ANTH 320/DEVS 321 PEOPLE AND DEVELOPMENT Fall 2018
Group work:
Based on Crewe’s discussion of different categories of actors and
contexts in development practice, develop some stock characters and
characteristics of receiving and donating countries. Try to come up
with two characters and two characteristics for each. Be inventive with
names, but try to be reflective of reality with the characteristics.
DONOR COUNTRIES
“Donating country”:
- wealth
- majority is of European descent
- highly skilled work force
- high rates of education
“Trumpsylania”
“Youtopia”
- wealthy, rich industries like oil, off-shore banking
- Global North country
- strong leader, known for helping others
DONORS
“CEO Sam”
- goes on mission to “find himself”
- economics degree
- almost 30
- wants to run workshops on financial management and micro-credit loans in Tsunami City
“Lago”
- manager is in charge of hedge fund to disperse funds to poor country “Sleeping Lion.”
-
wants to build a theme park in “Sleeping Lion” because he believes more
joy can come to the people from them as opposed to outright receiving
funds directly.
- also, as a tourist attraction, the theme park will generate funds as profits for “Lago”.
-
a constraint to this project is that “Sleeping Lion” is a landlocked
country in a drought-stricken area, therefore severely lacking in
water; thus, the theme park will cost massive amounts of money to
import to the park.
“Mary Ann”
- is the daughter of #1CEO in “Youtopia”
- She is responsible for the Public Relations of her dad’s company and is focused on making the company look good.
-
right now she is focused on a 10 million (currency?) fund to an NGO,
“Humble House” that is working on sustainable housing in “Modestland”
- age: mid 30's
“Bob Frank”
- is the CEO of a large tech company and is looking for NGOs to give money to, to build a school in his name.
- “Bob Frank” has a master’s degree in computer science.
-
he is willing to give 3 million (currency?) To the NGO for the
development of a school in his name and the left over money can be used
at the NGO’s discretion, for what the NGO wants.
“Mr. Grey”
- 62 year old retired business man
- lives in the top 1% with a lavish house and comfy lifestyle
- sees an infomercial of a sad child, quickly donates $1000 for a tax credit and because he feels sympathy
- his work with regards to development is done
NGOs
“Humble House”
- an NGO in “Modestland”
- “Cleo Tarzan” works for “Humble House”
- he grew up in “Modestland” and his parents lost their jobs from the crippling mining industry, thereby becoming homeless.
-
this has made “Cleo Tarzan” focused on sustainable housing. He has also
witnessed other families become homeless or who never had homes.
- age: mid 20s
- focus on old mining towns for sustained housing
“Help Group”
- “Jill Smith”is an upper level manager for “Help Group”
- has an masters in development studies and has worked for “Help Group” for 10 years
- “Help Group” builds wells and teachers proper sanitation/helps establish waster water lagoons
-
“Help Group” wants to build the “Bob Frank” school in
“Underprivilegedville” to benefit the citizens of
“Underprivilegedville” and be able to use the leftover money to fund
their actual goals of fresh water wells and proper sanitation
facilities and sanitation education.
- “Help Group” is willing to go
against their main goals to get the indirect funding, and “Jill Smith”
is trying to get the funding by building “Bob Frank’s” school.
“Sad Kids R Us”
- gets the donation made by “Mr. Grey”
- “Jenn” works for “Sad Kids R Us”
- she has a degree in development and quickly started working for the organization after university
-
she understands what the “correct” approach to development would be,
but feels pressure from her boss to get money from donors; she has no
choice but to use the pictures of sad kids in infomercials.
