Most people think of the multi-billion-dollar aid system in terms of the recognisable big players – UN organisations, international NGOs, government donors. But thousands of others are working independently to support those affected by crisis. Many aren’t considered formal aid workers, and most go unrecognised by the traditional humanitarian system. Here are four people working […]
‘[T]ogether, we’re gonna take you inside’ — Earlonne Woods I recently read This is Ear Hustle, a unique glimpse into everyday life in prison. The authors, Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor, are also co-hosts and co-producers of the podcast Ear Hustle. When they first started recording Ear Hustle in 2017, Earlonne was serving a 31-year to […]
As Pakistan reels from some of its worst flooding ever, survivors are asking why more wasn’t done to prepare communities long known to be at risk. The vast scale of the disaster – following a record heat wave across South Asia in May – is also adding to pressure on rich nations over reparations ahead […]
By Humanitarian Changemakers Network founder, Tiyana J
This week I had a few books I needed to push through as part of my PhD research, which is about women’s empowerment and gender equality in rural development across India. My research has a deep focus on ontology (I’ll spare you the philosophical details,) and I was surprised to find that one of the most profound insights I’ve had about social change in a while came from a philosophical passage about dualisms.
One of the biggest pitfalls of modern Western philosophy, largely born out of the work of Descartes (old mate known for saying “I think, therefore I am,”) is that we now understand the world in a way that reduces reality to categories and dualisms. Mind vs body. Individual vs collective. Micro vs macro. Left vs right. But what we often forget is that these are just different sides of the same coin; one does not exist without the other. When we focus on, or identify more strongly with, one side of a coin, it can be easy to criticise or tear down those more aligned with the other. But once we take a step back, and observe both sides, we will find that while we might personally align with and promote one side, as a larger social movement, we should be hearing from, and embracing both sides.
This insight came when was reading a text by the late contemporary philosopher Roy Bhaskar, who pointed out that one of the biggest problems the left must face is that projects directed at advancing social change have been aimed at transformations in social structure, and the right faces the problem that projects aimed at change typically focused on changes at the level of the individual being. The reality is to change our social world we must target all levels (Bhaskar actually identifies 4 levels, but that’s an article for another day.) This seems rather obvious, and it’s something I already teach in our workshops, but it has also changed the way I think about certain approaches to change.
In our social change workshops, when I’m teaching students the different types of social change, I usually pose the following question:
If a house was burning down, do you think it would be more important for the fire department to go inside and help the people trapped inside the house, or do you think they should focus on putting out the fire, so it doesn’t spread to neighbouring houses and endanger more people?
Clearly, the answer is that they should do both. They are the different sides of the same coin. This example illustrates the importance of addressing both the larger structural issues and roots causes of an issue, and also helping the individuals who are caught up in the system and in need.
But what made me think differently about this, was the fact that I’ve never really made the connection that it is typically the left who are more aligned with the need to promote structural, systemic change, and it is typically the right who are more aligned with promoting individual, personal change. Once I was able to make this connection, I began to realise a few things about the different approaches to change typically taken by the left compared to the right. To illustrate, I want to draw upon one the example of child sponsorship.
The child sponsorship model is a popular way for individuals and organisations to get involved in international development. In this model, a donor makes a financial contribution to support a specific child or group of children in a developing country. The donation typically covers the costs of education, health care, and other basic needs. In return, the sponsor receives updates on the child’s progress and may even have the opportunity to correspond with them directly. While it remains one of the most popular ways to get involved in development interventions, the child sponsorship model has faced some criticism over the past few years. I fully acknowledge that if it isn’t done ethically, child sponsorship can indeed do more harm than good. But many of these criticisms are ubiquitous across the development sector, not just for child sponsorship programs. For every example of child sponsorship going wrong, there are in fact examples of development interventions that were aimed at change at the community or collective level going wrong.
First, there is the argument that child sponsorship promotes “paternalistic tendencies” through its funding model, leading to a Western/white-saviour complex. This is of course, a fair criticism of child sponsorship if not done ethically. But this criticism could be extended to the notion that any development intervention (including those aimed at structural change) lead by any large external group or international NGO perpetuates a form of neo-colonialism. The problem isn’t inherent in child sponsorship any more than it is inherent in the work of large international NGOs: the problem is the perpetuation of unbalanced power relationships, which could be present (or not) in each. Our attention must instead be focused on ensuring that all development interventions, regardless of the model they use, are genuinely empowering and avoid perpetuating unequal power distributions.
