My studies in international development are progressing nicely, and I like all of my courses this semester. In addition, I am involved in some excellent student groups and research projects. But beyond the heavy workload, I have been feeling very... distant. I think it is because I have been in school long enough now to feel very disconnected from the very issues I am studying. This feeling has reminded me how important it is to stay in touch in development. Extreme poverty, inequitable trade policies, famine, deforestation, oppressive governments... these are more than just words in academic papers. They all have real effects on people in real places. As do words like: innovation, activism, self-sufficiency, protest, and participation. The longer we stay away from the faces behind these issues, the more detached we become. I am in need of a reminder of why I am here and studying to become a development practitioner. I am working on that, trying to get back "into the field" soon. In the meantime, I can already tell that this will be a continuing concern throughout my career. And a concern for any practitioner or academic. Let us all endeavor to stay connected in a real way.

On a lighter development studies note, I totally agree with BlattBlog on this one.

Last weekend was a wild one in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. Former President Marc Ravalomanana tried to return to his homeland to meet 30,000 supporters at the airport, but his flight was turned back before it could enter Malagasy airspace by current "transitional" President Andry Rajoelina. Here is my favorite recap of that day so far, which includes the line "The ride had been rockier than Def Leppard in their crotch-guitaring prime."

Now allAfrica has a report directly criticizing France for colluding with Rajoelina's government to keep Ravalomanana out of Madagascar, thereby undermining the SADC's roadmap and overall attempts to end the almost-three-year-long political crisis that started with a coup. Here is the biggest claim in the article:

Security services in the region say they are aware of a 6-point strategy devised by Paris and Antananarivo to prevent Ravalomanana from returning. According to these sources, Rajoelina, his heads of security and France decided to:

Deploy security forces loyal to Rajoelina inside the Ivato International Airport in Antananarivo.

Deploy Rajoelina supporters outside the airport to antagonise and destabilise the estimated 100 000 Ravalomanana supported expected at the airport to welcome him home.

Issue statements threatening the Ravalomanana supporters with arrest.

Threaten to arrest Ravalomanana on arrival.

Lobby the international community to persuade SADC not to allow Ravalomanana back.

As a last resort, issue a Notice to All Airmen (NOTAM) to deny landing rights to all airlines. This effectively closed down the country's airspace.The link between France and Rajoelina has been alluded to for a long time, especially in Madagascar where Ravalomanana supporters (and even some of his opponents but supporters of democracy) claimed France was behind Rajoelina's power grab. The claim at the time was that Ravalomanana had shifted business focus from France to regional neighbors, China, US, etc... While the facts suggested a connection, there was no real evidence of French involvement. Now allAfrica is claiming there is. This is very interesting times for followers of Malagasy politics and sovereignty and conflict resolution...

The Peace Corps Volunteer who was in Amparafaravola with me, Teena, has launched a Peace Corps Partnership project with the local NGO "ONG Zahatra" to build a community center. Teena describes the project:

ZAHATRA plans to construct a center equipped with proper dining and lavatory facilities which will allow it to expand its services to 30 children and their families. This crucial intervention will not only restore the health of the children and give them the education they need to break the cycle of poverty, it will restore the dignity of their guardians by providing them with the vocational training, skills and materials they need to earn a living and provide for their children.You can see her full post here. You can also go directly to the Peace Corps site to contribute here.

Longtime readers of this blog may recall my brief work with ONG Zahatra (about half way down, second paragraph under If a Coup happens and no one cares...). As a reminder, I spent some time playing with the kids and talking a bit about nutrition, brought them some educational posters and books, and trained the staff on moringa trees. Here are a few photos:

Henri teaching about nutrition

The kids teaching themselves

ONG Zahatra planting Moringa seeds

The Moringa trees starting to grow The kids eating their healthy meals This organization is pretty special, driven by dedicated Malagasy who want to improve their own community. So take a look at the project and help out if you can!

A few other follow-up links from previous posts:

-Here is a link to the video from the Sudan talk I mentioned a few months ago.

-In case you are interested in the rice experiment I mentioned, here is a nice video showing the researcher using an Android tablet to determine fertilizer amounts:

-Nice write-up on Zimbabwe here, a good piece after my conflicted feelings from Mugabe and the White African.

Sure, best management practices sound great in theory, but do they work in reality? Often times, experts preach certain techniques or methods without any first-hand knowledge of their success rates. Well over the next few months, two experts from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) want to change that. They have embarked on the IRRI Agronomy Challenge, an attempt by two experts to grow a high-yielding rice crop themselves at the IRRI research center in the Philippines. Specifically, they are aiming for a 7 ton yield. Their approach:

We have chosen a single field of 0.25 ha size (25 x 100 m), which is quite typical for Asian rice farming. The soil is a deep, heavy clay. The location is in the humid tropics. In the dry season rice needs to be grown with irrigation.

We will obtain all information on recommended Best Management Practices (BMPs) from publicly available IRRI sources, particularly the Rice Knowledge Bank. We will do most field operations ourselves, to experience on the ground what works and what doesn’t. We’ll adjust as we go, just as a farmer would do while learning.

We will explain and document what we’re doing and we’ll share our experiences with you.

One of the experts, Achim Dobermann, described his motivation to take on this challenge as follows: "As a scientist and research leader I have been involved in rice research for 25 years, in many countries. My own research background is in soil science and agronomy, areas in which I have published numerous scientific articles and also a few books. But there is something that I keep wondering about: why is it that many of the research findings and technologies developed by scientists don’t seem to be used by rice farmers?"

This sort of practice, and the accompanying transparency in the results (the two are blogging weekly and recording short youtube videos at each stage of the crop's progression), is very refreshing. Granted, they are using some heavy machinery, so it is not identical to the implementation of rural farmers. But it is a step in the right direction, and hopefully other experts will work to implement their techniques before propagating them! You can follow along at the blog here to see if they succeed or fail!

Here is a post I wrote for Columbia SIPA's New Media Task Force blog, focusing on the work of Eric Couper, the ICT and Agriculture Coordinator for the Africa Soil Information Service, leading an ICT4Ag Pilot Survey. His survey was conducted with Android devices running Open Data Kit. Click here for the full article.

This is for the handful of development nerds reading: What sort of a blog reader are you? When, after a long trip or a week at the library, you return to a backlog of posts in your RSS feed, where do you start? As a fun Friday distraction, I brainstormed some fan club names for some of the blogs I read. Maybe you fall into one of the below categories (Warning: Bad puns galore!)

Blattmaniacs or Blattfans

Duncan' (n)GoNuts (like the small New England coffee chain...)

Cave Dwellers or maybe Roosters... because they rise with the DAWNS... yikes that was awful

Opaloholics

Displaced Longhorns

Talking Heads (yea, not very original...)

Pragmatic Searchers

Barder Brava (had to give the Englishman's fans a football supporters' club name! ...even if it's an American one...)

Liebertarians

RaForesters

ICT4D-orks (whoops wrong nomenclature!)

Geographers (AFIACs sounds too much like a US military designation)

DevHeads

C Students

Marginistas

Sachs Addicts

BEasterlies

Dani's Fanis

Nostalgics (Could also apply to fans of here, or here, or here...)

Solo Artists

Uh.... Expat Aid Workers

Well, I had fun, at least! Feel free to offer other names for any of these, or for the many worthy blogs I forgot. As for me, I am usually a Blattfan, though there are days when I am more of a Duncan' (n)GoNut or an Opaloholic. On a daily basis, though, I am a Customs Officer...

As a certified Duncan (n)GoNut (more on this term later today), I often read his blog posts and am tempted to comment. But there are so many thought-provoking posts that I often get caught up in another post before I have time to comment on a previous one. Such was the case with one of Mr. Green's posts from mid-December focusing on tertiary education. Take a look at the post, where he talks about targeting universities in developing countries where leaders emerge from, with the aim of influencing their formation.

This post made me think of another (semi-)related issue in tertiary education in developing countries. In my experience, many university students in developing countries have little experience in the poorest regions in their own countries. They come from wealthier areas and have little in common with the poor (especially the rural poor). At first glance, maybe this does not matter so much, but as I mentioned earlier this week, it is important for development professionals to stay connected to the people they are working for/with. I think this is just as important for any profession.

You may point out that many American students enter university just as disconnected from the rural and urban poor in their own country. I agree, but the difference is that many universities actively work to change this. They offer urban plunge experiences, alternative spring break programs, and other ways to connect with communities they may otherwise not know. After graduation, programs like AmeriCorps and Teach for America aim to provide future leaders with experience in poverty-stricken areas.

It is crucial for the future leaders in developing countries to connect with the poor in their own countries. (One of my colleagues in graduate school recently did this in India). Universities could increase this awareness by: offering internships/externships in rural areas or urban slums; increasing efforts to enroll students from poorer areas in the country through scholarships(*); and increasing the post-graduation service requirements that many countries employ for certain professions (such as teachers and doctors) to serve in rural areas to all graduates. I think some universities/countries are implementing some of these ideas, but it would be great to see them all on a large scale! After all, the measure of the quality of one's education is not limited to the classroom...

In development, as in any other sphere of life, it is important to remember that your experiences are not necessarily indicative of over-arching themes. In fact, most of the time, your experience in a particular village one year is not even indicative of that village's broader situation. It is just the experience you had, which you hopefully have learned from, but do not attempt to extrapolate too much from it.

Duncan Green covered this while reviewing the book Delivering Development. To open his review, he references another book*, Whose Reality Counts, to note how most development professionals "'gain direct field experience only early in a career if at all,’" and Green uses this to say the following:

One feature of that path is that the year-in-the-village shapes each person’s thinking for the rest of their careers, acquiring a special claim to truth, even if research and data suggests that in some areas, that experience may not be typical. Discussions often end up in ‘well, when I was living in Malawi….’ as though that is the final word on the matter.Too often, this sort of generalization based on one's own experience becomes canon. I have certainly been guilty of this, although I try to qualify my comments on my experience with lines like, "where I lived in Madagascar" or "from my limited experience in small villages along the eastern rain forest in Madagascar." Such lines get clunky, though, and it is easier to generalize. Just ask Thomas Friedman or Nicholas Kristof ("My taxi driver had an ipod AND a cell phone; this country is developed!"). But it is important that we all strive to not take the easy way out, and instead work towards accurate statements based on wide studies and experiences. Indeed, it is critical (in my mind) that development professionals strive to get into the field as frequently as possible. They should also aim to live in rural villages at different points in their careers, in order to maintain perspective on their work while simultaneously breaking out of the image of development workers driving a convoy of land crusiers from one walled compound to another. Such aims may be difficult, but if development workers at least begin with maintaining perspective and avoiding generalizations, it would be a step in the right direction!

* I have not read either book, but I think both sound interesting and hope to get to them... some day...

In a recent post, reader Madalife commented how people are looking for "political saviors" this year in countries around the world, including the US and Madagascar. While I think people often feel the need for a champion of their cause(s), it is really the media that often truly needs heroes and champions to tell its stories (and then reinforced by the history books).

Tonight I finally "got around" to watching a documentary that I had heard about for a while, Mugabe and the White African. The film is about a family of white Zimbabweans fighting (in court) to keep their farm from President Mugabe's eviction and redistribution plans. The film is pretty unsettling, focusing on the hardships the family faces in keeping their land. Here is the trailer:

It is also unsettling for other reasons: the film focuses on the White Hero to tell its story. The family continues its fight despite mounting physical and legal dangers, and they are portrayed as shedding light on the extremes of the Mugabe regime. The film makes cursory mention of the many black Zimbabweans standing up to the regime, whether in court, on the farms, or in the streets. It appears the film makers felt it necessary to portray whites as the champions of the anti-Mugabe cause, in order to appeal to viewers around the world. Perhaps the reasoning for this portrayal is similar to aid organizations using Poverty Porn to elicit donations: "because it works!" This is hard for me to accept. I do not understand, for instance, how the story of fighting the Mugabe regime could be told less-effectively from the perspective of the (black) opposition candidates briefly seen in the film, or the (black) lawyer representing the white family. Include the white farmers' personal story as one aside, but focus elsewhere to provide both a more realistic view of who is fighting the violence and corruption of Mugabe's government and a fresh documentary look at justice in an African country. Whether in terms of development, conflict resolution, or any other story in Africa, we need to move away from the "White in Shining Armor" story framework and towards more realistic and inclusive stories.

I was wondering if I was along in thinking this, as the movie was well-reviewed and received awards (and it is a pretty powerful movie, emotionally/graphically/story-wise... especially if you ignore the subtexts). So I decided to search my favorite blog on Africa, Africa is a Country, which is usually full of righteous venom towards critically-acclaimed portrayals of the continent. And I was not disappointed, as you can see here.

"the danger of this movie is that is posits the White farmers as trying to help, as just being ‘good guys’. Too many other people are trying to pass themselves off as ‘good guys’ in Africa (see: International Development), there’s no need for any more."The whole article is worth a read, at least if you watch the movie. I do think it is a bit too venomous; the article seems to preach "an eye for an eye"-type of tactic for developing a country post-oppression (in this case post-colonialism/ post-apartheid). But such strategies are drastic and dangerous; I would argue South Africa's success was due to a President who favored reconciliation over retribution. But I digress a bit...

A final thought: the Zimbabweans who are taking the land and the farms are portrayed as feeling it is their right to do so. They see the land as their own. They feel entitled to it. It is hard to argue with someone whose family has been oppressed for generations that they deserve something in return. And the wounds of colonialism are still fresh in Zimbabwe, due to its independence coming in 1980. This is why land redistribution in former colonies, much like reparations for slavery in the USA, is so rarely discussed at high levels. Development sages focus on new policies and investments to counter the unfair wealth and resource distributions in former colonies, yet steer clear of the questions of nationalization and redistribution of resources. It is indeed a tough topic, but one that needs to be openly discussed. Now, before you go calling me a pinko-communist for even mentioning these inequities, I will close by saying the feelings of these Zimbabweans seeking to "reclaim" the white family's land reminded me of Herman Cain, of all people. While doing laundry this morning, the laundromat's television was on the View, and Herman Cain was on to talk about something or other. Besides announcing a coming "unconventional endorsement" (one guess was "endorsing Obama!"), he mentioned one of his catchphrases that I felt actually rings true in development and equity relations around the world: going from an "entitlement society to an empowerment society." That, I like to think, is the end goal: empowering people to improve their own lives. But when and where do entitlements play into that empowerment?

