A blow by blow of a humanitarian aid distribution in eastern DR Congo
The aid industry is selling you a lie but it’s one that’s necessary.
The poignant photos on aid organization websites showing beneficiaries in Africa and Asia as grateful recipients of aid are misleading.
The lie is necessary because you, the viewer might not know that Giving Things Away for Free Aint Easy and that fieldwork is full of sabotage, ingratitude, and treachery which doesn’t make for good public relations.
It took me years to understand why fieldwork is full of sabotage, ingratitude, and treachery. I had to learn the hard way.
A lie becomes necessary--although a photo is worth a thousand words, they wouldn’t be enough to correct the assumption that poor people, because they are often portrayed as powerless, live in a world without power structures.
They don't.
Intro Music by The South Hill Experiment, Baird, Goldwash— Chameleons, episode music by Thor drowning into forever
Leave us a message or question 🫠
If you enjoy what you're listening to but would rather hold these stories in your hand, say while riding on public transport to mom's house or to the mirage of self-actualization through travel, you can buy a book or two at miragetravelpodcast.com
A blow by blow of a humanitarian aid distribution in eastern DR Congo
The aid industry is selling you a lie but it’s one that’s necessary.
The poignant photos on aid organization websites showing beneficiaries in Africa and Asia as grateful recipients of aid are misleading.
The lie is necessary because you, the viewer might not know that Giving Things Away for Free Aint Easy and that fieldwork is full of sabotage, ingratitude, and treachery which doesn’t make for good public relations.
It took me years to understand why fieldwork is full of sabotage, ingratitude, and treachery. I had to learn the hard way.
A lie becomes necessary--although a photo is worth a thousand words, they wouldn’t be enough to correct the assumption that poor people, because they are often portrayed as powerless, live in a world without power structures.
They don't.
Intro Music by The South Hill Experiment, Baird, Goldwash— Chameleons, episode music by Thor drowning into forever
Leave us a message or question 🫠
If you enjoy what you're listening to but would rather hold these stories in your hand, say while riding on public transport to mom's house or to the mirage of self-actualization through travel, you can buy a book or two at miragetravelpodcast.com