It is not rocket science...
on Tara's Ethiopian Adventure (Ethiopia), 25/Nov/2009 05:49, 34 days ago
During our‘in country training’ (ICT) the director for‘Save the Children’ Ethiopia gave us a talk about the development status of Ethiopia. During this talk he said about development,‘It is not rocket science... IT IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT!’The longer I stay here the more I agree. It is a mine field out there... and no one knows how to sort it out. The thing that worries me the most is that many attempts to make life better here (i.e. to help Ethiopia develop) are actually making things worse. I’m not certain I can totally exclude myself from that category either, which I don’t like. I will now proceed to describe some of the development issues which have challenged me over the last 2 months. Obviously I am only able to give you my own understanding of these issues and in many cases I would love to be corrected as I find some of the stories I’ve heard quite depressing. Please don’t take to following ramblings as fact but instead share my frustration as I find I really don’t know the truth! And I don’t think anyone does!   Before I came to Ethiopia I often thought of those who work for charities as kind caring individuals who put other people or issues before their own personal gain. Obviously people get a lot out of working for charity (myself included) but I always felt that the aim was at least to put more inthan you take out and in particular that this applied in terms of money. I think (hope) this must still be true of most charity workers in the UK at least where I am sure their salaries are significantly lower than what they may get working elsewhere. However... this concept seems to be turned on its head in Ethiopia (and I am sure in most other developing countries).  The best paid jobs are with NGOs. Even a lowly receptionist for an NGO may earn 3 or 4 times as much as a well qualified university lecturer with a PHD or staff in the Ministry of Education. Often NGOs will pay local staff western salaries which, although this may put them in line with their counterparts in the UK, actually translates into mega bucks when you consider the much lower costs of living here. A friend of mine said he did some work with an NGO whilst completing his MA and after a week had earned as much as he might earn in a year as a lecturer.  In a complete role reversal it seems that those who go after jobs in NGOs are after money and those who stay in jobs in education or government are the ones who are willing to sacrifice financial gain for the greater good. I guess it is true in every country thateducation or politics are not the place to go to get lots of money, but it is shocking how much less they get than those working in NGOs. I guess on the plus side it could be argued that it is a good thing to pay these NGO workers large salaries as that money will then be pumped back into the localeconomy as these‘rich’ workers have a huge purchasing power. It is certainly better that, than paying large salaries to consultants from the west whose money goes straight to their home banks accounts. I’ll talk more about that later. However, don’t forget these inflated salaries are being paid out of charitable donations from well intentioned people in the west. Although it may be nice to give these workers a nice salary (and they may well deserve it) is it the best use of this money? Could the money be spent better elsewhere? Is this just creating greater inequality within an already very unequal society, where a small minority control have the majority of the wealth?    Of course NGO’s aren’t the only way that the UK and other countries are helping Ethiopia to‘develop’. There is a lot of money being pumped into the country, through the government, via organisations such as DFID and the World Bank. As I work in Education I can only tentatively say a bit about some of the money that comes to improve Ethiopia’s Education. Often (because of worries of corruption etc) this money comes with conditions. One example is that money may be given, but only if it is used to pay for certain things. An example of this is paying for‘Indian Lecturers’. Apparently this kills two birds with one stone as it solves unemployment issues in India at the same time as providing well qualified staff for Ethiopia. In theory it sounds sensible as Indians have recently gone through rapid development themselves and are therefore likely to be able to share knowledge that could help Ethiopia to develop. They also have good English in comparison to the Ethiopians and this could help improve the use of English Language at University Level. However, it seems there is a flip side to every coin. The Indian lecturers are paid about five times that of local lecturers with similar qualifications which can be very demotivating for the local staff. Many of the local staff are exceptional and if there were more financial incentives for Ethiopians to be‘educators’ then more of the able would probably stay in education rather than running off to find jobs with NGOs. As well as receiving high salaries the Indian staff are also not always as qualified or conscientious as would be desirable. I am sure this is not the case for all Indian lecturers but I have heard some described