If you're like me, you have long found computer programming interesting but seemingly impossible to learn. It appears to have a steep learning curve, especially for those of us whose solution to every computer problem is "control+alt+delete". Well now is your chance to start coding, with Codeacademy's online tutorials (as part of "Code Year"). If you sign up, they will email you new lessons each week, in order to "turn anyone into a computer programmer." I've played around with the lessons a bit, and they are really easy (at least at first), and they follow a similar format to the excellent Khan Academy (track your progress, offer "badges" for completing levels, etc.). Even Mayor Bloomberg is resolving to learn coding via the site!

What does this have to do with development? Programming is becoming an increasingly sought-after skill in every employment field, and in international development it has become a major trend. Every sector is putting an "m" in front of itself to denote its dedication to mobile technology (m-health, m-ag). While there is plenty of debate over the nomenclature of ICTs in development (dare we call it ICT4D?), there is less debate about the potential for ICTs. But whatever your chosen career path, I think programming can be very useful, so check out the site, play with the tutorials, and maybe learn something too!

Happy New Year! I cannot say for certain that it will be a good one, but it will certainly be an interesting one! Since my return from the Peace Corps in Madagascar, this blog has become a hodgepodge of postings on my travels, graduate school, Madagascar, development, the Peace Corps, events I attended, environmental issues, etc.(and lots of collections of links). I enjoy this freedom to discuss a variety of topics, and will probably with such a mixture of topics. But if you have any suggestions moving forward, please let me know via email or the comments section (or Twitter!). While the blog will continue to be a somewhat random collection of issues, here are a few things you can expect:

-1 post per week average. I am really going to try for this, with some weeks seeing more than 1 post and others less. I may also start writing more frequent, shorter posts.

-Plenty of writing about "development," from small-scale implementation to tools to books to grandiose ideas. Most of my thoughts have been focused on school-related projects, but I am hoping to use this semester to flesh out ideas and concepts from my classes in more detail here. Also probably more recaps of events I attend, if only because there are some cool talks and symposiums that you might not hear about otherwise.

-More about Madagascar. With the "upcoming" elections (some day), the issues of Madagascar will be of continual interest to me (for instance, Madagascar was just denied a renewal of AGOA again). Also, it does not seem like many people outside Madagascar are really writing about the challenges and successes there.

-More about other issues in Africa, especially areas I am studying (such as Malawi). Malawi, recently a poster-child for development successes, is quickly turning into a pariah among donors...

-Once I solidify my summer internship location, I will write more about that experience (before, during, and after). It will definitely be in a developing country, and may be at a Millennium Village site, which means I may be unwittingly dragged into that debate (well it is not so much a "debate" in the blogosphere, as most are in opposition to the MVP, so I will start preparing my McAfee Snark-blocker software now...)

-Sports? I am unsure about this one; I enjoy all sports, but have trouble working them in here. Perhaps with the Olympics next summer...? In the meantime, if you have interest in Notre Dame sports (and hopefully eventually soccer/football/etc.), two of my best college buddies have a nascent sports blog they are working on here.

-Politics. Like it or not, 2012 will be the year of the 29-hour-a-day election news cycle in the US (FoxNews fairly and balanced-ly). I will probably limit myself to international development and other international policy, and even then I am just an average person pointing out some interesting aspects of the race. For instance, with Ron "Cut all foreign aid" Paul poised to have a nice showing in Iowa tonight, I found this article an excellent read. I am not sure I will fully reevaluate my standing as a progressive-type, but Paul provides a useful voice in these often same-sounding political debates (reminds me of Nader in 2000... Not a realistic Presidential option but a fresh voice in the wilderness. Here is a music video showing the similarities of the two mainstream candidates back then, and while we are here, a music video a decade ahead of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Obviously, my digressions are not going anywhere in 2012).So that is it for now. Until school starts again in a few weeks, I am enjoying the novelty of reading for pleasure instead of as work. I recently received a Kindle and have been reading that way (it is awesome, but I will miss "real" books). I am mixing non-fiction and fiction interests; so far I read Krakauer's take-down of Greg Mortensen and now have started the Hunger Games trilogy... other books on my to-read list include Drezner's Theories of International Politics and Zombies, Poor Economics (or maybe More than Good Intentions?), and Harry Potter in French (seems like a fun way to keep working on the language). Also, the pleasure of movies and tv: I recently saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (awesome, if you like confusing spy movies) and have been working through Parks and Rec (also awesome). And I need to finish Game of Thrones... But enough rambling...

Happy Apocalypse Year!

Two Sudans, for Better or Worse? On Thursday evening, the Humanitarian Working Group at Columbia University's SIPA hosted a panel discussion on the future of Sudan and South Sudan, entitled: "Two Sudans, For Better or Worse?" The mini-conference brought together six speakers to discuss what we can expect in the near future for the region.The speakers represented activists, scholars, and a former Sudanese government official. Despite their different occupations and angles of perception of the crises in Sudan, all shared a pessimistic view of the region's future.

The talk was moderated by Dirk Salomons, director of SIPA's Program for Humanitarian Affairs and a long-time professional in post-conflict areas. He split the speakers into two panels of three, giving each a chance to speak on his or her own area of interest. The first panel consisted of Luka Biong Deng, Tanya L. Domi, and Huda Shafiq Ali.

Luka Biong Deng: the dangers of Political Islam in Sudan Mr. Deng, a former Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Sudan and a Minister of Presidential Affairs for Southern Sudan and now Executive Director of KUSH Inc., led off the night by issuing a warning: both Sudans are in critical danger unless action is taken immediately. Mr. Deng worked as part of the Sudanese government only to resign in May 2011 invasion of the Abyei area. Having witnessed the extremes of Sudan's government, Mr. Deng felt the international community needs to strengthen its sanctions and pressure on Sudan, while also increasing support to South Sudan. He emphasized the moral imperative to bring the indicted criminals in Sudan (especially President Omar al-Bashir) to justice before the ICC. Mr. Deng closed by focusing on the dangers of Political Islam in Sudan, noting that while the religion itself is not dangerous, "the practice of (Political) Islam is so inconsistent with the actual teaching" that it the number one threat to the two Sudans right now

Tanya Domi: Genocide must be stopped The panel then moved on to Tanya Domi, a former US Amry soldier and officer who now chairs the board for Our Humanity in the Balance. She was direct in her assertions that advocacy alone will not stop genocide. She described herself as becoming very radicalized "by witnessing genocide over, and over, and over..." In order to stop genocide in Sudan, Ms. Domi described the need for civilians to go to the disputed areas and record the violence that is occurring. She said that "petitions don't work any more" and witnesses were needed to inform the international community.

Huda Shafiq Ali: Sudan needs to engage women at all levels This need for international activists prepared the way for the Sudanese gender activist, Huda Shafiq Ali, the vice president of Gesr Center for Development. She spoke of the need to involve women in every level of government and reform. She reminded us, "Women are always there in the peace process, but are no where when there is 'peace.'" Despite the challenges facing women and youth in Sudan, she was probably the most optimistic, perhaps because of her organization's successes in promoting human rights and civic education among young Sudanese.

Kenny Gluck: Mediation will further entrench al-Bashir The second panel of three included Kenny Gluck, Ahmed Adam Hussein, and John Prendergast. Mr. Gluck, former Chief of Staff for the AU-UN Mediation Support Team as well as the former Director of Operations at Medecins Sans Frontiers, was realistic (and pessimistic) about the chances of peace and justice in Sudan. He pointed out that currently the international community is focused on mediation, which always looks for "mutually beneficial solutions." This may not sound bad, but it means that any solution reached by mediation would further entrench the ruling Sudanese party because they would only agree to something that was at least as beneficial to them as it was to the opposition. Also, it is difficult to negotiate any peace when all interested parties have allied rebel groups to keep happy. The complex web of militias keep changing, with many militias fighting at different times for more than one side. Furthermore, the different forms of incentives for rebel groups to support a particular side means there is little cohesion and makes negotiation even more difficult, as any concessions by one side can lead to dangerous fragmentation. Rebel groups often have an incentive to keep fighting beyond a negotiated peace.

Ahmed Adam Hussein: al-Bashir must go Mr. Gluck's pessimism was echoed by Sudanese/Darfurian activist Ahmed Adam Hussein. Mr. Hussein said bluntly that "the situation on the ground in Darfur is NOT getting better, rather it is catastrophic!" Sudan and South Sudan has seen too much violence under too many pretenses, with massacres in South Sudan due to religion and massacres in Darfur due to race and ethnicity. Mr. Hussein continued that the problem with having peace keepers in Sudan is that there is no peace to keep! He closed with an impassioned plea for Sudan's future, saying, "If Bashir remains in power, Sudan will never know peace! It is time for him to go!"

John Prendergast: Still hop Finally, we arrived at the last speaker, who may be the best known to an international audience: John Prendergast. You may know him from his books, his advocacy with the Enough Project, or the Satellite Sentinel Project to use satellite imagery to track violence in Sudan (as a nascent crisis mapper myself, I find that last project particularly interesting). He is often seen alongside another famous advocate for the region, George Clooney (in fact you can read their Time Magazine article on Famine as a weapon of war here). This particular evening, Dr. Prendergast tried to spin much of the pessimism of the other speakers into some semblance of hope. While noting his own reservations, he emphasized that within danger there is opportunity. In fact, in the context of Sudan, there are ten opportunities facing the world. These opportunities were collated shortly before the panel, so some need refinement or are repetitive. Nevertheless, here are John Prendergast's 10 opportunities in Sudan (paraphrased as best as I could!) :

-The ICC's recent arrest warrant for Sudan's Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein means that, along with President Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's civilian leadership is finally being held accountable for its crimes in Darfur and other parts of Sudan.-China, long Sudan's biggest defender, now has to change its policy because much of China's largest interest in the region (oil) now resides in South Sudan. This means China will have to "play both sides of the fence" and can no longer blindly support Sudan.-The regional context of the Arab Spring has to frighten al-Bashir. Sudan's neighbors have shown what happens to authoritarian rulers oppressing their own people.-The formation of the opposition coalition, Sudan Revolutionary Front, may finally bring some semblance of coherence to and unity to the opponents of al-Bashir.-For years, Sudan used the southern part of the country as a crutch for avoiding complaints of other parts of the country. Sudan had to deal with the issues in the south before it could turn attention to other problems. Now that South Sudan is its own country, Sudan no longer has this crutch and will have to face up to the rest of the country's problems and complaints.-The United States government increasingly recognizes that the central problem in Sudan is the abuse of power at the country's core.-Now is a true "Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Moment." If the international community really believes in this new responsibility (exhibited in the creation of South Sudan, the support for Libyan rebels, and elsewhere this past year), it will have to respond to the crises in Sudan.-The demise of the Darfur Peace Process means the international community can abandon (and should abandon) similar piece-meal deals. Now is the time to focus on an over-arching treaty that addresses the central issues at the heart of Sudan's humanitarian crises: the central government.-Evidence of the atrocities in Sudan continue to accumulate, thanks to innovative new technologies (digital cameras, cell phones, satellite imagery, etc.)-If famine does occur in parts of Sudan (Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile areas), the visuals reported by the media will be horrific and induce the international community to act.What to make of all of this? The rockstar of the group is definitely Prendergast, who has a lot of experience in encouraging the international community to act. His potential opportunities, however, were not very convincing. For instance, I think the ICC's warrants will just increase the ruling party's desire to maintain power, knowing the doom that awaits them once they step down. That is not to say they should not be held accountable for crimes against humanity, just that it is a disincentive to relinquish power. Also, images of starving children may induce the international community to act, but will these images induce it to address the core problems? If the Horn of Africa is any indication, then No.

I was impressed by Ahmed Adam Hussein, an impassioned and eloquent advocate for his country and region. But his strong words will not be enough to change the future of Sudan, nor will the monitoring of Prendergast's satellite imagery or records of Domi's witnesses. The future appears gloomy for Sudan and South Sudan, unless the international community heeds the advice of these panel members and acts in decisive fashion.

Wait a few months, and you are bound to come across a debate on the purpose or continued relevance of the Peace Corps. I first saw this back in 2008 when then-Peace-Corps-critic-extraordinaire, Robert Strauss, came to our Peace Corps Madagascar training. (Google him to see some of his thoughts). Factor in the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps this year, and critics / proponents / improvers / status-quo-ers and others are out in full force. Shortly after beginning my graduate studies at SIPA, I saw an article by another former volunteer that absolutely bashed the organization. To give you an idea of the content, it was titled "Why Peace Corps is an Affront to the Poor." (Give it a read if you like...) Now I have my issues with the Peace Corps, as any former volunteer probably does, but I found the title alone pretty offensive. To say the Peace Corps is ineffective as a development agency is one thing (which I would counter by saying it is NOT a development agency, but rather development is one of three goals of the organization that are all weighted equally), but to call the work done by the numerous dedicated volunteers I have known an "affront to the poor" was too much. I had to respond, which I did here in an article entitled "Peace Corps an Affront to the Poor? Who are we to say?" The main point was that to fully understand the holistic effect of the Peace Corps, we need to talk to the people who have been affected by Peace Corps volunteers. Too often the debate is only amongst Americans (and usually only former Peace Corps volunteers... and congressional budget hawks perhaps). Talk to the people in developing countries who have worked with or met volunteers, and listen to their stance on the organization. My evidence is only anecdotal, but everyone I have spoken to who has known volunteers has believed strongly that Peace Corps has a useful and strong purpose in their country. Of course there are some "bad" volunteers who leave a poor impression of the Peace Corps, but I found in Madagascar that almost all Malagasy had good experiences with the Peace Corps volunteers they knew. In fact, this was true even of those volunteers who thought of themselves as unproductive or ineffective (including this author...)

So, it can be difficult to quantify the effect of the Peace Corps, but when discussing its purpose and effectiveness, it is important to include the international community. And this does not just mean talking with those who have direct experiences with Peace Corps volunteers, but also asking people in other countries how they would respond to Peace Corps in their country. It is at least a discussion worth having, and I do not hear it raised often enough.

