TWACIB
It reminds me of a joke that we had in Malawi about the proliferation of useless (and often fraudulent) NGOs – we talked about the NGO TWACIB, which stood for “Two wankers and a computer in Blantyre.”
This joke from Aid Thoughts might be close to home for me, but there is a lot of need for introspection among all NGOs to make sure that, even if you are a wanker, you do no harm.
HT Owen Barder via Bill Easterly.
Barder relays a tale of “too small to succeed”
A friend of mine is the country director of a small NGO based here in Ethiopia. She thinks that what they do is worthwhile, but that they are far too small to be a cost-effective way to help people. Ideally she would like the work she does to be taken over and absorbed into a larger organisation; but there is no way in the aid industry for this to happen.
Paragraph of condescension
I ate my first mouse last weekend. In summary, this was a one minute experience with about 24 unique flavors, uncountable bones crunched and two near vomit moments. I managed to swallow the whole thing despite my better mental and guttural judgment.
This act of masochism was in part a protest of a recent article sent around by the Associated Press (picked up here and here, for example).
The first three paragraphs are fun and mostly harmless. But then comes to unecessarily canned and out of context “malawi is poor” fourth paragraph.
Malawi, with a population of 12 million, is among the poorest countries in the world, with rampant disease and hunger, aggravated by periodic droughts and crop failure.
The paragraph is not inaccurate (maybe the population, which is now above 13 M), but it is entirely unnecessary. I find it infuriating when the MSM spreads brainless generalizations of African countries.
Matt over at Aid Thoughts writes the reply that I wish I had written;
This sentence is copied onto the end of every single photo description in the article. It reflects the media’s preferred African stereotype. Yes, Malawi is poor, disease-ridden, and often hungry, but it is really defined by these things? If we’re going to start bringing more dignity to development, we’ll need to start with our newspapers.
America, with a population of 300 million, is one of the fattest countries of the world, with a frighteningly awful perception of poor countries, aggravated by a befuddled, profit-driven media.
Strong Words
Anyone who sabotages the economy is an enemy of the people and does not deserve to be in this country.
That is Malawi President Bing wa Mutharika, commenting on several South African nationals deported from Malawi for “sabotaging the economy and harming tobacco growers.”
Public v. Private
Tim Harford is the younger version of David Warsh when it comes to explaining economics in popular language. This times, he deliver an accessible summary of a paper from Das and Hammer, who find the following:
Das and Hammer tested the competence and the practices of a sample of doctors by sending observers to sit in their surgeries. They discovered that “under-qualified private-sector doctors, although they know less, provide better care on average than their better-qualified counterparts in the public sector”. This is not particularly mysterious, because private-sector doctors don’t get paid unless they can convince their patients that they’re doing a decent job. Public-sector doctors draw salaries and, if they are held accountable at all, it is through indirect channels.
Sugar, Sugar, You are my candy girl
International sugar prices are at record highs. This should help the Malawian economy considerably, especially during a year when tobacco prices are low.
It’s Institutions.
Obama (and his speechwriters) have been reading their North, Rodrik and Greif:
Across Africa, we’ve seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny and making change from the bottom up…
Now, make no mistake: History is on the side of these brave Africans, not with those who use coups or change constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.
…The people of Africa are ready to claim that future….With strong institutions and a strong will, I know that Africans can live their dreams in Nairobi and Lagos, Kigali, Kinshasa, Harare, and right here in Accra.
His reference to trade links with the US, however, were weak.
After the Rain
That’s the english translation of the Xhosa song, Nomvula, from Freshlyground (see previous post).
It’s the best song that I have on constant repeat these days.
Listen and watch on YouTube.
MDG RIP?
Damning words from Bill Easterly:
The United Nations today issued its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report 2009. To make a long story short, the accompanying press release says:
The assessment, launched today by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Geneva, warns that, despite many successes, overall progress has been too slow for most of the targets to be met by 2015.
Let’s face it: it’s over. The MDGs will not be met…
The MDGs warrant a world of merit for ambition and for providing a set of goals that the development community can target. However, the inability to . Development, expecially at the micro-level is not linear. Every project or program faces stops and starts, right turns and left. However, like the peak on the horizon everyone will reach it at a different time, following their own path. The development community can provide a better map and, maybe giving a lift to some countries, but to set a global expectation for achieving a goal in unison is to set expectations with ambition, not lucidity.
