The Peace Corps Philosophy

The philosophy of the Peace Corps is quite different from that of other aid agencies. The Peace Corps doesn’t do, we teach. We facilitate. We motivate. We plan. We arrange. We act as partners and we are told to always, always, have a counterpart with us when we do anything.

 The philosophy is one that focuses on the resources that already exist in the host country and mobilizing people, or changing strategies to solve a problem, as opposed to using technology that the host country doesn’t understand to temporarily solve a problem, or giving money, pumps, etc. to help ameliorate what people have said is a problem.

It starts like this: what are the needs of the community? This may seem like a fairly straightforward question to answer. But, there is a subtle distinction between want and need. For example, two people might tell you they “need” a well. The first person needs a well because the other one is a kilometer away and they don’t feel like walking.

The second person may say he needs a pump because the only water source close to him is a river that’s contaminated by pesticides and chemicals and it brings a lot of sicknesses to the families that use it.

Can you tell which is a want and which is a need? The first person has identified a want. Yea, it stinks to walk the kilometer but the pump is there and it works and most people here have bikes and it’s not bad to bike a kilometer and it’s easy to balance a jug of water on the back that weighs upwards of 40 pounds (this actually is quite easy). So, person one, how’s it feel to want? The second person has identified a need. They need a pump because their only water source makes them sick.

So who do we help? Well, that’s a trick question- we help them both. We work with person one to try and get them to understand that they don’t need a pump- but maybe they need to go to the pump earlier or later so it’s not so busy or so hot when they go- then the distance wouldn’t be as bad. We would then work with the second one to see if we could cultivate connections and joint projects to see if we could facilitate a well in the village.

I know what you’re thinking: wait you don’t give money? That’s weird. Why not? Or you might be thinking: yea I knew that, I’ve read other blogs, etc. Anyway, here’s a brief anecdote that explains why (boe yinga- why in moore).

My moore tutor once asked me, “Why can’t you give us money?” and that’s a hard question to answer in a way that avoids making Americans sound cheap or putting other aid agencies down. I responded to it like this: “Ablasse, if I gave you money, what would you do with it?”

Ablasse: “Spend it”

Me: “And after it was gone, what would you do?”

Ablasse: “Try and get more”

Me: “But what if there was no more?”

Ablasse: “Well, that’d be unfortunate”

Me: “But, what if I gave you an idea that helped you make money. You could keep reusing it, and keep getting more money, and then you wouldn’t run out of money. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Ablasse: “Yep”

Me: “Well, there you go”

The key word is sustainability. We’re here for two, three, or four years and then we leave and do something else, in the states, other places abroad, etc. We don’t spend the rest of our lives here- so if we do things by ourselves, who is going to do them when we’re gone? The answer to that rhetorical question is no one will because they’re built around the volunteer. But if the host country nationals (in my case the Burkinabe) do it themselves, then that’s awesome!

Basically we work with someone to develop a plan, and then implement the plan. We can do the sensibilizations ourselves or we can just sit in the crowd and watch. Being different, we draw a crowd. A friend of mine once told me, “I just go and sit down and even if people aren’t interested in the sensibilization they come and sit because they want to know what I think is so interesting.” In all honesty, it’s an amazing plan- and it actually does work. People in Poa come to baby weighings because they want to see the white guy weigh their kids and they want to laugh when I mispronounce their names- because it is kinda funny- and some names are hard to pronounce.

This focus on sustainability is actually a lot harder than just doing it yourself. When you’re working with someone else you have to make sure they know, and understand the information. You have to have a plan and you have to understand why you have that plan. Where are you now? Where do you want to get by the end of the sensibilization? How are you going to get there? How will you get people to show up? How will you get people to stay? Can you say that in moore? The list of questions goes on and on.

There’s also the golden rule of Burkina Faso to consider: expect the unexpected. You’ve been told that everyone speaks French? Well, better find a moore translator just in case (9/10 cases you’ll need it). Your program starts at 7? Better hope people show up by 9. Your counterpart said “don’t worry I’ll remember”? Better remind him anyway. What I’ve learned here over the past (almost) 6 months is this: if you don’t plan at all: you’re in trouble. If you plan too much: you’re in trouble. So what am I saying? It’s the same thing Odysseus found out- everything in moderation. Have an end point and a strategy but leave minutia to what feels right. Because, let’s face it: the lesson isn’t in the ending. It’s in the journey.  

It could also bounce back the other way. You can be passionate about something and no one will care- and you have to respond to the priorities of the village (within reason), so you have to either convince your counterpart(s) that your priority is really a priority (within reason) or just let it go. I don’t recommend the second one- but, to each his own.

I guess the philosophy boils down to this: If we do it for you, you’re not going to develop. And who wants that?