Jargon: Desecularization
Translation: When a formerly non-religious society grows more religious.
Month: July 2008
Jargon of the day: Alternative Conceptualization
Today’s Jargon: Alternative Conceptualization
Translation: Another way of thinking about things. Sometimes I understand why people use jargon – it seems more specific, or has special nuance. This one is just baffling.
Well played, International Water and Sanitation Centre
I was recently led to the WASH news Africa site via a Google Alert. It turns out to be an aggregator of news articles on water and sanitation in Africa topics. It’s a nice resource for people interested in the topic.
What’s even more interesting is that the site, and a host of sister sites, was set up by the International Water and Sanitation Centre. It serves to collect articles for their use as well as inform others. It looks to me like they were already distributing a weekly digest of water and sanitation news, and set up these blogs as a way of sharing all the articles that don’t make it into the digest. Based on my browsing of their site, I think the idea must have come from Cor Dietvorst, their information specialist.
I love it. It’s such a beautiful example of sharing work they are already doing in a way that benefits others. I bet it was also quick to set up, and they are using free blog hosting. They include links back to their main site, since people at the WASH news Africa site are pretty much guaranteed to be interested in water issues, but they don’t make a big showy deal about it. They just position them selves as a generous and knowledgeable partner.
I wish I had an award to give to sites like these.
Responsible Marketing
I’ve seen a lot of interesting discussion on blogs today about responsible marketing. Drew McLellan weighs in, talking about Barry Bonds, as does the responsible marketing blog. Both are discussing how easy it is to end up with a permanent asterisk next to your name. I discussed marketing and reputation in my American Apparel post; these guys take it farther and lay it out really well. Neither is talking about NGOs, but the lessons are the same.
What I learned from reality TV
I spent the 4th of July weekend watching television. The weather was muggy, we all had colds, my dad can’t walk much, and my car is on summer vacation with my mom. That translated to a weekend spent sleeping and staring at the box. I didn’t expect to get anything out of my three days off except eliminating a sleep deficit. It turns out, though, that you can find insight almost anywhere, even on “The Next Food Network Star.” I did promise, after all, that I’d look everywhere I could for ways to do international development better.
This is what I learned: It’s all about relationships. Even when people are competing head-to-head, they still want to like others and be liked in return. Everyone wants a human connection, even when that desire works against their immediate self interest. It’s an obvious lesson, but one that’s easy to forget or ignore.
What does this mean for development projects? Well, when you are working to improve health care, you’ll see better outcomes if people have the same doctor every time. Teenagers are more likely to use drugs (or condoms – it goes both ways) if they believe their friends are doing so. People repay microfinance loans, and stand fast in the heat of battle, so they won’t lose face in front of their peers.
Lesson: When you are designing programs, take relationships into account as a major motivator.
Jargon of the day: Domestic Disparity Indicator
I was secretly excited when I ran into this phrase today, because it sounds so totally meaningless.
Phrase: Domestic Disparity Indicator
Translation: Any way you can find to measure the divide between rich and poor in a country. Domestic because you’re measuring just one country, disparity because what you want to know is how rich are the rich and how poor are the poor, and indicator because you’re looking for some kind of thing you can measure. The percentage of land belonging to the richest 10% of the population, for example, would be a domestic disparity indicator.
Jargon of the day 7/8/08
This is a new daily feature: each day I’ll give you a jargony word or phrase I heard that day, along with my unscientific translation.
So, today’s jargon: Private sector distribution system
Translation: This was in the context of distributing food aid, so what it means is trucking companies. Businesses – not government or donor agencies – who can carry food around the country.