MULTILATERALS
“World Bank”
- “Dave Enriques”, from southern California, of Mexican heritage, works for the “World Bank”
- has a major in Development Studies and a minor in Economics
- interested in economic development and building infrastructure within developing communities
- at the “World Bank” assists with economic decisions within the community
-
works in “Starland” (a country in South America) and assists the
government in deciding how much money is needed from the “World Bank”
to complete their new transportation and bridge developing project;
“Dave” estimates it will cost US$10 million
- he has not yet moved
his family to “Starland” because he wants to find a safe community with
a good school which has proved difficult because the communities he has
been working in are under developed compared to his home in California
- age 30
RECEIVING COUNTRIES/COMMUNITIES/PEOPLE
“Tsunami City”
- island suffered natural disaster
- most infrastructure has gone
- 100 000 people have been displaced
- there is no safe water
- there are hospital shortages
- “Homeless Harry” lives in “Tsunami City”
- worked in agriculture, but farm was wiped out
- is a single father of five children
- children have never been to school as they worked on the farm
“Sleeping Lion”
- landlocked country in a drought-stricken area, therefore severely lacking water
- “Wimawe” is a young child who works at the theme park in “Sleeping Lion”
- “Wimawe” receives no wages, but gets paid in the form of park passes.
- initially, when the park opened, “Wimawe” was very excited, but as
the theme park began losing attendance, due to an increase in severe
drought because water has been redirected to the park instead, “Wimawe”
became sad, realizing he was now worse off than before the theme park
was built. Eventually, the theme park closed.
- Sleeping Lion is
receiving external funds from Trudoville on the conditions that these
funds will be dispersed to people in need, such as Wimawe’s family in
the form of CCTs. Other conditions that are associated with these
new funds include the ability for the family to show how the incoming
funds from the CCTs are being used to buy equipment necessary for them
to develop strategies for self-employment, and receive proper training
in their fields of interest, such as agriculture, farming, or fishing
leading towards self-sustainability.
“Trudoville”
the
neighboring country of the “sleeping Lion”, has begun to realize that
the westernized country of “Trumpsylvania” is intact further damaging
the infrastructure of the “Sleeping Lion”, in realizing so, the two
southern countries. Trudoville and Sleeping Lion, come to a free
trade agreement that allows the Sleeping Lion to access and divert the
excess amount of water that flows through Trudoville into the water
park, under the conditions that Trumpsylvania only acquires 40% of
total profits made in a year. Allowing for 30% of the profit to
go back into the growing economy of Sleeping Lion, and 30% of the
profit going back to Trudoville for the use of the extra water.
“Modestland”
- in the Global South
- landlocked country
- has a crippling mining and agriculture industries
- high unemployment
- corrupt and futile government
“Underprivilegedville”
- the “Bob Frank” school to be built by “Help Group” will help the area, but they really need clean water and sanitation.
-
a family of five with three children aged 5, 10, 14 and two parents.
The family lives in rural area of Underprivilegedville, that does not
have road access to the planned "Bob Frank" school. The father
commutes to work and is away for weeks at a time. The mother is a
caregiver and takes care of the household to ensure food for the
family. The family wishes to send their children to this new school so
they can get good education... but they are unable to find
transportation because of their remote location.
They need paved
roads, and a school bus so that their children have the opportunity to
travel to school. They also will use this as a tactic to pressure their
municipality officials to fund further and continuing projects (ie.
paved roads, school buses, and maybe a food program for the students in
the upcoming school)
This school is being funded by Bob Frank and
due to the amount of funding, this school will be able to have a pre k
to grade twelve students. With such a nice school being planned in the
area and funded by such a influential person, this family is hoping to
be able to use this school as leverage for pressuring the government to
improve the roads and get a school bus for the school.
Not only
will this school improve the lives of the local people but it may
encourage richer families to move to the area due to such a nice school
and roads. This furthering the local economy and this may make it
possible for students to find local jobs when they finish school
“Starland”
- building a transportation and bridge developing project
- has few safe communities in “Dave Enriques’” mind
Sandra
Smith: a local from the community Guava, in Starland which is
located in South America, and a government representative for her
community. Sandra Smith is 27 and has two young kids who have not yet
started school. She is an advocate for the new bridge developing and
transportation project because she wants her community to have better
access to more populated towns because there is no hospital or
elementary school in Guava. Sandra Smith worked with the Starland
government to reach out to the World Bank in order to ask for a loan
for the project. Each local community is also running fundraising
programs for the project and Sandra Smith is in charge of the
fundraising efforts in Guava.
- Jane Doe is a concerned mother
living in a low income neighbourhood. She is petitioning the government
to fund the beautification of her son's school. The school is covered in
profane graffiti that she believes is hindering the education of
the children at that school. The petition is met with great controversy
because there are seemingly other, more pressing issues for the
neighborhood than a simple repainting job. Jane believes that this
project would help the community as a whole as it would foster positive
morale and create an inviting environment.
