"New" idea - Stainless Steel Jerry Cans

Image via CharityWater
http://www.charitywater.org/blog/jerry-can/

As part of my attempt to share some of the things I have been learning in the fall semester, I wanted to post my "innovation" case for my health communications class. One of our assignments was to come up with some sort of health-related "innovation," which could be applying existing ideas to new subjects or completely new ideas for old subjects. Our professor was doing it as a bit of an experiment, as he noted that many say you cannot teach innovation, but he wanted to try anyway. So it was a pretty open-ended assignment, with many people returning ideas for new mobile apps for tracking diseases or online forums for patient support / exchange networks. My idea was to take something seen throughout the developing world and change it slightly, so as to improve health outcomes without a need for a major behavior change. Below is my idea as submitted.

Stainless Steel Jerry Cans

In many developing countries, the plastic Jerry can is ubiquitous. Usually bright yellow in color, Jerry cans can be seen on the heads and backs of rural citizens around the world as they carry water long distances from source to home. These containers are cheap, durable, and light. They perform a vital service to many households in their increasingly difficult search for usable water.

Yet these same communities are often afflicted with numerous water-borne diseases. Some water sources are visibly dirty, while others appear clean but actually contain microscopic bacteria and other contaminants; both are dangerous to a family’s health, with a particular danger for small children. Diarrhea is a leading cause of under-5 mortality, and contaminated water is a major source of diarrhea. A simple technique to purify water for drinking is boiling it, yet this task is not regularly done in poor rural communities. Even when a family does boil its drinking or cooking water, it rarely boils water used for cleaning dishes, washing vegetables, or hand washing. With a plastic Jerry can, a mother must poor out some water into a pot, boil it, and then use it. This is a great deal of work for water that will just be used to wash a child’s hand after using the latrine.

A simple solution would be to return to the Jerry can’s original structure: steel. While water could not be boiled in a plastic Jerry can without leeching and deformation, water in a steel Jerry can could be boiled in its container. The original Jerry cans, used to haul gasoline during World War II, would be very heavy, but a stainless steel version could be light enough to carry and thin enough to quickly boil water. Many families have a slight fire going throughout the day, as they prepare different dishes for meals. A mother could return with her stainless steel Jerry can, place it on the fire, and boil her entire container of water to purify it. This would create liters of clean water that was still in its original container, preventing it from at-home contamination. This water could be used as needed for cooking, drinking, and washing.

This simple switch from plastic to stainless steel Jerry cans would ease the work of health workers in encouraging behavior change in regards to boiling water, as it would create a single step where multiple steps previously existed. It could also be applied in urban settings, where a family member might not go as far to fetch the water, but the water she does fetch may be even dirtier. A stainless steel Jerry can serve as a water transportation device, boiling device, and storage device. Yet there are crucial considerations to ensure this transition is successful:

·         Weight: Even a stainless steel Jerry can may prove too heavy to carry long distances, so all considerations must be made to ensure it is light. An alternative could be aluminum, yet this material may leech dangerous chemicals during boiling. Instead, a sturdy yet thin structure of stainless steel is ideal.

·         Cost: One of the main advantages of the plastic Jerry can is its cheap price. The material is inexpensive and the canisters are available just about everywhere. Health workers would need to partner with donors to subsidize the cost of a stainless steel Jerry can, while product designers worked to create a cheap-yet-effective container. One possibility is to work with local metal-workers to build the stainless steel Jerry can, but this may require extensive materials and skill-building. Also, fuel wood would be necessary to boil the large container.

·         Safety: Despite being used to moving hot pots in the kitchen, women would need to be trained to handle the stainless steel Jerry cans very carefully post-boiling to avoid burns. They should be encouraged to wait a period of time to allow the container to cool.

Despite these important considerations, the simplicity of this intervention could prove very useful. A single boil could provide the family with many liters of clean water. This innovation is not a new technology: the container would be familiar to everyone, so the transition would hopefully be easy.

[For more on the Jerry Can, check out the cool history via CharityWater]

Friday Music Video: One Day More

I saw Les Mis (the movie) yesterday. It was awesome. More on this soon, probably. In the meantime, a great version (not from the movie) of a great song:

Last Minute Christmas Shopping: Sahalandy

I've written about the Malagasy women weavers of Federation Sahalandy before, but wanted to remind those of you in the NYC area that you can purchase their awesome silk wares at the Columbus Circle Holiday Market for a few more days. For those who don't remember, the women's group works with a few RPCVs to sell their scarves here in the US. Back in Madagascar, the women work to improve their own skills and those of people in their community via participatory trainings, empower women, and increase non-subsistence incomes. Their stall at the Holiday Market displays their beautiful scarves

Made from natural silk

Which is then hand-spun before being put on the loom

And with dyes and different techniques, the women create beautifully-colored scarves, hats, bags, and more!

For more information, check out their website, and maybe you can find a place near you to purchase these silk products soon

Participation

At the start of this semester, I thought I would be blogging more than last year, with a particular focus on some topics covered in my classes. Instead, the blog has been quite silent, and I apologize for that! I will continue to try to update when I can, and you can still find me writing about ICT issues at the New Media Task Force blog (like this post on maps used in the election).

I did want to talk about one topic that came up in a class on participatory design - citizen participation. Throughout the development world, participation is thrown around as a buzzword for every stage of a project. But what do we really mean when we use the term? What IS participation? Well for this class we had to read an awesome article written in 1969 but still relevant today: A Ladder of Citizen Participation I highly recommend reading it all, but here a few excerpts:

French student poster. In English,
"I participate, you participate, he participates,
we participate, you participate...they profit."

My answer to the critical what question is simply that citizen participation is a categorical term for citizen power. It is the redistribution of power that enables the have-not citizens, presently excluded from the political and economic processes, to be deliberately included in the future. It is the strategy by which the have-nots join in determining how information is shared, goals and policies are set, tax resources are allocated, programs are operated, and benefits like contracts and patronage are parceled out. In short, it is the means by which they can induce significant social reform which enables them to share in the benefits of the affluent society.

There is a critical difference between going through the empty ritual of participation and having the real power needed to affect the outcome of the process. This difference is brilliantly capsulized in a poster painted last spring [1968] by the French students to explain the student-worker rebellion.

The article goes on to describe the ladder of participation, and I think it is on this ladder that development, in particular, rarely rises to the top rungs (see image at the side). We can hope that the Manipulation rung is reserved for the worst type of projects, yet one of the examples author Sherry Arnstein references here is the Community Action Agency network (which, coincidentally, is a former employer of mine).

This illusory form of "participation" initially came into vogue with urban renewal when the socially elite were invited by city housing officials to serve on Citizen Advisory Committees (CACs). Another target of manipulation were the CAC subcommittees on minority groups, which in theory were to protect the rights of Negroes in the renewal program. In practice, these sub-committees, like their parent CACs, functioned mostly as letterheads, trotted forward at appropriate times to promote urban renewal plans (in recent years known as Negro removal plans).

