feel free to add your favorite cultural oddity (for whichever culture) in the comments section.

P.S. Just for fun I am including a few pictures from Portugal and Spain:

Voyage (not really but it sounds more adventurous that way)

To celebrate the end-of-term (what?! How did that happen so fast!) I am heading on my first European extravaganza since having arrived in London. I am going to Portugal and the south of Spain for 10 days with three girlfriends. Then off to Israel to see my family. I will post pictures and funny cultural commentaries when I find cheap internet cafes. Happy holidays!

Falling in love

I may have fallen in love with London tonight. Anyone that knows me well knows that I get pure joy out of pedestrian-friendly cities that allow me to discover new crannies or just feel the pulse of the city. I had that "ah-ha" moment with London tonight. I finally saw in it some of the qualities that I love about two of my favorite cities. It has the spirit of Tel Aviv- where spaces are always boisterous and alive and people spill into the street at all hours. Yet it also has that importance and centrality that Washington DC experiences, where big ideas are always formulating (that's why I love TED so much!). The feeling that one can do impactful work during the day and have endless opportunities at night just vibed with me as I walked home with a friend from the Rotary Fish & Chips event in the misty rain. Something clicked in me and it made me wonder if this is the beginning of feeling less like a visitor in someone else's city...


(A picture of the London night sky- courtesy of Google search)

The Giving Difference

A Jew, a pastor and a Catholic are sitting at a restaurant... sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? Nope- it was our table at a Rotary lunch meeting with the St. Pancras Club. It seems that wherever Rotary is located, beyond just doing good, diversity converges and conversation flows freely. The three of us got into a really interesting conversation about charitable giving- obviously an interest of mine from my work with NGOs and my desire to work in the third sector in the future. The Pastor argued that one of the disadvantages of a welfare state, such as England, is that there is significantly less charitable giving. People are less likely to contribute to prevailing social ills because they believe that the state should and will take care of the issue. This conclusion is quite rational since people pay relatively high taxes and the state finances most basic needs. I thought about this as I walked home- Do Americans give more on average than other nations? Would this decrease if the US instituted national health care or nationalized other programs? What are other repercussions of such a policy shift that are currently not being discussed in the media?

Of course I had to check the facts for myself. Turns out the Pastor was right; According to Philanthropy UK, in 2006 Americans contributed £145 billion (or 2.2% of the GDP) to charities as compared to Brits giving £15 billion (or 1.1% of the GDP). So the previous question stands- what are the hidden consequences- good or bad- of nationalizing health care in the US? Readers (all two of you) feel free to post your thoughts in the comments space.

The Paradox of Development

I seriously love my classes. I have always loved school so that isn't new for me, but there is something unique about going to grad school in that I ACTIVELY chose to return to school. For most privileged Americans undergraduate is a given- the actual university and degree is the element of choice. I don't know many people that didn't go to college immediately after high school (with the exception of those that did gap year in Israel). So graduate school is different in that you realize that there is some opportunity cost in not doing something else but you still find school to be the best move at that moment. For me it was a very active decision- I had a great job with Teach For All and a wonderful life in Israel. Most people wouldn't leave that comfort and security. But I also knew that I wouldn't have the type of career or impact I wanted unless I got a second degree in my field.

But I digress- so my classes have been very engaging. My program, Development Studies, gives us a lot of flexibility with our courses as long as we can prove they are relevant. After much vacillation and even a last minute class switch I decided on the following for this term:

• Development: Theory, History, and Policy (our required course)
• Complex Emergencies
• Global Civil Society
• Social Research Methods in Developing Countries
• Business Model Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid- a really interesting pilot class that will be official in 2010-2011

My professors are incredible. Beyond being leading thinkers in their field, they are very warm and responsive. That may be partly because our department only serves graduate students so all of their attention is focused on us. They constantly encourage us to see them before/after classes or discuss dissertation ideas with them. And because our seminars are only 15 students, they know all of our names.