- Carl: 42,
married, farmer, 4 kids, long-time citizen of a low-income community.
Carl is well respected in the community because he often pressures the
government to pave roads that are in unacceptable conditions. He feels
as though his voice is ignored so he uses passive aggressive tactics to
make the government feel as though it was their idea
- Farmer
Jo: is a farmer living in the Philippines who receives a CCT on the
condition of enrolling her 8 year old daughter in school instead of
having her take on the family business, farming rice. However, the
closest school a two hour walk away and the community the family lives
in cannot access public transportation. Jo has convinced the state that
in order for her daughter (and other children in the community) to get
to school, the state will need to implement transportation in the
community. Jo also recognizes that the transportation will be
beneficial to local farmers like herself who need to travel to other
communities to sell their products.
CELEBRITY DEVELOPERS
“Sadie
Star”: singer songwriter from Nashville:
started a foundation for impoverished children in sub-saharan Africa
that provides opportunities for Americans to travel abroad and teach
music lessons while also improving access to education. Sadie grew up
in a single parent household and therefore really empathizes with those
affected by financial instability.
“Bart Monroe” - an actor from the Global North (outopia),
- He found out about Humble House from his agent, as well he found out he is a descendent from modestland
-He makes regular appearance in Modestland, and has had fundraisers to help get materials needed for the sustainable homes
-
he had a bad rep- got arrested, and thinks that volunteering is a way
of giving back to the community but also make him look like a better
actor and get him jobs
-He is even considering adopting a child from Modestland
“Jangelina
Aolie” - She started an NGO for an African country that was
“suffering,” ended up adopting 3 children from that country.
- Has been recognized as princess of the country and continues to advocate from the comfort of her mansion in California.
VOLUNTEERS
“Sarah
Martain”: is a blogger who writes the blog
"Development Pics", she travels to places that have gained global media
attention to take pictures and report on the news story, news outlets
regularly takes her pictures and includes them on the daily news which
in return has made Sarah's blog gain popularity and international
recognition.
- Sarah is 26 and has a
Bachelors degree with a major in Journalism, a minor in Development
Studies, and has a passion for photography.
-
Sarah decides to travel to a school built in Underprivileged Ville by
Bob Frank and the NGO's hired by Bob Frank called "Help Group", she
decides to this because it has been reported that in the news that Bob
Frank is starting "Help Group" schools, in order to gain attention for
the project she decides to go live in Underprivileged Ville to take
pictures and to write a feature for her blog. This will benefit Sarah
as she will be able to sell her pictures to media outlets and Help
Group will gain more attention and will gain more funding for the
project.
“Tina Tina” - volunteer
humanitarian living in California: volunteers her time to collect and
distribute used shoes to detained refugee children, and also raises
awareness about immigration issues on her college campus. She
volunteers because she wants to “be the change” (but also to beef up
her resume).
“Joe”: from the Global North (Youtopia)
found a volunteer website called volunteer-r-us where you can volunteer
with various projects- like Humble House
-Joe in construction, he only has a science degree- but has never used a hammer or any other tools before
-He
has a big heart and wants to help others, however he has never
volunteered before and thinks it’s going to be a good experience
“Debbie”
is a 21-year-old StFX student studying biology and applying to
med school. Debbie requires 40 hours of volunteer work for her to make
her application as unique as possible.
- Debbie also loves to
travel, so she looks for international volunteer opportunities and
stumbles upon HousesforAfrica.com which builds infrastructure in a
small African community. She applies to work there for 4 months of the
summer after graduation. To pay for her travel expenses, Debbie sets up
a go fund me and invites her friends and family to donate to her trip.
“Joe
Smith” - works in finance in a cubicle, decides one
day that he is able to save all children from poverty.
- Sets out to a “third-world” country as a volunteer humanitarian.
After a few weeks, Joe is so emotionally drained that he returns home
for a break. While he is home he tells every one of his “work” and
“advocates” for others to follow in his footsteps, saying that “It was
life changing.”