Still, I think we have mostly moved beyond the "Nonparticipation" rungs in most projects. It is the "Tokenism" rungs where development initiatives tend to get stuck. For example, Consultation of citizens can be empowering, but only if it is tied to an assurance that their opinions will matter.

When powerholders restrict the input of citizens' ideas solely to this level, participation remains just a window-dressing ritual. People are primarily perceived as statistical abstractions, and participation is measured by how many come to meetings, take brochures home, or answer a questionnaire. What citizens achieve in all this activity is that they have "participated in participation." And what powerholders achieve is the evidence that they have gone through the required motions of involving "those people."

To achieve real change, we must endeavor to reach the highest rungs, where the people themselves have the power. Partnership is good, but Citizen Control should be the goal. By this, Arnstein means:

Though no one in the nation has absolute control, it is very important that the rhetoric not be confused with intent. People are simply demanding that degree of power (or control) which guarantees that participants or residents can govern a program or an institution, be in full charge of policy and managerial aspects, and be able to negotiate the conditions under which "outsiders" may change them.

Recently, the "idea" of people choosing their own destiny has been all the rage in development circles, yet in practice how much say do the people have? Are development projects working "for" the "beneficiaries," or are they working "with" partners, or are the citizens deciding their own needs and engaging outsiders as needed? And how much participation can really be attempted without a real revolution and redistribution of power?

Of course, on that last one, I tend to think that revolutions do not really change much for the poorest of the poor (see Madagascar, post-2009). The word "revolve" means to go around, after all, not to change (maybe "evolution" would be better?). Either way, I am reminded of a scene in a favorite movie of mine, Duck, You Sucker (aka A Fistful of Dynamite). Rod Steiger's character is a bandit-turned-reluctant-revolutionary-hero. Here are his thoughts on revolution:

I know what I am talking about when I am talking about the revolutions. The people who read the books go to the people who can't read the books, the poor people, and say, "We have to have a change." So, the poor people make the change, ah? And then, the people who read the books, they all sit around the big polished tables, and they talk and talk and talk and eat and eat and eat, eh? But what has happened to the poor people? They're dead! That's your revolution. Shhh... So, please, don't tell me about revolutions! And what happens afterwards? The same f***ing thing starts all over again!  

Whoa! Found the video of the scene!

So I have rambled on quite a bit, but there is some truth in the article. And in that scene, no? [Unrelated: That James Coburn had a GREAT mustache. Wish mine was that nice!]

My First Movember

As an unabashed fan of facial hair, you might find it surprising that it took me this long to use my manly mustachioed look for a good cause. Sure, I once implemented an island-wide "Beards Not Bombs" campaign with a few Madagascar PCVs in 2009 (Charlie, Chase, BH), but despite our best efforts it proved ineffective(*).

Luckily, this year some Development Practitioner colleagues decided to form a team for Movember. I thought I would join in the initiative. For those of you who don't know (and most of you do since you tell  me to do it every year), Movember is a campaign to raise funds and awareness for issues of men's health, particularly prostate and testicular cancer. Here are some of the tips for men's health. The campaign centers around men (and women) allowing their inner mustache to be free throughout the month. A goofy campaign for a good cause. Sounds like my kind of thing!

Need some inspiration on mustache care? Here's Ron Swanson:

You can donate to my own mustache directly here (NB: the profile picture is inspirational and taken from a previous multi-month mustache. I started fresh for this one).
Also, you can donate to our team, Mo' Money, Mo' Practitioners, here.
Feel free to keep it small, and I'll do my best to grow the 'Stache big.

Finally, on a related note, I just watched a pretty hilarious (and accurate) documentary from the Supersize Me guy called "Mansome." Highly Recommend It.





(*) I always liked Chase's alternate name: Sacrificing Practicality for Peace. Also, it was this campaign that led to Charlie's inspirational quote: "My beard has been looking for a good cause to support"

Friday Music Video: Ben Harper at Carnegie Hall

Wow, it has been a while! I swear I have some blog ideas ready to go, but I want to ease back into blogging with a feel-good Friday Music Video. Last week, I had one of those cool NYC opportunities - seeing Ben Harper live in Carnegie Hall. He rocked for about 2 hours, and it was awesome. I've been looking for good videos to share here, and most of the quality is pretty bad. But I had to share 2 my mom would love:

Ben Harper covering Jeff Buckley (covering Leonard Cohen). Includes a cool Ben / Jeff story:



Also for my mom, he covered the Boss' Atlantic City (the video quality is not so good on this one, and it skips his fun Boss story... but there is the awkward part where no one in Carnegie Hall knows if they can sing along to the "1,2,3,4!"

And this one actually has cool footage, and the song is fun - Suzie Blue:


Finally, Burn One Down... tough to choose an oldie/goodie, as he played so many, but this one will always remind me of how I somehow managed to use a line about laying off marijuana users in a Notre Dame letter to the editor (loooong time ago!) about tolerance. I mean, who doesn't love the line:

"My choice is what I choose to do,
And if I'm causin' no harm it shouldn't bother you
Your choice is who you choose to be,
And if you're causin' no harm then you're all right with me."

(Health) Communication Breakdown

"Breakdown" as in “analysis” or “dissection,” that is.

I am taking a Health Communication course this semester at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Our first mini-assignment is to describe health communication and explain how we think it applies to our areas of interest. Since it is ungraded and the topic may be of interest to some of you (particularly those who wonder what the heck I am even studying these days), I thought I'd share it here. If the topic does interest you and you want to read more, you should check out my professor Dr. Ratzan's speech "Quality Communication: The Path to Ideal Health" (if you have a university library access to articles; otherwise search his name for other works). I particularly like his self-description: "My service is not with a scalpel, but the modern day therapeutic intervention: ethical science-based communication." On with the mini-assignment:



Health Communication

In recent years, great effort has been exerted in all sectors to find innovative solutions to poverty. Whether it is increased banking access via mobile money, improved agricultural techniques, HIV/AIDS prevention programs, or building new latrines, these investments and strategies have great potential for alleviating heavy burdens on communities throughout the world. Many of these methods receive “fad” status among development practitioners, and it seems every year or two a different sector garners renewed attention and funding. Yet even the most proven technology or strategy is meaningless without a strong communication strategy that focuses on behavior change.

To understand how behavior change happens, it is crucial to look at the public health sector and in particular at health communication. The prevention of disease and the improvement of health and well-being require various forms of communication; these forms can be defined in various ways, but should include traditional and social marketing, public relations, advocacy, education, negotiation, and more. Defining health communication and its partner in many published articles, health literacy, in a simple phrase can be difficult, but that should not turn development practitioners away from studying communication. On the contrary, the complexity of communicating ideas should be embraced. This complexity means that there are no “silver bullets” in health or any other field; practitioners must make concerted efforts through different methods in order to affect change. Everyone working in public health and development should remember that behavior change is a slow yet rewarding process. Only a change of behavior that is natural for the beneficiary will prove sustainable after the practitioner’s intervention ends.

