Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Changing directions

This by email from a friend in Vancouver: "I understand and endorse your belief that the only path into the future with a universally beneficial outcome is the spiritual one and i pray that you continue walking the one you are on. I am not optimistic that enough people will follow your example to make a measurable difference. I do think that such a path will bring something positive into the lives you touch along the way and am hopeful that all goodness does influence the future that awaits us all whether or not it is of our choosing. While the goodness of the few is necessary it is not sufficient to bring about the necessary change in direction that world is presently dedicated to."

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Development Sangha - exchange with A (see original post below)

My friend “A” writes 6-7-10: My own view is that whatever the sound motivations of individuals, they will never compensate for the structural problems of official aid, notably:

a) The absence of evidence that development requires aid
b) The rewarding-failure incentives that aid creates
c) The unique non-accountability of aid-spend in donor countries
d) The over-riding commit-and-disburse incentives of the donor, matched by
e) The over-riding get-the-cash incentives of the recipient
f) The cover-up incentives shared by both donor and recipient over impact.

In short, there's a reason the aid industry is so poor - and it’s not to do with individual motivations....! (But then you'd expect me to say that kind of thing....)!

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Can't disagree my friend. But gosh! your email is so .............. encouraging!! ;-) Your "structural barrier" analysis is so essential it seems to me.

Now for me, as someone who has had this career, I need to find ongoing relevance and meaning in order to combat the fatigue that comes with being confronted by causes and results of the challenges you enumerate. (Isn't the damn thing a vicious or viscous circle?)

It would be a cop out perhaps for me to say that any of the 6 a) through f) issues are not part of my doing. Is "I am not responsible for that" something of a lie? I think it is really. If the problem is real (And I can see the truth of what you say), then I have to believe that because it has arisen due to human ignorance, that it can also be dispelled by some human wisdom. Yes - I accept that this is simply an article of faith.

So I jump into the middle of it!! Is it possible then on the one hand to include the 6 in the environment of "the truth of the way it is" and to then say: "OK. How can I work with that? What are the deeper values this work I do points to?" This is very strategic/ up-stream since it deals with over riding realities that encompass all the challenges and all the possible responses.

Highly contextual in some ways perhaps. But, being highly contextual, this approach (searching for a higher moral truth within which one can operate) is also practical. It demands that the individual tackle any of the a-f structural issues, trying to break them down into more manageable components. I salute the experience that allows you to articulate these 6 so succinctly! (of course there are a dozen PhDs in every one!) I believe there will be a way to investigate these 6 and make a contribution to shifting them aside / lessening their impact on the need for international expressions of generosity and sharing. ( I have issue a) in mind at this point.)

I am after happiness in my life and I have to find ways to make myself happy in my chosen field or find a field that is more commensurate with my inherited and acquired capabilities.

If I can aggregate the 6 challenges up into a personal contextual issue and find (with the support / council of wiser people than myself) the right thing to do, then I can move. If not I risk becoming moribund, depressed and self defeating.

Tie me done before I blow away! We need to get to the pub together!!

Monday, July 5, 2010

The Development Sangha

Last night with a friend I was revisiting and renewing a personal approach to development work that has brought me a lot of joy and, I think, contributes to handling the burn out that lurks around threatening to destroy our peace of mind. Try this:

When I reflect on the sources of funds that pay for the activities I am directing/ planning and that pay my salary, I visualize an honest hard working couple with 2-3 kids (maybe in southern Italy, in northern England, in Newfoundland or Ipnavik River, Alaska) and struggling to provide a happy and healthy environment for their children. They are ordinary people who pay taxes and make charitable contributions because they believe in some part of their hearts, that it is the right thing to do - to share a bit of what they have to assist others who face even bigger challenges in finding education, health care, fairly remunerated employment, freedom to practice their own religion, and the many basic human needs.

With whatever lies between them and the project group i work with - perhaps bureaucratic efficiencies/lack of efficiencies, conflicted policies/ clear ones, encrusted hierarchical practices/ transparent delivery systems - it comes down to me, little old me, to do the best with this. I am the focus of their trust and Love. I am a key facilitator of a team that has found its way to this place and point of time where those donations can make a difference. I am not hyperbolizing at all when i say this work has holy content and holy potential for us. We are the guardians of the best motivations at the core of the heart of the people who make the money and make the contribution. We are the priests and priestesses of a system of sharing that is motivated by that noble desire for direct heart to heart content.

That man / that woman bending over to kiss their sleeping child (maybe in southern Italy, in northern England, in Newfoundland or Ipnavik River, Alaska) is kissing us, kissing the child and family we seek to serve.

In the buddhist tradition one of the three refuges is the community of people who are on the path of practice. This is "the sangha" - a Pali word. The other two are "the awakened/ awakening one" (the buddha) and "the truth of the way it is" (the dhamma).

All those who awaken and are awakening to "the truth of the way it is" in what we call "development assistance", are part of this sangha or community. We work to become more clearly and consistently aware. We become more clearly and consistently aware, to be a better vehicle for communicating Love.

Let us help each other with thoughts, words and deeds of kindness and encouragement to awaken to our role in the Development Sangha.

What do you think?