A few other Peace Corps tidbits:

-Here is an independent survey of former Peace Corps volunteers and their thoughts on the organization. It includes many misgivings and ways to improve the organization, and continues on the discussion of what the purpose of the Peace Corps is. The pdf is linked in the article. On a very random side note, my cousin Don Gura actually designed the report!

-Here is a nice write-up from my eloquent friend Katie Browne about her view of why the Peace Corps is important.

-My school's Returned Peace Corps Volunteer group, SIPARPCVs, held a panel discussion on the future of the Peace Corps. I don't think there is an article up on it but the talk was interesting, and showed the wide-variety of positive feedback yet also constructive criticism from former volunteers. All of the 40 plus RPCVs were proud to have served (and all said that the minimum of two years of service was sacred and not to be changed!)

-If you are new to this site, and wondering about my experiences in the Peace Corps (and are too lazy to explore the convoluted backlog of this site), here is a little write-up in a local magazine from the summer.

I realize many of these links are old, but that is mostly because I have been way behind on the blog front lately. Hopefully I can post a few more times this week, in spite of my final exams!

Two final, unrelated links:

-I have been getting involved with New Media / Information Technology at school, and specifically Crisis Mapping, so I was very excited to learn about the Malagasy iHub project.

-Here is a really nice post for World AIDS day from my classmate Hongxiang. I am slowly adding my classmates' blogs to the Blog Roll so keep checking back there for some quality reading!

A few weeks ago, I heard a presentation from Manuel Rodriguez-Becerra focusing on the crossover of the environment and development. Professor Rodríguez-Becerra, the first Minister of the Environment in Colombia, focused much of his talk on the topics from his article on Greening the Colombian State (pdf). He spoke about the difficulty of crafting, enacting, and enforcing environmental legislation while also dealing with the shifting priorities of politicians. Specifically, presidential will in Colombia shifts from administration to administration, and serious environmental policies enacted by one can be undone by another. In fact, the administration does not even need to change, just the priorities of the president, and environmental protection can be undone.

Professor Rodríguez-Becerra described the dire situation in much of Latin America as a crisis of resources, bemoaning the fact that many politicians would rather utilize natural resources in the present than protect unique ecosystems for future generations. He and others argue that the debate must turn away from simple economic measures, such as GDP growth, to more holistic indicators that include the wide-ranging value of ecosystems (watersheds, plant and animal life, importance to the water cycle, resources, etc.). Other argue that it is time to change the deabte by adding universally-accepted planetary boundaries.

Quite frankly, I think all of these environmentalists are missing the point. The debate does need to shift, but it needs to shift away from esoteric talk about the environment as a resource to be protected or exploited. Too often the talk of environmental protection is about protecting a "thing," usually defined as an unspoiled forest paradise. As my colleague Ryan mentioned a few months ago,

This is the conservation myth.

While incredibly beneficial to the conservation cause, it does have a darker side. In the midst of climate change and prevalent extinctions, it is easy to see why rainforests, are beneficial. But this story homogenizes those rainforests, it takes away the voices of the people who have always used those forests...People live in these forests. People live on the outskirts of these forests. People live downstream of these forests. People live in the fertile areas whose rainfall patterns are dependent on these forests. These forests are important not only as the habitat of a rare species of bird or as the source of a potentially-beneficial medicinal herb; they are important as sources of water, fuel, and food for the people inhabiting the forest and its surrounding land. These forests are critical to the livelihoods of the people living in its proximity.

When the environmental debate focuses on forests and other ecosystems as resources, it is easy for politicians to say to voters that the short-term benefits of exploiting these resources (via mining, timber production, etc.) greatly outweighs the long-term benefits of conserving these lands. Voters hear of this exploitation and think "money" and "now." If the debate was over people, however, it would be much harder for politicians (who are against environmental protection) to spin. Advocates of the environment should not be claiming that forests are "virgin forests," because politicians can spin this to voters as: "These forests are empty, who needs 'em! Pave the way for progress and economic development!" Instead, advocates for the environment should be totaling the number of people directly dependent on these forests. If you could counter a politician's claims with "x number of people live in this forest, y number of people derive their living from it, z number of people depend on its water, and q tons of agricultural productivity will be lost, equating in p number of people succumbing to food insecurity and malnutrition." It is much harder to convince voters to side against people than it is to convince them to side against trees and animals.

In addition to Ryan's article mentioned above, I also recommend this article on indigenous rights in development in Indonesia

I finally got through a major backlog of posts in my google reader, and wanted to share some of the most-interesting links here. The video and interactive map, in particular, make for a nice study break / procrastination tool if you, like me, are in the middle of midterms...

-I love maps. Especially interactive maps. Check out this map of migration, where you can select a country and see the migration patterns.

-The Clinton Global Initiative celebrities poke fun at themselves courtesy of Funny or Die (h/t A View From the Cave)

-I've been working on a couple of projects on Malawi, and Ken Opalo has some good links on the encroaching dictatorship of President Mutharika

-Jeffrey Sachs defends (and clarifies) the Millennium Villages Project, as an additional $72 million is committed to the project (full disclosure: my program is very closely associated with MVP, and if I survive these midterms there is a good chance I will be working in one of these villages next summer)

-Kenya at War - the Kenyan military has crossed into Somalia to combat Al-Shabab

-Why is the US sending troops to hunt down the LRA? It is something an old college comrade has been advocating for for years, but why now? Danger Room notes that it could be to stop a massive new assault by the LRA on civilians

-2 posts on working on-the-ground in aid/development: Tales from the Hood and WhyDev

-In general, I love A Window to Ghana and Africa, but this post in particular struck me. Maybe it was this line:

And finally, I’d advise you hang out with passionate people, if you can’t find any, may be, you can start with cutting out negative people. The people who have a million reasons why it can’t be done. Or who understand all the challenges there on the way and so advise you to take it easy. Once you cut them off, you can see more clearly.

What we need to succeed is not OUT there. It is IN us. You need to block out all the noise and passionately follow where your heart leads you.

LIVE NOW.I've said it before, but it is such passionate people that is making my graduate school experience special.

-Finally... I've mentioned this before, but if you are interested in development issues you need to be checking Poverty Matters regularly. If climate change is more your style, be sure to check out the Earth Institute's blogs.

I am way behind on a number of interesting links that I wanted to share. So let's just jump right in:

Tea Party vs. Madagascar's Forests - an interesting article about the US Tea Party movement coming down on the side of Gibson guitars against US government regulation, yet the regulation stems (no pun intended) from Gibson's use of illegally-harvested hardwoods from Madagascar's protected forests. (on a personal note, I have never been to that part of Madagascar but the photo at the top is so universal of the rural areas that I thought at first glance I recognized the family).

Madagascar "transitional" President finally got a chance to speak at the UN General Assembly this year. He spoke about the importance of international mediation in resolving conflicts. He then tried to justify his power-taking (what most would call a coup d'etat) by citing human rights abuses and poverty, both of which have persisted under his watch and in the case of abuses potentially increased (though I am quick to point out the departure of international aid as a main reason for at least the poverty-worsening). He entered to what sounds like dead silence, which I thought was telling, but then I realized people were probably clapping but the audio is that of the translator. Check out TGV here:

Nice wrap-up of Rajoelina's visit to the UN. The article calls out the UN Secretary-General for meeting with him despite claiming it was "unofficial," and emphasizes the fact that the return of ex-President Marc Ravalomanana that sealed the deal is not going to happen, with many in the current government saying once again that they will arrest him (even claiming they will go to South Africa to arrest him in exile - the ex-President's host, the South Africa government, will never let this happen, though).

Here is video of the Peace Corps bike tour for AIDS awareness (the Fety Ribà Mena) we put on last year in the Lac Alaotra region. You may recall me talking about it a lot last summer (search the blog for details), now you can see some footage of our project... and far too much footage of me dancing...

A few blogs written by friends/colleagues worth checking out:

-I have mentioned Salama Madagascar! many times, but the last few posts have been great. I plan to write more about the environmantal/ conservation movement soon, and link particularly to Ryan's article on virgin forests / the Conservation myth.

-Beerconomist by fellow MDP student Holly. The blog title is great and the development insight is even better.

-International Agriculture and Development by fellow MDP student Rafael. This blog focuses on agriculture, and has been especially good at pointing out useful resources for development practitioners.

Speaking of the MDP program, which I have written about before really starting (and am currently enjoying the heavy workload of), here are some informational links... first, a video about the program:

Also, this pdf details the program further:

And of course you can visit the website itself to learn more (and apply, for all you Mada RPCVs or soon-to-be RPCVs.... manasa! Even better - Malagasy students should apply too!)

One ethical issue I have been struggling with for a long time is paternalism. This word may not be the best description of the following thoughts (ramblings), but it was the first that came to mind. Specifically, how to avoid the perception that the outsider, in this case a development practitioner, knows better than the people in the community where he or she works? This is especially a challenge for those of us coming from foreign countries, but for development practitioners working in their native country it is also an issue because they will still be working in communities where they are the outsider. To show up in a community and pretend like you know everything is ridiculous. There are numerous historical, cultural, and technical issues that you do not know about. A major part of studying development practice is learning to understand your own limitations. But despite your best efforts to create an inclusive program that works with the community and includes local leaders, the perception that “the outsider knows best” or that “the outsider, who just showed up, thinks he knows better than us, who have lived here forever” can persist. Many developing countries and regions have seen development practitioners and experts come and go for decades, telling the people, “if you just do X, Y and Z, your community will be ‘developed.’” It is a difficult trap to escape. Either the community listens only to the practitioner’s advice and local problem-solving is sacrificed or the practitioner becomes resented by the community as an intruder. On the one hand, I feel a strong ethical sense to be involved in development. On the other hand, who am I to tell an old rice farmer how to transplant his crop? (a fellow PCV’s father, while visiting Madagascar, once likened it to a Japanese practitioner showing up in Nebraska and telling a farmer how to grow corn). I like to think that I have skills to offer communities where I have worked and will work. But I am also fully aware that my role is to encourage local participation and assist the community in discovering its own solutions. If I allow the outsider-as-expert mentality to take hold, I am doing damage where I want to be providing assistance. This mentality was especially prevalent in Madagascar. The Malagasy often defer to authority of any sort, but especially to foreigners. They looked at me as an American and knew I had the right answers. My attempts to create community-inspired solutions often met with confusion, as everyone was just waiting for me to tell them what to do. The best thing I could do was try to convince people that they could solve their own problems, and my role was a facilitator in helping them accomplish this. But it is easier said than done. In a sense, this is the major ethical issue of international development to me (indeed, I think the entire idea of foreign countries providing assistance to developing countries runs the danger of falling into this perception). I do not have an answer of course (once again I am trying to underplay the “development practitioner knows best” angle). It is merely something that troubles me when I stop to think about it, or when I am interacting with fellow practitioners, or when I was in Madagascar. I would love to hear some others’ thoughts on this, and appreciate any feedback.

Unrelated postscript: My apologies for the limited posting lately. Grad school has been intense, but also my thoughts have been shared in classroom settings and in an online collaborative forum, which has left me less inclined to write here. But I will make a concerted effort to produce content here as well… stay tuned.

...the rest is figuring out what to do about it.

That was the concluding remark form Jason Smerdon during a panel discussion this weekend called: "Climate Chane & Extreme Weather: Are They Connected?" Dr. Smerdon was one of many climatology researchers on the panel, along with Richard Seager, Suzana Camargo, and Kevin Anchukaitis. This panel took place on Saturday during the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory's (LDEO) Open House event. LDEO is the location of most of the research done by Columbia University's Earth Institute. Once a year, LDEO opens its doors to the public and shares details on its various scientific projects and research. Not only do people with a general interest (of all ages) attend, but the Open House also invited back alumni of LDEO (former students, researchers, and employees of the observatory). For instance, the panel I mentioned was moderated by Heidi Cullen, an alumnus of LDEO as well as the Weather Channel's first on-air climate expert and creator of Forecast Earth.

The panel focused on links between climate change and extreme weather. If you are a climate change doubter and/or think the human effect on climate to be overstated, there would not have been much in the discussion or Q&A for you. The audience focused the questions on hurricanes and droughts, probably due to the recent occurrences of each in the United States. The recent trend for hurricanes that Dr. Camargo described was one of less frequent but more intense hurricanes, and this being due to changing precipitation patterns that are linked to climate change. Drought, on the other hand, was a more local occurrence tied to El Nino / La Nina events mostly. The climatologists predicted that the drought in Texas, for example, would likely continue into next year.

The crowd then moved on to the Big Question: mitigation of global warming. The scientists pointed out that there is no "magic bullet" that will reduce global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. A "transportation" and oil entrepreneur in the audience pointed out that the public often focuses most of its attention on transportation effects on global warming, but in reality the causes are manifold. Sure enough, agriculture, deforestation, energy production, transportation, and many other factors are causing this global warming.

After much discussion, the main takeaways were:

1) the climate is changing, and humans are major contributors to this change

2) scientists unanimously agree on global warming and climate change, but politics has misconstrued their message(s)

3) there is no clear answer on what to do about climate change. Even if we cut emissions to zero, we will be in serious trouble, so sequestering of greenhouse gases may be needed (but this is expensive and again a clear path is missing).

There were plenty of other interesting speakers throughout the day, including Jeffrey Sachs speaking on the lead-up to Rio +20, and a panel discussion on "Mega Quakes." But I did not get to see any of these, as I spent a good portion of the day volunteering at the welcome stand. This was fun and interesting, because while handing out maps and giving directions, I met many interesting people. Many young children arrived with their parents in tow, excited to see the experiments and displays designed for young budding scientists such as trashcan volcanoes and bathtub science. There were adults with an interest in what LDEO was and who just wanted to explore. Also many alumni arrived, LDEO scientists from the 60s and 70s who had incredible stories of rugged Indiana Jones-like science in the field. When I did get some free time, besides the panel and the stories, I wandered around the labs and the displays, where many interesting things caught my eye: a bamboo bicycle, the tree ring lab (where they use tree rings to date past climate fluctuations, droughts, rainfall, etc), and many details of LDEO's fleet of ships and their oceangoing (and mapping) expeditions.

