On Monday we woke up early and met our friend Rusila. We are going to hire Rusila as our cook, but she has also offered to accompany us during this first week to introduce us to people and translate in our initial meetings. We took the bus to Yauladrou and got off in the middle of the sugar cane fields. We walked up the hill of a long gravel road and found a small house made of randomly-fit pieces of corrugated metal. It sat on a small, tidily-kept plot of land that had been gardened with flowers, blooming fruit trees of every kind, and haphazardly placed rows of vegetables. In front stood a small, but sturdy man with a toothy grin. He greeted us “Bula vinaka” and welcomed us inside, where we were shortly met by his wife who sat with us and offered us the most delicious lemon juice I have ever had. David and I practiced our Fijian phrases awkwardly as the room slowly filled with community members.
This was a group of 9 houses that are part of the Fijian government’s social welfare program. They receive $30 US per month from the government, which they rely on almost entirely. Almost all are widows and many had some sort of disability. Most of the women were Indo-Fijian except for our host and a women named Elesi and her niece.
David introduced us and we explained the purpose of our organization and the projects we might be able to work on together. We asked them to explain their needs to us. All of this was translated into Hindu and Fijian, and the room hung in silence. After a few minutes, Elesi started to tell this story, which was translated and added to by other people in the room: Several years back an NGO came to the community saying they would bring running water and build toilets in each of the homes. The women were extremely excited to have access to water and sanitation in their homes, not least because of their various immobilities. They were told that they needed to open a bank account and save 1000 Fijian Dollars before the work could begin.
They had weekly meetings for four years, in which members were expected to contribute as much as they could. Finally, they reached 1000 and the organization came to install the promised water and toilets. The community was overjoyed as the first 3 homes were finished. Then suddenly the organization said they ran out of money and left. They left 4 homes unfinished. Looking at the problem, we found that all that was keeping these women from receiving their water was a few feet of piping. The toilets and water systems have now been sitting unused for 2 years, for lack of about $20 and an hour of work each.
This tragic shirking by the NGO, is frustratingly common. It points back to one of the major pitfalls of non-profit organizations: the is no accountability. Unlike for-profit businesses that are paid by the beneficiaries and have incentive to deliver quality goods and services, non-profits get paid by granting organizations and fundraising and have incentive to be good fundraisers, and all too often, not good service providers.
What was even more disturbing about Yauladrou is that the women there had no sense of empowerment. They relied on the government, outside organizations, and William (the small sturdy man who had welcomed us). As we began discussing possibilities of starting a cooperative business or teaching backyard farming, they seemed reluctant. They explained that they had tried businesses before, but they were too much work and didn’t produce profits. We tried to apprehend why the efforts had failed, but the conversation became overrun by complaining about how they hadn’t been visited by the government or NGOs in such a long time and what they really wanted was their toilets, water, and other new home repairs. I explained that didn’t want to just give them things, but wanted to create a way for them to be more self reliant, so they didn’t have to rely on organizations to come by to improve their lives. They nodded and said “vinaka” (thank you), then began explaining the hardships of starting a business without a husband. We went in circles like this for some time, then decided to come back next week when we would decide together what projects could be done.
Even though this Yauladrou government housing settlement includes some of the most needy people, it is hard to see a sustainable way to help them. First people must feel empowered, capable, hopeful, and eager to work, before any real change can be made. Maybe we can do that, or maybe the expectation left from years of ineffective aid will be too much for us to tackle.
This was a group of 9 houses that are part of the Fijian government’s social welfare program. They receive $30 US per month from the government, which they rely on almost entirely. Almost all are widows and many had some sort of disability. Most of the women were Indo-Fijian except for our host and a women named Elesi and her niece.
David introduced us and we explained the purpose of our organization and the projects we might be able to work on together. We asked them to explain their needs to us. All of this was translated into Hindu and Fijian, and the room hung in silence. After a few minutes, Elesi started to tell this story, which was translated and added to by other people in the room: Several years back an NGO came to the community saying they would bring running water and build toilets in each of the homes. The women were extremely excited to have access to water and sanitation in their homes, not least because of their various immobilities. They were told that they needed to open a bank account and save 1000 Fijian Dollars before the work could begin.
They had weekly meetings for four years, in which members were expected to contribute as much as they could. Finally, they reached 1000 and the organization came to install the promised water and toilets. The community was overjoyed as the first 3 homes were finished. Then suddenly the organization said they ran out of money and left. They left 4 homes unfinished. Looking at the problem, we found that all that was keeping these women from receiving their water was a few feet of piping. The toilets and water systems have now been sitting unused for 2 years, for lack of about $20 and an hour of work each.
This tragic shirking by the NGO, is frustratingly common. It points back to one of the major pitfalls of non-profit organizations: the is no accountability. Unlike for-profit businesses that are paid by the beneficiaries and have incentive to deliver quality goods and services, non-profits get paid by granting organizations and fundraising and have incentive to be good fundraisers, and all too often, not good service providers.
What was even more disturbing about Yauladrou is that the women there had no sense of empowerment. They relied on the government, outside organizations, and William (the small sturdy man who had welcomed us). As we began discussing possibilities of starting a cooperative business or teaching backyard farming, they seemed reluctant. They explained that they had tried businesses before, but they were too much work and didn’t produce profits. We tried to apprehend why the efforts had failed, but the conversation became overrun by complaining about how they hadn’t been visited by the government or NGOs in such a long time and what they really wanted was their toilets, water, and other new home repairs. I explained that didn’t want to just give them things, but wanted to create a way for them to be more self reliant, so they didn’t have to rely on organizations to come by to improve their lives. They nodded and said “vinaka” (thank you), then began explaining the hardships of starting a business without a husband. We went in circles like this for some time, then decided to come back next week when we would decide together what projects could be done.
Even though this Yauladrou government housing settlement includes some of the most needy people, it is hard to see a sustainable way to help them. First people must feel empowered, capable, hopeful, and eager to work, before any real change can be made. Maybe we can do that, or maybe the expectation left from years of ineffective aid will be too much for us to tackle.
1 comment:
Your post about people feeling empowered was most insightful -- and the lack of accountability in the work of NGO's -- and how a poorly managed NGO project can give a bad name to the work of future NGO's. Though their need was great, the one ingredient you need from them to help them in their great need -- empowerment was not yet present. Government largess sometimes creates a false sense of inadequacy and powerlessness -- whereas the gospel gives us a sense of power that transcends what a single individual can do because God can make us more than we are able. This is a powerful realization, that people have within them, the divine spark, to bring about good in their lives, even with very little. It seems this is the direction your thinking is going.
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