Development work is designed to change people’s lives. Its specific goal is impacting human beings and the way they live. Done badly, it does damage. This makes it inherently serious, as serious as practicing law or medicine and it should be treated that way. If you want to practice medicine, you don’t start your own clinic. You go to medical school.
I am not telling you not to get involved. We need good people working in development. We need them desperately. But warm bodies and enthusiasm don’t help people. Good programs help people. And it’s very hard to create good programs if you are starting from scratch. There is an enormous body of knowledge, both academic and practical, on how to improve peoples’ lives. Not taking advantage of that body of knowledge is unfair to everyone involved.
Well said Alanna! I’ve spent quite a bit of time dealing with the warm bodies and enthusiasm…I completely agree that its simply NOT enough to want to do well. Good intention does NOT translate to good action.
yeah, agreed. Just to say still reading and enjoying your blog
I see your point.
I am an engineering student, and often come across someone’s “brilliant” idea for a new kind of engine. Many of these people seem to fail to realize that engine technologies have been studied by thousands of scientists, engineers and hobbyists for hundreds of years. The odds of discovering a new technology after a month of tinkering are remote at best.
The warm body NGO character is an appropriate analogy. However, some of those engine tinkers go ahead and become scientists and engineers. I know some of them and they are among the best in their fields because they approach their work with passion and I can’t help but think that if we drive these “warm body NGO” people away we might be loosing something in the long run.
Of course, I am a warm body NGO person, so you should expect my comment to be completely unbiased. /sarcasm
@david – I don’t want to discourage anyone from development work. Not at all – we need as many good people as possible. But I am saying, walk before you run. Take the time to learn the skills you need – good intentions do not substitute for competence. There is absoltely nothing wrong with being a beginner, but beginners should be learning, and not at the expense of others.
@pragzz Sometimes I feel like the whole blog is just writing this one entry over and over again, but it’s a good message, I think.
This leaves my head a bit muddled. I understand the point you’re making, but I’m not sure how this applies to me, and, I suspect, a lot of other people in my position. I have a good academic background and several years of internship and work experience behind me, including an extended overseas internship with the field mission of a large international organization. I feel like I should, at this point, be ready for some real field work, but I find myself just being offered more internships. This is certainly a privilege, but I feel a bit…overqualified at this stage. One can’t *have* field experience without being given that opportunity. At some point, chances have to be taken on rookie aid and development workers.
At what point is one ready to take the plunge, in your opinion?
Rookie – I was thinking more of incompetent charities when I wrote this, not individuals. I’ll take a stab at an answer in a blog post tonight. In the meantime, take a look at this piece if you haven’t already: http://damselsinsuccess.com/blogs/blog.aspx?id=223
Doing ANYTHING new without a learning mindset can result in a farce. I don’t even think it’s so much about having the skills as it is about knowing what skills you have and what you aren’t ready for yet, and approaching everything as a student.
Easier said than done, no?