It was an interesting day, and had I been blogging more lately I would have invited you all! The best part of the day, for me, remains the many young people who had a day of getting excited about science. Maybe one or two of them will go into this field, and they will look back on a world-class research institute opening its doors to them (even just for a day) to thank for that.

Upon returning from Madagascar, I spent a month and a half in the resort town of Hilton Head, SC. While there, the editor of their area magazine asked me to write something about my Peace Corps experience. I put down some ideas, and it was published this month. I tried to scan the magazine below, but it would probably be easier to read it online (which you can do here). Warning: it is a bit cheesy and contains photos of smiling Malagasy children. In other words: cynics need not apply! Also, I did not suggest the title, nor cause the misprint below...

This is off-topic for this blog (actually, what is really ever on-topic here?) but I just heard some interesting news regarding one of my old employers. It seems England's Premier League (and other leagues) are looking at implementing something similar to the Rooney Rule. This is the rule that encouraged hiring of minority coaches in the NFL. In itself, this is a pretty interesting story as English football (soccer?) look for ways to better promote minority candidates for coaching jobs in leagues where minority stars are more and more common. What really caught my eye was that my former boss, Cyrus Mehri, is very involved with this. I worked for Mr. Mehri at the law firm Mehri & Skalet, PLLC. He was the driving force (along with Johnnie Cochran) in advocating for the original Rooney Rule, and manages the Fritz Pollard Alliance to monitor the hiring of minority coaches in the NFL. You can check him out on BBC giving an impassioned speech about the need for a similar rule in English football. Give it a watch, it's pretty cool!

Some readings: Telegraph, ESPN, Guardian...

Ok, here are some links I thought were worth sharing. And then some tunes for the weekend...

Links with some commentary

-Public Health’s “benevolent” dictator? This article points out some of the dangers of the Gates Foundation’s influence in the realm of public health. Despite all the good it has done, some concerns have arisen. For instance, the Foundation’s over-reliance on technological answers often avoids long-term, systemic change:

“It’s easier to develop a diarrhoea vaccine than to get the faeces out of the water supply, but clean water provides benefits far beyond diarrhea prevention.” And the Gates Foundation funds nearly everyone in the field (“Gates funds so many players, a common joke runs that it’s easier to list the organizations that Gates doesn’t support.”)… so who is left to offer independent analysis and critique of its programs? Last blurb (check out the article for more context):“Even the best-intentioned of dictators may find themselves insulated from the objective feedback they need to learn from their mistakes and make essential course corrections.”I certainly do not agree with all of the gloom-and-doom, but former Aid Watch-er Laura Freschi raises some good points and concerns. (h/t @bill_easterly)

-Community-managed forests better protected than official reserves? (h/t @ryan_arash) Clicking through to the article, we find a a study showing that the answer to the above question is yes. I only skimmed the article, but it seems like it does touch upon my feeling, which is that this result is due to poor infrastructure at Protected Areas, such as poor pay scales/late pay, corruption, supplies and training... (rather than an especially inherent connection between communities and their forests, which is what is sometimes implied).

-Food security! Tom Murphy links to CGIAR's public meeting on the Horn of Africa famine. To be honest, I scanned the video a bit, looking for Namanga Ngongi (because I am interested in AGRA's work). He had some nice comments about the need to produce better crops (not just research) and find a way for companies to profit from this production/sale and involve the private sector. By the way, Tom often does a nice job of capturing my thoughts, when merely commenting on a video or link. This is true here, in regards to food security/famine/agriculture:

Personally, I am keen on long term solutions. Immediate aid must happen, but discussions about prevention should not be shelved because of the crisis.

-Education but no Jobs? Mmm unintended consequences… Increasing education but not adequately increasing high-skilled jobs. This article is very interesting, particularly the part about students paying increased fees to gain an education but then not being able to recover those costs through higher-end employment. One thing I think the article missed is a corollary of this result:“The shortage of higher-level jobs has forced many young people to take roles for which they are overqualified. This in turn can create resentment and other forms of alienation.”I think it is important to remember the snowballing consequences of high-skilled graduates taking low-skilled jobs: it muscles lower-skilled workers out of the job market, often times putting those who could not afford a high-quality education back on the street. They in turn are losing out on any low-skilled job creation, amplifying their poverty.

Quick(...er) Hits

-I am fascinated by what is happening in South Africa. I cannot shake the feeling that something big is happening in the ANC and it will soon pour out into the whole country (at best, something very interesting, at worst, something very dangerous). Speaking of SA, can they implement a development state... and how does one implement a development state?

-I just signed up for a GIS (Geographical Information Systems) class, so this graphical representation of food security caught my eye.

-I linked to this in the blog roll, but if you are interested in any of the following: photography, Ghana, anthropology, writing, etc... then you will love this.

-Blattman links to (and writes a bit about) impact evaluation. I found this Blatt-line interesting:

The short answer: policymakers and donors — don’t do M&E, do R&D. It’s not about the method. Randomized trails are a means to an end. Use them, but wisely and strategically. And don’t outsource your learning agenda to academics.and check out my classmate Holly's blog for much more detail on the above Blatt-link.

-Conservation and Poverty Traps. (h/t again @ryan_arash) I absolutely love this observation (jives perfectly with my thinking, especially in regards to the tired buzzword 'ecotourism') -

Few efforts to achieve “winwin” solutions (e.g., bioprospecting, ecotourism, integrated conservation and development projects, payments for ecosystem services) have fully delivered on their promisesFriday Music Video:

Mahaleo might be the most popular band in Madagascar... ever. I used to liken them to the Beatles, because people of all ages would listen to them, and you would almost always hear their songs (or one of their member's songs) on a bush taxi anywhere in the country. They started in the 70s as students with a social conscience, and have since gone on to all sorts of high-level professions (check out some details here). Even the band's name probably best translates as something like "to overcome." So, after the Health message of last week's video (I am still getting over how awesome the Tana Gospel Choir is in that video), here is an environmental message! This is one of Mahaleo's songs, as performed by bandmember Dama (and popular musician Olombelo Ricky) called "Tsy Miraharaha" which probably best translates to "I don't care" or "It's not my business." It is about the destruction of Madagascar's environment, and the sarcastic response from the average Malagasy that "it is not my problem."

A sampling of the lyrics:

Tanety dorana, tsy miraharaha

Arehitra ny ala, tsy miraharaha

(or, roughly translated)

The hills are burning, I don't care

The forests are aflame, I don't care...

Finally, it appears that this video clip was taken from a larger, very good documentary called Ny Dian'i Mananilatany. It does not appear to be online (after a brief search), and the only copy I have is in Malagasy... but, it is pretty sweet if you come across it...

I recently joined Twitter, and almost immediately got into a potentially interesting discussion with the US Embassy in Madagascar. The new Charge d'Affaires was set to arrive, so the USEmbassy tweeted:

@USMadagascar USEmbassy-Madagascar The new Chargé d´Affaires of the American Embassy arrives soon - what do you think he should know about #Madagascar?28 Aug via webTo which I replied:

@ChrisPlanicka Chris Planicka @USMadagascar Why there is still no US Ambassador to Madagascar. Actually, we all would like to know why...28 Aug via webWhich led to this:

@USMadagascar USEmbassy-Madagascar @ChrisPlanicka In order to have an ambassador, we would need to have a recognized government to which we could present their credentials33 minutes ago via web

Caught up? Now, I should first point out that the American Embassy staff that I met in Madagascar were fantastic and put on some of the best programs in the country. My issue is not with the embassy itself but with the US State Department's stance on Madagascar.

To respond to the USEmbassy's tweet: Of course I know the literal reason there is no current US Ambassador in Madagascar. An unrecognized government's country cannot have an official US Ambassador. But, why are we (the United States) continuing to play out foreign policy idealism in Madagascar while fully utilizing realpolitik in pretty much every other country? The Malagasy people continue to suffer, due in large part to lack of full USAID funding, a partially-functioning US Embassy (with no Ambassador nor related funding programs, like the Self-Help Fund or the Democracy and Human Rights Fund), the removal of the Millennium Challenge Account (of which Madagascar was the first country to qualify for), and most importantly the suspension of AGOA. Many have begun calling for an end to pointless sanctions which are not achieving the political aim of bringing the Rajoelina government to the negotiating table (for an example, see the link in this post under #3).

Now, I am no fan of how Andry Rajoelina came to power, nor am I a supporter of any of his government's actions since taking that power. But, like it or not, he has been in power for two-and-a-half years now. The United States recently recognized the National Transitional Council in Libya as the legitimate government over a month before it took the capital. In fact, the bloody civil war is still continuing. In Somalia, the United States recognizes the Transitional Federal Government, despite their almost complete powerlessness in governing that country. In a closer comparison, US Ambassador Bisa Williams presented her credentials to an interim government months before post-coup elections were held in Niger.

It seems like everywhere else, the United States is utilizing a realpolitik foreign policy. They focus on practical implications in dealing with governments that are in power, no matter the means or extent of this power. But in Madagascar, the US State Department clings to an idealistic belief that all governments it recognizes must come to office via the ballot box. It is time to treat Madagascar as practically as the United States treats everyone else... the Malagasy people deserve it.

A week ago, I began orientation for my graduate program in Development Practice. We spent some time discussing what "Development Practice" is, what the degree stands for, and why we wanted to study in this field. Although I have previously written a brief introduction to my program, it occurred to me that many others would like to know details about the issues mentioned above (the acronym alphabet soup alone can be daunting; for instance, I am pursuing an MPA-DP from SIPA and EI at CU)*.

Many people working or interested in development associate the MDP (Masters of Development Practice) program at Columbia University with one man. Indeed, the global MDP program, and more directly the Millennium Villages Project that is partially associated with the MDP program, are seen as his brainchild. In reality, the MDP program was born out of the Millennium Development Goals and a team of 20 development experts looking to improve education for development practitioners. Still, the association has stuck, as when I told my friends in Peace Corps about my program and they responded with, "Oh, so you're joining Jeff Sachs' Army?"

Jeff Sachs' Army. This comment has stuck with me. A man committed to ending poverty forming a cadre of "troops" for his cause? Perhaps I should explain a bit further. Like it or not, for years now development issues have been debated as either Pro-Sachs or Anti-Sachs. (**) Dr. Sachs has strongly expressed his view (in just about every media form available) that massive new commitments of aid are necessary to help third world countries break out of the poverty trap. This strong stance has, of course, created a backlash within the aid/development community. The most notable critic has been Dr. Easterly, who feels that responsible aid is important but insufficient to break out of the poverty trap (in fact, there is no "poverty trap," as he sees it as due to poorly-designed tests).

Anyway, Dr. Easterly is just one of many critics of Dr. Sachs floating around the blogosphere. Since many see the Millennium Villages Project as a Sachs pet project that refuses to accept criticism, I would imagine they would see our MDP program (which has a direct link with the Millennium Villages) as creating more Disciples of Sachs. Therefore I wanted to refute this idea, and show how the goals of the program are in line with the overall suggestions being made by many in the blog-world for improving aid and development. And to spice up this post a bit, I thought I'd tackle this with a little dialogue:

-What is Development Practice?

--In short: the practice of development.

-I guess I should have seen that one coming... can you elaborate?

--Well, some programs focus on development economics or theory or studies. These programs are usually highly academic and sometimes overly theoretical. They are very necessary to the overall understanding and implementation of development. Development Practice aims to take the successful, evidence-based theories and practices and implement them in projects in the developing world.

-Alright, and what is the MDP program? (****)

--The Masters of Development Practice program is a masters program consisting of two years of coursework in the four disciplines of natural, social, health, and management sciences, combined with cross-sectoral field training, to produce versatile development practitioners.

-Yikes, sorry I asked you to elaborate before. Can you say that in a shorter way?

--Well, it is an interdisciplinary graduate degree that aims to prepare students to better address the multi-faceted problems of development.

-Still too many big words...

--Ok. It is kind of like an MBA for Development Practice.

-MBA! Wait, how is it "kind of like an MBA?" MBA's are for business-folk, right?

--First, like an MBA, the MDP is a professional degree. Professionalizing the aid and development world is a necessity at this point. But don't take my word for it, here's aid blog Tales From The Hood: "Professionalizing the aid sector – by definition applying standards which would mean excluding non-professionals from practice – means improving the quality of service provided to the poor." (*****) The other reason I compared it to an MBA is because the MDP is also a versatile degree. Upon graduating, an MDP'er should be able to succeed in development work in any sector without necessarily being an expert in one field.

-Wait, not an expert? Isn't that bad?

--I said not an expert in one field. An MDP graduate is an expert. She or he is an expert in development practice (thanks to Professor Glenn Denning for that one). A development practitioner could be a "general manager" type, but could also be an economist or an agronomist or a health worker... with the ability to understand complex problems and opportunities across sectors. The MDP graduate is not limited to a single field of expertise.

-Ok, that sounds pretty good. So you're taking the ideas and theories from the academic world and putting them into practice?

--In a way. A development practitioner utilizes evidence-based concepts and ideas in the field. But, a good development practitioner knows that there is no One Right Answer. An idea that works in India will need to be adapted, or maybe even scrapped altogether, in Liberia. The MDP program promotes an understanding of results and the skills to change the program as indicated by these results. Trial and error, when one learns from those errors and they are on a small-scale, is an important part of development practice. Take a look at the blog A View From the Cave, where the author talks about Tim Harford and the need to learn from one's failures.

-I know that blog! Doesn't that same article also talk about Groupthink within the development world? Aren't you concerned about intellectual stagnation being in a program devoted solely to the MDGs, MVP, and the teachings of Sachs?

--Actually, the groupthink can be dangerous, and it has seemed to invade the blogosphere recently as well, stifling debates about important issues. Check out Aid Thoughts for more on this. But I reject the idea that the MDP program is a reactionary leviathan opposed to new or different ideas. In fact, quite the contrary. I think the MDP program wants to implement effective ideas, and encourage constructive debate. This is crucial, as a quality development practitioner needs to critically analyze every idea and its effects in a particular context. No idea, including the Millennium Villages, is sacrosanct to our program. In my current class, we have students from all over the world, with wildly disparate yet impressive experiences. They question everything, using their experiences as evidence for or against a particular development strategy. But most impressive is their optimism and excitement. Too often in the world of development, you run into burnt-out and jaded pessimists. These fellow graduate students are committed to combating poverty, and are critical and creative in finding the solutions to do so.

