To Grant or Not to Grant

The people of Ghana are poor, so the solution must be for us to give them money and supplies, right? Well, it's not that simple. Let's explore this conundrum.

For one, in Ghana there is already a strong dependency on "The White Man". I've been admonished for using this term by other volunteers for good reason, but I use it here because that is how most Ghanaian's will phrase it and I think it can't be ignored when talking about the perception of

Westerners in Ghana. Part of what we're doing in the Peace Corps, of course, is showing off the ethnic diversity that makes America so great and breaking down the stigma that Americans are all white. But to date, the stigma mostly remains (creating very different challenges for volunteers of minority) and for the purpose of this specific blog, perception matters. If you are white, you are immediately identified as having money. Keep in mind, typically the only Westerners they meet are giving them large sums of money or infrastructure. The images of grandeur they see in American movies and television doesn't help either. Fighting the perception that I am rich and have money for everyone is a battle I must fight regularly. In fact, I often fight for better prices while haggling at the market or with taxi drivers simply to show that small amounts of money matter to me too. It's a difficult thing to fight for a 1 or 2 cedi discount from a woman at the market who you know may make 10-15 cedis ($2-4 USD) total profit for her whole family that day, but it is the fact that the people who came before me have not fought for it that has created this challenge to begin with.

Why does it matter though? Well, many villages and individuals will simply wait for an NGO to come along to build them a borehole or school, instead of creating ways to do it themselves. And more often than not, they don't maintain the project for longevity because again, they can just wait for "The White Man" to come along and give them another one. (NOTE: In fairness, many times training for repairs is a missing ingredient of these projects on the part of the NGO so it's no fault of the Ghanaians). I've already highlighted that they fail to understand the economic diversity in the West and in turn that means they fail to understand how we achieved it to begin with or the challenges that it brings. One time I told a Ghanaian in my village that a typical health care plan in the U.S. might cost 10,000 cedi ($2,500 USD) and their head nearly exploded. In Ghana it's somewhere around 3 cedi for children and 10 cedi for adults. These are just things about America they don't think about. We come to Ghana with their riches to give them money. End of thought.

But okay, let's say that you win enough of these battles and conquer the war of perception. Businesses of all sizes in the U.S. need loans, right? It helps our economy to grow and our society to flourish so that must be good for Ghana too! Not so fast. Even the most well intentioned, thoroughly planned project might have negative consequences in the developing world. There's a great TEDx talk on the challenges of creating successful projects in the developing world that you can watch below (mostly just the first half).

I heard another good example the other day that highlights many of these types of issues. A village in Ghana was 10 kilometers from the nearest school so attendance among village kids was low. The solution was to give each kid in the village a bicycle. Sounds simple enough, right - what could go wrong? Well what do you think happened when 100 kids were given bikes for the first time? If you're answer involves them being on their best behavior then I have bad news for you. Attendance rates went down and they spent less time helping the family with the chores, decreasing the time they had for income-generating activities. Plus, because the planners failed to setup a bike shop or train anyone on how to repair the bikes, a year later most had broken down and others had sold theirs for money. The key here is that even a well-intentioned, well-executed project can have negative consequences without constant support and a plan for sustainability once the grantor leaves.

But we're Peace Corps Volunteers, so we've been influential in changing the perception of Westerners in our village and we've worked one one one with our counterparts to find a project that they themselves have chosen has good solutions for their challenges. We consider the long-term implications and planned ways for the project to continue after you leave country. And we see that big, pretty, green light button and press it emphatically because we're different... right? *sigh* For many volunteers, submitting a grant and having it approved is simply creating 6 months of headaches without any significant progress for no other reason than the environment of the developing world is not conducive to, of all things, development. The money gets chopped (ie. stolen) by the people in charge; contracted employees don't show up; circumstances beyond your control (eg. the weather) delay or even doom the project. The list of stories I've heard goes on and on.

The good news is that the Peace Corps, as an organization, knows all of these things and makes it clear to Peace Corps Volunteers that they aren't as interested in development projects as they are about other things, like perception and integration. Two of the three Peace Corps goals have nothing to do with development work and the Peace Corps mission statement ignores it entirely.

The Peace Corps Mission: To promote world peace and friendship.

