Selling poverty
Fundraising literature ditches efforts to portray the complexity, diversity and positive signs in Nepal in favour of a plethora of statistics that prove the extent of Nepal’s poverty and backwardness.
By James Sharrock in The Kathmandu Post
Around this time just before Christmas INGOs and development organisations across Europe are gearing up for their big Christmas fundraising appeals. Christmas has always been a time for fundraising and ongoing global economic problems won’t alter that. So, right about now, potential donors in the West will be reading newsletters and e-mails all about the work of charities or NGOs which help the poor. In the development industry Africa is widely seen as the centre of world poverty. After annual TV reports of droughts, flood and civil war, Africa, for the Western TV viewer, now feels instinctively poorer than anywhere else too. Nowadays, the marketing process for funds in the top INGOs has moved on and caught up with these TV viewers. Images of starving children have now been replaced by catalogues of goats and chickens, ready for you to buy for a poor villager. Oxfam’s Unwrapped catalogue, to take one example, now offers an amazing range of feel-good Christmas gifts for you to choose for the underprivileged; from ’safe water for 12 people’ to a genuine ‘build a bog’ (toilet) option!
Amongst all of this, jamboree fundraisers for Nepal have, as charity appeals might say, ‘a mountain to climb’. Oxfam and many others fundraisers for and work in Nepal too but their major focus is on Africa. How can Nepal ever compete with a whole continent for Westerners charitable donations? It is, after all, not often that the rest of the world see images of Nepalis starving or (except this year, sadly) suffering from floods. And being well-known in the West as the home of Everest, trekking and as a spiritual playground doesn’t necessarily help development organizations raise money for Nepal either. However there are ways of getting around this visibility problem, namely by selling Nepali poverty in certain unique ways. In this way foreign NGOs and INGOS can, in the process, help create false perceptions and make Nepal appear as another Africa.
Fundraising efforts on behalf of Nepal range from the sleek, glossy brochures of INGOs to the efforts of much smaller charities. They all have good intentions and the huge sacrifices of people involved in supporting them (especially of volunteers) are clear. I have seen many of them do excellent grassroots work too, none of which, however, is my focus here. These smaller, informal efforts at aid probably began when the first Western mountaineers in Nepal donated their equipment to Sherpas. It continues today in admirable and often fulfilled post-trek promises to ‘do something for Nepal’. However, the constant need for these NGOs and INGOs to raise money does seem to promote odd and simplified ways of viewing Nepal, particularly amongst the less regulated smaller scale and single issue NGOs and charities.
In these smaller organizations the simplification and selling of poverty in Nepal for funds encourages a desperate race downwards to the bottom of the poverty league table. Fundraising literature ditches efforts to portray the complexity, diversity and positive signs in Nepal in favour of a plethora of statistics that prove the extent of Nepal’s poverty and backwardness. Long-term food insecurity, lack of infrastructure, education issues and many other topics are clearly just too difficult to sell and package. Some of those involved also appear to hold a somewhat naïve and travel-book-based view of Nepal and Nepali culture. By which I mean that Nepal, unlike the West, has apparently not been granted a history except one of vast corruption and endless, caste-ridden, poverty, all of which should be explained to sponsors and donors. Old images of Africa are re-awakened in pictures of poor but grateful Nepalis recipients, pictures which can also hide the details of what organizations get up to and divert awkward questioning. For some working in these organizations learning to speak Nepali and working closely with local staff is unimportant but pleasing sponsors becomes everything. And though organized on a small-scale, these organizations belong to a huge industry. To know this it is only necessary to observe the hundreds of hostels for children in the Kathmandu Valley that are supported by Westerners.
