I am currently living
in Esmont, Virginia at Caromont Farm, helping a friend and former employer make
cheese (and milk goats once in a while.)
I started my trip earlier this month visiting my sister in Herndon,
Virginia, and am now taking advantage of my short time here back in the states.
(That
means eating lots of ice cream and bacon!) Until the Peace Corps gives the all
clear for Guinean volunteers to return to their sites, I will remain here enjoying good food, the peacefulness of the Virginia
countryside, friendship and of course, making good cheese.
 |
| Cheese curds draining at Caromont dairy. |
My delay in returning back to Guinea wasn’t a surprise, as I
am sure many of you hear about the continuing spread of Ebola in Africa on news
stations all over the country. I am
hopeful that I will be able to return to Guinea in October, though with new
people continuing to be infected on a daily basis, I am not sure how that will
happen. Of the three primary countries
with active Ebola cases (not counting Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo,
and now Senegal), Guinea is in the best shape due to its focus on maintaining contact
tracing and quarantine of all cases (yet this seems insufficient at completely
halting new infections.)
A link to Ebola news from the Who website:
In addition to indulging in culinary delights not found in
Guinea, I spent most of August visiting friends in Illinois as well as
preparing for my return to Guinea. So
now that am fully prepared to return to Guinea with much needed (or desired)
items found and standing ready to somehow be organized into my luggage, I have
the time to reflect, contemplate, and organize my thoughts on development and
how best to help “my” tiny little village.
My thoughts and conclusions are mine alone (and do not reflect those of
the Untied States government or the Peace Corps) and continue to evolve as I
gain more knowledge and perspectives from others in this field.
Development is a never-ending process that always involves
lots of change. People often don’t like
change and for this reason development can be a struggle and take a very long
time. To keep myself focused on this big
picture, I often remind myself of the twists and turns the United States has
taken in its development. It wasn’t that
long ago that our society was an agrarian one dependent on animal labor and
simple machines. Our development into the
one that we enjoy today took decades to achieve. However, there are certain requirements that
must happen for a sustained improvement in a society’s standard of living to
occur. Without them, an individual, a
village, a region and a country will remain poor and disadvantaged compared to
the rest of the world. In determining what these requirements are, I
asked myself, “What things, if removed from our modern society (take any first
word country of your choice), would immediately set us back a century or more
as measured by a country’s gross domestic product (GDP).“
I have narrowed these requirements into three main
segments. In addition, there are several
supporting factors that though are not required for forward development, do
affect the speed and pace of the development process. I will also mention them and how they impact
progress.
1. Mechanization of agriculture and manufacturing.
The earth is a tremendous resource and when properly cared
for through sustainable practices, it can produce an abundance of harvestable
products. Various biological and farming
techniques have proven effective in increasing net crop yields without
adversely impacting soil health. Examples
include Korean natural farming, intercropping, companion planting, and
integrated pest management. However, there is only so much that one individual
can do with simple tools. In order to
augment and accelerate the amount gained from an area of land, one must use
machines that can exponentialize a farmer’s efficiency. Of course, the use of machines can be
detrimental to natural resources so one must guard against improper or harmful
practices.
The benefits gained through mechanization also apply to
manufacturing processes. A community is
able to augment its profits from the manufacture of a product with the aid of
machines, whether used indirectly or directly in the manufacture of the
product. Like in agriculture, the use of
machines can have detrimental affects, and without safeguards in place, the
benefits achieved can be offset by the costs associated with damages to both
human and environmental health.
Facilitators:
a. NGO’s (Non-governmental (aid) organizations) and
volunteer organizations, including the United States Peace Corps. These organizations can assist in growing
agricultural and industrial productivity by teaching improved methods to
communities at the grass roots level.
b. Private companies who have experienced leaders in
management positions. These leaders,
with their knowledge of best practices in farming and manufacturing, can
transfer this knowledge simply by their use of these practices in their normal
course of business. An often overlooked
benefit of being an employee is an accumulation of experiences and practices of
what works and what doesn’t work. This
knowledge can then be utilized for building success for the individual in other
endeavors.
c. Government. The
government can encourage foreign investment in their country to stimulate
growth. Though it may lose revenue in
the form of wages and profits for the foreign company, it gains a greater
amount in terms of training and education, especially for the native population
that works for the foreign company. This
knowledge transfer can be greatly accelerated by government policies that require
a certain percentage of local hires.
2. Access to international markets.
A country that has no access to international markets is
unable to enjoy the benefits of modernization.
Access to international markets not only allows a country to import
goods and services that are not produced within its borders, but also allows a
country to export goods and services that are highly valued overseas. Without this exchange, a country is relegated
to relying solely on its own resources to grow, and in this day and age, is
insufficient to keep pace with the rapid development that other countries
enjoy.
Facilitators:
a. NGOs.
Nongovernmental organizations have the knowledge and expertize to
navigate trade laws and barriers that the common natives are ignorant of. This includes teaching a local population the
requirements that must be met in terms of product or service quality in order
to enter these international markets. In
addition, NGO’s are also in a better position compared to the natives to
identify and construct trade agreements between businesses.
b. Government. The
government through the laws it erects and the efficiency at which it respects
the laws affects how easily domestic companies can access markets
overseas. In addition, the products and
services that are imported and exported also are influenced by governmental
policies and the respect its agency gives to upholding these laws. For example, corruption is a major factor in
many underdeveloped countries that erodes the efficiency in which goods and
services are transported.
3. Education and skills building
In general, businesses always make a profit on the goods and
services that they sell, and if a region does not have the knowledge or skills
to create these products and services themselves, they are limited to
purchasing them from another source.
Thus, the profit from the sale of these goods and services are reserved for the foreign company who does have
the expertise.
Education of a labor force enables it to claim for itself
what others will claim if they lack the motivation or desire to learn. Education not only involves formal schooling,
but also technical training and even work experience that gives an individual
the knowledge to compete in the world labor market. It must be stressed that formal education is
valuable to the extent that it gives an individual a springboard for a
continual path of life skills learning.
Thus, a formal education that overly relies on rote memorization for measuring
success will inadequately prepare its students for the challenges that exist in
business today. Technical training and
life skills training is equally essential at preparing an individual for
navigating global opportunities.
Facilitators:
a. Government. The
government must promote and support quality and well rounded education. This
begins with equal access for all and the training of skilled teachers. It can
also facilitate improvement in its educational system by embracing alternative
teaching methods that have proven successful in the private sector.
b. Privately funded teaching institutions. These
organizations can equip educators with valuable techniques to broaden the
educational experience. Not only can
they teach specific skills, but they can place more emphasis on the development
of critical thinking skills and creativity than can public school systems.
c. NGOs and volunteer organizations, including the United
States Peace Corps. These organizations
can introduce more effective teaching methods and encourage a community to think
differently about their problems and solutions.
Like privately funded institutions, they have more freedom and
flexibility to introduce different teaching approaches in order to enhance the
results achieved by the student body.
