NGOs Valuable in Developing World
temperature have been down quite a bit…walking around yesterday in
Chongming Island, I didn't sweat nearly as much as I expected). Now,
speaking of the walk yesterday, I trekked about 5 hours into the rural
parts of the island, away from any public buses or major roads (I was
actually lost…didn't know the geographic scale of things…expected the
island to be much smaller), and found out that the difference between
the parts near the major roads and the true countryside is quite
glaring.
While high rise apartments are built near major roads to accommodate
increased number of mainland Shanghainese who move to the Island to
get away from the city, the same amount of luxury is not shown at all
in the villages. Sure, the houses are much nicer than the ones in
really poor parts of China, but in terms of the simple interior décor
(no AC, wooden chairs, traditional kitchens, few electronics), it can
be said that the rapid development of the local economy has really
passed them by.
In China, as in many other developing countries, investment resources
are allotted by government. And for a massive country like China,
even in the most developed parts like Shanghai, the allocation cannot
be even. And given the poor communications (again, lack of
investments in roads and public transport), the trickle down effect on
the nearby villages is really infinitesimal. What begs the question:
is there anything else that can quickly help develop remote parts when
the government just doesn't have the energy to pay attention to every
single section of the country?
While still few compared to the West, many NGOs are filling that
niche. Using resources donated from domestic and foreign sources, the
NGOs are helping the remote parts help themselves develop. Using
extensive practical assistance and little economic investment, the
NGOs are allowing the rural parts of the country to move forward
without direct support from the government. The experience I had
working with a group out in rural Yunnan Province (cool weather over
there right now, really want to go) two years back really drive this
point regarding the increased role of NGOs in development.
"There is still strong discrimination against them from the other
people," Tiffany, the coordinator of our work camp went on as she
explained the current condition at Xiao Shui Tang village, a leprosy
colony in Yunnan province in China and the main destination of Spring
2008 Reach Out China trip. Tiffany is working with Joy in Action
(JIA), a local NGO working with so-called leprosy recovery village
throughout southern China.
Having sponsorship from major foundations in Japan, Korea, and Hong
Kong, JIA has been a leading force in providing modern amenities for
the hundreds of impoverished and isolated leprosy colonies through
recruitment of groups after groups of volunteers, both from local
Chinese universities as well as many places abroad. The recent
developments in China and the rest of the developing world have again
and again proven the success and the necessity of determined NGOs such
as JIA in providing support and help in many neglected locations and
communities. The NGOs have proven their irreplaceable value as a
provider of progress in many situations where governments have no
strength or authority.
In many instances, the NGOs provide the necessary services otherwise
not possible if left under the supervision of the government or the
discretion of corporate interests. The activities the NGOs are
engaged often have the quality of low socio-economic returns and low
publicity value, causing their works to be shunned by the other
sectors of the society. Helping the residents of isolate and faraway
leprosy recovery villages tackling the social stigma attached with
contraction of the disease brings almost no immediate or long-term
benefits to the general society.
Yet, as JIA and its volunteers interacted with the villagers, helped
them with their daily necessities, and worked on projects such as road
improvement and English teaching, the benefits reaped by the village
itself is clear and plentiful. Through hard work, JIA has
dramatically changed the economic and materialistic conditions of the
villages while minimizing the related cost to the society. The
projects completed with the assistance of the volunteers have not only
allowed better communication and transportation between the villages
and the outside world as a whole but also promoted better agricultural
production in the rural areas with improvements in the related
infrastructure.
The biggest impact the NGOs can bring to such impoverished and
far-flung regions is often psychological. The presence of the NGOs
can help the locals shake off their long-entrenched sense of neglect
by the society and reinvigorate them with a sense of renewed hope for
a better future. During the work camp, we have come to see a true
sense of appreciation and gratitude of the villages through a series
of home visits. The villagers almost always expressed happiness that
college students from as far away as America cares for them and are
willing to travel to the isolate village just to visit, help, and talk
to them.
As we the volunteers continue to emotionally bond with the villagers
in the course of a week, they are more and more willing to accept us
as part of their families and share with us both the happiness and
sorrow of their daily lives. As groups after groups of volunteers
entered the villages with guidance of JIA, the residents have come to
see the emotional support from the volunteers as a welcoming sign from
civilization and an added color to their otherwise bland and lonely
agricultural lives. Thus, it is with the utmost sincerity that they
express their thanks toward us as we were leaving the village, thanks
that we accepted with heartfelt joy.
In absence of government and private businesses, the NGOs and their
volunteers are carrying out many meaningful, albeit small and
seemingly insignificant, projects in many faraway corners of the
developing world. As projects are completed and the assisted
rejoiced, true long-lasting friendships blossomed between the
volunteers and villagers as well as among different volunteers. Some
have even become more than just friendships. Most of us come from
relatively well-to-do backgrounds, but it was certainly not until we
were placed in the impoverished village did we find the most genuine
camaraderie and the most joy in action. That, I feel, is the true
power of the NGOs.
Comments
Post a Comment