The impact of small-scale NGOs is also not small in other ways. For many donation-givers abroad their whole image of Nepal and other parts of the ‘third world’ may come from these charities. The NGOs newsletter, website or fundraising coffee morning might provide them whole knowledge of Nepal and help determine Nepal’s reputation abroad. Short-term foreign volunteers working for NGOs may also add to this process, writing back home or on the charity website about the exotic, humorous and visually shocking, often with a focus on poverty. This is often funny, natural and understandable but, when used by the NGO to raise funds, represents the reverse of the Nepali worker exaggerating their success abroad; in other words, a skewed representation of a perhaps more mundane reality. Interestingly travelling to Nepal itself can provide more than one type of shock to sponsors and better feedback than any donor-driven newsletter. Kathmandu’s modernity came as a shock to sponsors on one trip: ‘It was supposed to be poorer’.
Back in fundraising and donor countries, women in a coffee morning for the NGO mutter about the inequities of the caste system; their knowledge of Nepal almost solely reliant on desperate literature from the NGO. The business executive running a marathon for an INGO now only has to mention the word ‘Nepal’ and, thanks to endless fundraising efforts, more and more people abroad now associate Nepal with poverty. In this way people make Nepal into another Africa: another area of darkness without hope which urgently needs your help now!
The very difficult job worthy INGOs and NGOs have of separating Westerners from their cash in order to help Nepal may not require further complication, especially in these financially straightened times. Many potential donors and sponsors may prefer to consider Nepal as a vast region of no hope and little complexity. That is their choice. However it is odd that perceptions of Nepal created by Western fundraising efforts have not been more critically examined or thought through. Many of the Westerners involved would never dream of portraying socially deprived areas of their own countries in the same way, particularly without, at the very least, involving those who are going to be represented in the process. Donors are here to stay. Development aid to Nepal, in all shapes and sizes, is also not going away. What we can change is how we talk, think and portray poverty and the aid game in Nepal.
Filed under: Guest Column
There was an excellent documentary on Mauritania just I could not watch until the end the nagging spanish sad voice…. it showed the origins of the subsaharianos that normally die or reach in little boats on spanish shores, desperate for a future and actually no future.
It shows an amazingly normal country next to Algeria apparently little old fashioned but much better than the war zones. Next to Senegal als very civilized country. So why they all die at sea or end up discriminated in Spain, Italy? When I come to Nepal I am the white goddess who HELPS. I helped because they helped me in my life and makes sense to return favours. The christmas feeling is just once a year and donor agencys or so called rich countries have a duty to help as we all do the question is what is help?
I believe in vocational traing and education, for me happiness is when I am working and teaching and studying, but for somebody else it maybe materialistic . The Obama election has showed the world that being black does not mean being the underdog. England is too cynical poverty erradication is not altruism poverty erradication is kick some ass and do it yourself.
We do not need OXFAM. In Mexico we say help some poor people who are already happy ha ha…..
The writer forgot to mention that NGO’s included OXFAM do not do childrens projects in Nepal for obvious reasons.
No one wants to work with nepalese.
Reporting communication and work are insufficient. They take money for chilren to party themselves that is the reality and the talk of the town in so many villages westerner comes and suddenly he got oxes, they all got jeans. The children themselves will get molested, cut off water, locked up in toilets.
You name it .
Adoption is the only solution out of hell realm where cynical adults commercialize their own offspring. They give them away and when they are raised by someone else they say hey I am your parent I gave you this good life. Now make my house. They confuse and destroy children. I would not start a hostel for children in Nepal. Not one rupie will go where it should. Maybe something has changed but as a rule you can pay 300 salaries for 3 children. All good friends.
So the World Bank does Infraestructure. The non resident nepalis themselves are afraid to properly work in their own country. These ARE african situations. Surprised more and more mafia is arising? Because the help of children becomes violence against children in reality.
I am curious when international ngo’s return to work in Nepal because so far no one is convinced it is a reasonable working situation so immediate help goes to Africa who knows how to take it.
modern times by charly chaplin watch
Three years ago I arrived in Nepal for the first time. I was invited as artist in residence at Kathmandu University. Before going I had heard about the poverty and problems but no one had told me how extraordinary the art of the past was and of the vitality and diversity of contemporary life and artists. I felt that the emphasis had concentrated on the negative - civil war, poverty, royal upheavals. As a result of my experiences with Nepalese artists, I set up a British Charity in 2007 to raise funds to build a contemporary art centre in Nepal. I felt it was time to celebrate the positive.