-Wow. You kind of went off on a tangent there, huh? Any final thoughts about why you chose this program?--As I mentioned in an earlier post, linked to at the top of this page, the Columbia MDP program is full of amazing faculty and great courses. It has links with the world-renowned School of International and Public Affairs and the Earth Institute. But after (only!) a week of orientation, I realize the main draw of the MDP program is the people. As some of you know, I can be pretty cynical regarding aid and development sometimes. This comes mostly from frustrations during my time in Madagascar. So I was very excited to learn that my classmates (and really everyone associated with the program) are enthusiastic, optimistic, intelligent, and incredibly passionate about development. Maybe some of the will rub off when I go through a cynicism phase...

-...That got pretty sappy, pretty fast. But I'm glad you're happy, so far. Maybe I will check back in after a few months, after real classes have started and the shiny gleam of a new program is gone...

* = That's the Masters of Public Administration in Development Practice from the School of International and Public Affairs and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Phew...

** = Which, if said quickly enough, sounds like either (1) a jazz debate or (2) an argument within a 1960s social movement about interpersonal relationships

*** = Professor Easterly also wrote one of my favorite books on aid and development, The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (but this may have been because I read it in Peace Corps at the height of my cynicism!)

**** = Note: there are many MDP programs around the globe, but for this article I am mostly talking about Columbia's MDP program since I know the details the best (and am, you know, attending it)

***** = For those of you reading at home, you can see the quoted article here and more here. Professionalizing the sector is a major theme of Tales From The Hood and many other blogs.

I've started my grad school program (more on this soon), so I have not been able to write much here. I wanted to share a story and a video about issues affecting Madagascar. First, there is this article from last weekend. The BBC documents the treatment of Malagasy women taken to the Middle East as maids and other domestic workers. The conditions are horrendous and equate to modern-day slavery. It is worth remembering that the Malagasy have a long history of being abducted by many cultures to live as slaves. This history is due to Madagascar's location between Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Malagasy slaves were especially prevalent in South Africa, where white settlers used them for work as a way to avoid interacting with the native South African cultures. It is sad to see this type of treatment continuing in the modern age. I expect little is made of this issue because of Madagascar's current international isolation, but at least the current government was able to eventually evacuate many of these victims.

The other issue is AIDS. Check out the below video, where the Tana Gospel Choir sing a Malagasy version of "I Will Survive" to raise AIDS awareness (fanentanana @ SIDA). It is pretty awesome.

You can check out more on the Tana Gospel Choir at their website. Bon Weekend!

Having recently moved to NYC, I've had a lot of interesting blog posts waiting in my Google Reader for me to get settled. A few examples that jumped out at me:

-After my recent brief trip to Ethiopia, I was very interested in this article about the Ethiopian government's abuses and connections to UK development funds

-Keeping the above mindset, and adding beer! Ethiopia and Heineken: an interesting snippet on economic growth. I cannot vouch for either of the beers mentioned, as the only one I recall drinking was St. George Beer (quite tasty too!)

St. George Beer, with the historic sites of Axum as a backdrop -Now on to my interest in Agriculture: Crop insurance for small farmers in Bolivia. Here's the money quote:

Yet Miguel Solana, a programme officer who runs the Bolivia project at the ILO, says: "Credit is not the only solution." He believes farmers in Latin America have wrongly been given loans for far too long, when they would have derived greater benefit from an insurance policy instead. -As a History major in undergrad who is now pursuing a graduate degree in Development, I could not agree more with this article

Most of these articles, and many others, made me nod in agreement (or sometimes shout in disagreement). But one in particular hit me and made me think. The article was a write up about the unresolved conflict in Israel by Stephen Walt of Foreign Policy. While interesting in itself, it was a few lines from the post's opening that caught my eye:

...unresolved conflicts are dangerous precisely because they provide opportunities that extremists can exploit, they harden perceptions and images on both sides, and most importantly, they can always get worse. So when a promising opportunity to settle a conflict arises, wise leaders should pursue them energetically. Settling conflicts early seems like a no-brainer. The reason these lines made me stop and think is because this does not seem to be the case in non-violent conflicts. For instance, when unresolved issues drag on and on in American politics, most people seem to become apathetic to the issue and just want it to end (1). A better example is the always-interesting (to me) case of Madagascar. The country's political conflict has gone on for two-and-a-half years now, remaining mostly non-violent during this time (2). As the conflict has dragged on, the competing sides, current President Rajoelina and the 3 Ex-Presidents (3), have not come any closer to agreement. However, many other politicians have grown tired of the debates and disagreements (and the Malagasy people certainly have). Many opposition politicians have left their old parties to either join Rajoelina's government or form new "unity" parties (4). It seems like the longer the conflict has gone on, the less that people have really cared about it. The SADC and AU failed to resolve the conflict early on; now, they have forgotten about Madagascar and the country has moved on. I doubt there will ever be a proper resolution to this conflict (in the same way that there was not a proper resolution in 2002). But Rajoelina will continue to rule as he sees fit, and the rest of the political establishment will continue to fall into line. As for the average Malagasy person, as is always the case whether the politicians are fighting or agreeing, life will go on...and it will be tough.

(1) Note that I said "most people" and not "most politicians"...

(2) By "non-violent" I mean not consisting of open hostilities... there has been sparse clashes, and many human rights abuses

(3) We definitely need a Malagasy version of the X-Presidents

(4) As you might expect, there are dozens (hundreds?) of parties and no one really knows what their platforms are, aside from "reconciliation" and "supporting the homeland"

Ready to ring in the weekend with a refreshing beverage? Take a look at this photo essay by my fellow RPCV detailing Madagascar's favorite village drink.

As for our Friday Music Video, we are going away from the "popular Malagasy videos of the last 2 years" to dig a bit deeper, going back a few years. This video may be my all-time favorite, as it features Jesus dance-fighting the devil! (The refrain is: Jesus, yes? Yea Yea! the Devil, yes? NO NO!). Here is Tsiliva's "Oui Oui"

I'm in the middle of a move and have not been posting much, but I wanted to make sure to get a happy Malagasy jam up for the weekend. Here is Lola's "Milalalala" (Lola always has great dancers, so enjoy!)

Before we start the weekend with a jam by Malagasy artist Y-zit, I wanted to briefly touch upon a link regarding tourism (if you would like to see a much longer take on my own recent tourism in Ethiopia, check out the previous post). The link in question is the Economist's brief note on tourism revenues (h/t A View from the Cave). This article notes that Madagascar earns a very high revenue per tourist. This is encouraging news for the tourism sector in Madgascar. The Economist explains this high receipts per tourist like this:

When calculated as the total of tourist receipts divided by the total number of arrivals, several geographically isolated countries fare well. This may be because holidaymakers will stay longer and fork out more on a long-distance trip.So when tourists go to a distant and isolated place like Madagascar, they will spend a lot of money to make the most out of their trip. But tourism proponents should not get too excited by this study, as it merely points out the high rate of return per tourist. If you click through to the paper (pdf) that the Economist bases this table on, you will see that Madagascar's overall tourism numbers are still pathetically small. In 2010, there were 196,000 tourists to Madagascar (up from the first year of the crisis, 2009, but still no where near the pre-crisis 2008 number of 375,000). Madagascar is the fourth largest island nation in the world, and boasts unique rainforests, beautiful beaches, amazing Tsingy formations, and a vibrant culture. Yet its tourism numbers are dwarfed by the much smaller neighboring islands of Mauritius (935,000 in 2010) and Reunion (421,000 in 2010). Ouch...

Ok one more Madagascar link... It looks like one of the Bush boys has been visiting Madagascar, looking for investment opportunities. While some see his meeting with President Rajoelina as a sign of recognition for the regime, I think it is just an example of a businessman looking to invest in Madagascar's rich resources. Madagascar certainly could use more international investment, even if it means dealing with a corrupt regime. And as others are calling for an end to sanctions based on humanitarian reasons (which would legitimize this government), why not allow a businessman to explore possibilities for investment in Madagascar? Of course, the terms "Bush," "oil," and "Rajoelina" elicit strong reactions in many observers. I do enjoy the photo in the Africa Review's article, where it looks like Neil Bush was preparing to shake Andry's hand until an aid yelled at him: "Stop!"

Now to continue the tradition of featuring some of Madagascar's most popular songs from the past two years (and start the weekend on a relaxing note), here is "Fo Mijaly" (A Suffering Heart) by Y-zit

I should start by warning that this is a long post (but it is full of pictures!) - About two months ago, while returning from Madagascar to the United States, I took a week-long detour to visit a friend serving in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia (yes, I am just getting around to writing about it now). This Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV), Chase, and I flew from Addis Ababa to the northern part of the country, where we toured some of the ancient historic sites. Ethiopians are proud of their rich culture and history, and I understood why: it is a remarkable country. Here are some of the thoughts and observations I took away from the visit...

Ethiopia

The birthplace of coffee. The home of the Queen of Sheba. The location of important anthropological discoveries. The final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. One of the first countries to adopt Christianity.

These are just a few of Ethiopia's claims to fame. The Ethiopian people are proud of these historical and legndary claims. Some other sources of pride include their complex languages, their diverse population (over 80 ethnic groups), the Rift Valley environment, their culinary history, and their position of leadership in Africa (home to the African Union and powerful leaders past and present). But the greatest source of pride for Ethiopians is the fact that, with the exception of a brief Italian occupation (1936-41), Ethiopia has never been colonized. In this sense, it is unique amongst African nations.

Physically, the country is as diverse as its people. The north is mountainous, dry, and dusty. The south-east is also semi-desert and dry (and affected by the current famine in the region). In between these areas runs the Great Rift Valley, from south-west to north-east, and this area has lush vegetation and diverse wildlife. The entire country is landlocked, and it is surrounded by some dangerous regimes (here's a list of its neighbors: Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya). Along with the lack of a coastline (most exports are sent through Djibouti) and questionable relationships with its neighbors, Ethiopia also started an international row by beginning the construction of a major hydroelectric dam on the Nile River. While the source of the Blue Nile lies in Ethiopia (at Lake Tana), because the river is the life-source for other countries in the region, any action taken by Ethiopia that affects the river is seen as a threat to these countries (notably Egypt).

Ethiopia has an interesting cultural and religious legacy. Until the 1980's, it was home to a large Jewish population. During this decade, due to war and famine, many made their way to Israel (via Israeli transport in airlifts like Operation Moses) and few Jews remain in Ethiopia. Currently, most of the population are practicing Christians, with about 15% practicing Islam. Another religious legacy of Ethiopia involves Rastafarianism. Rastafaris believe that Emperor Haile Selassie, the self-proclaimed "Lion of Judah," is Jesus incarnate as prophesied in Revelations. This belief is due to the teachings of Marcus Garvey, as his followers saw Selassie's crowning (he ruled from 1930-1974) as proof of Garvey's predictions of a black king in Africa.

Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Ethiopia (well, after coffee) is food. Both for the variety of delicious cuisine and for the much-publicized famines that have affected the region (Ethiopian famine was the inspiration for this). But let's focus on the food: if you've been to an Ethiopian restaurant, you know the food is tasty and unique. The meals center around injera, a spongy flatbread that you eat with your hands and use to scoop up various types of wats (sauces or stews). The wats range from bland to spicy, and can include all sorts of tasty meats. I actually prefer the injera firfir, which is a breakfast meal consisting of injera used to eat... leftover refried injera! Here is a video clip of Bizarre Foods' Andrew Zimmern tasting some injera and wat:

Addis Ababa

Addis, the capital of Ethiopia, is a pretty special city. The first word I can think of to describe it is: HUGE. The city is sprawling and full of large buildings and wide boulevards. It just seemed so spacious to me. I probably had this impression because I was comparing it to Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo. Antananarivo was basically a village that became a city in 1625. It grew upon its original structure, meaning buildings were crammed wherever they would fit, and roads snaked up and down the hillsides. The town became a capital, and for hundreds of years saw new structures built on top of old ones, with little space to expand the infrastructure to meet the needs of a modern society (creating awful traffic). This contrasts with Addis, which was a planned capital built in the late nineteenth century. The city was founded in 1886 by Menelik II. It is the home to the African Union and numerous other international missions.

Mekele and Hawzien

Chase and I flew from Addis to Mekele to begin our northern adventure. Mekele is the capital of the Tigray region, and a good launching-point for tours of the areas historical sites. From Mekele we made our way to Hawzien, where our friend Corey is working with the Millenium Villages Project. From Hawzien, we went to some of the incredible rock-hewn churches in the countryside.

Exterior of a rock church, carved out of the surrounding mountainside, dating back to the early years of Christianity in Ethiopia. Some artwork in the interior of the church. Some of the churches were built on cliff-sides to protect the priests and monks from persecution. Some such churches are only accessible by scaling a cliff-side by rope! (We did not do this, but we did hike up to one remote church as seen below)

Atop the mountain to find a hidden church

A long way down...

There is the entrance to the church

Literally built into the mountain!

Here is the cool eco-lodge we stayed at in Hawzien, Gheralta Lodge:

It was an excellent hotel, with delicious prepared dinners, it's own organic garden, great mountainous views, comfortable bungalows, and an all-around cool vibe. Their website puts it best:

Enrica and Silvio Rizzotti aim to offer a family style resort– but with impeccable standards of finishing, maintenance and cleanliness – and good, simple cooking prepared with local products.Axum

From Hawzien, Chase and I hopped a bus and then a truck to get to Axum. We rode through mountainous ridges with beautiful views, passing by roads that led to Eritrea to the north (and were probably heavily guarded along the border - lingering hard feelings from the Ethiopian-Eritrean War). We ended up in Axum, the centerpiece of the ancient Axumite kingdom and the main city in Ethiopia's Christian history. Besides its religious history, the area is home to many impressive archaeological sites. There are so many sites that many have yet to be discovered; for example, a farmer came up to me and Chase with a 4th century Christian coin he found in his garden, and an Archaeologist recently discovered this major palace more or less by accident:

Palaital Remains Also in Axum there are a series of large stone towers, known as stelae. They date from Pre-Christian times and signify burial sites of major rulers.