Easterly’s point about the lack of ownership over the MDGs is vivid.
WHO is to blame for missing the MDGs? Advocates enthusiastically advertised that 189 leaders signed the Millennium Declaration in 2000, but that was actually a sign of weakness rather than strength. Does an agreement have teeth when EVERYONE agrees – including many oppressive governments who had no more interest in alleviating poverty than in promoting Brussels sprouts? And if the agreement is broken, how can you find WHO is to blame, when 189 leaders (not to mention dozens of international organizations and NGOs) are COLLECTIVELY responsible?
I am optimistic that, in many settings, the combination of more stable governments, promotion of trade, and learning through development project experimentation ARE leading to an improved groath and development trajectory in poor countries.
Easterly doesn’t not want to give up on development just because the MDGs might not be met in all parts of the world. It would be a shame if this were to happen. But measuring of our work in development on grand plans and ambitious goals should not be the arbitor of success or failure.
License to drive
Going to any motor vehicle authority, I am reminded of Tolstoy’s opening line to Ana Karenina: “All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
My trip to the Malawi Road Traffic Authority on Monday of last week was no exception. What follows is a user’s guide to obtaining a license in Malawi.
I was instructed by a police office that after being in Malawi for three months, I was required to obtain a Malawi drivers’ license. Monday, I finally decided to end my streak of procrastination and dive into the bureaucracy of registering myself as an officially licensed driver.
- Arrive at the Road traffic authority as early as possible. ( I arrived at 8:20am)
- Go to the door labeled “1 Application room / 5 Driving license collection”, where you are immediately told to go to Window #3.
- Proceed to Window #3 and ask for an application. Don’t worry if it says “Learner’s License Application”…I was told that the form itself doesn’t matter.
- Enter Door #2. Oops…”Test going on!” you are warned by the attendant.
- Wait.
- Ok, Door #2 open now, go in and submit your application.
- After submitting your application, you are told to go to the un-marked door at the end of the corridor for “scanning and printing”. DO NOT CONFUSE THIS ROOM WITH THE ROOM LABELED “6 Photograph, Fingerprint and Scanning”
- Wait in line to be digitally fingerprinted (all 10 fingers) and photographed.
- Once your biometrics are in the database, proceed to “4 Cashier office, card receiving and Enquiries.” Don’t be afraid make physical contact with others as you protect your place in line waiting to pay MK 5270. (NB: never go to this room with an “Enquiry”…As with most of the signs, you are bound to go wrong if you trust their advertised services.)
- With your payment receipt in hand, return to Door #2 and submit all paper work.
- Obtain your temporary license at wait for “one to two months” for the permanent card.
The experience was a mixture of technology and speed at times, chaos and misdirection at others. All said, I can’t say that the entire experience was entirely more frustrating that what I have undergone in the United States.
Soul Power
This documentary looks awesome:
Zaire ’74 almost didn’t happen. The festival was “a fool’s mission” from the start, said Stewart Levine…When Mr. Levine heard about the boxing match in Zaire, he said by telephone from Los Angeles, “it just hit me — how about a music festival?”
…The government of Zaire subsidized the boxing match; Zaire’s dictator,Mobutu Sese Seko, wanted to burnish his country’s image. But Zaire would not finance the festival. So Mr. Levine rounded up backing from bankers in Liberia…
…With contacts at ABC, Mr. Levine said, he prevailed on the sportscaster Howard Cosell to hold back for 24 hours the news that the fight had been postponed, lest the American musicians stay home. He was also lucky, he said, that it was Rosh Hashanah, and many of the performers’ managers were observing the holiday.
…Many of the performers and Mr. Ali himself are shown as starry-eyed about Africa. Mr. Withers, who was well-traveled after nine years in the Navy, was more levelheaded. “I felt like a very privileged person in an unprivileged setting,” he said. “This Mobutu guy, this dictator — that didn’t cheer me up, the disparity in the wealth. There seemed to be a large gap between the chosen people that were around him and everybody else.”
Seems like a must see.
