Evolution of Development

Throughout the years, the ideas of the best ways to develop the
developing world have changed.

In the World War II era, there was the Marshall Plan, and the
predominant philosophy was to do development to the people. From
1950-1960 the philosophy was to do development for the people, and
money was poured in to develop infrastructure and investment
opportunities. These two philosophies were, in my humble opinion,
imperialist, and assumed that there was something wrong with the
people in developing countries; they couldn’t develop themselves, so
now we have to go and do it.

From 1960-1970, the philosophy was to do development through the
people. This was a time when many African countries were moving
towards independence, and they were beginning to assert their basic
needs. In 1970-1980, the philosophy was to do development with the
people. This was the era of world systems. The IMF and the World Bank
were founded. In my opinion, the philosophy was moving in the right
direction, but it’s still not quite there. Even from 1980-1990, when
work was being done from the ground up by development workers, it
wasn’t quite where it needed to be for one key reason: in order to do
development with the people, a partner must always be present, and
that does not lead to independence.

In the 1990s, the current philosophy of development, the one that the
Peace Corps lives by, came about: empower the people to develop
themselves. This is one of the greatest challenges and one of the
greatest rewards of Peace Corps service. I do not plan and execute any
projects alone, nor am I ever an equal partner. It is my job to ask
the right questions at the right times to the right people so that
they can plan a project to address an issue that they have identified.
Critical thinking skills are not taught at all here. I’ll post on
education later, but basically how it works is the teacher writes the
lessons on the board and the students copy it. They do not answer
questions. They do not think. They read, write, and memorize, and if
they do not do it well they are beaten.

Part of empowering the people is teaching critical thinking. I’ll let
you know when I figure out how to do that, but even asking the right
questions can be very frustrating. I am working with my community’s
primary school to apply for 1,000 books from Books For Africa to start
a library. The application requires a detailed plan for how the books
will be utilized, how the school will keep the library in shape
through the years, and what the rules will be. It requires one teacher
to be trained as a librarian, and that teacher is the one that I am
working with.

I could fill out the application myself in a heartbeat. I have so many
ideas and my own clear vision of what I think the library should be,
but that is not what I am here to do. Instead, I go to the school
every week to sit down and talk through the questions with the right
people. I offer little or no advice, and just ask the right questions
where there is information that is lacking. If I do not let the school
develop its own library, then they will not work to sustain it. Why
should they, if it all was my work and vision?

Instead of filling out an application that would take me an hour, I
must spend weeks working on it. At the end, instead of getting a
library I designed, the school will install its very own library, and
I can’t imagine anything that would make them prouder than that. The
rewards come only with patience.

I am also planning to teach Life Skills at the school. Peace Corps has
a pretty good curriculum designed for us, so I plan to use that. Even
though I may not be able to give the curriculum to a teacher so the
lessons continue, and even though it came from me and not the school,
I argue that it is still empowerment. How ever many students delay
sexual debut, decide to use condoms, stay in school, and start
planning for the future are the students that are empowered. We say
that in Peace Corps service, you will help plant trees whose shade you
will not get to sit under, and this is an example of that.

PCVs are learners, change agents, co-trainers, co-facilitators,
project co-planners, and mentors. PVCs are not individuals working
alone to Westernize the developing world. This job is hard, most
especially because many days it feels like I am not doing anything.
Offering new perspectives, skills, and mindsets is doing something in
a very big way, and that’s what PCVs actually do.

I’m not sure what I pictured when I joined Peace Corps, but this
wasn’t it. This is so much better