Resources...

I seem to have no energy these days. It's early in the afternoon, the day after our Donor Recognition Event. I am planning the launch of our global marketing campaign, organising a monitoring and evaluation trip to the areas most affected by the cyclone, preparing for tomorrow's trip to a building site where a group of Global Volunteers from Abu Dhabi is beginning their week-long tour of duty, all while organising a concert, identifying potential donors, evaluating our programs and their effectiveness, and coming up with strategies to improve our overall efficiency in program delivery and reporting.

And today is a quiet day.

I had my first Bangla class last night. Amar Nam Pierre. My name is Pierre. Now that's capacity building.

I have steadily come to the conclusion that the 40,000 NGOs in this country need to be culled; I acknowledge that there are monumental and numerous crises affecting this country, however after decades of interference and intervention, it is quite apparent for even a casual observer to see that what this country needs most is to prioritise.

There are programs and NGOs dedicated to everything imaginable here, from abstinence to education to housing to medicine to cultural awareness to food to clothing... and despite the tremendous amount of capital and resources being injected into the country, it would seem, as my CEO so elegantly described yesterday, that we are merely pouring a glass of water into an empty swimming pool...

From a consultative viewpoint, where there are inefficiencies and misallocation of resources, there can never be growth, or rather sustainable growth. There must necessarily be some streamlining of programs, some improvement in communication and resource sharing, some prioritisation and even some allocation of program management to those areas with the expertise, rather than attempting to solve all problems by constantly and consistently wasting resources by practicing outside the area of expertise.

I hope I am being clear, I have complete faith in the intentions and roles of every aid program, however it is difficult to reconcile spending tens of millions of dollars on women's empowerment programs in areas where there is absoluetly no education, scarcer than scarce employment opportunities, and basic hygiene and standards of living have never been considered. Would it not be a better allocation of resources to firstly address the very basic of issues, those of health, financial and personal security, decent standard of living, rather than try to achieve everything at once?

I am a resolute supporter of holistic programs and delivery of aid, however in reality the practice is more that of overcrowding and lack of communication between NGOs, a frustrating fact especially in light of just how effectively and efficiently programs are when NGOs DO cooperate in a positive manner.

Perhaps I lack the experience to truly appreciate the situation. Or perhaps the traditions are so ingrained there is no thought to question the practices.

Nietsche felt that accepting something simply because it is "tradition", without question and without thought, is perhaps the most selfish, foolish act man routinely engages in.

I tend to agree.