Reading Robert Chamber’s paper “Poverty and livelihoods: whose reality counts?” reminded me of an incident a friend narrated a couple of years back.
At the time, he was working for a development sector think-tank in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. The incident occurred after he had just arrived at a 5-star hotel to attend a USAid-funded conference on development.
He was running late and the countless security checks only made him curse the guards under his breath. Just as he had crossed the final security hurdle and was about to enter the building behind a group of suited foreigners, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find yet another security guard looking sheepishly at him.
“WHAT DO YOU WANT?”, he thought.
The guard asked him in a hushed tone (in Urdu), “Sir, what is happening inside?” He told him its a conference and that he’s already running late so he needs to go.
“Sir, what is it about?”
It was about creating employment opportunities for the poor but he thought the guard wouldn’t understand any of it, or he may ask more questions and delay him further, so he said he didn’t really know himself.
“Sir, who are all these white people?”
It was a big conference so he assumed they would be from USAid, DFID, World Bank and other major development organizations that are usually represented at such events. He told the guard the same and began walking.
“Sir…”
“What?”, he said, sounding annoyed.
“Will they give us anything?”
“What was this guy thinking? Why would they give him anything? Who does he think he is? Why is he asking me all these questions? Who does he think I am?”, he thought.
“But, wait, aren’t these conferences about improving ways of giving? How much does this guy make in a month? Does he know how much goes into organizing such a conference? Does he know how much the white men ahead of him, or for that matter, young Pakistanis like himself working in the development sector, make in a month? Does he really know what goes on at these conferences?” He continued to think.
My friend was dumbstruck. He kept staring at the security guard as these thoughts flooded his mind. A few seconds later, he apologetically mustered an “I don’t know and I really have to go now…” and went inside. What was he apologetic about?
If the poor were to organise and attempt to solve their own issues in the same manner, “what papers would they write”, and “what conferences and summits would they convene”?
If we really want “participation”, then are we willing to get off our high pedestal and “hand over power” to those who truly know better about “what concerns the poor”?
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