People on the ground often know better than the experts

I am presently reading Jane Jacob’s “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. Jane Jacobs understood cities from the bottom up. She skipped a formal university education and instead learned how cities worked from careful observation, while she herself lived in the city. Her writings and actions have become classic in our understanding about the life in cities.

This book has awakened a concept in me that has applications in many other diverse fields. It is often the people in the midst of a problem who know best how to solve it. This struck me personally when a group of friends insisted that I should not ride my bike home since I had one drink too many. I knew I could safely make it home. They clearly doubted it. Even more to the point, all my well meaning fiends were not regular bike riders. Nothing frightens such a group as the sight of an unhelmeted bike rider at night. However, a bike rider can often know more about this situation from past experience.

The importance of the knowledge of practioners on the ground easily extends beyond our shores. It is especially relevant when one goes overseas. I have spent many years working as a water engineer in Africa. I was originally an external expert who came to help the people there with their problems. For the first year in Tanzania, I was giving advice and instructions that were clearly off base. My subsequent years were often spent learning from the wisdom of the people on the ground. More details can be found in my articles, “Reflections on International Development” and “Development; DART Water Mission” in my blog www.rebelliousseeker.blogspot.com

In recent rears I have ventured into countries with many difficult problems that beg for solutions. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo I soon realized that I definitely did not have the answer to their many intractable problems. However, I have met people with experience on the ground there. We have formed a support group for them, Canadians for Human Rights in the Congo (CHRC). In this group there are people whose roots go back to the countryside of the DRCongo. They are attempting to address the following problems:

Heritiers de la Justice is supporting a women’s clinic on social justice issues in Bukavu

Fondation Kabungulu is aiding widows and children of slain human rights defenders in DRCongo

Vision GRAM International is working to address the problem of small arms proliferation in the DRCongo

Paix pour l’Enfance is working on the problem of child soldiers

Hope for Orphans assists orphans caused by the civil strife in Goma and Bukavu.

Each of these groups is led by a person with experience on the ground. More information can be obtained from www.humanrightsinthecongo.com

This principle of listening to the people on the ground can be extended to problems of a larger scale. I will undertake this by looking at three worldwide problems that are seemingly intractable. In these examples we have a local approach which conflicts with a global, external approach.

Syria is involved in a mindboggling, complicated civil war, with a wide-ranging set of players, both local and external. To understand what is going on one needs to listen to the many millions of refugees on Syria’s borders and give serious attention to their stories.

Venezuela is another conundrum. It is a country with one of the world’s largest oil reserves. It used to be one of Latin America’s richest and most prosperous countries, depending heavily on its oil reserves. Now it is an economic shambles and the source of fierce civil strife and shortages of all kinds. To find a way out of this, one should listen carefully to the views of the people on the streets. One should be wary of outside solutions by experts here.

Israel/Palestine is probably the world’s longest running and most intractable problem. I have spent a number of working visits to this region and have listened to both Palestinian and Israeli views. There is a common path out of this morass that is agreed upon by peaceful Palestinians and Israeli opposition groups. Unfortunately, these folks on the ground do not hold the reins of power in this situation.

In all of the above I can hear people saying “You have forgotten the massive external forces at work by powerful outside agencies.” Especially we should remember the extensive USA network of about 800 military bases overseas in 70 countries, with 200,000 personnel. The USA and its influence will always be a factor, but local groups can counteract this. This will not be easy but it can be done. Cuba is an example of this. This island, just 90 miles from the tip of Florida, has countered US influence on the island for nearly 60 years now. During my years in Tanzania, I still remember president Nyerere saying, 15 years after having gained independence for Britain, “At some time we will have to stop blaming the colonialists for all of our problems”.

So there you have it. Listen to people on the ground. It is amazing how much these people know about practical solutions to their problems, as a result of their living in the situation. We outsiders need to curb our tendency to find facile solutions. It is better to develop a ‘listening ear’, or if one has the has the time, to soak oneself deeply into the situation before proposing a solution.