How do the various forms of communication work in concert to achieve behavior change? The answer is, as always, “it depends;” each specific situation requires a diagnostic understanding of the problem at hand and a holistic approach to communicating the relevant technologies and strategies for overcoming the problem. This is why I believe understanding the interplay of communication strategies will be so important in my career. As someone interested in community and economic development, I think the very term “communication” is integral to development, because it implies a participatory action that involves both participants as equal. We can attempt to encourage, sway, intimidate, bribe, or force our “solutions” on people in developing countries (or anywhere for that matter) as much as we like, but these efforts will be ineffective and potentially detrimental. Instead, conversation, listening, understanding, negotiation, and social capital are all far more important than believing we have the “right” answer. Through cooperation and communication we can achieve lasting change in the public health sphere and beyond.

and because I can't reference Led Zeppelin without a video...

Where Else to Find Me This Semester

This semester I'll be Blogging and Tweeting a bit for two student groups I am involved in. I'll cross-post some of the important stuff, but feel free to check them both out in full:

• New Media Task Force (Twitter: @NewMediaSIPA) - ICTs, mapping, new media, etc.
• SIPA Food Group (Twitter: @SIPAfood) - food security, sustainable agriculture, food access, nutrition, etc.

Advice for New MPA-DP Students (or any Development Grad Students)

This week, a new cohort of MPA in Development Practice students arrive at Columbia SIPA. The MPA-DP program, sometimes known as MDP (Master of Development Practice), is designed to train the next generation of development practitioners. It is a journey that can be both challenging and rewarding, fun and frustrating. As a mature second-year student, I myself have learned a few lessons I thought I would pass on to you, the incoming MPA-DP student. Actually, my wisdom is so profound that it should be useful to all incoming development grad students:

• Don't put much faith in the advice of second year students. Everyone has their own favorite class, least favorite professor, or favorite gyro stand (*). But you will quickly learn that each of our experiences are, well, our own experiences. They are heavily dependent on our own goals, learning styles, and backgrounds. Some students last year took classes that were supposed to be great, and hated them. And some took classes that they were warned against, and loved them. Gather as much information on classes/events/subway routes as you can, but in the end make your own decisions. 
• The phrase "development practitioner" can really mean whatever you want it to mean. I initially thought it meant "field worker managing a rural development project;" one of my classmates thinks it means "politician interested in social and economic development." In my class, students were or want to become: government bureaucrats, NGO directors, philanthropists, World Bank economists, entrepreneurs, journalists, consultants, and teachers, to name a few. You and your classmates are all development practitioners, so own the phrase and, if you are like I was and currently possess a limited definition of "development practitioner," broaden it and embrace your talented and diverse colleagues.
• Overwhelmed with quant classes and disappointed in your electives? Remember that most of your education will actually happen outside the (formal) classroom, in the form of student groups, guest lecturers, and events. Find like-minded students to chase a specific interest, or students with differeing opinions to debate. If you cannot find the student group that fits your specific development-related interest, start one. [Oh, and some of that education will come at the bars and clubs, too]
• Have a strong idea of what you want to get out of your education. It does not have to be too specific, and it can change during your time at SIPA. But do you want to gain skills? If so, what skills? Do you want to expand your knowledge of a certain sector, or diversify your knowledge outside of a certain sector? Do you want to work abroad after SIPA or in your own country? You won't have all the answers yet, but having some strong (rough) ideas will be helpful.
• That being said, be open-minded about your education. Try new things, embrace the chance to have new experiences. Have you worked in South America for your whole career? Consider an internship in Asia. Do you have extensive public health experience? Pursue agricultural development. Most of all, become an expert in "expectation management." If you have worked in development before, you probably are used to "fluid situations" and situations that can change suddenly. Graduate school is not much different, so prepare yourself by keeping your expectations... reasonable. [aka Ride the Wave Where it Takes You]
• Get familiar with the relevant development conversations. Sure, you've read Sachs (probably how you discovered the MDP programs). But have you read (or can you remember) Easterly, Sen, or Farmer? Those are just a few... there are lots of development books and journals out there, and soon enough you will have more than enough of these to read for your courses. So don't spend the few weeks before school starting a new book. Another, perhaps easier way, to connect with the current conversations is to read development blogs.  NYU MPA graduate Dave Algoso makes the case for reading development blogs here. As he puts it, "Blogs cover many of the same issues as both newspapers and journals, but with an eye toward what they mean for practitioners and policy makers." Some of the blogs he mentions are defunct, but they should get you started. If nothing else, read (new SIPA professor) Chris Blattman's blog for a few days and see if you don't become hooked.
• Blog about development. It is a great way to think through some of the complex issues you will be learning about over the next year. I could write an entire post making the case for writing a blog, but Dave Algoso already did that for me! (and he boiled down the reasons to three: Get Smart, Get Connected, and Help Others Get Smart and Connected). Or, if starting your own blog is too much commitment, consider writing for The Morningside Post or Communique, SIPA's student-run publications.
• When you are bogged down in problem sets and all-night study sessions, take the time to remember why you are doing this. This was definitely something I needed. The field placement will be helpful, but in the meantime be sure to reconnect with people who inspire you or issues you are passionate about.
• Don't put much faith in the advice of second year students. Especially those who repeat themselves.

(*) Actually this is not open for debate: it's the one outside the law school.

And It's One, Two, Three, What are we Fighting for?

Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, next stop is Vietnam...

Maybe a US-Vietnam Ware era song is not the best way to introduce my current trip to Vietnam... but at least it is an anti-war anthem!

Having wrapped up my internship in Timor-Leste, I am now embarking on a brief holiday to Vietnam. Why Vietnam? Well, I asked many, many people about their suggestions for southeast Asian travel destinations... and each person had a different place I "had" to see. But, if it was not there first choice, most agreed that Vietnam is a top-three place to visit. Couple that with my history nerd-ism, and my development nerd-ism, and my love of rice... well, it just seemed like a perfect fit.

I am flying into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). In between, I will spend about 8 days travelling throughout the country, with no real itinerary. I plan to see some cool mountains, bays, beaches, and rice fields (on the latter, I am connecting with some SRI practitioners for some hippie-organic farm talk). I hope to see some historical sights (Hue, Hanoi), some natural wonders (Halong Bay), and some more-recent-historical sights (DMZ, Cu Chi Tunnels). But no definite plans; I am equipped with a Lonely Planet chapter on Vietnam and the (so-far) excellent read on modern Vietnam, Vietnam: Rising Dragon. After reading a few chapters of Rising Dragon, I was convinced I made the right choice. How could I resist with lines like these:

Vietnam is proof that development can work; that a poor society can become better-off, and in a dramatically short period of time.

Life--not just rural life--depends upon rice.

Rice is such an integral part of Vietnamese culture that the word for it--com--can also be used to mean both 'meal' and 'wife.'

Should be a fun trip. More to follow...

