I’m writing a book!
When you give money to an international charity, does it make you feel good? Maybe it shouldn’t.
Imagine a health clinic without no place for anyone to wash hands, no doors on the women’s toilets, and no running water. Sounds like someone should help, right? Well, what if I told you a big donor already had helped, and it failed?
During a visit to Kenya in 2017, I saw just that at a clinic just across the road from the office of the largest international charity in the world. The worst part is that the charity staff knew that their project to bring safe water and toilets to that clinic—finished just three years before—had failed.
This is just one example of the dark side of the poverty industry.
It’s long past time to change the way we change the world. With my project, Bullshit without Borders, I will shine light on the failures and foibles of mostly well-meaning celebrities, charities, church volunteers, and corporations. The takeaway is that it’s not okay to interfere with people’s lives just because it makes you feel good.
This work is part indictment of those – like myself – who make careers off the poor and part prescription for a better way forward.
My observations and stories draw from my three decades of work in international development and my visits to more than 30 developing countries. I have seen many failed projects firsthand and met the people who suffer from them. In the last decade, I have focused on improving how donors and non-profits help poor communities.
Do you have a story to share?
SO many people in the international development/humanitarian aid community have told me their stories. Do you have one to share? I’d like to hear it. I can keep your name anonymous.
Susan Davis 