The Kathmandu Arts Centre will have a contemporary art museum, well-equipped workshops, a large resource library and an auditorium for lectures, film festivals and performances. There will be an active programme of international exhibitions and foreign artists in residence which will bring contemporary expression to Nepal. In return it will increase worldwide recognition for the excellence, diversity and vitality of art in Nepal today.
http://www.kathmanduarts.org
Seems like its like a culture to earn money by selling someone’s misfortune like poverty. Okay, there is so much fund raising in the world, but does anyone monitor about how much is spent on the real cause and how much is pocketed by the fundraiser themselves?
If only 50% of the total fund-raised was spent on the cause why the fund was raised, then the most probability is that the cause may not appear again. This will give a slim chance for the fundraiser to have a reason to raise funds again.
So… there should be some supervision as to how the fund raised is actually is spent on the right cause.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent for lavish meetings and cocktail parties for fund-raising programs. How do they even dare to spend like that?
The money raised for any particular reason should be spent on that particular reason only and not otherwise.
fundraing for 1 thing like poverty and topics like that and putting the major share of the money in one’s pocket. humm… nice idea to get reach quickly. :p
Worst is not the fundraisers’salary that will be basic worse is lack of intelligence and know how.
Luckily there are many good examples of fruitful cooperation. There is the Amnesty International Movie Festival for Human Rights and so on…..
Trend nowadays is movie festivals not bollywood style but human rights movie festivals. They become a Platform for ethnic groups as well, a means for democratic dialogue . There has been a beginning as well in Nepal, we have radio FM opposite Kantipur in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication where young nepali writers can contribute and write history become professionals. Nepal has a Movie Academy. We do seem to forget what is there.
In Argentina the Multimedia Institute Derhumalc does an artistic movie festival for over a decade with Prizes and much young talent is developed, they organized Human Rights Movie Festivals in Bolivia, Chile, Italy Rome there are connections with many Human Rights Movie Festivals worldwide.
My idea was to do a TibetNepal Human Rights Movie Festival but we had trouble fundraising all are scared of China and then nepalese like to do their own thing but will wait for you to fundraise and foreigners are not allowed to do projects rule is it has to be indigenous management . Cooperation has to be more than west gives money and east does their little dance.
Yet the lack of mutual trust can be understood from unfortunate past experiences and cultural differences are a reality. The feudal colonial communication style is opposite to the direct way of speaking in the west.
I think it is wonderful Kathmandu University and the British Council are setting up a Cultural Institute and wish that is becomes more than just a networking for visa network…..The best thing about Nepal is the artistic way of the people, there are other educational initiatives in theatre as well, working in the villages which is very therapeutic after the long social conflict.
Would be good to have a human rights movie festival with Amnesty International Movie Network in Nepal. They sponsor young movie makers. http://www.derhumalc.co.arg is cofounder of the Amnesty International Human Rights Movie Festival. Multimedia Institute.
http://www.derhumalc.org.ar
Yo nepali ma bhanda “magi khane bhando” ho.
and seems like some from amnesty international is quite a frequent visitor of blog.com.np
nepalis, be proud that nepal’s helplessness is able to sustain such a sizeable number of foreign staff in different ngos and ingos. this is an achievement for a poor, landlocked, least developed, low-income country. thank you donors. without you we would not have been able to have today’s dal-bhat-tarkari
The idea of a human rights movie network in Latin America could be invented for Asia, there is a lot of support for Birma as well as problems in Thailand and China.
I am less worried about tarkari than dignity and survival. The person to set up such a network that would benefit the tibetan community in exile as well as all oppresed groups must be a nepalese professional from best standard ready to listen to the truth what is better than journalism to defend oneself? Documentary movies as a form of journalism.
They are sending people to the Netherlands for networking and training, they also sponsor .
In latin-america international relations have always been used for security and safety.