Timor: Finishing and Farewells

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post bemoaning the fact that this summer was different than my Peace Corps experience. As fate would have it, the end of my internship brought about a series of similarities that reminded me all too well of the Peace Corps.

As I wrapped up my time in Timor-Leste, I could not help but feel like I had not contributed anything worthwhile. I certainly learned a lot about development, both through Seeds of Life and through the various other programs I saw in Timor-Leste. But my contributions were limited to costing and value chain analysis of the seed sector, and a few minor other projects along the way. I felt like I had taken and not given much back.

A similar feeling came over me towards the end of my time in the Peace Corps. Actually, it happened at all 3 villages I lived in: My contribution was difficult to quantify, and it seemed like my lasting effect would be teaching Malagasy kids new dances and songs.

Yet I was surprised, upon finishing my service in each village in Peace Corps, that numerous community members and co-workers asked me when I would be coming back. It was mostly the people with whom I had inconsequential interactions (or so I thought). Yet they all adamantly wanted me to return, and recounted the positive events we shared. My favorite was the man who attended one of my compost trainings, and actively ignored most of the workshop while making snide comments. He later came up to me to show me not only the compost piles he built but the crops he was growing with them.

Likewise, at the end of my time with Seeds of Life, numerous Timorese staff members came to me to tell me they wished I would return after school. Some of these staff members again barely interacted with me, yet they all had fond recollections and found my contributions beneficial.

So maybe I accomplished more than I thought; or my mistake was in looking for hard data when the accomplishments were in human relationships.

There was one more similarity between my Peace Corps time and my Timor-Leste internship: the disappearance of the people I was closest to right before my departure. In my first Peace Corps village, I left for a training and then ended up having to evacuate the country because of a coup. So I never said goodbye (in person) to my counterparts. My second village, my closest friends were all conspicuously absent the morning I left, despite assurances that they would see me off. And my third site, the President of the cooperative I worked with took off to some other town for a week before I left. Not to be outdone, here in Timor-Leste my host father took his two daughters to another district before dawn this morning, depriving me the chance to say goodbye. Maybe they all could not bear the burden of saying goodbye…That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.

What I've Been Reading: War is a Racket

In keeping with my recent theme of "how have I not read this yet?!," I recently came across this gem: War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier. It is a brief write-up by Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler of the USMC. The reason I am surprised I have not read it is because this man is the protagonist of one of my favorite historical quotes:

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested. During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

So you might have thought I would've come across this classic treatise against war-profiteering before now. You should be able to find the text online for free, but this book format included lots of context in the introduction, including details of a surprising plot that, as a history nerd I really should know more about - the 1935 "Fascist plot" to overthrow the United States government. And, for that matter, the Bonus Army march on Washington. The introduction ends with: "War is a Racket! remains an astonishing reminder that America once stood for constitutional principles and not power-enhanced greed."

Like Ike's departing presidential speech warning against the military-industrial complex, this book of profiteering corporations and blood-money is surprisingly relevant in the modern world. Butler wrote of leather companies selling thousands of saddles to Uncle Sam despite a distinct lack of American cavalry in World War I Europe. Such tales have been told throughout history, yet it was the solution he saw that seems to resonate the most. He spoke of the only way to truly end war:

Well-meaning but impractical groups can't wipe it out by resolutions. It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war.

Preaching ideas which have support (and disdain) on both sides of the American political divide today, Butler was not so much a pacifist as he was an isolationist. Strength at home, common-sense neutrality, and laws forbidding US troops on foreign shores were the hallmarks of his foreign policy beliefs. His ideas may seem difficult to apply in the modern world, or impractical, or out-of-touch, but they are well worth thinking about.

Finally, maybe the (quick) read is too much for you. In that case, I believe the book was adapted from this speech, which is perhaps more powerful anyways. Check it out:

To Hell With War!

A Few Feel-Good Links: Peace Corps Ethiopia Jams, Inspirational Tanzania Photography, and SCIENCE!

Sometimes we all can get a bit cynical about our work. So if you're having a moment like that, here are a few links that you can't help but smile about!

• Etiopiawi Nain (I am Ethiopian) - A cool Peace Corps Ethiopia music video (featuring Madagascar RPCV and current Ethiopia PCV Chase)

Participatory Photography in Mbola, Tanzania! Some serious MD(ebi)P awesomeness

Curiosity - Ok this one is a bit off-topic, but how cool is science? They are finding old riverbeds on Mars!

And speaking of science, guess who is making a return to (web) tv? None other than Bill Nye the Science Guy! Coming to the Nerdist channel soon. Here's a great teaser on a very important scientific topic:

What I've Been Reading: Poor Economics

My kindle enjoyment continues, and I finally got around to reading Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. The book could be viewed as an introduction of sorts to the two main sides in development economic debates: the "supply wallahs," like Jeffrey Sachs, who focus on increasing the supply or access to healthcare, education, or agricultural inputs; and the "demand wallahs," like William Easterly, who focus on the need for demand first, which will stimulate increased supply. The authors of Poor Economics, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, come down somewhere in the middle of this argument. Actually, they agree in some cases with the demand wallahs and in others with the supply wallahs. More often than not, they think each specific situation requires a nuanced and case-specific answer.

The lack of a grand universal answer might sound vaguely disappointing, but in fact it is exactly what a policy maker should want to know-not that there are a million ways that the poor are trapped but that there are a few key factors that create the trap, and alleviating those particular problems could set them free and point them toward a virtuous cycle of increasing wealth and investment.

So Banerjee and Duflo went in search of these particular problems, utilizing a "new" tool: behold the power of the Randomized Control Trial! If you are interested in development studies, you probably know that RCTs have been a big fad for a while now (and in fact there is now backlash to the fad). Other commentators can better debate the specific merits of RCTs as diagnostic tools, but those referenced in this book do reveal some interesting (and sometimes counter-intuitive) community dynamics. Some of the questions addressed:

-Why are Indians eating less as their economic situation improves?

-"If people do not take advantage of cheap preventive technologies to improve their health, could it be precisely because the cheap technologies are cheap?"

-People in the developed world have many healthful amenities provided for them: clean water piped to homes, sewage systems, mandatory immunization... "In other words, we rarely need to draw upon our limited endowment of self-control and decisiveness, while the poor are constantly being required to do so."

-What should come first, increased access to quality education (when there may be no jobs for the eventual graduates emphasizing these skills), or increased investment in businesses and industries that require educated labor (when there may not be an existing supply at the time of investment)?

-The success of telenovelas in reducing family size in Brazil

-Risk diversification strategies of poor farmers

-"Finding ways to finance medium-scale enterprises is the next big challenge for finance in developing countries." Ok, this one is not so much of a case or a surprise, just an issue I am particularly interested in!

-The difference between INSTITUTIONS and local institutions

Sometimes the authors' humor is more cheesy than clever, but in general the book is very readable and interesting. And if nothing else, I would recommend it based on one of its basic principles: "The natural place to start to unravel the mystery is to assume that the poor must know what they are doing." I believe most people have logical reasons for what they do, and to assume otherwise can lead to paternalistic development practice. Look for the reasons and you will find them.

