With Christmas over it’s that time we are all ready to sit back, put our feet up and reflect on the year that was. There have been a few themes in international development that have caught my eye and made me think hard about my own positions. It reminds me that no matter how hard I research and ponder an issue, new information and circumstances keep emerging to challenge and shift priorities. It is part of continuous learning and I love it. 

Development or Relief 

The priority of Australian international aid support is development work. Those activities that help build people and therefore countries for the longer term. This priority aligns strongly with Foxglove’s focus on the Self Help Group approach, training women to take responsibility for their own economic, social and political empowerment.  

But each and every year there are crises. As a result of natural and man-made disasters, war and political upheaval, people are caught up in poverty and terror. At this time, we need to respond. This year drought has ravaged 17 countries in Africa, whilst flooding from monsoon rains killed thousands of people in South Asia. Syria continues to be torn apart by civil war and the Rohingya people persecuted as a minority in Myanmar.  

 For all our passion for development, we cannot stand by and let these events occur without responding with support and finances. There will always be a place for crisis relief. 

Children’s Homes 

In Australia, there has been a growing scepticism around the place of children’s homes in international development. The discussion is important. There is reason for great concern: orphans making up less than 20% children in institutional care, the institutionalisation of children and isolation from culture, the loss of youth from rural areas.  

But the answers are being discussed very simplistically. A ‘link’ has been unfairly created between children’s homes and orphanage tourism. This is untrue. The majority of homes do not encourage visitors. Most workers in this field are compassionate and committed to the welfare of children suffering neglect, abuse and lack of opportunity. Change needs to come. We do need to support alternative models of caring for children but such change needs to come slowly and thoughtfully. In many ways, the West has underwritten the model. Now we can play our part in transitioning to something that is both healthier for the culture and more sustainable.   

Charity Spending 

Charlie Teo, a leading Australian brain surgeon and philanthropist, stated in recent days that, “Big charities in Australia are spending up to 98% on themselves instead of their causes.” It is such a disappointment to discover that so much of the charity dollar can be attributed to administration and fundraising. And this may be doubled in international development when spent both in Australia and in the developing country. 

But this is not always the case. We need to become a lot more discerning as donors. There is a need for an administration and fundraising cost. It provides good governance, accountability and effective reporting. Promotion and publications are needed to highlight needs and ask for financial support. But these costs must be managed and transparent.  

Foxglove has a partnership with Global Development Group who oversees project accountability, monitors projects in-country, provides receipting, accounts for funds expenditure and forwards the monies to in-country partners acquiring the best possible exchange rates. Their cost is a fraction of what Foxglove could provide the same services. And together with our fundraising costs, we are still able to send more than 91% overseas at the present time. We have set a minimum benchmark at 87%. This is our commitment and accountability to Foxglove donors. It’s open and transparent. It’s the very best we can do. 

For decades, the Developed World has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year on overseas aid. We see poverty, inequity and suffering and want to make a difference. We want to bring change. It’s human to feel like this. It’s an expression of empathy and shared humanity.  

And we all understand the core needs. The basic needs that bring relief and opportunity: good nutrition, medical care, clean water, education, shelter etc. 

The challenge is not in the understanding of WHAT is needed but HOW it is best accessed.  

And this is where ‘we’ hit a roadblock. Our experience and expectations, so often limit our response. We like instant solutions. Complete solutions. They look like children sitting in high quality schools, families enjoying a nutritious meal, a village gathered around a newly dug well or people lining up to access a mobile medical clinic. From this approach, we take before and after pictures at a single point in time and everyone celebrates the outcome.    

But when we walk away, what do we leave behind? 

Statistics tell us that after spending billions of aid dollars in Africa since 1990, not only has the gap grown between the rich and the poor, but the poor are poorer than ever. UNICEF estimates that there are 50,000 unused wells in central Africa alone. And poor nutrition, inadequate medical services and reliance on overseas aid continue to dominate the landscape of most Developing World countries. 

So, back to the Rwandan proverb. “If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail?”  

It’s a little like the Western adage for insanity, ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result’.   

I believe there are other ways. I believe that people can make their own way out of poverty. It will take longer than our current solutions. And it may never look like our picture. We will see small steps and large strides. But the overall goal is to see sustained, contented life change for the poorest people.   

Pursuing this goal looks like: basic literacy and entrepreneurship training, self help groups, indigenous leadership, access to finance (low interest loans), political representation and influence. And in so doing, allow the poor to learn skills, start businesses and provide for their own families.  

It’s a wonderful picture. It’s an ambitious goal. But I think it’s the only goal that will build the house that can never be blown down. 

This is the approach being used by the Self Help Groups in Rwanda. And twenty of the women’s stories are captured in our newest book, “Twenty Reasons to Believe”.  You can order the book online shop.foxgloveproject.com