Dear Friends:

I am enjoying the stories about foreign aid. The lesson is that if foreign
aid is given, it is used best by the local folks as they see best, not as
the donor country or the donor organization sees best. The locals know the
local situation; the donors don't.

One of the most powerful books that I've ever read on this topic and about
true teaching  is called "Helping Health Workers Learn" and is published by
the Hesperian Foundation. It focuses on discovery (what are the local
problems), surrender (the local problems may be completed unrelated to the
problems perceived by outside agencies), and enabling the locals to solve
their own problems, with a boost from the donor agencies.

It might seem logical for women to go off into the forest for a few days
from the outside "expert" point of view. Outside "experts"  forget or don't
consider that mothers can't leave their children for so long, or don't know
that in the local culture mothers would risk being seen as sex workers if
they went off into the forest. The stories about the beehives is another
example of how my point of view is useless in someone else's backyard.

warmly,

Nikki Lee RN, BSN, MS, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI
craniosacral therapy practitioner
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com
www.myspace.com/adonicalee

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