Better than just donors look for fellowtravellers and their journey to solidarity. The same injustices and feudal systems latin-america had Nepal has, movies are a means of education and communiation without borders. Our indians are treated as fifth class citizens, they have different languages and cultures.
Maybe in Nepal it should be a group of lawyers or educators.
“Veggie drinkers tend less toward crime”………………………………………………………..
………………………….
………………………………………………….
That is a wrong perception,…………………………… there are less no of veggie criminals because there are less no of veggis…………………………………….. if you look at the percentage………….. it shows veggis are more dangerious than omnivorous……………. may be because their body do not get substances those are found only in meat………………………………. ………..( my experience tells me do not trust veggis……………
just because they are veggis they think they are dharmatma and they commit other sins)………………….
……………………………………………………………..
……………………………. and its not that drunk are criminals, its the other way round. ……………. criminals are durnk. they are addicts…………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………. do not come into conclusion just by looking at what is seen outside…….
……………………………… you could suffer
Is it only me, or was the article about how Nepal should sell its poverty to the world in order to receive more money, and if so how bloody sad!!
thanks
Then how to change the aid game in Nepal? I think many westerners are bored with their own countries and happy to be in Nepal. It is a mutually serving game. Like any other business and there is nothing bad about sharing.
Stop begging in different names and excuses… except for the benefit of the very poor people..
this is basically the media discussion some buddhist groups make positive news only ha ha. News is never positive, the cat drowning is news the cat sitting by the fire is not news.
In this sense it was excellent that Nepal was never internationally properly covered though many of us felt anarchy took over and why schools were not open.
Who really needs help are the rich people they are very lonely.
Poor people have each other, they are obliged to keep networks like single people. Greet your neighbours they may give you sugar if you did not have any one day. Nonetheless the obnoxiously rich and decadent lifestyles are mostly found in developing countries, in Argentina there is a lot of that. Also Mexico. How about India dalits are shot and others live like Maharajas. And the rest of the normal people go into diaspora become an immigrant worker because those living in castles are not going to give you but a slaves job. Good old class struggle was true then.
Decency has nothing to do with rich or poor but it can be taught and learned and some indigenous cultures have better ways of sharing as they used to live in extended families. The tv dinner lifestyle in the west imported from USA unfortunately makes people selfish. Then all feel bad when they watch tv. So throw your tv don’t read newspapers? Or blog a blog. Finding a sponsor is just a sophisticated way of begging.
Emergency call from South Lakota Pine Ridge the indian reservation people are snowed in without heater. Republic of Lakota is forgotten by the white red cross due to racism.
Who has pay pal should donate, also mastercard, food blankets the snow storms came early this year. Russel Means president did a personal appeal to whom they could find on the wwweb.
They are the first inhabitants of the land of promises. Tuberculosis, heart disease, cancer you name it. Yes solidarity is needed we are one people on this Earth.
it always seem like even this same rules applies in country like the u.s. its 11 am and as i go to work i see throughout my subway transision , there i see hopeful signs of “i am homeless spare a $”
as they say in the halls of imf and wb, you take first class flights with champagne in hand to go solve problems of the world’s poorest … what do you expect! as if anyone believes what they say.
Oh how we love to talk about the poor, and helping the poor. Well, sure we do, after all it makes us feel important, and privileged.
The whole idea about Fundraising to me is a nonsense. After all, Fundraising for whom? For the people who work for the non-profit organization who take a chunk of that donation as their salary or to the politicians? Let’s face it, a lump sum of that donated money never reaches the hands of those in need.
If Fundraising helped the whole of Africa would have been most probably like South Africa(trust me I have a point here, just think for a while).
What people in these developing countries need is trade, not pity. Get rid of all the trade barriers, and we might not see any another human being dying of hunger.
Very good observations, such as “exaggeration of poverty becomes the mirror image of the immigrant’s exaggeration of success abroad.” Thanks.
I have never, ever understood how the top-shelf INGOs justify taking first-class flights, star hotels, etc. when half the expenditure would do as well. A good friend works for an INGO in another country and they gave her a $600 a NIGHT budget to spend on hotels. Good gods, what waste.