DP #2: International Aid

Today we talked about International Aid in our Development Perspective class. It is incredible how it works and how the western countries create dependencies and enforce their politics to developing countries. If we talk about International Aid we talk about a huge machinery which pays the pay check of many people in the western countries. It is possible to declare many projects as “Official Development Assistance” (ODA) but nobody can say where the money really goes. Does it really reach the people it should reach? And if it reaches them, is the aid the help they wanted? I just know that the countries spending a lot of money for ODAs attract public attention but it is not evaluated how valuable the aid for the developing country actually was. On the website of the Commitment to Development Index you can see how much countries invest into International Aid.

In my last blog DP #1 I was already stating, that the target of International Aid should be to make itself redundant. The target is to develop countries in a sustainable way so that they have a stable economy and political system and are on the best way to close the gap between rich and poor. But is there an end to see in International Aid? Are the western countries really interested in this? International Aid runs a whole industry and silence the conscience of the western world. I asked if there is an end in International Aid in our videoconference with Julian Parr, who is a Development Consultant at Oxfam and currently working in New Delhi. He stated that there is a movement towards capacity building, but it really depends on the country. In India for example there are capable people who can do the job now, he did before. It still remains difficult because aid is highly decentralized and NGOs are competing with each other. He believes that International Aid will still be needed in countries where it is difficult to find local staff.

The challenges are huge and extremely complex but there are solutions on a social, physical, economic and political level. One of the main points is to look at the country/the region and ask the locals what is really needed to grow and stimulate local markets. It is important to consider the culture and customs. Another point is the work of the NGOs where projects still compete or even worse, work against each other. Since they are addressing the same problems they should coordinate their work and keep the target they are working for in mind.

You can watch an interview with Julian Parr about International Aid, challenges due to cultures and poverty here: http://www.eugad.eu/wiki/index.php?title=India_-_NGO_-_Julian_Parr_%28video%29

2 comentarios / 22 Nov 2011 por Marie Glück
IMSD /

Tablet Experience #mlearning @eoi

Wow, first of all I couldn’t believe that we get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 until I held it in my hand! Thanks a lot to EOI, I really had fun with it the first days. This present shows me how important mobilelearning @eoi is. It simplifies to be updated with news around the world and from my friends. I connected my Facebook, Twitter and LinkdIn accounts with googlemail, updated my calender, syncronised music and pictures and browsed for apps. Here are some I installed:

• Skype
• Remember the Milk (to-do list)
• Packing List (don’t forget anything for Christmas!)
• Wikitude World Browser (City guide and search engine)
• Dropbox
• Google Goggles (Image recognition)
• Madrid Metro

Which apps can you recommend?

Here is a short movie about my first day with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, enjoy it  🙂

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuw9cfSusU0[/youtube]

If you cannot access it via youtube you can download it here: My first day with my Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

2 comentarios / 20 Nov 2011 por Marie Glück
IMSD /

From point A to point B

The overall message is fixed in mind: Raise Awareness! And yes, the course raised my awareness. It helped me a lot to talk about why we conduct presentations. Why do we present? We present mainly to get people from point A to point B. To manage this it is important to mind the benefit for the audience and to keep it simple. Interesting for me was the question: why am I nervous before a presentation? It is not because I don’t like it to present, actually I enjoy it. But what makes me to blush even though I prepared it carefully? I will bear it in mind and question myself before each presentation to find it out.

The second part was about Negotiations and we discussed two different approaches: The Win-Lose and Win-Win approach. After our exercise I realized how easy people can start competing during a negotiation. It is all about psychology and the course helped me to extend my knowledge about it. I think the most important is to look for common ground and to make people say YES!

During the third part about Effective Leadership we distinguished between the different focus of manager and leader. The manager focuses more on tasks and the leader more on humans. I already knew about this but didn’t bring it to paper that structured. The point really caught me was “The Golden Cycle” by Simon Sinek. Why do I what I do? I thought about this before and it made me think again. The same happened with the question on what are my values. I think it is very important to know why you do what you do but only a few know it.

