I am sorry to post what amounts to a 'rant' but it's been that kind of week. NGO's (Non Governmental Organisations) often get a bad press for reasons ranging from disorganisation to culturally inappropriate interventions that have little long-term impact. However, as a rule I would be quick to congratulate most NGO's for the undoubted good work that they do, in fact I am currently employed by an NGO although I work in a public sector role.
This weeks however I have seen first hand the negative impact that well meaning interventions can have. An NGO has moved into our area in an attempt to improve one of the patient services (I would rather not identify them on the internet so have omitted the exact details). That is a great idea and we are keen to form a partnership with them to improve these vital services. We even presented their job opportunities to our own staff and encouraged them to interview. The NGO is paying triple the wages that we can pay and are working in the same field so there should be no problem. However, the NGO has not been organised enough to actually find any work for the new staff to do. The result is that they are sitting around being bored while earning triple their old salary. Of course they are still friends with our current staff who, not surpisingly, now all want to go and work for an NGO. So at a stroke they have spent a great deal of money, they have reduced the quality of care for the patients by recruiting our staff who now do no work and they have managed to demotivate all of our remaining staff- thanks alot. Even worse if they don't get their act together and produce results soon their own funding will be withdrawn and all their staff will be out of work- great.
My own view is that the world has enough NGO's now. I think that anyone wishing to found a new NGO should think very carefully about their own motives as I'm convinced that a talented motivated individual could have a much bigger impact on the world by re-organising an existing organisations than going to the trouble of setting up a brand new one.
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I am a British doctor fulfilling the long-term ambition of working in a hospital in a rural part of Africa. I find myself in the Transkei, a former black homeland of South Africa, which in many ways has been left behind by the economic advances of the post Aparteid era.
1 comment:
I wouldn't call this a rant, I'd call it informative. Have you read "The White Man's Burden" by William Easterly? You might find it very interesting. It does a good job of explaining why so much aid does so little good (or even bad!).
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ad1vBIgCPk&isbn=1594200378&itm=4
Hope all is well,
Mike Wauters
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