The remains of a stelae structure next to some of the still-standing stelae. This distant view puts the size of the stelae in perspective.

When Emperor Haile Selassie's wife visited Axum, she wanted to pray at the ancient Church of St. Mary of Zion. But the holy site did not allow women to worship there, so the Emperor commissioned a larger church to accommodate the faithful of both genders.

The old St. Mary's of Zion church (this one dates from the 17th century, although it is built on the ruins of the original church built in the 300s AD)

Some of the interior artwork at the old church More artwork (note the Trinity depiction at the top) The large domed structure to the left is the massive new Church of St. Mary of Zion Interior of the new St. Mary's of Zion Church This bible dates from around 400AD, and they still use it in special masses at the new church. For a long time, I thought I knew where the Ark of the Covenant was located. Turns out I was wrong. According to legend, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Menelik, went to Jerusalem to visit his father, and left with the Ark (Ethiopians are quick to point out that this was a gift and not stolen property). The Ark has resided for years in Axum, in the lower level of a monastery, with no one allowed admittance except a single caretaker priest (who cannot leave until he dies and is replaced by a new priest). I imagine his death is quickened if he decides to sneak a peak inside the Ark...

According to legend, this is the location of the Ark of the Covenant

After Axum, we flew back to Addis, and then I headed back to the USofA. The trip was a whirlwind, but definitely worth it.

Lessons

So, what did I learn from these travels?

1) Whenever possible, try to visit and travel with a PCV (or similarly-embedded friend) when visiting a developing country. Their knowledge of the local language and culture offers you a completely different experience than traveling alone or only with foreign companions. Plus most PCVs love the chance to travel within the country they are working, since they often take their vacation trips to other countries due to cheap travel (at least those serving in mainland Africa do; Madagascar PCVs are more isolated and usually just vacation at the nearest beach).

2) The pride that the Ethiopian people have for their country is impressive. In Mekele, for example, I saw two working-class Ethiopians who had saved up money just to travel to the north from Addis and see the remains of palaces and bask in their inherited history. I rarely saw such pride in Madagascar. Obviously Madagascar is a "newer" country, with less ancient historical sites, but the sites it does have (like the Queen's palace in Antananarivo or Jean Laborde's facilities in Mantasoa) are in poor condition. And we will not even get into the country's amazing natural heritage...

2a) To continue upon this difference in outlooks - Malagasy often look for foreign ways to do things and latch on to foreign culture. For instance, when promoting SRI (an improved rice-farming method) to Malagasy, I would emphasize that it originated in Madagascar. I was told by Malagasy extension workers to stop saying this, because most Malagasy believed that ideas from Madagascar were flawed and foreign ideas were inherently better. If they thought SRI came from Madagascar, they would be less likely to try the method!

3) For all of its impressive history and heritage, Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations in the world. This dichotomy really hit home for me when I saw this written in the guestbook at an Axum museum, from a Kenyan tourist:

Wow, what an amazing culture and history you have. You were so far ahead... what happened?

NB: Because languages in Ethiopia have their own characters and written form, all place names and words are transliterated into English as best as possible. Sometimes words are spelled differently in different places. A few examples in case you are searching for any of the places in this article: Axum/Aksum, Addis Ababa/Addis Abeba, Mekele/Makale, and Hawzien/Hawzen.

I wanted to include a few links with this week's music video, but the links grew in number and my commentary grew in wordiness, so now there is a pretty long post! So check out 1) General Links, 2) Links on the famine in East Africa, 3) Madagascar links... or just skip ahead to 4) Samoela music video. Happy Weekend!

1) General Links:

Lil' Miss FDR?

The trustworthiness of beards. I'd like to point out that, in the last 3+ years, I have run the gamut from Very Trustworthy to Unsavory/Threatening...

Australian Broadcasting's 1986 satire on Colonialism

2) Links on the Famine in East Africa

How bad is the famine in the Horn of Africa? Check out theEconomist’s video/map

Whose fault is it? Jeffrey Sachs(*) places at least some of the blame on thewest, and paints the issue as more than a humanitarian crisis – it is also a security crisis, and in order to ensure the region’s short-term survival and long-term stability, investment in sustainable development is needed.

On the other hand, Ken Opalo places much of the blame on thepoor leadership of the countries affected by the famine. As he says: “Blaming western colonialism, neocolonialism, climate change, etc are nothing but distractions. This problem and many other African problems are for the most part just that, African problems.”

Want to do something? Here is a list of the charitiesworking in the area

(*) = Full disclosure: I will be studying under Sachs in my graduate program beginning this fall

3) Madagascar Links

Is it time to lift the economic sanctions imposed on the Malagasy transitional regime? A UN expert warns that the sanctions are worsening hunger (and not affecting the regime) -

"The result is that Madagascar today has one of the highest levels of child malnutrition in the world, with levels comparable to those of Afghanistan or Yemen." Check out the article, especially the last few paragraphs which point out the promising developments prior to the crisis (foreign investment, land certification, and an SRI shout-out!) and how they have been stunted by the never-ending "transition." And as I was speaking of my Professor-to-be and his article above (section 2), I want to quote him on economic sanctions (from his book The End of Poverty): "These sanctions may aim to weaken or topple a despicable regime, but often they simply impoverish the population of the targeted country without toppling the regime."

Is Madagascar at risk of becoming a major drugs hub?

And a few interesting links from Tananews (note: their site is in French, but you can paste the links in Google Translate) -

Eyewitnesses in Tulear say the students at the University of Tulear are on strike. They demand the departure of the President of the University, and (translated via google) -

So this morning the students took hostage:

1) the DAF at the University

2) the cashier of the University

Later, accompanied by two people, they are routed to the home of vice president of the university. Where they have taken hostage the wife and children of the latter.

I do want to point out that I expect that episode to end peacefully, as Malagasy do not (usually) condone violence to meet their demands. But for updates check out Tananews (since I do not see any reports of it from other sources)

Tananews also has obtained a report (apparently from a World Bank-sponsored CAI report, although I cannot find the report online yet) detailing the extent of the rosewood trafficking: how much has been smuggled out and where it is going (98% to China).

4) Samoela Music Video: Samoela's "Hafaliana" was one of the biggest songs over the past year; you heard it everywhere. It's a nice laid back jam. The main line, "Hafaliana foana tsiky lava ny miaraka aminao" means basically: "I always have a big smile / am happy whenever I am with you"

This week, another video from Oladad. This is their remix of Afindrafindrao, the popular (traditional) Malagasy dance song.

My friend Ryan wrote a great post about the Camphor tree-planting fad in Madagascar. He talks about the dangers and rewards of planting an invasive exotic species:

Birds like the fruits and spread the seeds, and the tree is allelopathic, like eucalyptus, meaning that its leaves when they fall are toxic to the seeds of other plants, turning it into a monocrop even if it wasn’t planted as such. In Australia, it not only outcompetes rainforest, it will outcompete native eucalyptus which is the primary food of Koalas (oh the irony). Guess its probably not a good species for integrated agroforestry systems, huh?

It can, however, be a lucrative cash-crop and thats what these forest managment groups are banking on as they struggle to find projects that will provide them the income to pay their forest patrollers and keep their groups running.You should read the whole piece, as Ryan does a good job looking at the issue from all the sides. I just wanted to add my own thoughts here (as my comment reply to his post got a little long).

I too found Camphor to be the new fad in agroforestry in Madagascar. Ryan touches upon this, but I just want to emphasize the main reason people are planting it (in my experience) is because outsiders (foreign companies, government officials, NGO workers, PCVs) are telling them to plant it. These outsiders talk about how great the tree is and how much money can be made from it, and the local farmers decide they cannot plant anything but camphor! I think there are a few things that need to be considered when talking about planting Camphor trees:

-New trees gain popularity every few years in the development world. For instance, when I first got to Madagascar (in 2008) it was Jatropha which was the popular tree for income-generation and reforestation. This tree, exotic to Madagascar, was supposed to produce massive amounts of oil that could be used as a bio-fuel. But in reality, it needed far more water than originally believed, produced less seeds/oil than originally believed, and also had alleopathic effects on the soil. Check out some of the other negatives here.There have been many other trees promoted by foreign investors and/or aid agencies (as anyone who has read my blog knows), and they go in-and-out of style regularly. So we must be cautious in championing new species.

-Excitement to plant new trees often leads to small farmers giving up their subsistence agriculture to plant entire plantations of the "cash crop." Then, when the market collapses, these farmers are left without food from their farming and without money from their cash crop. Indeed this is true of any cash crop... (more on the market issues below). As Ryan points out, monoculture is a major danger to subsistence farmers (and the surrounding environment).

-The impetus to plant Camphor trees is based on economic gain, but these gains are grossly misrepresented. Those that promote planting these trees usually cite the high prices of Camphor oil and the chances to export to Europe and the United States. But there are two problems with this: 1) Camphor trees, like all trees, take time to produce. With prices high now, many new plantations are going into production. That means in a few years' time, the market will likely be over-saturated with Camphor. In other words, supply and demand rule. Even if there is still demand, the prices will likely have dropped greatly... I recently read a book about Coffee that noted a cycle in its price: when prices were high, everyone planted more coffee; then a few years later when that coffee matured, the price plummeted; then people gave up planting coffee, so supply decreased, and prices rose again, and... You see where this is going. You also might think we would have learned something from all of this, but as this 2010 article points out in the case of Madagascar Vanilla, the cycle perpetuates (as all cycles do!) - here's the money quote: "Ironically, it was vanilla's inflated prices in 2003, when farmers profited the most from the sweet-smelling spice, which have spelt disaster for Madagascar's vanilla industry." Actually, CNN, there is nothing ironic about it - that's how the market works!2) exporting from Madagascar is itself a costly and time-consuming process, full of unforeseen headaches, and that is without even factoring in the costs of certifying the product (Ryan does touch on this too).These costs are rarely explained to new farmers, and when they are, often misunderstood.

These are a few of the considerations when presenting new "miracle" trees / crops in developing countries. I actually think most PCVs and NGO workers do consider these issues, and probably explain them to the small farmers. But there is a communication and cultural gap: for instance, many Malagasy see foreign NGO workers, PCVs, and businessmen as experts, and therefore the Malagasy do not believe foreign ideas could have negative consequences. Also, small farmers in Madagascar often listen more to the tone of your words then to the meaning of them, and the excitement these Camphor tree proponents relate in explaining the pros (MoneyMoneyMoney, MONEY!) greatly outweighs the fine print of the cons (offer not valid to all participants, rules and restrictions may apply, ask your doctor about possible side effects, prices may vary).

A few interesting links to start the week, and then I should be back later this week with a write-up on my Ethiopian adventure (finally!)

First, today (Monday) was Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday. There are a few ways to celebrate the occasion:

-Jam with some songs for Mandela

-Rent Invictus (Damon and Freeman in a movie about Mandela, rugby, race, and reconciliation? It is safe to say that it was my kind of film...)

-Check out Dear Mandela, the upcoming documentary of three young South Africans "putting the promises of democracy to the test."

Other links:

-Interactive map / history of Africa

-Ok, this is the most interesting article to me: the Gates Foundation is working with Monsanto to bring genetically engineered crops to Africa. You may recognize Monsanto as the villain in a number of food-related documentaries (like this one, or this one, or this one) and for suing people for growing their own crops. Now the article says that "biosafety activists in South Africa are calling a program funded by the Gates Foundation a "Trojan horse" to open the door for private agribusiness and genetically engineered (GE) seeds..." There are so many complicated issues involved in this, and I am not at all qualified to jump into the debate. But here's one question to get you riled up: If GE crops produce more food for drought-stricken regions, will the ends justify the means? (You should be able to find most of those documentaries online; on the flip side, here is Monsanto's response to claims made in Food, Inc.)

Most of the above is courtesy of the blog Africa is a Country. The below are via the aid blog From Poverty to Power...

-Good news out of Africa: Ghana and Zambia have officially been reclassified as middle-income countries

-"Big businesses are taking advantage of a scheme that was originally designed for small-scale producers and now compete with those producers..." That's one of the glaring lines in an interesting article on Fair Trade and who it benefits. But two parts that really resonated with me were:

Even from within the movement itself, there were calls to address standards. Merlin Preza, coordinator of Fairtrade Small Producers in Latin America and the Caribbean, said “the problem lies not in meeting standards — of course producers can meet them — the problem is verification”. She explained that poor farmers, who are often illiterate and live in isolated rural areas, often find it very difficult to navigate all the ‘red tape’ involved in registering products and proving where and how products are grown.and

The room generally agreed that fair trade can’t just be about certification or about getting a fair price. It must include other elements that build capacity and empower small-scale farmers to take control of their lives. That means investing in local communities, supporting education, improving product quality and, above all else, enabling organisation so that poor farmers can gain a stronger position in the market, widen their choices and negotiate better deals.In my experience, free trade certification (and organic certification) requires so much monitoring, reporting and minutiae that it is unlikely the small farmers it is supposed to help can ever legitimately obtain it. Furthermore, many farmers I knew thought they could just show up to a meeting with a certifying agent and/or pay a large sum, and they would be certified (part of the blame for this goes towards the government bureaucracy, and part toward aid handout programs). The required "investment" in communities was not something that resonated at all with the small farmers I worked with in Madagascar (who, I should note, were already among the wealthiest farmers in the area... which makes sense because in order to take the risk of exporting rice abroad, they had to be otherwise financially stable... ah the Catch-22's...)

This week's video features one of my favorite Malagasy groups, Oladad. This song has a bit of a Bollywood influence, which is pretty cool. Check out 5 Tsindrina 5 -

Before we get to Friday's Music Video, here are a few things I found interesting over the past few days (ok, more than a few...) It's a random collection, but I think there is something here for everyone!

-This post from a departing New York sports fan on what she will miss gets me excited to move to NYC next month (mostly I am also just nostalgic for Mike and the Mad Dog on the FAN)

- Interesting story on the last Vietnam-era draftee to retire from the Army

- A democracy prize for Putin! Congratulations to Germany's Quadriga Prize, you just took the "Really?" title away from the UN (for North Korea chairing a conference on disarmament)...