Wait, wait... Banerjee and Duflo would scold me for that thinking as well! In regards to subsidizing and enforcing good health behavior, they say:

All this sounds paternalistic, and in a way, it certainly is. But then it is easy, too easy, to sermonize about the dangers of paternalism and the need to take responsibility for our own lives, from the comfort of our couch in our safe and sanitary home. Aren't we, those who live in the rich world, the constant beneficiaries of a paternalism now so thoroughly embedded into the system that we hardly notice it?

So, then, maybe what I like most is that the last chapter is entitled "In Place of a Sweeping Conclusion."

Malnutrition Challenge in Timor-Leste Requires Investment and More Innovative Responses like HIAM Health

Timor-Leste has had many successes in the past decade, but malnutrition rates remain high; the country has the third-highest stunting levels for children under the age of 5 [Stunting is when a child is too short for their age, and is a result of chronic malnutrition]. Only Afghanistan and Yemen have worse stunting numbers. Stunting impairs skeletal growth and cognitive development, meaning the negative effects of malnutrition will last a lifetime. But unlike the other two countries atop the stunting list, Timor-Leste has a great opportunity to address nutrition for a number of reasons: it has extensive financial resources available in the Petroleum Fund; its state of peace and security have been reaffirmed by the recent democratic election; and many organizations are already addressing nutrition issues in various parts of the country. 

Now is the time for the Timor-Leste government to invest in nutrition and make "Nourishing the Nation" a national goal. People throughout the country are ready to bid farewell to UN peacekeepers and welcome economic and social development into their lives. Countries throughout the world are committing to nutrition goals as part of the SUN Movement (Scaling Up Nutrition); hopefully, Timor-Leste will join them. I will not make a long case for investing in nutrition; instead, I will give you one quote: "Its cost-benefit ratio, the economists reckon, is extraordinarily: each dollar spent on nutrition produces between $8 and $138 of benefits" (recent Economist article on SUN movement) and one image:

Child on the right lacked proper care, nutrition, and stimulation  http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTCY/Resources/395766-1186420121500/YDNiii1_Nutrition.pdf

As noted above, many organizations are addressing malnutrition in Timor-Leste. This includes the many international NGOs and donor projects. More interestingly to me, however, are the local NGOs working to improve the nation's nutrition. During a recent visit from one of the Earth Institute centers, the Center for Globalization and Sustainable Development, I had a chance to meet with a number of these local NGOs. A few really stood out in there dedication, including:
-The Alola Foundation, working to improve the lives of women and children. Founded by the Prime Minister's wife, the Alola Foundation has programs specifically addressing mother and child health.
-The Bairo Pite Clinic, which addresses all health needs as best it can (including malnutrition cases) for needy patients. It is run by an American doctor who is quite the local legend. The center is very well-respected, with some patients traveling many days to receive treatment there.

But, being an Aggie-type and a "holistic-approach-er", I was particularly impressed with HIAM Health. HIAM, an acronym that translates to "Together we help each other," is led by its inspirational director Rosaria Martins da Cruz, and the organization deals extensively with malnutrition issues. It addresses treatment, particularly among mothers and children, through supplementary feeding programs and monitoring. But they also address behavior change and preventative measures, so that the patients who leave the center better-nourished will not find themselves in danger of returning as a patient again. This behavior change includes educational instruction in nutrition, cooking classes, and extensive gardening classes. I was able to visit during a gardening session, where the self-taught HIAM Health staff members led various permaculture and organic farming sessions. A few photos from that visit follow:

Educational Art 1: Food Pyramid

Educational art 2: Mosquito Nets

Drip Irrigation: Technical

Drip Irrigation: Home Made

Slow Release Irrigation

Land space a problem for your garden? Not anymore!

Checking the Compost

For the Garden Planning Fans!

And there was more: Moringa trees, seedling trays, seed preparation training, companion planting... It was an impressive garden, and the enthusiastic trainers were good at engaging the student farmers and encouraging them to participate for hands-on learning.


[Each of these programs, despite their great work, remain very small and are constantly in search of funding. Interested in contributing to any of the above organizations? You can donate to HIAM Health here; the Baire Pite Clinic here, and the Alola Foundation here. You can also purchase some fantastic handicrafts made by the women the Alola Foundation supports.]

The Problem of a Policy that Pleases All

Timor-Leste is in the midst of preparing its first real National Seed Policy. Technically, the country has a national seed law on the books, but it never formulated an overall policy to guide this law (and the nascent seed industry as a whole). Now they are working in a more methodical manner, starting with seed policy, then working on the national seed law and related acts and everything else needed. To formulate this national policy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) has enlisted the assistance of a Nepali seed sector expert with policy experience. This expert is working with MAF directors, Seeds of Life (SoL) team members, and local NGOs to create a first draft of the policy. This policy will then be shared at farmers’ meetings across the country, to incorporate their feedback and sensitize them to the process, as well as at every level of government and to various other stakeholders nationwide.

Such a process of sharing will likely result in many different opinions from different stakeholders, and I do not envy the policy-makers who plan to incorporate all divergent views into a coherent document. Yet even the current process to formulate a working draft is full of contradictory challenges and obfuscated opinions. There different interests among the Ministry, seed researchers, and civil society. Also, there are several international bodies and treaties relevant to seed policy, and even though Timor-Leste is not a signatory to all of them currently, the policy must adhere to these principles and guidelines if the nation ever plans to become signatories (and international recognition / cooperation is high on the government’s wish list). The result can be… confusing. A few examples:

-Local NGOs: We don’t want patents on seeds in Timor-Leste! Protect the small farmer! Promote local seed varieties! Hybrids, GMOs, and Terminators(*), oh my! Don’t force seed on farmers! Boo Monsanto!

-MAF (and/or SoL): Businesses will need assurances in order to invest in the seed sector here! Emphasize production, regardless of where it is from! Even small farmers growing their own seed will need some protection. Hybrids are not necessarily bad… Let’s produce our own hybrid seeds! Inform farmers of their options! Sure, no one likes Terminator seed, but GMOs can be good! Mon$anto, ca-ching!

And there are other considerations: How can Timor-Leste develop a demand for locally-produced seed when imported seed is a higher quality (and a higher quantity)? Should self-sufficiency for seed be a consideration?  Should local seed be incentivized? Who can grow seed? What punishments for seed sector malpractice, and who to punish? The international treaties require some sort of IPR; one option is a “sui generis” type of IPR that is unique to Timor-Leste and developed to fit its needs.  This gives more flexibility than a patent, but can such an IPR be written that satisfies everyone in Timor-Leste and also meets all international requirements?

As you can see, there are many considerations in formulating this draft. The parties did find some common ground on issues like protecting farmers’ rights in a sui generis law (rather than a patent), but in some cases one issue’s agreement was nullified or contradicted when the next issue was discussed. I am curious to see the result, yet hesitant to see if the policy can be both meaningful and capture all of the divergent opinions, even in this small initial working group.