Second, there is the argument that people become child sponsors because of their need for a personal connection. It’s a fair claim, that the desire to engage with a development organisation on the basis of creating a personal connection is one that is selfish… but where does this notion that we must be disconnected from process come from? I will fully admit that I was once in the “child sponsorship is exploitative camp,” and this was my view several years ago. But I think there is an inherent problem in this notion that creating a personal connection with people is bad, when the alternative is that we give anonymously, or without forming any connection with the communities we are supporting. Does this not seem somewhat counterintuitive? Dehumanising the process, by creating a movement of anonymous relationship-free donors runs the risk of removing supporters from the process, and further leading to an us vs them mentality. Reflecting on my own experiences, I can now see that much of my criticism of certain approaches to development came from an internalised guilt associated with my ideas about the moral status of poverty.
While I can’t draw too many conclusions from my PhD research yet (I’m only halfway through my fieldwork,) nor can I make any general claims about empowerment and poverty as I believe they are quite contextual phenomena, I have uncovered some profound nuisances about poverty that really challenged some of my existing assumptions—assumptions which, I believe, came not only from my own experiences of privilege in the world as a Caucasian Australian-born woman, but from the vast literature on empowerment and development I have read as part of my research.
The women I have spoken to so far, have all told me that they do not find their poverty disempowering. In fact, some women have even gone so far as to say that they are empowered by the poverty that they have grown up around, as it motivates them to create better opportunities and future for children in their communities. They believe that opportunity for transformation, which they find in a state of poverty, is empowering. This blew my mind, not only because it contradicts much of the literature that claims reducing poverty is a necessary precondition to empowerment, but because it made me realise that poverty is not an inherently bad thing. Chances are, it’s more likely that those of us who have not grown up in a state of poverty that are more likely to perceive it as a negative thing. When we label certain things—like child sponsorship— as “poverty porn” for simply bringing the reality of poverty to people’s attention (assuming it done in a way that is not actually exploitative) we are further perpetuating the negative and misleading stereotype that poverty is a bad thing, which reinforces ideas that being in poverty, or asking for help, is something to be ashamed of. This argument is probably more a reflection of our own internalised beliefs, than it is of any specific model.
A final criticism of child sponsorship is based on the argument that the child sponsorship model promotes acts of charity, which is distinct from justice. Unlike in charity, actions that address justice “require a difficult look at who you are, what your role is in imbalanced relationships of power, and how you can act (sometimes at a cost to yourself) to undo the structural conditions that have produced that injustice,” says Simon Granovsky-Larsen, and international development scholar. There is no denying that development agencies that use child sponsorship models often don’t encourage sponsors to examine their role in global injustice, nor do they often attempt to reverse or undo the structural conditions that may have produced it. But this criticism, highlights the point I wish to make in this article. Charity and justice are two sides of the same coin. We should not be arguing for one without the other. Just as we need to both save people and stop the spreading of fire with our proverbial burning house, we also need to promote social change within the development sector that changes unjust structures AND supports those who are caught up in these structures.