- A victory in Austria for Pastafarians!

- American English infects Her Majesty's Kingdom

- Is the AU in need of radical restructuring?

- Interesting and well-done Trouble in Lemur Land documentary video (hat tip - spotlight madagascar) Check out the great footage of harvesting rosewood (and the cute baby silky sifakas)

- Need a theme for your wedding in South Africa? There has to be a better choice than Colonial Africa .... More context here:

Of course, not surprisingly, some white South Africans are defending the couple. Although one commenter to the Jezebel post did write the truth: “Most white folks’ weddings in [South Africa] are colonial not by design, but by default.”

Which is why we’re surprised so few are asking...what makes venues like the Cow Shed... think it is okay to throw colonial/Apartheid throwback weddings for white South African and European couples. The Cow Shed has since issued a lame press statement to still defend its decision to host the party.

At least they can’t blame Julius Malema for this. -Speaking of Julius Malema...when not perusing the internet I tend to spend time at the local public library (that's the place where old folks spend their days!) and read the print version of the Economist (yes they still print periodicals!)... but back to Malema, I came across a fascinating profile of the leader of the leader of the Youth League of South Africa's ruling African National Congress, who is . One of the reasons I love the Economist is the little touch they add to a story, like the last sentence in the closing paragraph:

Young JuJu, as he is familiarly known, has the wind in his sails. His ego is huge. He is tough, clever and has a disarming cheeky grin. Among his heroes, he counts Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi. President Jacob Zuma might once have been included in his list but is now the unnamed butt of much of Mr Malema’s stinging criticism about a lack of leadership. Many believe he is now preparing to topple the very man he helped make king. They may be forgetting that the wily Mr Zuma can be ruthless too. - Finally, to end on an awkward / fun note, here is this video (hat tip to Deadspin)

This is too good not to share:

"Toto's 'Africa'" by Ernest Hemingway

I am a fan of the song (did this blog's title give it away?) AND the author. Here's an excerpt:

The man thought the dogs sounded desperate, perhaps having grown restless and longing for some company. He knew the feeling. The crying of the dogs reminded him that he would need to do what he knew was right now that she was here.In Hemingway's typical autobiographical style, I expect the next chapter to feature the protagonist downing another large whiskey and heading out onto the savannah to shoot some large animals. Speaking of Hemingway, drinking and hunting, here is a bit from How to Drink, the Hemingway Way| (Which is itself an excerpt from "The Heming Way: How to Unleash the Booze-Inhaling, Animal-Slaughtering, War-Glorifying, Hairy-Chested, Retro-Sexual Legend Within... Just Like Papa!") -

A man works up quite a thirst while massacring ferocious beasts such as lions, tigers, and chipmunks with his personal arsenal of firearms and traps and machetes and blowtorches. On safari Hemingway often "drank a whiskey … to take the edge off so I would not be nervous" ("Green Hills of Africa") and got "too drunk to shoot straight." Like Dick Cheney, he probably scared away more hunting partners than wives.

3 African-related news/links, with a slight Malagasy flavor:

1) The biggest news out of Africa is the newly independent country of South Sudan. The people of South Sudan have a lot of difficulties ahead, but rather than focus on those (you can find out more on the challenges with a simple google search) let's bask in the pure joy of the independence ceremonies.

The government of South Sudan has a nice play-by-play of the ceremonies. I think a lot of people will be rooting for South Sudan, especially with its president's cowboy look:

and words like this:

"We are far behind, we must now commit all our energies to socio-economic development of our country. Our lives are now in our own hands." - President Salva Kiir MayarditWhat is the Madagascar connection here? Well, I spent a long time trying to search for information regarding whether or not Madagascar was represented at the independence ceremony. Early reports had claimed that 80% of African countries would be represented, but after much Google-ing, it seems Madagascar was part of the other 20%. Indeed, according the the "authoritative" Wikipedia entry, Madagascar does not yet recognize South Sudan... which males sense since very few countries recognize Madagascar's current government!

2) Okay, this isn't "news," but NPR did a list of 5 New African Bands that Ruled in 2010, and included amongst some jamming musicians is a Malagasy artist, Razia Said. I had never heard her in Madagascar, perhaps because she lives "any andafy" (abroad). Still, here is a link to her site, where she is raising money to protect the Masoala forest in Madagascar. A few of my RPCV friends have seen her play in America and enjoyed it, so here is a video sampling!

Hat Tip: Africa is a Country

3) Here is an interesting list of comparisons: Country v. Company.

We've found 25 major American corporations whose 2010 revenues surpass the 2010 Gross Domestic Product of entire countries, often with a few billion to spare.Here is the Madagascar comparison: eBay!eBay is bigger than MadagascarMadagascar's GDP: $8.35 billion eBay's Revenue: $9.16 billion

eBay would rank as the world's 129th biggest country.

Hat Tip: A View from the Cave

Continuing with the "most popular Malagasy artists from the past two years" videos, here is rapper Big MJ with "Tsinjaka Triatria" (or as it is better known to Peace Corps Volunteers, the Yo Yo Yo Yo song) -

And here is a fun video from some Oxfam workers that takes the international aid advertising in a new direction (hat tip: From Poverty to Power) -

Good news / Bad news time:

Good News: An article making the internet rounds today is about Madagascar!

Bad News: The article is from Forbes and ranks the ten worst economies, with Madagascar ranked as the worst. Here's a link to the article: Madagascar World's Worst Economy

First, I should point out that the author admits that there are far worse countries, such as Somalia, but these countries are not included in the ranking because the IMF does not have complete economic data for them. So Madagascar is the worst out of 177 economies.(As a comparison, last year Forbes had ranked Madagascar number 10 on this list). While this ranking may be welcome news to the critics of self-declared Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina (and I am, at times, a critic myself), I find it hard to support this ranking with my experiences in Madagascar. Despite all of the dire warning of the international community that Madagascar was headed for economic disaster in 2009-2010, it somehow survived. Those doom-and-gloom predictions continue today, as most observers think the economy should have collapsed by now. I am sure that these predictions, and the Forbes article, are strongly supported by economic data and other quantitative indicators. Yet the reality in Madagascar is far from dire, as my anecdotal experiences from 2008-2011 taught me. Here are a few of the non-qualitative economic indicators I noticed:

-Many people expected the 2009 coup d'etat to scare off foreign investors in Madagascar. But I noticed a drastic increase in foreign businessmen, projects and investments. This should not be surprising to anyone, as businesses rarely care about the human rights issues or political legitimacy associated with a particular government.

-I saw major road improvements throughout the country. The central government spent some money in this area (as part of their populist appeals), but because their coffers were nearly empty and foreign aid limited, I expect most of this construction was financed by foreign companies.

-There are many major construction projects that began in the past two years. This is especially true in the capital of Antananarivo where office buildings and hotels have shot up in very little time.

-In my region of Alaotra Mangoro, I saw far more French workers in Ambatondrazaka in 2010 than I had in 2008. Meanwhile the city of Moramanga had expanded drastically to accommodate the mining interests in the area, and foreign workers from South Africa, India and China were everywhere.

-A huge influx of Chinese business interests. Chinese traders were rare in remote regions of Madagascar until a few years ago. By 2011, my villages had seen many traders come through searching for minerals and other natural resources.

-Investments in tourism, mining operations, and business creation. These investments from foreigners come despite the continuing international isolation of the current Madagascar government.

The final "indicator" I will mention is the plight of the common people, and it has not really changed very much. People in small villages have lost access to some excellent NGO-funded programs, but they are continuing to survive and sometimes prosper. To these people, the events in the capital do not really effect daily life. One assertion in the Forbes article particularly surprised me: "Much of the country has descended to a barter economy, according to the U.S. State Dept." While I do not know the basis of the State Department's study, I had not seen any such descent. Many people do barter for goods, paying for work with rice or exchanging vegetables, but they have always done this. The statement makes it seem as though Madagascar no longer has a monetary economy, and that is simply not true.

While I think the plight of Madagascar is difficult, I do not think it earns the country the title of World's Worst Economy. The government has been near-bankrupt for almost two years, and continually has had to delay payments to public sector workers(*). Yet I was very surprised to see that in many areas, the change of government did not affect day-to-day economic life too drastically. Even more surprising, some business interests seemed to flourish in the past few years. So, as someone who saw the country in 2008 (pre-coup, when Madagascar was considered one of Africa's rising stars) and in 2009-2011 (post-coup, when it was an international pariah), I have seen little change in the lives of the average people and really the economy as a whole. I guess this is just a case of the numbers and the images painting differing pictures...

On a happier Madagascar note, there is a nice travel article in the New York Times. Scientist John Sparks captures the thrills of travels by ox-cart, and also touches upon the dangers of assuming the western traveller knows better than the local villager:

When the team finally trudges into the village of Tsaratanana, on the north bank of Lake Tseny, at 11:30 p.m., dusty and exhausted, having walked for more than seven hours, its members have gained a number of important insights. First is that a villager’s estimate of 40 kilometers for the journey, which they had thought to be a gross overstatement, may well have been accurate. Second, although zebus pulling a cart appear lethargic in the hottest part of the day, they are capable of surprising liveliness after dark. Thus, reminded of the old line about “mad dogs and Englishmen,” the team members now fully comprehend the reluctance of oxcart drivers to begin this journey at high noon. Sparks is writing regularly as he studies the freshwater fish of Madagascar. Here is a link to his full article history (thanks to Ryan Marsh for originally tipping me off to him!)

(*) = The government likely earned revenue from illegal rosewood logging and other activities shunned by the international community. This revenue was probably used to fund the military (which has seen numerous officer promotions and salaries raises), provide some public goods (such as cheaper commodities at specific markets), and eventually pay some of their public-sector salaries. It is also likely that any such "black market" revenues obtained by the government would not be included in the IMF's economic indicators, and would explain how the government has continued to operate despite the lack of traceable funds...

Before getting to this week's Friday Music Video, a few things:

First, this weekend I am headed to DC to see some Peace Corps friends and check out the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The Festival is highlighting the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps. Check out their website for some of the cool events planned, and if you're in the area then stop by to get a taste of the Peace Corps experience!

Second, the Peace Corps friends I am visiting just arrived from Madagascar with their Malagasy counterpart for the Santa Fe International Folk Art Festival next week. The Malagasy woman is a silk weaver who will be displaying her (and her cooperative's) wares at the festival next weekend (July 8-10). Check out her profile here and stop by the festival if you live in that area!

Also, a bit off topic, check out this brief video (animated!), which does a nice job introducing the importance of transparency in aid (see this blog post for more detail on the subject) -

<p><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Finally, <br></p>

Finally, this week's music video again comes from the great Jerry Marcoss. This time it is a collaboration with Farah John's, who has gotten pretty popular in her own right over the last few years. The song is called "Tsy Kivy," and it was huge last summer. Baically it is about the girl, Farah, being tired of Jerry's BS, and Jerry trying to explain himself (note the excellent dance moves of the girls listening to his explanations at 0:45). Farah then goes into the chorus "Zah tsy kivy", which basically means, "I'm not discouraged." It is a goofy and fun song to start the holiday weekend! (My favorite parts are Jerry's "Yah yahs" which means the same in Gasy as in English)...

Yesterday I received an email from a Malagasy reader. This reader, who wished to remain anonymous and uses the pseudonym “Barawa,” had a series of questions about my experiences and thoughts on the problems the Malagasy face. Below are Barawa’s questions (in bold) and my responses, re-posted with permission.

I have read recently your blog. I saw, you had spent two years in Madagascar as a PCV. Since you were a foreigner there, would you mind sharing the problems you see in Malagasy culture that undermine their development?

First, I just want to point out that there are no problems with the Malagasy culture. Finding a problem with another culture means that I inherently find my own culture superior; anyone who has seen American reality television knows this is a hard point to argue. I think both of our cultures can learn a lot from each other, but neither is right or wrong. That said, I think you meant what problems are there in Malagasy society and/or Madagascar itself.

In my opinion, here are the main problems: - People like to have a meeting, bringing ideas (often wonderful) but no action. Ah, Malagasy meetings… they are so long! I agree, it is wonderful that people meet and offer up ideas. However, often they then spend most of their time discussing one small point until the meeting adjourns, at which time no action has been decided on! I remember one of my first meetings with the VOIs (forest management groups) in 2008. We started talking about setting up a regular patrol of the forest, agreeing that the first patrol would be handled by the main group. They then moved on to other topics, or so I thought: because of my poor language skills so early in my service, I zoned out for about two hours. When I “zoned in” again, I realized they were still discussing who would run the first patrol…

The major issue I saw amongst community groups was the lack of trust. Most Malagasy seem to share ideas, work and profits very well with their own family members. But when put into a group of farmers nothing gets done because no one trusts one another. Each farmer thinks that his neighbor will steal his fertilizer or somehow obtain an unfair share of the profits. This lack of trust makes working in large groups very difficult, and since these types of groups are the catalyst for true economic and social change, the lack of trust is a major problem. (Note: some PCVs have had great success working with women’s groups / farmers’ groups / VOI… this is only my experience).

- Elected officials and leaders spend time giving long speeches and empty promises (this is kind of similar in any countries)

Yes, this is the same almost everywhere (and is why so many people dislike politicians). I think the most important political aspect missing in Madagascar and other countries is compromise. Politicians need to learn to work together with their rivals and opponents, rather than stock all posts with their allies and yes-men (you mention this in your next question).

- Kids are not creative because they have been hammered pretty early in their childhood that their opinions are worthless. People always wait for the central government to do everything (the central government has to much power from top to bottom). Most of the positions are political-based. For instance, a mayor of a city who does not belong to the ruling political party is likely to have hard time doing his/her job; a school principle (elementary, middle, high) is likely to get fired from his/her position.

