While applying for jobs to NGOs, how does one react to an article like this?
http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/10/stories/2009061056832000.htm
A cyclone strikes an ecologically fragile area, and the people living there are in desperate need of food, water, clothing, shelter etc. Right on cue from the cyclone descend NGOs and private donors, doing their bit to help the suffering, distributing packets of food and water, and clothes too. I suppose they construct some make-shift sort of shelters too. Either way, those packets, well, they are actually packets made from plastic which are disposed of as and where. Mind you, this is an ecologically fragile area which is also a world heritage site.
So the cyclone leaves and leaves behind a flood of plastic. Not bad, eh? Who would have thought such things possible except in some weird sci-fi novel like The Garbage Chronicles? (For those of you who haven't read or heard of it, I suggest you start trawling through bookstores, second hand vendors, rare-book shops, websites, your uncle's attic, wherever, and get a copy. It will leave you amazed beyond words and when you turn to me thank me for introducing this master-piece to you, you will have no words left.)
How brilliant are these NGO people anyway? Are they still habitually wearing horse blinds? Is it really that difficult to think of such basic simple things? You know, like don't leave your trash behind? Especially if it happens to be a 'delicate' locale you are in? I wonder if some other NGO is now going to offer help in cleaning up the place. Or maybe the government should force the NGOs who are responsible for the plastic mess to clean it up too. Or maybe that is taking too much risk, lest they clean up the current mess and create a fresh one while they are at it. Nothing is too difficult for such brilliance to achieve.
Demotivating in some ways, as an aspirant to join the industry. But more frustrating than anything else, seeing how some of those arseholes probably earn fat cheques for being retards while my genius goes squandered! Aye, the nobility of intent is rather meaningless then, isn't it?
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These are musings on sundry matters, some personal and some of general interest to me. It will be nice to have comments from those of you who actually read this stuff. And more often than not, I will comment on your comments as well. So check back. And please, don't leave any damn links instead of comments.
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2 comments:
hahah..spot on dude, just like this NGO i read about which collected laptops for kids in a village which didnt even have proper electricity. Of course, I am sure that there are some NGOs which carry out their activities in a quote unquote sustainable manner, taking into account the holistic picture and the effect their actions have on the area they want to change, but too many NGOs are all about just completing their mission statement, so they can collect their paychecks and play Jesus at the same time! Who says martyrs can't make a living, eh? And too many NGO's mission statements entail bringing the word of Jehovah Almighty to the poor and downtrodden of the world. These people are scum and should be stripped down naked and run through the streets with an electric cattle prod. (but i digress). Why these dumb NGos exist, as I see it, goes to a fundamental problem in modern free market worshipping society: the dominant thinking is you can make any problem go away by throwing money at it. This idea is convenient for those who want to assuage their guilt for lifetimes of brainless consumerism by writing an annual check to a tax deductible charity organization. This idea is implicit in a typical statement of an indian father with a child with NGO aspirations 'Why not spend 20 years working in business, so you have enough money to make a REAL change'. That is why the media insists on portraying brainless fuckwits like princess diana or angelina jolie or the ageless whore queen Madonna as being the paragons of 'CHANGE'. It distracts from the fact that the problem is that there is not enough money being directed towards 'development' (though more wouldn't hurt) but the systems of distribution themselves. You can donate money to an NGO which sends food to a dourght affected area, but you cannot prevent this food from being hoarded by local goons and politicians and sold to the highest bidder. That is why we need EDUCATED, HIGHLY QUALIFIED people working at the grassroots level, instead of religious fuckjobs, fringe extremists and summer interns who want a summer college experience in Africa. If you genuinely do have some NGO aspirations, more power to you dude!
wow... i suppose you could have written almost as good a post about this as i did... almost. :p
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