Wednesday, September 7, 2011

NGO hustle

Initially that was NOT supposed to be a blog post in itself. I had been waiting (for 3 hours!!! hence the original title: "Indian (and other variations of) Time, to be continued another day) to go visit some of the projects that an NGO was running and just as I started a blog post (I had run out of other Internet-time-wasting things to do), the director finally called me into his office.

So. . .I met someone who was a business partner with my friend and was impressed that I seemed to genuinely want to work in human rights/social justice issues without any concern for advancement of my career/finances (apparently that's NOT like everyone. . .!) so he introduced me to someone he knew who is a coordinator for some different NGOs (who will remain nameless, sorry for the suspense), who introduced me to a specific one in Delhi where I went today. I had been to the office on Friday to meet the director and find out what kind of situation I was potentially getting myself into.

The director explained that they did nothing related to human rights or the environment, so I wasn't a good fit for the organization. Fair enough. I certainly prefer honesty over exploitation. Then the conversation shifted to the prospect of fund-raising. . .uh oh. "I could put together a team for you and you could come up with some fund-raising strategies, after of course you know everything about the organization, how transparent we are, what we are doing, how sustainable we are. . .you know, sustainability is the key these days, how much money we need, etc." Ok, not ideal, but of course every organization has to do at least some form of fundraising. . .right? "For now we can pay you 8000 rs for trial but after a few months, depending on your skills and ambition, there's no limit. . .we don't have a problem in this area." ummm. "You could set up an office for us in Canada, be the face of the organization there, find Canadian donors there and have the funds transfered to our account.". . . .right. . . .something about that seems somewhat unsustainable to me. . .

Not to mention that they are already getting funding and support from their "Mother NGO" and the government. AND that he failed to acknowledge that corruption was happening with respect to entrance to government schools. Provided, perhaps this doesn't apply to the particular ones that they are working with. . .(possible?). When I was working for a week at NCDHR the people living in the slums straight up told us that their children rarely got into government schools because, although entrance was supposed to be based on a lottery system, in actuality, it was often based on how much you were able to pay the administration. Dalits and other people living in the slums didn't have much opportunity. Ok, so Dalit rights aren't an issue you're working on. Fine. That doesn't mean it's ok to be unaware or dishonest about a huge problem affecting the demographic you largely work with.

Sometimes I think I'm being way to critical and will never be able to do anything. . .good or bad, because of it. Nothing will ever be 100% good (the rule of the yin yang?) Sometimes I wonder if it's more a fear of involving and investing myself in something that will inevitably have some negative aspects. I prefer to dwell in the grey>leading white as much as possible. . .but the black is also a necessary part. . .Maybe if I actually took the position and invested myself I could help them do things in a better, more sustainable way. . .not because i'm a foreigner, thus automatically more knowledgeable or because i have a hero complex. . .but simply because i'm critical and trying my best to be honest with myself about the situation.

In this particular situation though, I think I will decline. Some people just make you feel uneasy. . .

2 comments:

Alan said...

Fascinating. But I'm not sure I fully get it?

Clueless Wonder said...

tricked you! try this one :)