Make My Birthday Happy in Nepal

Hi Friends,

It's my Birthday. I'm 27. I've got a bunch of great friends, a solid roof, and a comfy bed. I don't need much.

But I have friends who could use a gift. All they ask is $1 per month. And what can they do with $1 per month? They can put long distance wireless computer networks all over Himalayan Nepal. Seriously. I've been there; I've Skyped from 13,000 ft. It's amazing.

And the things the internet does for communication in villages that are 3 days' hike from the nearest dirt road, the things it does for medicine, for education! And education is the key. It's transformative.

Please go here: http://bit.ly/7jhvG and give them $12 for the 12 months my 27th year if you can. Any amount is great, though.

Many Thanks,
James

PS - if you decide to donate, feel free to leave a comment below and let me know. I'll be excited. That's a good birthday present.

To hell with good intentions: a theological point

To help out some friends I'm responding to journal entries written by their students on different topics concerning youth engagement in a globalized world. My first response was related to a talk given by Ivan Illich to an American volunteer organization. You can download the text of that talk below. I wanted to share my response with you because it summarizes some important things I've been learning lately.

tohellwithgoodintentions.pdf

My Response:

I don't know if you've ever worked or lived in a less developed country, but as you might know, these are ideas that plague thoughtful expatriates who live and work among the international poor. They are ideas that Invisible Children has wrestled with since its inception, and that agencies as established as the UN have yet to answer satisfactorily. In that context, I'd like to share with you what I'm learning. I hope you'll find in it some little benefit.

First, Illich was addressing an audience of youth, which you reflect in your journal, but rest assured that his criticisms apply equally to expats of all ages. Often times adults are worse. They tend to have more plans and systems that they want to implement in poor communities, which means less listening to locals, and they tend to have more funding, which means locals are less likely to speak up in the first place. Youth or adults, outsiders can be damaging.

One lesson that I learned in Uganda that will guide me for many years is: A Ugandan will do more good for Uganda than I ever can. The reasons are obvious. She understands her community more deeply than I will because she was born into it, grew into its roles and conventions, knows its troubles and hopes from a thousand evening conversations. She absorbed it like language. I, on the other hand, struggle to peel back its layers; I search for its heart. Sometimes I'm more successful than others, but always I have to interrupt in order to understand. She just knows.

However, I am one who has benefited greatly from the type of volunteerism that Illich condemns. I first entered the developing world in Nepal, and have since volunteered in Ukraine, Romania, and India, and have worked in Uganda. My time in Nepal changed my life for the better, and I would even say that I did some good while I was there. In fact, I went back two years later to continue that work.

I have seen the dark side of volunteerism as well. When I first moved to Uganda I watched hundreds of westerners flow through the little town of Gulu. Many developed emotional relationships with locals, giving them things and promising more, only to fly away, never to be heard from again. The children of Gulu, and many adults, habitually ask white people for money and candy and food. When interacting with them I could tell that I was not considered human. In their eyes I was a pallid sack of cash. This is only one of the negative effects I saw. There were others.

So what then shall we do? I don't have an easy answer, but I know this: The best way for me to positively influence a place is to support its visionaries. In Nepal that visionary was Mahabir. We were invited by him, took our instructions from him, worked closely with him. He was from the area in which we worked, had refined his own vision for the place and had been working for decades to accomplish it. Our contribution was only a checkbox on his master plan. He could have done without us and he went on after us. He maximized our contribution and mitigated our damage.

In Uganda that visionary is Jolly. She is an Acholi woman and the leader of Invisible Children's work in Uganda. It's her vision and advice and instruction that we rely on. We've spent hours with her trying to minimize any negative influence we would have on the community. And it seems to be working. We are held up by community leaders as an example among international organizations in Uganda. And it's because of her.

It's not easy to find a visionary to support, and supporting her doesn't always mean volunteering in country. But then, volunteering shouldn't be our goal - only doing good. So if it turns out that we can do more good by staying home, then we should. But if she invites us and gives us work to do, then perhaps it is good to go.

Also consider this: if it's true that a Ugandan will do more good for Uganda than I will, then doesn't it hold that it will take Americans to help America? I think there is great value in finding where we can contribute in our own country. Real life-and-death needs exist here as everywhere else. In our place of leadership in the world it's important to maintain a balance of focus.