(*)- Terminator seed, aka “Suicide Seed” aka Genetic Use Restriction Technology, is a type of genetically-modified seed designed to be sterile in the second generation. In other words, you plant it once and then it “commits suicide,” or you cannot save it for a future planting. Not synonymous with either hybrid or GMO seed.

Check out my New Media write-up of the World Bank's Maximizing Mobile Report!

The World Bank issued a report recently on mobile technology, IC4D 2012: Maximizing Mobile. You can read it directly here, or you can read my post about it at SIPA's New Media Task Force blog here. Interesting stuff!

Dis-integrated Approaches to Development Practice

Recently, I have been thinking about the hallmark of my graduate program: integrated approaches to sustainable development (or cross-sector interventions). This has been on my mind for a variety of reasons:

-When an Earth Institute team arrived to discuss nutrition intervention in Timor-Leste (*) with various stakeholders, the theme raised most often was the need for an integrated response.

-During their fieldwork, many of my classmates have raised the issue of program integration, both at project-levels and government-levels. Just what does a truly integrated project look like? How difficult is it to coordinate a truly integrated intervention? Etc.

-My own fieldwork has been with a project that is not an integrated approach at all. So while I cannot really respond to my classmates’ intriguing questions and thoughts on an integrated approach with my own direct experience, I can weigh-in on how a “dis-integrated” approach works. And in doing so, maybe discuss a bit of what I am learning here and how it relates to my overall development education (warning: possible self-reflection ahead…)

As I mentioned, Seeds of Life does not follow an integrated approach. Its work exists entirely within the Agriculture sector, and even then it deals strictly with seed. To date, the program has made no concerted interventions into other areas crucial to a developing country’s agriculture, such as technical extension, inputs, credit access, marketing, fisheries, or livestock. Seeds of Life focuses on creating and maintaining a national seed system for staple crops (maize, rice, peanut, sweet potato, and cassava). Yet although the intervention is mono-sectoral, Seeds of Life does take a comprehensive approach in handling every aspect of the seed system. The program addresses: seed research; formal seed production , processing, and storage; informal seed production via community groups for local use, including related marketing and business plan development; communication for seed-related issues, including media campaigns, print materials, and facilitator training for agricultural extension officers (specifically on seed, but applicable to other areas as well); climate change as it relates to seed development (and agriculture more generally); monitoring and evaluation, including socio-economic research; seed policy development; governance for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, particularly for budgeting, planning, and strategy development; and training of Timorese staff, in everything from English language (for graduate level studies abroad) to statistics to database management. In this sense, Seeds of Life is an example of focusing on a single problem (no self-sustaining seed system) and systematically addressing every contributing factor to that problem.

While not a typical placement for an MDP student, Seeds of Life does offer insights into development practice. Some of my observations include:

-In order to be more than a catchphrase, “capacity-building” needs to be built into every aspect of the program. This means having local staff learning constantly, with international staff members taking the time to train the local staff members in each task. Gradually, the local staff members should transition to leading meetings, trainings, and presentations, as well as designing work plans and strategies. The international staff can then serve as backup and advisor.

-Communication is key, and very few sector-specific practitioners understand it. This includes multimedia (video, comic books, radio, photography, twitter, mobile phone technologies…), publicity materials, and interpersonal communication skills. No matter how great the message may be, if it cannot be communicated properly, it will never reach its intended audience. Having a communications team is very useful, but they should also be incorporated into the staff as best as possible. In other words, instead of having the research team dump various tasks on the communication team, each staff member should understand the program’s communication strategy and implement it in his/her work.

-Don’t be afraid of a program’s expansion. While we should all guard against unnecessary program largesse, when a new need is identified in a project it can be very useful to hire staff and develop a strategy to address it. Such was the case with communication, which was not a part of the initial program design here, but is now an integral part. Of course, it is important to come to a consensus on the strategy and to ensure you hire strong staff for the new roles…

Finally, a few thoughts from the EI visit and my time at Seeds of Life that directly relate to cross-sector approaches:

-Many problems really do require a multi-sector response, such as nutrition. Coordination amongst stakeholders is crucial, and this usually comes from a unified understanding of the problem and the response. Government leadership is important in this, and sufficient energy should be devoted to developing strategy and implementation plans (**).

-It is great if your program does a specific thing really well. But do not isolate yourself from other programs; instead, coordinate with those projects in other sectors that interact with your own program’s intervention area.

-Share your successes and failures! This should be a part of the overall coordination and implementation of a strong strategy: what works in practice.  

(*)Timor-Leste, a country of 1 million people and $10 billion in its Petroleum Fund, has the third highest stunting level in the world.

(**) Another thing I noted while speaking with nutrition stakeholders is the importance of logistics. WFP does this well, and they pointed out that many of the nutrition programs are not functioning well due to logistical challenges rather than poor program design. Could be a useful grad school course for a practitioner to take…

Driving Demand?

(Note: I've omitted some figures and explanations from this post for confidentiality reasons)


Based on my analysis of the Formal Seed Production costs and value chain for Seeds of Life, I recently presented my findings to the Ministry of Agriculture District and National Directors. The main aim of my presentation was the government’s current seed purchasing practices, which revolve around imported seed. Timor-Leste imports tons and tons of maize seed annually, with this seed costing A LOT for purchase and transport to the districts. Meanwhile, seed produced in-country is not currently purchased, which is a problem for the development of seed businesses and local entrepreneurs. 

While local contract producers are making a profit selling their raw seed to Seeds of Life, they could potentially make a much-larger profit by cleaning and storing the seed themselves and then selling the finished seed to the government. An alternative would be for contract growers to pay for the Seeds of Life cleaning and storage, yet retain the seed as their own for final sale to the government. Such an arrangement would have several benefits: the seed would already be locally-available in one of the regional warehouses, saving on transport and reducing the likelihood of late-arriving seed delaying planting; the seed would be cheaper than the imported seed, around half the price; the farmers’ profits would increase, encouraging their further investment in quality seed production; “informal” seed production groups could market their non-certified (yet high-quality) “truthfully-labeled” seed at a lower price to government purchasers, creating a locally-produced hierarchy of seed prices and qualities; other entrepreneurs would see the demand for quality, locally-produced seed and invest in the sector; and the Timorese could begin to wean themselves from foreign agricultural imports and take pride in their own products.

I think the Directors understood these points, and were interested in the presentation. But any purchasing of local seed would depend on proper planning, coordination, and resources. Budgetary planning is a major agenda-point for the ministry, and something that they are working on improving (along with overall strategy preparation). Another issue involves procurement policies, which (as I understand it) currently favors imports because the government requires multiple tenders and large quantities (both of which cannot currently be met locally (*)). Such policies will need to be addressed in the country’s new Seed Policy, which is being drafted now. Finally, the seed sector (and agriculture in general) is a long way from being truly demand-driven in Timor-Leste; after all, however the government acquires seed it always distributes it to farmers free-of-charge. The result is that no farmer will purchase seed, unless the variety is new or there is low supply at planting season. But that issue will take more time to resolve (if it should be resolved at all… see, a bit of my pinko-socialist leanings remain!)