The course definitely brought me from point A to point B: I am more aware of my environment and use the tools we have received. I am eager to improve my presentation skills and to concentrate on the purpose why I do what I do. Thanks for the inspiring class!

“Whatever you are, be a good one.” Abraham Lincoln

Enviar comentario / 15 Nov 2011 por Marie Glück
IMSD /

DP #1: Time to Rethink Development Aid

Who am I that I can tell you this is right and this is wrong? Who am I that I can force you to take a loan you cannot pay back? Who am I that I can tell you how democracy should work in your country without considering your culture? Who am I that I can exploit your beautiful nature and leave it behind like a battlefield? Who am I – this is what the so called developed countries should ask themselves if they want to consult poorer countries. I just want to best for you! The western countries are shouting. Not considering the problems they have started with their systems, institutions and organizations.

This situation reminds me of a parents-children relationship where the parents think that they know what is best for their child and impose their paradigms on it. But HOW do they know what is good for their child? Maybe they think football is the right kind of sport but the child would love to learn ballet instead. It has no chance to tell them and in the end it believes football is the right thing but it will be a bad player for ever. Why do the parents not ask their child what it wants to play or learn? Why do the western countries not ask the people in the villages what they need most? It might be completely different than what they have thought.

The target of development aid should be not to provide aid anymore. However this target seems far and development aid creates even more dependencies. It does this with a lot of fancy words like “Empowerment”, “Participation” or “Engagement” – this might sound great, but if ones look behind these words the inequalities arise. A change arises in the paradigm of the industrialized countries on what development aid is. A change in the mindset how incredible generous the western world is and that development can be brought from outside. Countries, cultures and groups have their own beauty which one should be considered. There are approaches for radical rethinking from Dambisa Moyo or Esther Duflo. You are welcome to comment if you have other ideas how to approach development aid and how to rethink it.

Resources, last accessed 11.11.2011:

Gallo C (2010) Rethinking the Development Aid Paradigm, http://yalejournal.org/2010/03/rethinking-the-development-aid-paradigm/

Gerhardt K (2010) Time for a Rethink, Why Development Aid for Africa Has Failed, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,712068,00.html

Herrström S (2010) Rethinking Aid and Development in Africa ― but with sense and sensibility, http://www.nai.uu.se/forum/entries/2010/11/23/rethinking-aid-and-develo/index.xml

Enviar comentario / 11 Nov 2011 por Marie Glück
IMSD /

Small things form a greater

I was in Germany this weekend and had to fly via Frankfurt. It is the largest airport in Germany and an important aviation hub. Everything seems so big and the distances are really far. I had still time until boarding and set down to watch what is going on around me. It was interesting to see how everybody there has its special function – some are cleaning, some assist the passengers and others are driving vehicles. It seems like everybody knows what to do, how to do it and at what time. It seems it all works together and all these small works keep the airport running. There are many processes standardized. I compared it to our society. Everybody is a fraction and all together we are forming it. Like the people at the airport. How would it be if we implement sustainable strategies into our society? So that everybody changes his habits a little bit and we are able to generate a big change.

I got from point A to point B because of a presentation about plastic bags. I want to avoid to use them and create awareness. Lets stop using plastic bags! They are just to dangerous for the environment! No need to use them – there are many possibilities to replace them in our daily life: http://www.reuseit.com/

Many ordinary people in many small places doing many small steps can change the face of the world!

1 comentario / 31 Oct 2011 por Marie Glück
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Change is needed

Many people are aware of it: If we continue to treat our planet like we do now, we will rob us our basis of life. I have a dream about a sustainable world where humans are not exploiting nature and the basic needs of everybody are met. It was raining in Madrid some days ago – an unusual weather here. Nonetheless I like it. I like it to feel some raindrops on my skin, if the wind blows and plays with my hair. Nature can show its power in different ways. For example with earthquakes or thunderstorms. I understand it as follows: «Do not work against me! Do not exploit me! Do not trample all over me!»

I am happy to be here at EOI and to take one step towards my dream of a sustainable world. I am even more happy to take this step together with people who are passionate about our planet too. For sure we will have a fantastic time together. Thanks for the great start!

Enviar comentario / 29 Oct 2011 por Marie Glück
IMSD /