Many people ask me what I actually do when I show up in a new country. Do I pick up the tools and help out in a garden project, do I build the walls or hire people to build? Am I training people on how to start a new business? Handing out food, water, clothing and blankets from the back of a truck? What does it look like?
If I try to explain “community sensitization” and “needs & asset assessment“, I watch eyes glaze over. As interesting as being an accountant I suppose …
Some wonder why I don’t “just start helping people out!?” I have one really important reason why:
I want the projects that I am involved in to last beyond me
I want someone other than me to own the project. I leave. I always leave and so will you. If you like the idea of starting a sustainable partnership, then how you think about a project will make it succeed or fail.
- Whoever starts a project owns the project.
- Whoever pays for the project owns the project
- Whoever manages the project owns the project
- Whoever problem-solves the project. Owns. The. Project.
Just like here. So what’s the problem? Some people ask, why not just own the project? Simple.
Whoever owns the project, owns the future problems of that project.
Have you heard those horror stories of wells that were put in and fell apart in a year, or buildings that are falling down and no one maintains them? Of course you have, we tell those stories of international development all the time.
I don’t want to own projects. I want to help the dreams of communities. I can’t do that if I am the one who decides how that community develops.
Sustainability is a tough practice. People say that they want to be involved in locally owned and sustainable projects, yadda, yadda, but wishing won’t make it happen
Here is what I will do.
- I spend way more time into the beginning of a project than the project itself – sometimes years. The more time you put into pre-project, the greater the chance that the project will last
- Unless people are going to die today or tomorrow, I ignore immediate needs and inquire about peoples dreams = the real local priorities
- I listen
- I look for people in the community who are already successful. I highlight what they are doing. And I point to them as a possible model for others
- I am inspired and learn
- I find tools and resources to help people discover and put voice to the kind of future they hope for their children and grandchildren
- I am offered meals and rides
- I offer tools for people to use (or not)
- I share examples of other communities who are successful and invite others to be inspired by the stories
- I am taught even better ideas from people as they explore and share new innovative ways to deal with old problems
- I walk alongside and share my own experiences and resources to help people fulfill their dream
- I receive new ways of seeing the world, new skills and abilities, new places on the planet to visit, and an incredible story to live
If I come up with my own dream, people will often welcome them, but they won’t own them. They are my dreams after all. My work is with community development and great community development takes time.
How much time should we take to start a project?
Mark Crocker