“The Challenge of Delivering Culturally Appropriate Development Programs in Low-

Resource Countries”

Definition of Foreign AidThe act of those who have resources help

those who have extreme need…..seems simple?

Many critics have questioned the fact that development aid actually brings the expected reduction in poverty

Questions to AskWho do we give aid to?For how long do we provide aid?Is the aid influenced by political, strategic, or

commercial interests of the donor?Does the recipient country have the capacity to

use the aid wisely?Will aid encourage corruption within the elites? Will the aid actually reach those in extreme

need and make a difference?Is the aid culturally appropriate and will cause

no harm?

Foreign Aid is a large and complex Enterprise

Three types of world aid organizations:

Official Development Aid (aid provided by government and inter-governmental agencies) USAID

Non- Governmental Organizations (NGO)

Humanitarian or Emergency Aid (aid typically provided in response to a crisis)

Three Types of Development Workers

Colonialist: The individual who comes with a specific idea of what needs to be transformed and pushes the community leaders in the country aside to do their own thing

Builder: The individual with the “need to help syndrome” who goes home, does some fundraising, and comes back to the country of need and builds something

Catalyst: The individual who comes along side the community and helps to guide projects through expertise and resources

The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity

By Michael Maren “Charity creates a multitude of Sins– Oscar

WildeMichael Maren tells of how humanitarian

intervention can get hijacked by powerful charities and can often feed raw materials and funds to corrupt politicians looking after their own political agendas

He calls this kind of charitable giving “The last refuge of Western Colonialism”

Good intentions can often have disastrous outcomes

The Road to FondwaFondwa is a story that challenges the status

quo of international developmentCentered on the vision of international

cooperation and respectInternational aid focuses on bringing

expertise and resources to the communityDevelopment programs created through the

grass roots organization The Association of Peasants of Fondwa (APF)

Family Health MinistriesMission Statement: Supporting international

communities in their efforts to build and sustain healthy families

FHM is built first on relationshipsIt is not the buildings we support, but the

communities we serveCommunity driven and Haitian staffed