Re:orientation
on M&S Diary (Sierra Leone), 16/Oct/2006 16:12, 34 days ago
Nothing out of the ordinary this week, besides feeling that we’re slowly coming to terms with some of our constraints. This mainly involves a repositioning of certain expectations, like:•how easy it should be to form meaningful friendships with local people;•how effective the organisations we’re working with should be;•how much we can personally make a difference.Dented aspiration seems to be endemic in Sierra Leone, so we hope our coming to terms doesn’t mean coming to a standstill. But 2 months in, it’s definitely time to reflect on our hopes and strategies for moving forwar.Before we can do that, we need to state what we’ve learnt...Meaningful friendshipsFreetown is moreorless a community of refugees. Much can seem transitory, but people survive by a tight code of trust and there is little manoevre for‘strangers’, as we are called. As far as most people are concerned, the oporto (whites) come and go, undertaking invisible developments which aren’t associated with their problems. To our own minds, our manners and ethos might be different from those of other expats. But to most Sierra Leoneans, we are equally set apart by our capacity to do what they cannot. Leave.Effective organisationsVSO encourage their volunteers to be relationship rather than task focused. This is important; but it is constrained, as I’ve mentioned. However, we have also begun to realise that ‘relationships’ are sometimes over-invested in. Development fashion over the last 5 years dictates that donar grants are effectively allocated to organisations per participatory workshop they undertake. Such workshops are great when their outcomes are put into practice. Unfortunately, donars have treated them as an end in themselves. The result: consultation is a cash crop; implementation isn’t.Making a differenceIn that context, it is hard to strike the right balance between working within the culture and challenging it. What’s more, many of those who have made it to positions of power in the organisations we work with don't want things to change. So which way forward? We will leave; but what will we leave behind?Perhaps it is better to think of what we will take away with us. I was sittting on the balcony last night pondering this. Whatever happens, we are privileged to be here, with the chance to see how things work and consider how the world we come from relates to this one. For example, it's hardly an African phenomenon that "those who have made it to positions of power in the organisations we work with don't want things to change". Being here throws our own culture into relief.