Where's the money?

The most important question any development worker faces is how to ensure sustainability. I have laid out the bedrock for my development philosophy here in previous posts: it is important to teach villagers the skills needed to make improvements within their community, as opposed to making those improvements for them.

With that philosophy in mind, I had decided back when we first formed our Water and Sanitation Committee that, following the Pump Replacement Project, wherein the villagers were taught how to maintain and repair the pumps on their own, I would not seek any more funding during my service from outside sources.

The reason for this hard-line approach is that I feel the most important skill the villagers must learn is how to plan, fund, and implement projects independently, without foreign assistance. During the past 5 years, they have become accustomed to significant foreign aid. Since I am the last volunteer in my village (Peace Corps rules stipulate only 3 volunteers can be placed in succession in any one village), it is important to me that they learn to do this prior to my departure.

Naturally, this has been met with resistance by both my committee members and the villagers as a whole. I documented several such discussions with the Water and Sanitation Committee previously here in the post 'On the role of a development aid worker…' back in April.

Slowly but surely, I have been able to convince more and more people that my approach has merit. Most of my Water and Sanitation Committee seems to be coming to this realization. They rightfully fear that this path will be much more difficult, but they have by and large come around to the idea that this will be better for them in the long run.

On Friday, June 10th, we held a Water and Sanitation Committee meeting, during which we discussed which projects they would like to work on first next year. (We will not be able to actually do any physical work until the growing and harvest seasons are over, which last through December.) My intention is to plan out the projects for next year early such that we can begin to raise money within the village now. I fear that it will be a difficult process, and possibly impossible if we were to wait until the last minute.

The committee decided that the first project they would like to work on is building 10 wells: 3 within the village, 4 within the women's garden, 2 within small satellite villages, and 1 within the fields, where the villagers frequently gather.

Once I explained my intention to plan out this project early in order to determine how much funding we must raise, Lassana, my homologue, asked 'how much will you contribute?' I asked 'in what way, as a part of the community? I will pay my share of any dues required of each community member?' Lassana responded 'No, how much will you give us from America?'

I gave an exaggerated response of shock, and said 'I told you all before, I am not looking for any money in America! You will have to raise all of the money yourselves within the village. I explained this to you all many times before, did you think I was lying?' I then explained once again my reasons for this approach.

Lassana argued that they know how to raise money within the village, they've done it before. But money is hard now, because there is no extra millet now to sell for profit. I explained that if money is hard, they might need to cut down on the initial scope of the project by prioritizing the well locations and constructing them in phases.

Later on, while talking with Dramani, the president of our Water and Sanitation Committee, he assured me that he and most of the other people are on board with my philosophy. Lassana's comment is not representative of the entire group.

I also asked him about last year's growing season, during which we received more rain than usual. He at first agreed that it was difficult, telling me that the excessive rain had damaged some of the crop. But when I asked whether the harvest was better or worse than a normal year, he said it was better. Therefore, if they cannot raise the money this year, they may never be able to.

I have had my doubts of whether we will be able to raise enough money to fund a significant project, seeing that the 'cɛkɔrɔbaw' (elder men) have frequently complained that the monthly 100 CFA (approx. $0.20 US) dues we are now collecting from each household are too high. This notwithstanding that one mango costs 50 CFA, and each Malian tends to eat at least a couple everyday.

But a conversation with my friends Daouda, Dara, and Bokari, who are leaders within the 'zɛnasi' ('dɛnmisɛnw'/youth organization consisting of approximately everyone under the age of 30), brought new information to light that makes me think that in spite of the complaints from the 'cɛkɔrɔbaw,' they actually have the money to fully fund the project on their own.

My friends told me how, last year, the 'zɛnasi' required every male under the age of 30 within the village to pay 7,500 CFA (approx. $15 US) in order to purchase the large radio that they now use for their regular dance parties. Unfortunately, this radio recently caught fire internally, so they now intend on purchasing a new radio this year. In order to do this, each 'zɛnasi' member will contribute 10,000 CFA (approx. $20 US).

These are huge sums of money in the context of village life, and for a project that, although certainly desirable as I can attest to, is not nearly as important as improving water availability within the village. Additionally, since each family within the village has many children, each family is contributing this amount of money several times over. This is just another reason why I continue to be very impressed with the 'zɛnasi,' and their organizational capacities.

This information gives me the confidence that the money to fund these projects is available, but it is now a matter of convincing the 'cɛkɔrɔbaw' that in order to improve their quality of life, it is important that they contribute significantly to any project. America is no longer here to pick up the full tab.

I explained this to Dramani, the president of our committee. As a head-of-household himself, he agreed that each family does have the ability to pay the money required for our projects, but that the 'cɛkɔrɔbaw' are particularly stingy with their money.

I discussed calling a village-wide meeting to discuss the predicament, wherein we could use the 'zɛnasi' as an example of a success story within our village. Unfortunately, my friends in the 'zɛnasi' have asked me not to do so. They told me that the adults would not take kindly to hearing that they had spent so much money on a radio, seeing that most of them are conservative muslims who believe that their dance parties are reprehensible.

So at this time, I am continuing to assist the Water and Sanitation Committee in collecting the monthly dues from each 'dutigi' (head of household). I will also begin gathering information to plan the projects for next year and determine how much money, in addition to the monthly dues, must be raised within the village in order to fully fund the projects. Then comes the hard part, a sort of behavioral change... we must find a way to convince the 'cɛkɔrɔbaw' that by contributing financially to such community initiatives, they can dramatically improve their quality of life. And this is possible to do on their own, without foreign assistance.