old habits

There is a divide in the support of disaster response to people who live in an area that disasters continue to recur. There is a pattern among the beneficiaries that surface. A habit in which people succumb to. I met with some fellow aid workers this weekend and we were talking of the floods that occur each year here in Mozambique and I asked what I should be expecting when they come. I received the same response I got from co-workers when I asked this question. I still have no answers. They laugh and say we run around like chickens with our heads cut off. One man described the situation as a triangle. A deprivating play of power and resources. The people, the relief organizations, and the government are all playing each other for the same resources – playing the disaster to their favor. The disaster strikes and the relief organizations are granted money to aid in the people. The government wants the money and therefore constricts the use of it without their involvement, giving them the power on how it may be used. The people also want the money or rather the resources that they know will come from it. It is said that many households have two homes they live in. One is up on higher land, the other is down on the riverbank waiting to be destroyed and rebuilt each year. This concept of working the welfare system is not new. And its not something that only happens in wealthier countries that have a monetary welfare system in place.

I have not gone through a disaster or flood season here, so I have yet to know the truth on these theories. However, it is the argument that is brought up at every meeting and class on international development. How much are we actually helping people by giving handouts – are we hurting them more by coming in with loads of foreign aid that carry restrictions and therefore cause divides upon the actual development within communities? I can see the triangle in theory. This particular individual I was talking with had worked in disaster response for a number of years and became too upset with the way people play against the disasters to continue working in this job. He felt more damage was being done. If after a disaster strikes, households are rescued, provided new housing and livelihood assets, and these people know that the disaster will reoccur next year – where is the motivation to stay in the new house in a new area and have to work hard at rebuilding their lives when they can return to what they know and receive more aid once it happens again?

My take on this, which may change after I work in this area longer, is that we can recognize these bad habits, these behaviors of deceit and cheating the system, but we can also recognize the immediate and very real human needs that do occur if and when a disaster strikes. And hopefully we can communicate those needs to receive funding that will save peoples lives. You can’t fake waters rising or damage done by a cyclone or hungry bellies during the hunger period. A doctor does not turn away a patient because his bad habit caused a dreadful disease. He treats the patient. And hopefully works on educating and promoting healthier habits to prevent sickness and disease in the future. So if there is money available and it is only allocated to do specific activities that someone thousands of miles away thinks is relevant to a place they have never been, why not take the money? And then educate not only the beneficiaries to try and change bad habits, but also the donors with the reality of where the needs lie and what could be done with that money to bring about positive changes and assistance. Someone is always going to cheat the system. It is our human nature to look out for ourselves. We also look out for each other though and if we can work together to create supporting practices and lifestyles, I would hope the bad habits would start to minimize. I am choosing to be optimistic. Someone once told me, there is good in every one. Look for that good and dwell on that good. And it will be a lot easier to work with the difficult people.