Voices from the Inside October 9 2011
For every expat aid worker who swans in and out, complaining about Delhi belly and inadequate per diem, there are at least ten host country aid workers doing the real work of international aid. They don’t live in hotels, they don’t get special treatment, and they’re the ones who’ll still be there twenty years from now.
We don’t hear much from those aid workers. They don’t tend to blog, and the media prefers the pretty story of whites in shining armor. But these aid workers – the “global south” – are the heart of the work we all do. We ought to be learning from them.
In that spirit, I am proud to announce my new podcast series, “Voices from the Inside,” where I’ll be interviewing the aid workers who actually come from the developing world. Some of them are expats now, but that’s not how they started.
These are the voices that can tell you the real story of aid work.
Find the first episode right here, where I talk to a woman I met during this trip to Bishkek.
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Love the idea for this podcast, Alanna! I really appreciate the opportunity to draw on the knowledge and experience of host country staff in countries outside of Kenya, where I’ve been based for the past year. Thank you!
I currently live in Chad, and most humanitarian operations here are run by expats from other Francophone African countries. Many started their careers in their home countries. Thank you for starting this conversation, Alanna.
This is wonderful. I just finished reading William Powers’ book, Twelve by Twelve, in which he relates a little about his decade as an international aid worker. In his time in a 12’x12′ cabin back here in the US, he begins to understand that the indigenous people whose lives he had attempted to change were already living, in many cases, a much fuller life than they had after the aid workers arrived and brought their changes.
Of course, he does not decry improved sanitation, and is proud of the work he did in Bolivia to help farmers and workers develop small, forest-grown coffee plantations under Fair Trade policies, so that they could earn a living without degrading the environment.
But overall, he understands that much of what he and fellow western aid workers brought to the populations they were trying to help was not an improvement. He also mentions living in luxurious hotels and driving large, polluting vehicles through the countryside while doing his overseas work.
So you see, finding this recording today is perfect. I look forward to many more.
This is great. Could you please put up a link to the podcast via iTunes? I’d like to subscribe but couldn’t find it when I did a search. Cheers!
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I agree, please put up an iTunes link so I can subscribe that way! Thanks!