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A New Discipline for Development Practitioners
Excerpts from: The Barefoot Collective. (2009). The Barefoot Guide to Working with Organizations and Social Change. Cape Town: Community Development Resource Association. You never change anything by...
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Changing the system…from the ground up
“‘The system’ whereby foreign donors give handouts, and not sustainable initiatives that are drawn from the needs of the communities, is a problem.” ~R.F.M., Zimbabwe This post is a continuation of the...
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What’s missing from the DIY aid debate? Overlooking the Capacity of Local NGOs
Professional or amateur? Skills and experience or passion and new ideas? These are riveting questions indeed, but I’m concerned that in the development discourse, we continue to miss a key piece....
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The wisdom of dlalanathi: Reflections on organizational growth
A former colleague recently shared with me a report from dlalanathi (meaning “play with us” in isiZulu), an organization in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa that trains and mentors local community carers...
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What’s missing from the aid effectiveness debate? Overlooking the capacity of...
Check out my post today on The Broker Online, “What’s missing from the aid effectiveness debate? Overlooking the capacity of local organizations“, in which I argue that rather than being the lowest...
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Site Visits: The Feedback You’ve Never Heard
Four leaders from African organizations sat down to give us their frank feedback about site visits from funders a few years ago. I recently ran across my notes from the discussion, and because they...
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Why are the flags at half-mast?
In light of the Connecticut shooting, I am sharing this piece I wrote for REPSSI in July, just after the Colorado shooting. It’s too soon to have to share it again. “When I was a boy and I would see...
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How many aid workers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Stand-up comedy makes a person incredibly vulnerable. Just you on a stage, with all eyes on you, trying to make people laugh. In other words, asking them to “please like me.” As L.A. comic Hasan...
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“An Idiot Abroad” on Geldof
I stumbled across a UK television show entitled, An Idiot Abroad, recently. Comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant send their friend Karl Pilkington on adventures around the world. Pilkington is...
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#ICYMI: “Farms, Fish Banks, and an Iron Roof” on The Moth
All of the storytellers in this hour of one of my favorite podcasts, The Moth, are New Voices Fellows from the Aspen Institute. I had the pleasure of hearing these stories when they were recorded in...
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