International Development Week at UBC

This morning, I woke up at 3:50 am to skype into a conference in Vancouver at UBC. I was one of the presenters at the panel for International Development Week called “A Day in the Life of the International Humanitarian.“

The theme was a ‘typical day’ of my work (and the 5 other presenters). Just the thought of a ‘typical day’ is quite interesting because the things I do almost always differ from day to day. But I did my best to represent the different aspects that I work with and also some of the challenges.

It’s really hard presenting without seeing your audience, only speaking to the computer. They also didn’t have enough computers for me to keep listening to the whole panel. I did my part and then had to stop skyping. Bummer. I was looking forward to hearing what the other panellists were doing!

Anyways, the questions I got were:

1. “Do you think your work makes an impact?”
2. “Did you have any culture shock moving to a new country?”
3. “How is it like as a woman travelling and working in Africa?”

I thought they were all really good questions. Too bad I didn’t have enough time to answer them properly. So here’s some fuller answers.

“Do you think your work makes an impact?”

In short, yes I do. We’re not saving the world or the country, but we’re definitely making some people’s life better. I think very carefully about all the activities that my organization asks me to do, if I had a feeling that it would do more harm than good, I would refuse to take part. Fortunately, I have a really good supervisor who explains to me how the world of development and NGOs work (from his point of view, of course) and it helps me navigate my own way. In many cases, we’re providing the ‘missing link’ in making processes work – we’re bringing government departments together so that an urban agriculture strategic plan can be submitted to the Master Plan; we’re bringing urban agriculture groups together so they can form a network. We’re not telling anyone what is the best way to improve their or their country’s situation; we’re simply being the catalyst because there’s often a lack of ‘push’ behind what people think should happen.

I like that we work at different levels to push for change, because not only do I get to have a feel about how different sectors work, but also because change often doesn’t happen because people don’t work on bridging the divides between the government, the civic groups, and the grassroots. I find that my organization works in a niche that is often neglected and, as such, cause development projects to fail. Of course, after all this self-congratulating, at the end of the day, nobody would know if our approach to development would actually work or if it would have any impact until many years later. Even with the passing of time, it is hard to measure exactly how much impact what you did had on such a large process. Sometimes, you can only work in faith and with intuition.

“Did you have any culture shock moving to a new country?”

I doubt there is a person alive that haven’t experience culture shock moving to a different country or even the next town over. We often grow up thinking the world is like how it is from our eyes. Gradually, we discover that there are many perspectives of how the world is and should be. That to me is the most fascinating part of living abroad. And also one of the important reasons why I like working in development.

I did have very strong culture shock the first time I went to East Africa – Uganda, to be specific. More details can be found on this post I wrote a while ago. This time when I came back, I almost had none. I had to adjust to a different working environment, that’s for sure. I had never worked at the government level before and this placement has been much longer than what I had last time. However, in terms of feeling comfortable with my living situation, I haven’t had any problems. This could be partly because I grew up back and forth between two different countries and was constantly moving houses. I’ve never felt that there is anywhere that is specifically ‘home’ and I tend to settle down in any place I go pretty quickly.

“How is it like as a woman travelling and working in Africa?”

It’s not easy travelling as a woman. It’s also not easy travelling as a man, or really as someone who looks and acts foreign in any place. You will stand out. You will get attention, way more than what you’re used to at home because you don’t look like you’re local.

From my experience travelling and working in East Africa, it is not unsafe. It’s probably as unsafe as in Vancouver. (I know crime rates are higher etc etc, but most tourists or foreigners don’t actually go to the places with high crime rates, e.g. in the unplanned settlements.) There are places you shouldn’t go at night and there are places where you have to dress appropriately. Always ask locals and foreigners who have been around for a while about where it is safe or unsafe. As a woman, there are definitely more restrictions on what you can or cannot wear. When in doubt, always dress covering your shoulders and lower legs. I find that you often have to dress even more conservative than the young local women because you do stand out more. For example, here in Dar es Salaam, women can wear tank tops, but when I do, people look at me more. That’s not necessarily something you want when you’re coming home later in the night. During the day or at the beach, it’s probably fine.

As a woman, also, you almost always get different treatment depending on if you’re with a male companion (friend or partner) or not. Just the sight of having a male person next to you makes people treat you differently. For me, this is one of the more uncomfortable realities. You’re having a good chat with someone and then if suddenly a male friend joins the conversation, the whole dynamic changes. I still don’t really know why this is. Men also often only speak to your male friend and not you if you’re together. I’ve had experiences where men will ask questions through my male friend about me, as if I don’t have the ability to answer myself. Whether this is out of respect (as in they assume my friend is my husband) or some notion of me having inferior mental capacity, I don’t really know. Although, on the flip side, there are advantages. If you’re going out at night, it’s always safer to have at least one male with you, especially if you’re dancing. Just the fact that your group of girls came in with a guy makes all the difference in how close some (probably drunker) people try to get.

You’ll also get lots of marriage proposals and “I love yous”. People might ask you what is your name, how you are doing, and then, by the third question, as you to marry them or take them back to Canada. Laugh it off. Sometimes it makes me annoyed unnecessarily. It’s probably one of those little annoyances that are better left as a little annoyance than to be dwelled on.

In terms of work, gender is an issue. I find the grassroots level groups that I work with often have unequal gender dynamics. Men almost always dominate. Even the most outspoken women don’t really make opinionated statements, compared to the men. There are also groups that I work with where, probably because of the gender imbalance, it is usually the men who get more advantages from the project. I’m not sure if the culture is slowly changing, but younger women I meet seem to be more and more assertive, which is good progress. At the governmental level, however, gender dynamics are very balanced. There are high level female directors. There are highly respected elder ‘mamas’ (calling someone mama here is respectful). Whenever I’m in a meeting with government officers, it is seniority and rank that determines how much someone speaks, not usually their gender. In general, I find Tanzanian women very strong; or at least stronger than I had anticipated.

So I hope that answers the questions a little bit better. What are your experiences? Questions and comments are always welcome!