(*) Just to reiterate my point: the only way these requirements can be met in the future is to encourage supply increases through a demonstrated demand now!

Madagascar Security Forces: Re-evaluating in Light of Another Ivato Mutiny

I recently read an interesting article on Madagascar's worsening Dahalo situation, which discussed the frequent battles between organized and heavily-armed cattle thieves and Madagascar's security forces. (Check out the article here). One of the interesting points made in the article dealt with the illegal activities associated with military members. This includes the small arms trade, illegal rosewood harvesting, and the aforementioned Dahalo groups. This article came out last week, and has since proven quite prescient with quotes like this:

ICG's Pigou says: "The military remain kingmakers - although the nature of their relationship with some politicians is symbiotic. Any settlement must somehow co-opt them, or find a way of ensuring they do not interfere. While they may not be able to provide a political solution or alternative by themselves, without their blessing one imagines that any political 'solution' would be on a shaky foundation.

As you may have heard, rogue military personnel stormed a base at the Ivato airport in Antananarivo this weekend, with the mutiny apparently put down by loyal forces. You can read (my favorite English-language Madagascar reporter) Alain Ilo niaina's article here.

Details about motives are slow to emerge, but this is at least the third major military mutiny since I started following Malagasy politics in 2008. The first was the Ravalomanana/Rajoelina crisis in 2009, culminating in rebellious officers backing the latter's coup, and the second was a similar Ivato mutiny in late 2010, which also had murky causes.

When looking at potential motives and causes of this repeated instability of the security forces, it is useful to refer to a source used by the Dahalo article above: The Small Arms Survey 2011: Ethos of Exploitation:
Insecurity and Predation in Madagascar. The Dahalo article quotes this report as follows:

"The gendarmerie is characterized by an inflated proportion of high-ranking officers, a meddling in domestic politics, and entrepreneurial enrichment - as is the army... [The gendarmerie] are ultimately an ineffective service on the island's vast territory," the SAS report said.

You can view a summary of the report for free here. It includes useful insight, such as:

Fifty years after Madagascar’s independence, the armed forces and the police have become part of the island’s security liabilities. In March 2009, President Marc Ravalomanana was not overthrown by a violent military coup, nor by a popular movement, as Andry Rajoelina’s current transitional government, the HAT, often claims. Ravalomanana had lost control of the state’s security apparatus, and it was the mutiny of non-commissioned officers that played a crucial role in the unconstitutional transfer of power to Rajoelina.

...the main rationale for a career in the military or gendarmerie is the pursuit of personal gain...
...Today, Madagascar’s security sector is characterized by severely underpaid and ill-equipped regular forces, far too many high ranking officers, and a mushrooming of special intervention units with questionable mandates...
...Collusion between elements of the country’s security sector and both foreign and domestic business interests has sharply intensified since the political crisis of early 2009......The state administration has... also turned a blind eye to the operations of highly aggressive indigenous private security companies that hunt down rural bandits...

This Ivato mutiny may have an affect on the planned negotiations between Ravalomanana and Rajoelina, which are supposed to happen before a SADC deadline for the crisis' resolution on July 31 (some Twitter commentators are already claiming it is some sort of conspiracy to prevent the meeting from happening). But these deadlines have been set before, and they have passed, and then been set again... Meanwhile, this conclusion from the SAS report sums up the urgency Madagascar faces:

Meanwhile, the majority of bilateral and multilateral development programmes remain suspended. Such work, it is said, requires a legitimate national partner. Just as in 2002, when the country was on the brink of civil war, the international community has adopted a wait-and-see strategy, sitting out the crisis and hoping for the return of an elected government so that its development cooperation can recommence.
Every additional day of Madagascar’s political impasse plays into the hands of criminal networks that continue to consolidate their position on the island. Until the crisis is resolved and the dysfunctional security sector is tackled head-on, economic predation, ecological degradation, armed violence, and severe poverty will continue to be the key characteristics of the world’s fourthlargest island.

Where have all the MDP Summer Blogs Gone part 2: Haitian Sensations

No sooner did I post that there are too few MDP summer blogs than I find out that there are at least two more, both from students doing fieldwork in Haiti. Kathryn is blogging about her work in nutrition, and recently included a post about something I keep meaning to write about: comparing Haiti and Madagascar (well, in my case it will be comparing my experiences in Madagascar to those in Timor, which will come... some day soon?). Megann is blogging about her experiences as well, mostly in WatSan I believe. In particular, she is writing about topics that fascinate me like participatory planning and behavioral change. Check them both out!

Post-Election "Stoners" in Rumor-Leste

I decided to wait a few days after recent post-election violence here in Timor-Leste before talking about it. I did this so for two reasons: 1) so my mom would not get too concerned about a situation that was sounding worse than it was; and 2) because I figured it would calm down soon. Now, almost a week after opposition party Fretilin's suppporters started throwing rocks at cars and other outbursts of "protest," the situation has indeed calmed down. There are still isolated rock-throwing incidents in the capital and in the eastern districts Viqueque and Baucau (hotbeds of Fretilin support). But mostly the worries of a return to 2006-style violence (which pitted the police against the military and houses burning throughout the country) seem unfounded. Most Timorese seemed to immediately condemn the violence and wanted to just move on.

So what caused this violence? CNRT, the Prime Minister's party, won the most seats in the recent parliamentary election, but not enough for an outright majority. So it had to form a coalition. The second-place vote-getter, Fretilin, had just spent 5 years as the opposition and hoped to be a part of the coalition with CNRT. This would create a "unity" government that would represent most of the country's voters. Instead, CNRT formed a government with the 2 smaller parties (PD and Frenta Mudanca), and used provocative language in a televised party conference. This language, and the government snub, outraged some Fretilin supporters, and they took their anger out on government (and UN/NGO) vehicles. Despite the fact that the cry heard throughout Sunday and Monday of "Cars are getting stoned!" sounds like a line from a Cheech and Chong movie, it became a regularity to hear tales of rocks smashing windows and denting cars as they drove along one of Dili's main strips. And outside the capital, mostly in the east, more reports were heard of similar incidents. Worse, one student supporter of Fretilin was shot by a police officer, and some Fretilin members tried to use this incident for political purposes, displaying the body in a processing in Dili. Cooler heads prevailed, apologies were made, and the last few days have been quite peaceful. Still, there is a lingering fear that any day Timor is just a stone's throw away from devolving into violence.

