Featured Story

Working as an Information Officer for
MS Tanzania/Action Aid Denmark
based in Dar es Salaam.
(2007- present)

This is one of the rare images where you have most factors involved in a development project cycle gathered.

First there are the beneficiaries (the Masaai women on the mats, almost too symbolically - the ones closest to the ground), then there is the local Tanzanian NGO including their Danish development worker (seated on the small stools - or up and around facilitating the meeting); Finally there is a mix of donors, divided between European embassies, international NGOs and a national Tanzanian NGO (also facilitating between the donor and the local Tanzanian NGO). They sit on chairs.

Actually, quite an impressive gathering.

For the ones having tried these kind of gatherings previously, you also know the certain dynamic characterizing a meeting like this. The world (represented by the donors) walks straight into the village, in many cases only with very limited, detailed knowledge of the situation on the ground, secondly they seldomly speak the local language, and in many cases their familiarity with a village of this kind is only known to them from previous visits or from what they have read in reports. They have driven straight from their offices in the capital in air-conditioned land-cruisers (often on sealed tarmac roads, 'because going rural for real just takes too much time'), they might already have had previous similar visits earlier on and might have one or two after this one. They are exhausted, and most likely not used to the heat and dust. Their clothes is creased and they look tired.

The clothes I was wearing this day made me feel that I stuck out from the other wazungu. It was practical, 'but still OK' as my Danish colleague noted. Usually at this point in time I myself start consuming the glucose biscuits and sweet Mirindas - which frequently are served on occasions like this - as if it was my last meal.

The beneficiaries are supposed to present their work in an interesting way to catch and keep the donors' attention. Often a rather challenging task considering that the donors appear tired, and due to the gap between the world (the donor) and the village (the beneficiary) in experience and preference. The village basically has to convince that it is worth keeping up the support. That they can assure impact on the ground. That they are accountable.

These women did a real good presentation simply by telling their personal stories and the support in terms of interpretation from the local NGO proved that the cooperation is based on more than just work - there is passion and commitment. Also what the director of the national Tanzanian NGO concluded in his speech later.

My Danish development worker colleague acted as the translator from Kiswahili and English, which actually made me feel slightly proud, as I know that part obviously also will leave a mark in the donors' conscience. Not that the development workers are the most fragile links in this process, but the development worker is likely to sympathize with the local NGO and the beneficiaries Ð and to be put in the box with them, and will do their best to promote their work.

However, this is just to say that a lot of nervousness is part of a meeting like this. The closer to the ground, the more you have to loose. Communication and presentation are highly essential. The way you are making yourself understood - or not - will stay with the visitors - and the beneficiaries.

And remember in this case, as in all others, it is always the most fragile position to be the one who is being departed, left behind. The dynamic is dependent on a lot of factors which is impossible to control. Things like the visitors' previous experience of i.e. Africa, how the village appears to them, the presence of a grumpy old man among the beneficiaries, or a facilitator who doesn't speak English well.

Over the past 10 years I have found myself in this situation many times. Never in the donor's positions, but more or less in all the others. And I'm highly aware that this is part of the game. Certainly. However, I realized that during this meeting I managed to sit in all the positions. On the mat among the breastfeeding women, on the little stool in the sun, and finally in the plastic chair when the donors had left. Firstly, I am happy to excuse myself with the camera, but I also think that though I do acknowledge that these gatherings are part of a development project cycle, something inside of me rejects the unspoken rules and the mere conventionality of it.

Something inside of me has big trouble reconciling the fact that no matter what, it is the world that sets the agenda in this village.

--

To read more about Pernille's work in Tanzania, check our her blog: "Louder Than Swahili"