You may not want to hear this, but then again you don’t have to read it. Just be aware that the way you see your efforts is not always the way others see them. Creditability plays an important role in a person’s decision to adopt change. Creditability is a personal belief in the trustworthiness of information with which they are presented. Two farmers who are old friends from the same village will accept statements from each other with a high degree of creditability. They trust each other.
Western cultures have done little to establish their creditability among the populations of non-western countries. Westerners are seen by many as self-serving, greedy, exploiters, and destroyers of cultures much older than their own. The history of western interaction with various cultures has done little to counter this opinion.
As one African Muslim put it,”How can we trust the west? For centuries they have lied and cheated us, they even lie and cheat each other. Look at their news programs, read their books, study their history and you will see they are not a culture based on moral values but on the exploitation of the weak by the strong. My country is weak. Do you think they truly wish to help us become strong? Will the mother jackal give milk to the rabbit?”
I was sitting under a tree one day in West Africa. It was in a small village miles from the main road. I was sitting on a grass matt, enjoying a delicious bowel of Mafai and talking with the village chief about the problems of his village when a shinny new Landcrusier drove up with three “Europeans” inside. A local driver drove the car. Together the chief and I watched the car speed up the hill and stop squarely in the center of the village. The occupants poured forth from the air conditioning, donning safari hats, and dabbing sunscreen on their faces. They all three carried file folders. That’s when the chief turned to me, made a disgusted face, and said, “I see that once again we are an excuse for them to get rich.”
Aid and development has been around for over 50 years. That means whole generations have been born, lived, and died watching project after project come and go. Few projects have left lasting results, many were out right scams.
Stop making faces! We both know it’s true. This has led to skepticism on the part of the rural people, some call it aid fatigue. The result is that many are not open to your ideas - because they are yours, and they simply do not trust your motives.
Ask the average villager why your there and they will paint a picture you might not like, at all. My advice is that if you really want to help people they are usually more than happy to have the help.
The key is whom are you really trying to help? If it’s them then you had best get out there and ask, politely and sincerely, how can you help? Then try and find a way that your agenda either fits with what they want or subtly convince them that your agenda is what they want. That’s where community empowerment comes in. It is an extremely powerful tool, and one you ignore at your own risk.
As long as I’m on the subject, most rural peoples are extremely polite and at the same time very sensitive to the question of respect and consideration. If you go in with the attitude that you know what’s best for them, that your way is the only way, and that you are superior to them then don’t be surprised if they politely reject you.
On the other hand if you view them as people who have a different culture than yours, who have earned every right to their pride and dignity, and to whom you are offering technical assistance to make their lives easier - then you will most likely get along quite well. Remember those people exist in an environment, and under conditions, where you would probably never be able to survive. When it comes to their lives they know what they are talking about. So, never assume that your way is automatically the right way. You might get a rude surprise.
Some years ago a Peace Corps volunteer went into a village where the women were walking for several kilometers each way to fetch water. He instantly decided that what the poor villagers needed was a well in the center of the village. He went to the village leaders who politely declined to get involved. Undeterred, he went back to the capital and found a drilling machine and a grant to drill a borehole. The machine went out to the village and under the gaze of the whole village started drilling.
They drilled and drilled until at last the foreman admitted that the site, chosen by our young hero, had no water. A survey showed that the only available water was exactly where the village was currently getting it.
As the volunteer, and the drilling machine, were leaving the chief couldn’t resist an evil temptation. Taking the lad aside he said, “ We tried to tell you there was no water there, but you would not listen. We dug there about ten generations ago, and found no water. Did you really think we are so foolish - not to try the easy way first?” Well our young hero went on in life to become a very good Aid and Development agent, but he never forgot that first lesion. Maybe that’s why he is so good at it now.