It all happens in the meeting between cultures

Why does an organisation in Africa want development workers from the North? That question can have many answers, but it basically boils down to one thing: Money for development!

When a partnership agreement is drawn, MS normally pours a substantial amount of money into the project to pay for the planned activities and to run administration. But MS insists on creating a meeting between cultures. So, in addition one or two development workers are frequently part of the package whether the partner likes it or not. This development worker often has the idea that he/she has a knowledge that the partner does not have and the trick is to pass that knowledge over to the partner. However, this is not how the cookie crumbles anymore. The counterparts in the partner organisation are often more skilled than the development worker. Through numerous trainings and workshops the partners have become good community development workers. Their background is much more suitable for development work. They know the culture, the language, the way people think; they have a network of contacts and so on.

Therefore, when the development worker arrives at the scene it takes a long time to run him/her in. When the contract terminates two years down the line, the development worker is beginning to grasp a few things. And then he goes back to Denmark.

Furthermore, no matter how hard the development worker tries, the lack of equity between the parties is always there. Compared to the partner the development worker is humongously rich. He lives in a big house with electricity and piped water, with nannies and house help and as we heard on numerous occasions the red car is the fountain of constant strife.

Having said that, I still think it’s a good idea to send Danish development workers to Africa. It is not only Denmark that needs a meeting between cultures. Africa needs it too. It does not help the partner here and now. It is a long-term investment. The South needs the development of strong civil societies so that they can be able to organise themselves to defend the interests of the poor, the women, and the marginalized at both the local and the global level. They need to slowly let the deeper meaning of democracy and human rights creep in under the skin. I believe that while working in the community based organisations the development worker constantly influences these matters. Is it not important to have this dialogue between White and Black? Right here in Kenya? Development is not only created at government desks and at big summits like Rio and Johannesburg. It also happens at the grass root level when you and I discuss how to eradicate poverty, how to enhance human rights, and how to create equity through democratic processes.

If MS shall keep on existing as an independent NGO in Denmark and continue to act as a counterbalance to the reactionary and racist elements that are gathering ground in Denmark and other countries these years, MS needs some advocates to contribute to the forming of opinion among the Danish people.

That’s where the development worker comes into the picture.

The dialogue must continue.