Dependence and Sustainability

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well. A very special Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers this weekend, especially to my grandpa, my uncle, and my dad. I miss you so much Daddy. You know I’m always thinking of you and I’m motivated to be successful and the woman I am now because of you.

Work here in Bamenda has been keeping me pretty busy. Late last month, nine Peace Corps Volunteers and I organized an HIV/AIDS Peer Education Youth Camp as our Northwest regional project. HIV/AIDS rates in Cameroon are at high alarming rates, particularly in the Northwest region. We had 19 kids from each of our ten posts (one boy and one girl from each volunteer’s post; one did not show) arrive to the Northwest regional capital, Bamenda, for four days and three nights of HIV/AIDS lessons (disease prevention), condom demonstrations (both male and female condoms), life skills (public speaking, engaging in conversations with peers, different types of communication behaviors), guest speakers (a woman living with HIV; contracting the disease here is a huge stigma), and American games (hula hooping, Connect Four, Uno, the chicken dance). We also watched GLOWA’s documentary on child trafficking in Bamenda and had my colleague discuss how human trafficking relates to HIV. (Peep the documentary here: http://www.vimeo.com/12297404)

The kids’ ages ranged from 10-16. The idea was that we invited and trained young leaders from each of our villages/towns/cities to learn about HIV/AIDS , become peer educators, and return to their communities and teach their friends and families about the disease. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. They were asking all types of questions that they would not asked in their community, either because they wouldn’t receive direct answers or they would be too shy to ask. For sustainability purposes, at the closing ceremony they performed skits on how they would talk about what they learned to their community – such as talking about HIV, STDs, healthy relationships, and stigma to friends on Youth Day, at health clubs on campus, etc. It’s always great to be working with young people who are motivated to make their community better.

After the camp, I facilitated two strategic planning workshops with my host institution, MICROEDEC (business resource center), and CHRAC (conflict resolution and human rights NGO). After producing a 5-year plan with the former and 3-year with the latter, I will help them follow up with their operational plans, both internally and for their programs.

Another highlight with work: I found a fair trade project FINALLY! I had been running around in circles since last August trying to find groups interested in entering fair trade formally or at least adhering to fair trade principles (if you want to learn more, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade). In terms of handicrafts, there are two main cooperatives in Bamenda, Prescraft and Bamenda Handicraft Cooperative Society (BH). They are already fair trade-certified with the World Fair Trade Organization. For some reason, I thought they were doing well for themselves and did not need help. Boy, was I wrong. My favorite restaurant here is a part of the BH compound with a spectacular view overlooking all of Bamenda (there’s the restaurant, the store, and apparently a rest house). One night I was early for dinner at the restaurant and since the workers are super nice, I asked if I could visit the handicraft store. She told me it was closed but I could go to the next building and watch the artisans. I ended up talking to some men who were carving musical instruments out of wood and the Pa told me of the need to find overseas market linkages. Although they already export their products to Ten Thousand Villages (based in the U.S. and Canada), requests have plummeted. Thus, members of the cooperative, which consist of about 200+ artisans in the Northwest, have resorted to subsistence farming because they cannot sell their product. I met with the manager and I’ll be helping her create a new website, revamp their product catalog, make their store more attractive to tourists, market the rest house, etc. I’m stoked about this opportunity and hope this will help them find more sales!

Finally, I’m waiting on approval for my Peace Corps Partnership project proposal to be approved for an NGO fair in Bamenda. Once it’s confirmed, I will go into much more detail and enter into full fundraising mode. Basically, the main ideas are networking, establishing linkages, volunteerism, and corporate social responsibility. But I will update you on this very, very soon. =)

Now that I’ve been in Cameroon for one year, I feel like I have the experience to talk about sustainability and its relation to international development. Peace Corps warned us during training that when we live and work at post, the locals will be asking you for money because they assume you are rich (as we all know, this is not true). There’s small scale, as in locals asking you outright for money when you’re walking down the street. Then there’s the work setting, where people are asking you to do their work because you’re “white.” It’s the sense of dependency that’s been passed down in the African culture, and cultures around the world, through the shackles and legacy of colonialism. I understand this and it makes volunteer work frustrating. Sometimes I react strongly…NO I will NOT give you money. NO I will NOT do your work. I’m a Peace Corps volunteer, I’m an advisor, and I’m here to encourage sustainability. What is sustainability? Here’s the official definition: Of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.

Throwing money at people will not solve any problem. When big international donors come and give money to fund projects, then pat themselves on the back because they were “charitable” and don’t monitor their beneficiaries’ work…only to realize later that these beneficiaries have “chopped” (stolen) the funding for personal gain. Well, you looked away, the receivers know they can get away with stealing, and here’s renewed dependency on white people. We went over this in grad school…here, I see it in action.

(I need to read that Trade Not Aid book.)

My biggest gripe right now is the use of websites for NGOs. In the States, you can create your website and then register a domain name by paying a $20-50 fee for two years. Great, that’s easy because you can do your transactions with a credit card. In Cameroon, there are organizations that wish to do the same because they want their own domain name to make them look respected. But there is no credit in Cameroon. Thus, people will ask white volunteers to register their NGO’s website using a credit card.

But what will happen to the website after it has expired after two years? The NGO will ask another volunteer to renew that subscription with a credit card. I can understand this if you have a lifelong board member/donor who can continue to pay. But maost don't. Then there’s also trying to have donors send money through PayPal on the website. If there is no credit system, there is certainly no infrastructure for PayPal.

How is that sustainable?

As a Peace Corps volunteer, I’m only here for two years. When I leave, what will you do? Continue to ask another white person for help? What if they’re not around anymore? Again with the dependency.

This is frustrating because there are solutions to this problem. For example, thanks to my good friend Catherine, she introduced Wordpress to her NGO (and to me). Wordpress works as a blog, but you can create it to make it look like a website. It’s great for laymen, such as myself, where you don’t need to learn fancy HTML codes and can easily post and update items. Best of all, it’s FREE. No need to register on your credit card for two years of a domain name in a country where credit cards do not exist. Wouldn’t that make the most sense?

But of course, people are reluctant to do this. Why? Because we can just have the white person do it for us and I don’t have to learn all that fancy shtuff.

Anyway, I’m glad some people here understand. Especially in dire financial straits, Wordpress is a great tool for organizations to market themselves for absolutely no charge. I will be creating and launching websites for Bamenda Handicraft and CHRAC. Then I will teach them how to use the website, how to add content, and how to make it professional. Catherine, you rock. Less dependency, more sustainability.

If you have worked in international development elsewhere around the world in a volunteer capacity, I would love to read your thoughts and experiences. Feel free to comment.

Hope this was an insightful post and thanks for reading. To my groupies, I expect some responses from you. ;)

Happy 4th of July! I’ll be at the U.S. Embassy party commemorating 50 years of Peace Corps, as well as camping on the beach!

Peace and love.