Since Peace Corps prides itself on being a sustainable development program, there is a pretty common debate about providing funding. In a nutshell: if we are providing outside funding it is a one-time (or at least only during the volunteer’s service) thing and therefore not sustainable for the community, BUT there are a lot of projects that are not possible without some funding assistance. Most of the time we try to strike a balance between these two, requiring ‘community contribution’ in funding applications and promoting payback systems.
Many of you know how fiscally conservative I am (I have heard the word ‘stingy’ on occasion), so I find myself on the more conservative side of this debate. So far the stuff I’ve done in village has not technically required any funding: I’ve done classes with different groups in village using Peace Corps provided materials (paper, pens, etc.), and I inherited supplies from a soak pit project that a volunteer near me did. Even more so, I engaged in hundreds of conversations in stunted Bambara/Khassonke about simple sanitation interventions like washing your hands with soap.
After making it through the first year without asking for financial assistance, I came back from an extended period of time away from village and I found myself pulled in the direction of giving. Another volunteer has become involved in Global Smile, an organization that does free cleft-palate surgeries, and they have come to Bamako. As there is a girl in my village with this condition, I approached her family with information, telling them that if they were able to send her to Bamako for the week of the surgery that they wouldn’t have to pay the doctors. Since this time of year is not the most destitute, I thought it would be difficult but possible for them to find the money. I was apparently wrong. My emotions were all over the place: I had spent the last year avoiding giving money to my village, but here was this 13-year-old girl who had a pretty great opportunity (in my opinion) at very little comparative cost. After thinking long and hard about whether this would be a violation of my funding-related values and consulting a few friends, I decided to give it a go. My homologue, my church back home, and I created a payment plan that worked for the family, and on Thursday the girl, her older brother, and I took the train into Bamako.
Not only did I have some qualms about money, but there was also the possibility of the surgery not happening. If the girl was anemic, or had some other condition that might cause complications with the surgery she wouldn’t pass the health screening and would have to simply return home after having hopes deflate and unnecessary money spent as well as time away from work back in village. Since the diet here has made me anemic despite taking supplements in pill form and trying to eat nutrient rich foods whenever I’m outside of village, this was a significant concern.
Now for the good news: yesterday afternoon I found out that the girl, named Tagati, passed the screening and will have the surgery tomorrow! If everything goes well, she will be back to Drametou ahead of schedule and have a brand new smile to show off when she arrives! So, despite all the stress about money, the inevitable complications with transport (i.e. the train was running 10 hours late), and the many other things that could potentially cause failure, everything appears to be working out for the best.
Now if we can just get this soak pit project hammered out…..