Lessons learned

Suckered into a sense of excited vitality; the bus was half full. The seats had knee room to spare and were gloriously padded (for my poor scrawny arse) AND we were racing, tires squealing, brakes burning, over and around the limestone hummocks humming along the best smooth tarmac northwards along the west coast of Samar. I gotta take my clues when they present to me so obviously. Really, were we actually on an early 1030 bus or a late 0830 bus??? The poor 12 year-old girl behind me is barfing and moaning of things to come. She is already spent and we have been on the move for less than a half-hour. We stopped for the first break what turned out to be a scant 100 meters from the start of the bad. When the mechanic du jour dove under the bus to realign the front right leaf-spring cluster with a 5lb maul and then proceeded the readjust the air pressure of all the tires…well one must remember to stop believing in fantasies of amazing lucky one-of-a-kind happenings. Perfect translocation is an illusion. While we were beating ourselves raw on the paved but dust-choked “National Highway” it occurred to me that “international development” is a most challenging business. This is not a new revelation, simply one drummed incessantly into my ass. Reality bites, so to speak. I began to consider my recent involvement in a Governance Program and how – when I fledge into my own and should I continue working in ID – work and time may be better spent. For example, to enter into a program, in a new context it may be difficulot to grasp the full breadth of the conundrum to be hurdled, with or without the benefit of a strong RBM matrix. My opening months in the governance program were spent in study of the jargon, the players, the history, and the issues as presented and interpreted by those before me. Those before me, then, molded subsequent programming within this contextual foundation. I had an inkling of a thought (a distraction from the barfing and endless spitting behind me) that efficiencies may be found by revisiting the “drive for the goal” urge in problem solving while offering merit to problem evaluation. One may find value, then, in the introduction to ID project/program to take a few months initially to learn the contexts. Thus armed with some advance awareness of the jargon and RBM (for example) take a vacation and spend a month touring independently. To struggle the daily challenge of travel, to be able to ask good questions to those whom you pass can only serve to clarify and accentuate the truth of the matter (while serving the needs of the FIT within). To bring this concept into a real life scenario, I wondered how many of my expat and national co-workers have a solid grasp of the issues concerning good governance and how various local governments are surmounting issues such as infrastructure/service delivery/ health care/ education for instance. It is likely that the program staff are all too aware of the hurdles facing a good governance program. It may be just as likely that they do not. The one thing I do know is that in the Philippines, status and position define the mundane and daily actions of the person. And in our 30 million dollar capacity program, many of our program officers and our area managers are from affluent, status endowed, highly educated situations. Meaning: life is experienced from the gated communities, private schools, and windows of chauffeured vehicles and aided by domestic helpers and buckets of skin whiteners. Where one would rather wait for a drive than walk around a corner. Offices come with internet, aircon and limousines on call. Does this perspective limit full awareness of the country’s context and diversity? On the road I have come across some interesting folks each with a unique story and yet all with common frustrations. David (Jaks Café, Romblon, Romblon), Fredy and Wilma (San Bernadino Mountain Resort, San Jaquin, Panay), Nikky and Jamie (Kookoo’s Nest, Tambobo Bay, Negros), Cris and Rita (Nutshuts, Loboc, Bohol), Honorable Amando Martinez (Marmaduke Hotel, Looc, Tablas Island, Romblon – over a pancake breakfast!) a retired Provincial Councilor – as well as the innumerable moments of conversations passing the time on park benches, restaurants and bus seats….seems that the country has not a few challenges ahead of it….