The takeaway here for changemakers, is that we need to recognise when two seemingly conflicting ideas are actually two sides of the same coin. Next time you are going to be involved in an intervention, or find yourself criticising a particular approach, ask yourself these questions:
Is this really an either-or debate, or should we be finding a way to make both approaches work?Is my criticism of this approach actually true, or is it more of a reflection of my own personal beliefs or assumptions?Is my criticism only applicable to this particular approach/model, or if I take a step back is it actually a larger problem that could be present in my preferred approach?How can we take a more networked approach in our work—recognising that different actors and approaches probably represent two sides of the same coin— to ensure that we are complementing each other, rather than competing with each other, to create change at all levels
It may be difficult to find things that we all agree on—but we’re confident that everyone will agree on this: traffic jams suck! What makes traffic even more irritating is that, according to traffic flow experts, most of the congestion on the road is completely unnecessary. According to Alexander Krylatov, a mathematics professor at St. […]
Earlier this year, dozens of senior policymakers in humanitarian response gathered virtually to discuss “decolonising” an international aid sector accused of being top-down, unaccountable, and – in some cases – racist and with unhealthy levels of power over the people it serves. It had been nearly two years since the murder of yet another unarmed […]
In the coastal town of Mirissa, which boasts one of Sri Lanka’s most popular beaches, hotel manager Jeewanthi Jayasinghe, 30, is fretting about her staff. It used to be that 5,000 rupees could comfortably feed a family of three or four for a week. “Now, 5,000 is not even enough for three days. A kilo […]
In the wake of the outbreak of hostilities in Eastern Ukraine, many buildings in the region were left pockmarked with bullet holes. For Ivanka, a Canadian-based Ukrainian woman, this was a painful reminder of the violence that had torn her homeland apart. So she decided to take action. Using a paintbrush and some bright acrylic […]
This article was originally published in the Humanitarian Changemakers Network’s Changing Times news, written by Georgia Esplin. At the time of writing, Georgia was a fourth year Journalism and Arts student, majoring in International Relations and Spanish at the University of Queensland. She has undertaken research into the topic of gender and the labour force, with […]
When disaster strikes, we often see the best of humanity; with people coming together to do what they can to support those in need and those on the frontline. When we can’t donate our time or skills, the best thing we can do is donate money to organisations that are on the ground doing the work. Knowing which organisation to donate to can be a tricky decision to make because not all donations are spent the same.
This is an important thing to note— and something to make people aware of— because the lack of public understanding of how donations are allocated and spent caused serious PR problems for frontline organisations during the 2020 bushfires, that prevented the public from supporting those most in need.
There tends to be a misconception that when you donate money to a charity, that charity is going to give your money to those in need. But that’s not how it works.
Different stages & roles in disaster response
Different organisations and charities perform different roles in disaster response, so any donations are spent according to what is needed for each organisation to best fulfil their role.
Stages of disaster response; initial response (search and rescue); relief (providing food, shelter, and sanitation); rehabilitation (basic services restored); reconstruction (restoration of full services); mitigation (risk assessment and prevention); preparedness (contingency planning and preparing for future emergencies).
While some organisations are involved in the initial response, with search and rescue efforts, other actors are there to support relief, rehabilitation, or reconstruction efforts.
If you would like to support initial response efforts during a disaster, and support those who are rescuing people that have been affected, donate to organisation like the State Emergency Services (SES), or rural firefighters.
Not everyone needs to be rescued during a disaster, others will need to be evacuated from their homes, or be provided with emergency accommodation. Disaster relief efforts, such as providing people with shelter, beds, meals, medical aid, and support during a crisis can be costly.
If you want to support these evacuations, outreach, and relief centres, donate to organisations like the Australian Red Cross.
People rarely receive money
During a disaster, people who have been affected will rarely receive cash themselves. If they need to buy clothing, food, fuel, or essential items, they might receive these items directly, or be given vouchers. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing— vouchers ensure that donations are actually being spent on the items that are needed, and organisations often have partnerships with local businesses or big corporations that allow them to buy in bulk or provide items to people that are needed but at a much more affordable rate than if individuals had purchased them for themselves.
If you want to support people who are trying to rebuild their lives during or after a disaster, Vinnies volunteers provide food, clothing and furniture, as well as other material and financial assistance.
Unrequested donations hinder recovery efforts
Sometimes you might think that items you have lying around your house could be going to good use, but more often than not, unwanted items only make recovery harder. Individuals and organisations know what they need, and they will request it. What’s worse, is when people see disasters as an opportunity to “donate” their old junk. It’s surprising to hear stories of the “donations” people receive after a disaster that are unusable, ranging from rotten food and clothing that is damaged to broken kitchen goods and toys. The rule is simple: if you wouldn’t want to receive it yourself, or if they don’t need it, don’t give it.
If you would like to donate specific items to individuals, families, or organisations working with communities on the frontline, GIVIT is a great organisation that publishes specific items that are needed. You can choose to donate the item if you have it, or fund the specific item yourself. If possible, it’s often better to fund the item during a crisis so that those affected can shop locally and support small businesses.