There are a couple of interesting points in this. One is that Timor-Leste is full of fear, thanks to its turbulent history. Timorese writer Dalia Agostinho has a great blog post on this here entitled Clashes in East Timor "The fear that dominates us":

In social networks ther are  comments emphasizing this "disgrace" and turning it into a form of political propaganda proclaiming it  even as a heroic act. In fact we feel the  loss and respect it , however, we must look at these events in a different way, we cannot be straight nor fail to be concise, because these are acts which are recorded in the history of our country and serve as a lesson so that we fight against ourselves and against our own impulsiveness, because sometimes, we are our own enemies, and the result is in plain sight of us all in addition that  to this type of "emphasizing and transformation" in no way contributes to the development and welfare of our country.

The other interesting point is that Timor-Leste is dominated by unfounded fears, perpetuated by the incredibly quick network of rumors here. One of my colleagues likes to use the term "Rumor-Leste," and indeed it seems people are often responding to a perceived slight or atrocity a few districts away before there is any confirmation that it even happened. The fact that the CNRT comments were televised made for a rare confirmation immediately, but the subsequent facts were slow to emerge and rumors ran rampant throughout the country. There was nothing to do but wait and see what the truth of the situation was. Rumors that cause violent reactions can be more dangerous than the truth!

Fretilin campaign parade before the election

Perhaps it should not be too surprising that all of the passion stirred up throughout the campaign led to violence when Fretilin was excluded from the government. And with so many young people full of grievances over joblessness and such, frustration was bound to come out somehow. Yet it would be unfair to say that this was anyone's "fault" really; rather, it seems all parties and public personalities condemned the violence and calmed their supporters. Now hopefully the government can go about remedying the concerns of the youth through legitimate means...

Lots of young people became very passionate about the campaign... raising expectations that high can be dangerous...

In case you think my reaction to all of this is too optimistic in thinking the worst is past us and the Timorese are tired of violence and want to move on, I give you this blog post that describes one experience of being in the wrong place(s) at the wrong time. It concludes with a much darker take on the inequity of our entire global system (something my friend Mr. Perkins would probably support):

A few more dents and as Nuno explained one of the perils of driving around in a government car in times when people are not happy. This was not a one off, it was not just an uprising by a few upset because they had been left out of government, Timor is not a failed state, it is an experiment for a failed global system. The problems of Timor are a symptom of a wider problem initiated by the UN, the World Bank and the IMF back in 1999, the painful process of structural adjustment, of primitive accumulation and the manufactured creation of a middle class, in order to make Timor another piece in the global Empire of a failed economic system. The process and the logic impose on the Timorese involves at its core the creation of the haves and the have nots, it is the global system creating its aristocracy in the name of peace, justice and economic growth and fulfilling its mission of accumulation by dispossession. It is in the end a racist project in which the whole world is sought to be remade in the image of the West. It could happen on any Sunday, and increasingly in any place in the world.

[Oh, and if you want to follow happenings here, check out CJITL's great facebook page]

Where have all the MDP Summer Blogs Gone?

When deciding on a graduate school program, I spent a lot of time reading through Columbia MPA-DP students' experiences during their summer fieldwork internships in the Millennium Villages. Then last summer, after deciding to go to Columbia SIPA, I read students' blogs of their experiences in the Millennium Villages as well. One of the reasons I liked Columbia's MPA-DP (aka "MDP") program is the summer internship in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. I was looking forward to going to a Millennium Village as part of my professional development; not because I 100% believe in the project (which has received plenty of criticism from smart people), but because I wanted to work in a rural community. I also wanted to expand my experience in sub-Saharan Africa beyond Madagascar (which is not even really Africa, to hear some Malagasy tell it). But instead of going to a Millennium Village, I ended up trying something completely different (working in an office, in a city, in southeast Asia)...

Still I like to read about the experiences my colleagues are having in the Millennium Village sites, and I thought some of you readers (and maybe some of you new MPD-DP students-to-be?) would like to as well. Unfortunately, not too many students are keeping blogs this year it seems (at least from Columbia University's students). They are probably too busy working and learning and doing to write it all down! But there is one blog I wanted to alert you to: Deborah in Tabora. Debi documents her work in education in Tanzania's Millennium Village, and I am particularly interested to see how the participatory photography trainings work out. You can read about her previous experience with participatory photography in Kenya here (the results are awesome: students get to tell their stories through photos and poetry/prose).

The only other classmate who is blogging online is Rafa, who runs an incredibly detailed Agricultural Development blog. He tells of his experience working with UN REACH in Mozambique. Check them both out!

Putting that MDP Education to Work!

I have not written much yet about my actual “work” in Timor-Leste. Much of my time has focused on learning how Seeds of Life operates, and the challenges inherent in establishing a national seed system. In addition to this overview, Seeds of Life asked me to look at the business opportunities and commercialization possibilities in Timor-Leste’s seed system. In other words, how can the country move from a Big Government production and distribution of seeds to a more market-oriented system, one which focuses on private sector businesses and utilizes the public sector to merely fill in the gaps? (*) Well, that is a big question! I am interested in looking at how some of the more-developed farmers’ groups that Seeds of Life works with can begin to market and sell their quality seed (**). But before delving too far into such a study, Seeds of Life asked me to examine the costs of the formal seed production system. In other words, how much does the contracted certified seed cost to produce, process, and store? In looking at this, I was able to (*GASP*) utilize skills learned in the MPA in Development Practice program! Thanks to Global Food Systems, I was able to create a rough Value Chain Analysis of the formal seed component, based on the program’s data and discussions with contract farmers. I was also able to design an informal Interview Guide (thanks Methods!) and an ODK-based survey (thanks Matt Berg!) for the program to gather further details in the next season. Never mind that these latter two documents never got past my draft phase, as it turned out that no one had any desire or need to implement these… it was still nice to think I was utilizing my education!


Oddly, I am often drawn to a desire to utilize my Peace Corps skills rather than those learned in my graduate program. When discussing production limitations with farmers, I often offer to move into the village and provide trainings on some of the topics they ask for. They ask for organic input trainings; I could easily give a composting training, or show them how to utilize the Gliricidia living fences so ubiquitous along farmers’ fields as green manure. They ask for organizational training and business planning; I’d be happy to do some PACA with them (***). They ask for technical training; I could go over plant spacing, weeding, and other straightforward techniques. I could even get into more complex methods, at least for rice farming (if only to needle a certain professor with an SRI training report…). But as you may have expected, this is translated and then laughed off as a joke; I laugh to, but I was only partially joking. I miss that level of working with farmers, even if the (more office-based) work I am doing is still fascinating. Back in Madagascar, an RPCV told me once that I would never have the Peace Corps experience again, no matter what role I took in international development. I understand this, and accept it, and am happy with my summer’s program and hopeful for my professional future. But I still envy my classmates who are in rural communities rather than a capital, who see villagers more often than during a “field visit.” Of course, they probably envy my running water and air conditioning, so I should not complain too much… 

(*) rather than the government doing everything, from production to processing to storage to distribution, as it does now (and then it gives the seeds away for free)
(**) these farmers’ groups are the “informal” sector, as they produce un-certified, but high-quality, seed for their own future use and for local sale
(***) PACA: Participatory Analysis for Community Action