The Three Peace Corps Goals:

1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.

3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

So that's it then, right? Grants are a black and white issue - don't do them.

Is anything ever that easy? Will I ever get tired of asking rhetorical questions for effect?

A volunteer arrives in his/her community and because the perception war has not begun yet, there is a immediately a subtle pressure to bring money into your village. You'll hear things like "You have come just in time - we are really suffering," and, "This is a blessing from God. You will make great things happen here." The underlying message being, "Please help us in a direct way in a way that will effect me now." And I don't blame them at all. They don't care about the three Peace Corps goals or integration. They care that they are poor and hungry. They care that they don't have money for their children's school fees and that they're malnourished. They care that people die of malaria regularly and that their drinking water is unsafe. And they are so happy that you are there and have access to resources to help them.

And it's true. Peace Corps Volunteers do have access to grant money. There are at least half a dozen grant options we have to choose from based on the scope and size of the project. And on some level, even if a project ultimately fails, at least that money gets infiltrated into the Ghanaian economy.

Over time, each volunteer starts to learn about the community's strengths and weaknesses in terms of individuals, culture, and resources. They start to see real opportunities for improvement and individuals they believe would really benefit from a little extra push and some seed money. Or you see how much the school children would benefit from some on-site computers (or bicycles) and you have the ability to at least give them a chance to use them. And even though you know any project you start has a low success rate, you have fallen in love with these people and feel they deserve every chance to succeed that you can provide.

The point is that it's not easy. But I wanted to provide some context before I explain where I've landed on this issue, although my perspective and opinions are constantly changing. For now, I've decided to try my best to focus my energy on 1. Education and 2. Business planning. If those two things lead to grants then I am happy to do them. Here's why.

1. Education: The ultimate sustainability project. Whether it's teaching people about the importance of nutrition, sharing better ways to grow maize or enlightening kids about things like leadership skills and the importance of self-esteem, these types of things directly influence the culture of a village. Admittedly, it's such a different mindset than the results-based and achievements-oriented one I'm used to (and prefer) in the states. Education projects can feel insignificant compared to seeing money placed in someone's pocket after successfully completing a project. But after considering everything involved, it seems to me like the best approach. If there are enough PCVs and NGOs with this mindset, I believe you can eventually change enough micro-cultures that it spreads and slowly changes the attitudes and perceptions of all Ghanaians, improving their livelihoods along the way. Some examples of potential education-based projects on my radar are having no-till farming experts come to my village for a week to teach farmers how to improve their crop yields. I'm also already on the budget committee for a grant that will have a one-week camp for high-performing kids in my region to network and listen to presentations from already successful Ghanaians. These are the types of things that help can help the country long-term in a meaningful way while avoiding many of the pitfalls I described above.

2. Business Planning: In the video I posted above, the speaker says, "Planning is actually incompatible with an entrepreneurial society and economy... Planning is the death kiss for entrepreneurship." I agree with him in ways I didn't even know before I heard him say it. But Ghana, in general, isn't an entrepreneurial society. There are people who are entrepreneurial - smart, motivated, self-starters, hard working - but they don't know how to go about being an entrepreneur. Teaching them how to plan for the process of building a business is something I'd like to focus on during my time in Ghana. I like organizations like Kiva that give loans to people in developing countries that make them pay interest to their investors. It forces them to cut costs wherever possible and utilize revenue in a sustainable way. The more they borrow, the more interest they will have to pay so you have to get creative on inputs. And the more money each week that they can contribute to pay back the loan, the quicker they can start making a real income so you are focused on taking maximum advantage of your target market. These are not things they typically have to think about with a typical grant, but are critical when structuring a sustainable project. Perhaps during my service, a grant may be the best path for an entrepreneur in my village, but I will be damn sure that they have thought through every aspect of the project as if they were applying for a loan before I submit it.

The implications of grant-based projects are obviously complex and volunteers routinely talk about it amongst each other. The opinions range from all NGOs are bad (some going as far as saying even the Peace Corps has a more negative impact than a positive one) to believing that they should try to provide as many opportunities for their village as possible no matter the cost. Ultimately, there is no answer and each person has to make these decisions for themselves - I guess time will tell what decisions I will make.