Development from Within & Infastructure

I recently read an article in the May 21st edition of The Economist titled "Catching up in a hurry." It describes how Brazil's poorest region with high illiteracy rates and an extremely disproportionate population:GDP ratio has become the fastest growing region. Last year the Pernambuco region showed "China-like" GDP growth at 9.3%. Over a million residents have been lifted out of poverty. The biggest spark to this growth has been the creation of infastructure. The highways are being widened, the port has been expanded, and a new railway s being built.

I firmly believe that development must be desired and sparked in the community itself order to be successful. It's like learning math - if someone gives you the answers you won't ever know how to get to the end result on your own and you won't feel as accomplished or have as much pride handing in your homework. The only way that change will remain in place and continue is if the developing community itself puts their own blood, sweat, and tears into its creation so that they appreciate, respect, and cherish what they have done for themselves.

With this idea in mind, development comes down to providing communities with the right tools at the right times in order to aid their development without actually taking the reigns. I think that Infrastructure is key. It is expensive to provide a society with basic physical structures needed for its operation. Developing countries have a huge advantage in that their infrastructure has already been provided. If someone wants to start a business selling Italian leather in Amsterdam they can do that by hopping on a train. It's much harder to have such high ambitions when there is no train. In Brazil the newly constructed roads and railways have attracted companies such as Kraft to build factories providing thousands of jobs.

Obviously adding infastructure will not solve all development problems. Education may even be effected negatively if young adults decide to seek out their share of an economic boom rather than staying in school, but I think that money spent providing infastructure is much more valuable than some more traditional uses of development dollars. It provides the means for a community to foster its own development rather than doing it for them.

Soft Hearts and Hard Truths

My "career" in International Development started as a starry-eyed 18 year old out to save the world. It started with the decision to abandon my studies of the concrete science of Mathematics at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania in order to explore the much more ambiguous and loosely defined fields of Public Health and International Development at Tulane University in New Orleans.

I am the definition of an optimist, I have “Half Full” tattooed on my wrist. I thought that my big heart, optimism, and devotion to philanthropy would suffice as a foundation to make big changes in the world. I soon learned that it does not help to be hopelessly idealistic, and these qualities often clouded my ability to be a realist. Successful development practices are implemented around the big picture and the long run, not making things easy and perfect in the short run. As Bernard Amadei preached at the MCC 2010 conference in New York, “It’s beyond giving a man a fish, or even teaching a man to fish. It’s About creating a fishing industry.” Yes, throwing money at Japan seemed like the most helpful and humane thing to do after they experienced a crippling earthquake, but is that really going to help in the long run? People rely on fundamental ideas about “helping the world” such as donating clothesor traveling to a developing country to volunteer…. but upon evaluation, these practices are actually hurting the developing world. Time and money could be spent in a hundred different ways that would better promote international development. 

Realizing that what I had originally thought to be helpful was actually harmful has turned my world upside-down, but now I am more determined than ever to face the facts and take and educated and informed approach to promote international development – soft heart, hard truths, and all.