Good Technology vs. Good Implementation: Recently, a paper was written which greatly offended our friends and partners in China. The paper described local grassroots efforts as being less effective than those made by One Earth Designs and other foreign-led groups because locals ‘lacked the technical ability to create sustainable infrastructure’. This is an opinion that we have heard voiced by many international development workers. BUT creating sustainable change requires much more than just good technology.
My favorite example is a set of greenhouses that one foreign aid organization built here in Qinghai. The organization didn’t tell the villagers how to use them so, instead of growing crops, the villagers stored their motorcycles inside so that the motors would start more easily in the winter.
Without an understanding of the social, economic, political, cultural, and environmental contexts of a region; without both listening to constituents and teaching about new ideas; without follow-through and continuity; and without scalability, development projects (no matter their technical excellence) are doomed to failure.
Informed Impact & Local Students’ Efforts: Unlike foreign-based organizations, local groups have a much deeper understanding of and greater ability to meet these conditions.
In western China, they have done so. Thousands of rural communities have accessed tap water, adopted cleaner cooking technologies, revised farming practices, and built schools with libraries through student and community led grass-roots efforts. A few examples are Shamo Thar’s Development Program at Qinghai Normal University, Pentok, The Bridge Fund (TBF), the Jinpa Trust, the Friendship Charity Association, the Normgo Education Association, and the Snowland Service Group.
Communities and grass-roots development groups have built a wealth of sustainable social and physical infrastructure by implementing their own solutions and reaching out to others (whether neighboring communities or aid organizations) for any additional resources they need along the way.
In fact, it is only when local groups need project funding, technical capacity building, or confidence to act based on local knowledge (even when others might put them down for doing so) that foreign-led groups are any use at all. One Earth Designs aims to build confidence and technical capacity in the arenas of science and engineering, but our impact is by no means comparable to that achieved by the teachers, students, and communities who really run the show.
Foreign Students’ Efforts: The offending paper was written by a student ‘changemaker’ visiting Qinghai for just one month. While the author cannot be blamed for misunderstanding the dynamics of local development efforts, s/he should be held accountable for acting upon misconceptions. The same holds true for all student changemakers.
Social entrepreneurship and sustainable development are popular terms among US students. But, although the US university community offers many resources to help students become changemakers (in their own communities or abroad), few turn talk into action. Many of those who do take action fail to understand the communities they work with or to ensure project continuity beyond the 1-3 months of their involvement.
Even worse, I have often heard students lying to the communities with which they are working. I once heard an Engineers Without Borders (EWB) regional staff member counsel local chapters to ‘tell communities that [they] will return regardless of whether or not [they] actually will’ because it ‘fosters a sense of trust’.
Students who really want to make change can start out with three steps. First, they can learn from the mistakes and successes of other students doing development projects. Skill-building conferences such as the Global Engagement Summit (GES) at Northwestern University, the International Development Design Summit (IDDS) hosted by MIT, and Clinton Global Initiative University’s (CGIU’s) annual student conference are just a few of the great opportunities in this vein. Second, students should spend time travelling and living in the region where they hope to make positive impact. Third, students should learn how they can best help directly from their partner communities.
Sensitivity & Academic Integrity Abroad: Lastly, please make every effort not to jeopardize the lives or work of your community partners.
As changemakers, your actions have the potential to create great positive impact in the world. The positive nature of this impact, however, hinges on your intentions. If your intentions are sincere, they will lead you to respect and connect deeply with those around you. By doing so, you will naturally find a way to do good things in the world.
One Earth Designs (OED) was founded in 2007 by Catlin Powers and Scot Frank ( OED website; OED blog; OED facebook page; Twitter@OneEarthDesigns). Catlin will post on Mondays and Wednesdays. You can also find her on Twitter @CatlinPowers.
