[Dialogue] Miracle Villages in Kenya

[Lee Early]

Don Hinkelman, hummm - that name sounds familiar.  Don't I know you?  Ha!  How have you been?  Where are you?  What are you doing these days?  A bunch of folks dropped out of sight when we left Majuro in 1976.  Good to see you survived.  Holler - fill us in.

Lee



On Mar 8, 2010, at 5:22 PM, Don Hinkelman wrote:

> Yawn, another story of the miracles of aid, "done right", in Africa. You would expect the NYT to do better.
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/world/africa/09kenya.html?ref=global-home
> 
> How long does it take to list the mistakes of unsustainability and inappropriateness in this project?
> - outside money and distant investors  (Haven't we learned anything from micro-financing and funding from within?)
> - macro-economic statistics (mortality, yields, test scores)   How do you measure initiative?
> - technology-based (how American can you get?)    Even after Vietnam and Iraq, we still throw technology at every problem.
> 
> Nonetheless, we have to admit that the ICA's history of comprehensive, bottom-up development (which produced pockets of miracles) was also unsustainable, but for different reasons.
> - committed, educated, passionate staff (that time and energy was worth millions of dollars, but we forgot to account for that, and the energy runs out after 5-20 years in the field)
> 
> What gets me excited?  The Grameen Group: http://www.grameen-info.org/
> At the last ICA International Conference in Japan, the young Grameen speaker was the best of the whole conference.  A fire-ry light in his eyes. He swears that Grameen never accepts charity. All development is funded by the bottom of pyramid, for the bottom of the pyramid.
> 
> Don Hinkelman
> 
> In Melbourne and Sapporo, working on sustainable technology practices for classrooms and schools around the world.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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