On my flight from DC to Amsterdam I was seated next to a Dutch man name Roland. After he gave me the 411 on how to get from the airport to downtown (in anticipation of my 8h layover in Amsterdam on my return trip), he asked about why I was going to the DRC. I explained that I worked for a relief and development organization which prompted him to say that the Dutch in general don’t believe that aid work does any good. In retrospect I should have asked him what he meant by that, because that’s a pretty broad statement. However, I have heard beliefs like that before. I know it can be frustrating to hear about the millions of dollars being poured into solving the world’s poverty and hunger situation, and then to continually hear how grave the situation continues to be, year after year. It can feel like dumping money down a black hole.
I don’t think my answer changed his opinion, but Roland seemed to respond to my statements about how FH is mostly made up of national workers, people bringing development ideas to their own countrymen, and not some outsider coming in and telling them how things should be done. This is an aspect of FH that makes me proud to represent this organization.
Does aid work do any good? What do you think?
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