A pep talk to fellow volunteers(myself mostly) on the long-term efficacy of sustainability

Unfortunately there’s a lot of talk going on in our program questioning whether or not secondary education projects fit the image of ‘sustainability’ for Lesotho.

For anyone that doesn’t quite know, sustainability means…well, honestly, i have no idea, but it’ something along the lines of making sure that the impact you have continues after you leave country…teaching host country nationals how to carry on any positive projects or changes you implement while volunteering abroad…a teach a man to fish kind of thing…If only it were that simple.

Sustainability is a relatively new international buzz-word.  The best(and coincidentally the first)definition is from the 1987 Bruntland Commision.  They define it as:

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Nice.  In 1992, the UN met in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the development of Agenda 21, another groundbreaking initiative for sustainability.  They identified information, integration and participation as the 3 key factors in achieving development.  Makes logic.

As peace corps volunteers, we are doing pretty well in these areas.  Still, in practice and in time, ideas evolve.  People begin to over-analyze, to pick and tear at even the simplest and purest of ideas, until you get to this example of what wikipedia currently has to say regarding  “Sustainable development” in economics:

“Ruling out discrimination against future generations and allowing for the possibility of renewable alternatives to petro-chemicals and other non-renewable resources, efficient policies are compatible with increasing human welfare, eventually reaching a golden-rule steady state (Ayong le Kama, 2001 and Endress et al.2005). Thus the three pillars of sustainable development are interlinkages, intergenerational equity, and dynamic efficiency (Stavins, et al. 2003).”

What…are you..?  That doesn’t even make sense!?  Call me a purist, but I can’t help but take this as a joke.  No wonder so many of us as volunteers feel as though we’re accomplishing so little when our definition of accomplishment barely means anything to begin with.

For volunteers, sustainability needs to fit a whole line of endless indescribable requirements(or ‘markers’) before it can be be reported to certain government funding organizations as a ‘sustainable project’.  It’s actually a bit of a morale crusher for us as volunteers because, well…according to the bureaucratic definition of a sustainable project….there just is no such thing.

Which puts us, the volunteer in a precarious situation.  We live in our communities, we identify problems, and with our host country counterparts, come up with solutions.  Even so…without sounding too brutally honest, it is remarkably rare in which a genuinely ‘sustainable solution’ is realized.  I would venture to guess that most PCVs, even the most die-hard and well-intentioned, end their two years of service without ever touching this pillar of ‘sustainability’ in the sense that sociologists, economists, and government bureaucrats understand it.

My point is this…if you as a volunteer are feeling down about your accomplishments…stick to the truths.  Think of the impacts you’ve had on your village.  Think of your friends, your families, your students and the random acquaintances whose names you wish you knew(but you’ve waited to long to ask…awkward)…think of the talks you’ve had with people in hitches, think of the people you’ve inspired back home.  Think of the people who are going to aim higher and want more because you inspired them…and try to convince yourself you aren’t accomplishing enough.

We get fed so much of the bureaucratic mantra that soon we think it’s all that matters.  It reminds me of a bible-thumper knocking on someone’s door and insisting, “well, uh…this is all there is to believe in.”

False.  While that is certainly one good way to help make the world a better place, there are other ways.

Yes, I must admit it’s disappointing that we, as aid-workers aren’t going to single-handedly cure AIDS, pull a country out of economic turmoil, or extinguish the flames of apartheid  in our two ambitious years in Lesotho.  But seriously…why are we so eager to write off what we actually have accomplished?(I’m defending ‘us’ on a PCV level, not an international aid level, which is a whole new and ridiculous can of worms).

School starts back up tomorrow, and I can’t wait.  I love walking to school and saying hello to my neighbors as they get ready for the day.  I love walking into the staff room and having to ask every person how they slept, because anything else would be rude.  I love walking into my classroom, some students on the edge of their seats, ready to explode in anticipation for my next word, while others in the class really couldn’t care less(they’re acting…really they love me).  If my program were to get cut because it doesn’t fit the trendy version of significant aid work, I would be heartbroken…not because I would be out of a job, but because other people would be robbed of the opportunity to share these experiences.

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…I win.

Tagged as: Sustainability, volunteer