However, the content has become increasingly more complex over the last 7 weeks. We began with historical perspectives of 'development' and have moved into more modern-day issues. And I often find myself sitting at the end of class thinking, "Wow, that is heavy" or "Where do we even begin in order to solve that issue?" Just this week I wrote a paper about the role that social/economic grievances play in causing complex emergencies and another one about the impact of colonialism on Africa today. I find that the more I learn, the more I realize how complex and interwoven these issues are. Where does one start 'development' work when everything needs to be transformed?

Yesterday I had a very cool opportunity to see a play sponsored by Save the Children and EveryChild. The play, titled Listen to Me, follows the stories of marginalized children from Bangladesh, India, Columbia, Malawi, Guyana, Wales, Cambodia and more. The two organizations interviewed over 400 children whose basic needs are not being met to create this performance in honor of the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The play was unbelievably powerful- we heard the story of an innocent 16-year old Cambodian who was accused of rape and sentenced to 15 years in jail, and of a Bangladeshi girl sent to bonded labor in order to support her family, and of an Indian girl who said, "Because of my caste, my fellow classmates ignore me and won't mingle with me or sit with me. Even teachers won't touch me after knowing that I am from an Arunthathiyar community. In some situations I cry and ask- why has God made me born in this region?" I had goosebumps throughout the performance as I was thinking of the millions of children around the world who are born into a life of poverty and inaccessibility. Just heartbreaking...

Tonight I went to see the movie 'The Last King of Scotland' about the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin who killed more than 300,000 people during his regime in the 1970s. I walked away once again realizing that the challenges that many African countries are facing are so deeply rooted it is hard to know how development workers can really create any systemic change. How does the 'developed' world help poorer nations provide for their citizens in a way that is not-patronizing and culturally-sensitive? Where do you start- with deadly epidemics such as HIV/AIDS or education? Governance or infrastructure? These Sisyphean issues are so daunting. I am sure that as we dive deeper into our coursework and learn of the successes that have been achieved, my optimism will rise again and my faith restored in our ability to make small differences that together amount to big changes... that is preciously why I joined Teach For America after all. But right now, the task before me seems colossal.

(I can't end a blog entry on such a pessimistic note, so am including this link to an inspiring story in CNN about Plan International's work to register the 'invisible children' of the world who, because of their lack of proper identification, can't access basic things like education, health care or government offices.)

Scholarly Experiences

I have been so busy that I have hardly had time to write about my experiences thus far as a Rotary Scholar.

Link weekend
I hadn't been here more then a week before I had my first Rotary event at Leicester (pronounced Le-ster). All of the scholars studying in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland were invited to this cute town in the midlands for a retreat. The highlight of the weekend was meeting the other scholars and spending time with my host family- Rotarian Kevin and his wife Elisa. We managed to see the National Space Center, meet the Mayor, and have a Barn Dance (I still can't really explain what that means, but definitely an experience :)














*Myself, Rotarian Kevin and fellow scholar Angelo; Mayor of Leicester speaking to the scholars

District conference
My host district, London 1130, had its conference a few weeks ago in the seaside town of Eastbourne. We had amazing weather and it was the perfect weekend getaway from London. This was a great opportunity to see Rotary in action here and meet Rotarians from other clubs Nicole Dryburgh shared her truly inspiring story with us - by the age of 20 she has achieved amazing things despite being deaf, blind and wheelchair-bound from her fight against cancer. She is now raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.


Bush Hill Park Club
My host club has been very gracious- inviting me to club meetings and their annual Fish and Chips event at the Motor Museum. I have been assigned a host counselor, Dan (pictured here with his wife Wendy, another Rotarian) to help me throughout the year. It has been fun to get to know them and I look forward to many more events in the upcoming months.


Socializing with my fellow scholars
Not surprisingly I have spent a good bit of time with my fellow scholars. Whether at a wine and cheese night, or meeting up at a pub, we always manage to have fun and inevitably end up talking about the various British things that astound us (examples- how inefficient banks are in London, why the tube line you need never seems to operate on the weekend, etc). Here are just a few of my favorites.














*At a pub with two scholars who are also studying at LSE; at the London Symphony this past week.