austraLasia #2431

Who gets the Aid payoff? An article worth a second look

PHNOM PENH: 4th June 2009 -- The SE GLOBE was created in January 2007 as Cambodia's first comprehensive English language magazine, and subsequently as a website about Cambodia and the wider southeast Asian region - particularly the Mekong area comprising Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos.  Since Salesians are now present throughout that immediate area, it is a magazine worth keeping an eye on, and some of our confreres in that part of the world do just that.
    In the 3rd June 2009 edition there is an article by Chris Minko, a journalist , amongst other things, who has worked in Cambodia for 13 years. He has received the UN Best Practice and UNESCO Fair Play awards for his work with the Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disabled), which eschews donor funding in preference for partnerships with ANZ, Nike and the Government.  His is a viewpoint that is worth considering, as he writes on the question of NGO's (of which Don Bosco is one) and the general rip-off that he feels they go in for, which is why a single comment of his strikes the eye immediately:

    "Occasional successes such as the Don Bosco training school hardly reflect the billions of dollars that have been poured into the country since 1991. Where has all this money gone? What has it achieved?"

    In the light of that, we can take some comfort at least in the article ('Who gets the aid payoff?") which is highly critical of the way NGOs operate.  We can do more than take comfort.  The opinions expressed in the article may well be translatable into other situations where the Salesians operate under the title of NGO.  So let's read a little more of Minko's thinking:
    "NGOs exploit Cambodia for their own gain", he says, "characterising it as an impoverished country littered with landmines, full of sad, starving people who can only be saved by aid.  Cambodia's reputation as a lucrative funding base is reflected by the number of NGOs currently registered in the country".  These lines are the immediate context for the comment on Don Bosco.
    Minko goes on to lament the fact that "most aid workers live in expat enclaves and view the country through the tinted glass of their luxury vehicles, having little or no real contact with the culture".  His feeling is that in a place such as Cambodia, NGOs should spend more time working in with Government than criticising it.
    The article seems to be readable as a back-handed compliment to our presence in Cambodia. Meanwhile, despite losing a couple of valuable studios in an unfortunate fire, our Communications people in Sihanoukville are pressing on; they appear to have already found some funds for reconstruction, and are also about to open an office in town, to be known as the Don Bosco Design Group.  The first students from the SC Department are ready for work!
   
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Title: australasia 2431
Subject and key words: EAO Provinces THA/Cambodia NGOs and aid
Date (year): 2009
ID: 2000-2099|2431