as‘incompetent’ and‘lazy’. I was told that they often teach subjects for which they are not qualified as they come with the attitude that‘if you give me the resources I’ll teach it’. This has even lead to some joking that they would even offer to teach the local language‘Amharic’ if given the resources. In some respects this willingness to teach outside their subject should be commended however at university level it does seem a bit worrying. I thought this was all a big exaggeration until yesterday when I met an Indian lady who had done a PHD in Education and had been recruited to work in the Education Department. However, when she found there was in fact no job for her there, she has found herself teaching Physics. I know I couldn’t do that! After hearing that some staff resented the Indian staff I was worried about how I was viewed. Although I do not earn more than the local staff (my allowance is in fact less) the university does provide me with a lovely house far nicer than any of my colleagues. They assured me that they were happy with me being there but at times I do wonder how useful I really am and if I am worth even the low allowance I am given. I was at least feeling a little happier that I wasn’t costing the government anywhere near as much as the Indians (although in both cases I understand the money actually comes from the World Bank or DfID or some other source). However... I later discovered that the government is required to pay VSO 10,000 birr a month for my services (I receive just over 2000 of that). This is not true for all VSO staff, just those working under the Higher Diploma Program like myself. I really don’t feel comfortable with that! I feel like I am stealing from the country I am supposed to be helping develop. I suppose on the flip side the money isn’t really from the government but probably from some Aid Agency or the World Bank. Also the money VSO receives in this way can then be used to help lots of other projects become sustainable... but is still doesn’t feel right.  Another condition that I heard was often tied to these donations to the government is that they are required to hire consultants to monitor and evaluate the impact of projects, such as the Higher Diploma Program. In some respects this seems a very sensible condition. If you are going to give money you want to ensure it is being spent on what it should be and that it is making a positive difference to the country. However, I guess due to worries of corruption or simply conflict of interest, they will not accept the view of Ethiopian consultants and therefore the government are forced to hirevery expensive consultants from the West. In the end it seems the net gain goes to the West thus widening the development gap further! What seems really crazy is VSO volunteers working in the Ministry are often doing consultancy work. They carry out impact assessments and advice on possible changes. However, the World Bank (or whoever else is lending the money) will not accept these reports and will instead commission their own expensive consultants sometimes to do exactly the same work. A consultant might earn £70,000 for a few months work! A VSO Volunteer might do the same for £300 (although I suppose if you take into account things like training, support, flights, medical expenses etc the VSO volunteer may cost more like £3000- still way less!).As time goes by it is hard not to get disillusioned by just about any development effort in this country. I have only touched the surface of some of the development issues I have seen and I know that I don’t have all my facts straight. I know the issues are far more complex than I am suggesting here and there is much more to it all. After all ‘IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE... IT IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED’. However, at times it is like watching someone on a tread mill... everyone seems to be working really hard but getting nowhere. It is not that Ethiopia is not developing, it is, but the rest of the world is just developing faster and so the gap between rich and poor gets bigger and bigger.However, one thing that is keeping me going is seeing how determined the Ethiopians I work with are to see their country improve. To see how dedicated they are to education and to see how important they feel it is to the development of their country. I find my colleagues truly inspiring. They work very hard under difficult circumstances and have resisted the temptation to get a well paid job in an NGO because they believe they can make a difference where they are. I have also been encouraged by similar stories of determined, enthusiastic and hard working Ethiopians in the Ministry of Education who are also doing everything they can to improve the quality of Education in Ethiopia.In complete contrast to the common images of corrupt African governments I am instead finding myself questioning the values of those who claim to support development from outside the country. I hope I am wrong. I hope the NGOs and World Bank are solving more problems than they create. I hopeIam not making things worse. I am sure that in terms of personal experience I will gain far more than I give, but I really hope in monetary terms at least that my being in Ethiopia will be a net gain for Ethiopia.