Good points here. I only have two inputs here. First, I think that creativity is the most important skill to foster among young people. My Malagasy friend Rivo asked me when I left what I thought an average Malagasy person could do to improve Madagascar. I told him Madagascar needs entrepreneurs, inventors, artists, community leaders… basically, Madagascar needs creative people. Because of the rote education system (held over from colonial times), children are forced to copy down everything a teacher says and then regurgitate it on an exam. There is no room for critical thinking or creativity. Anytime I had children over to draw pictures, they all just stared blankly waiting for me to tell them what to draw. I told them, “Draw whatever you like!” Eventually one child would start to draw, and then all the other kids would copy this child’s picture… Second, in regard to waiting for the government to do everything, I have seen so many times when a completed building or park was locked up for over a year because they could not start using it until the government (local, regional or sometimes even national) arrived to consecrate it at the official grand opening. I often think of the bus station in Ambatondrazaka that was completed a few years ago. It is big and beautiful, but because it lies too far outside of town (and no one can get to it), the bus companies and people will never use it. But because someone high up decided the bus station should be where it is, the station just sits there growing weeds. And yes, in Madagascar, anytime a new President or political party takes office, you can expect firings of many public officials and their replacement with government yes-men (definitely saw this in my area at the Ambatondrazaka high school and at the Region Alaotra Mangoro office after President Rajoelina took over).

Unused Bus Station in Ambatondrazaka

- The president (this is true in all Africa) is so powerless internationally that the only thing they do is to oppress their own people.

I disagree with this. In a world where natural resources are increasingly important because of their limited nature, an independent Madagascar could utilize its resources to become more powerful internationally. But to do so, its leaders would need to work together and not be in office solely for self-benefit. Also, cooperation with neighboring countries (through organizations like the SADC) would allow Madagascar to negotiate better deals with world powers in Asia, Europe and North America. Finally, there is no excuse for oppressing people domestically. I think most leaders may see the only way to increase their international power is to crush all domestic opposition, but in reality fostering a climate of constructive criticism and debate and eventually presenting a united front of various interests to the outside world is the only way to achieve international respect and be treated as a serious (and more equal) trade partner.

- People do not appreciate and take advantages of the blessings they have (land, nice weather, endemic animals and plants)

In a sense, I agree with this: Madagascar has an environment (plants, animals, etc.) that you cannot find anywhere else in the world. It also has enormous natural resource reserves (particularly in rare metals). But in another sense, I think the Malagasy do appreciate and take advantage of these blessings, just not in the way we (as Americans) want them to. Most people see the beautiful trees as excellent firewood, the extensive tracts of land as unlimited rice paddies and grazing land (which allows them to use slash and burn agriculture or use the land heavily until it is completely exhausted and then move on), and in some cases the rare lemurs as sources of needed meat for their diets. I found it very difficult to make people understand the benefits of conservation, as they felt it was their right to utilize the resources around them. It was only a few people at the village level who saw the need to protect present resources for future use as well.

I think the major problem with natural resource reserves in Madagascar (such as rare metals and minerals) is that Madagascar has mostly invited foreign companies in to exploit these resources in exchange for upfront fees and some continuing payments to the government. Now, bringing in foreign experts is not a bad thing when the local knowledge to exploit these resources is not available. Also, Madagascar has made efforts to include community development stipulations to foreign companies mining contracts. But no real knowledge is being passed from the foreign experts to the Malagasy workers. Every time there is a major new mining project, many Malagasy are brought in for temporary manual labor, and highly skilled workers are brought in from places like India, France, China and South Africa. The Malagasy government should be requiring these experts to train Malagasy workers so that future projects can be managed completely by the Malagasy themselves. Foreign companies have no incentive to do this training, because if they do not train Malagasy then Madagascar will be forced to call on these companies for each project in the future. But the only way to break this cycle of dependence in exploitation of natural resources, and begin to utilize these resources to maximum value for Madagascar, is for the Malagasy to learn this industry and allow Malagasy companies to process the country’s resources.

I was asking you about the problems of people in Madagascar because sometimes it is helpful to observe from a different eye (even though any NBA game has three referees on the court, they still use videos to make the correct call sometimes). Looking forward to your reply.

Thanks,Barawa

Thank you for your opinions and for reading Barawa! I agree that it is useful to see things from a different perspective! Any more thoughts you have, please feel free to contact me.

Here's a few of the more interesting / fun links I've come across lately. Enjoy...

First: I'm, like, going to talk about "like"

Next: "An anonymous artist transformed Russian Red Army soldiers from a monument in the city of Sofia, in Bulgaria, into popular superheroes and cartoon characters."

Taking centre stage is Superman with his distinctive red cape and blue suit. To the left is Santa Claus and to the right Ronald McDonald, the mascot of the fast-food giant McDonalds, and the Joker also makes an appearance.Below the graffiti artist has sprayed "Moving with the times" in Bulgarian black paint.(Hat Tip: Chris Blattman)

And this - Somalia: Libertarian Paradise

(Hat Tip: Texas in Africa)

4th- Extreme Weather Photos - from The Boston Globe. "Weather" (see what I did there?) you blame global warming, the Obama-conomy, or the Rapture, you have to admit there has been a lot of crazy storms and natural disasters in the last year or so... (Hat Tip: From Poverty to Power)

Last but certainly not least - Better Book Titles - Just like it sounds... Here's a few of my favorites (and from books I've actually read!) -

The Handmaid's Tale The Great GatsbyThe Trial and Death of Socrates A People's History of the United StatesYou Shall Know Our Velocity!

(hat tip: faithreasonbaseball)

The Women's World Cup kicked off Sunday, although most American attention will not focus on it until the USA team takes the field on Tuesday. The Cup, played in Germany, reminded me of the hype surrounding the 2010 (Men's) World Cup in South Africa. This event was hyped as a coming-out party for Africa, and the hope was that it would create a boon to African soccer(*), for both men and women. A year later, with the Women's World Cup receiving a lot of attention from ESPN, I was curious of African teams' chances and the overall feeling of Africa towards the Cup. I only did a brief bit of googling, so this is far from authoritative, but here is some of what I found:

Teams - The only two teams to qualify for the World Cup did so by reaching the final of the African Women's Cup (AWC). Nigeria, the winner, has been to all of the World Cup tournaments but has only once made it out of group play (in 1999). The runner-up was Equatorial Guinea, a tiny country with a big game (they surprisingly won the whole AWC in 2008). Equatorial Guinea is playing in their first World Cup. Nigeria lost its opener against France, 1-0, and Equatorial Guinea plays their first game Wednesday vs. Norway. Both African teams were involved in stories revolving around issues that seem to plague women's sports: gender and sexuality.

Gender - Nigeria and other teams have accused the star player for Equatorial Guinea, Genoveva Anonma, and two other players of being men. These teams claim the Equatorial Guinea players are too strong and talented to be women. Here are a few excerpts from a detailed ESPNW article:

Ghana defender Diana Amkomah was widely quoted as saying, "You only need to have physical contact with them on the pitch to know they are men."

Gender questions about Equatorial Guinea have floated around for years, most notably at the 2008 African Championships, when the women's team shocked Nigeria in the semifinals on its way to the title. Until then, Nigeria had won the tournament every year since its inception in 1998.

"I first heard these accusations back in 2006 and 2008," said Anonma, now 22. "I have already been [gender] tested, which I find offensive."

Marcus Etzel, the president of her club team, told Bild, "It's completely absurd. Of course Genoveva is a woman, and we are very happy she plays for us."Sexuality - Homosexuality is a sensitive topic, but especially in women's African sports. This excellent article details the issue in regards to the Nigerian team and their coach (scroll down to In African Women's Soccer, Homophobia Remains an Obstacle) . Some quotes:

Shortly before she was hired in 2009 as the first female coach of Nigeria’s powerful women’s national soccer team, Eucharia Uche said at a seminar that she was troubled by the presence of lesbians on the squad, calling it a “worrisome experience.”Over the past two years, as Nigeria progressed toward the Women’s World Cup, which begins Sunday in Germany, Uche said that she has used religion in an attempt to rid her team of homosexual behavior, which she termed a “dirty issue,” and “spiritually, morally very wrong.”...Uche said she had never witnessed her own players participating in homosexual activity. Instead, she said that she had relied on rumors, speculation and news media accounts to form her belief that lesbian behavior had been common in the Nigerian team....The treatment of lesbians in sport is not a matter restricted to women in Africa. Some women on previous United States national soccer teams have been reluctant to live openly gay lifestyles for fear of repercussions. And despite all the advances of gender equity in sport, lesbianism remains a sensitive matter in recruiting in college basketball.

But homosexuality remains a particularly taboo subject and carries a significant social stigma in many parts of Africa. Nigeria is divided between a Muslim north and Christian south. Homosexual acts are prohibited and those who are openly gay or lesbian risk harassment and blackmail, experts said. In Nigeria’s north, gay men can face death by stoning for sodomy. Read the whole article. As many American cities just finished celebrating Pride weekend, and as we continue to take steps as a society towards acceptance of different sexualities, it is a pretty good time to examine the obstacles others must face.

So, there are two teams representing Africa. Does Africa notice and/or care? Juliet Torome wrote a great piece last year entitled, "The World Cup and African Women." In it, she says, "That we, young African women, are talking more about the sport is a sign of hope for women’s soccer on the continent." She goes on to say:

But will the 2010 World Cup bring African women more than just fodder for gossip? Holding the 1994 World Cup in the United States increased soccer’s popularity there and led to the creation of Major League Soccer in 1996. And, in 1999, the US hosted and won its second women’s World Cup, leading to a women’s soccer revolution in the country. The label “soccer mom” has become common in the US, as more women enroll their children in soccer camps. Will holding the world’s greatest single sporting event in Africa spark similar interest for the continent’s women?I too am curious if such interest has been sparked. Is anyone covering this? Well, in fact, there is a whole blog devoted to African Women's Soccer. Still, I would love to see a major follow-up to last year's World Cup in Africa and its effect on women's soccer there, in light of the Women's World Cup. After all, as Ms. Torome says, soccer could someday be a very positive outlet for African women: "As more African women continue to be educated, I dream of the day when we, too, will be able to decide for ourselves."

In my experience, girls often played soccer in Madagascar when they were young. As the kids grew into teenagers and twenty-somethings, it seemed to only be the boys/men out on the field, at least in the villages. I do believe there has been progress in larger cities in Madagascar in women's sports, and one travel writer thinks the sport's popularity is growing throughout Africa:

Personally I've seen many more girls kicking around a soccer ball on dusty pitches in Rwanda, Ghana and Tanzania in the past few years, than I ever have before. I took a little video of some school girls playing at a school in Atsiekpoe, Ghana, have a look.Finally, I came across an ESPNW documentary called Her-oics, telling 6 stories of young women and soccer, including one about t"the first female international soccer referee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite physical and verbal abuse from fans, she is determined to press on to gain respect for the women of her country." It is entitled L'Arbitre (click for interview with the filmmaker describing the project - also "L'Arbitre" is French for "Referee"). A trailer:

It seems I missed the June 24 premiere on ESPN, but it will be shown again on ABC on Saturday, July 2 at 4pm, so check it out if you like! Full details here

(*) - My apologies: I know it is called futbol/football in the rest of the world, but as an American it is hard to break the habit

Today is Independence Day for Madagascar. On June 26, 1960, Madagascar gained independence from France. In honor of this birthday, here is what the blog Africa is a Country had to say:

Things could have been better for its citizens. What with being governed by a former radio DJ and its army and with threats that Western governments and aid agencies will withdraw financial support. Anyway, we’re celebrating. For the sake of the Malagasy people. Here is the link to the celebration, a collection of Malagasy music videos.

I too have been listening to some Malagasy jams (and will continue posting some videos each Friday). But to me, Madagascar's Independence Day is a major reminder of the on-going political stalemate. Or, the not-going political stalemate. It has been over two years since Marc Ravalomanana sought refuge in South Africa (under threat from the military) and Andry Rajoelina assumed the presidency. Since that time, there have been numerous international agreements signed and ignored, various governments formed and dissolved, numerous peaceful protests by opposition groups, limited open fighting amongst the military, an attempted military coup d'etat (thwarted, it is rumored, by a large payoff to the officers attempting the coup), and a referendum on a new constitution (passed, although opposition groups boycotted the proceedings). Now Madagascar is (more or less) following another roadmap created by international envoy Leonard Simao. In theory, this roadmap would allow for a reconciliation of all parties and parliamentary/presidential elections within a year, while allowing the current government to remain in place (there was a need to have a consensus government, so President Rajoelina had his appointed Prime Minister, Albert Camille Vital, step down, only to reappoint him a few days later). In reality, it looks like this roadmap is allowing the current government to move forward with its own agenda while ignoring many of the particulars of the agreed upon roadmap. For instance, former President Marc Ravalomanana is still banned from returning, despite the support he has from many African heads of state to return and partake in the reconciliation process. Perhaps this article says it best:

It should be recalled that despite signing several peace accords since 2009 with the country’s ex-presidents Didier Ratsiraka, Marc Ravalomanana and Albert Zafy to bring to an end the political crisis that began in December 2008, Rajoelina has always disowned them immediately after signing and he has continued to govern the country alone.So while the politicians continue to argue and delay, what are the affects on the average person? Here is what the Guardian had to say earlier this month:Unicef country representative Bruno Maes said the international community must rethink its aid sanctions and stop punishing the poorest people of Madagascar for the sins of the political elite. ''In the health sector alone the government managed to disburse only two dollars per capita in 2009, against eight dollars in 2008. The trend is the same in education. The pressure on families has become unbearable,'' he said.As usual, the people suffer while the "leaders" struggle. There has been two pieces of pretty good news lately though. First, the World Bank approved a $52 million loan to bolster conservation efforts. In particular, the money will be directed at the national park system, which has seen massive deforestation by illegal loggers. (Note: some claim that President Rajoelina has direct links to the illegal loggers). This loan will hopefully help the parks service, but their are still a few questions, like: The World Bank says they are still not dealing with the (internationally unrecognized) transtional government of Andry Rajoelina. The Bloomberg article says, "The funding will be channeled through independent organizations such as Madagascar National Parks and not through the government, the World Bank said." This would be great, except that Madagascar National Parks is not independent at all; on the contrary, it is the government's parks agency! So if the government will be very much in charge of this funding, will they be able to redirect it to other purposes? The other questions arises from the issue of loaning money to a transitional government: who will repay the loan? Often times people think of the World Bank as making "donations" or expect that loans will be written off sometime in the future, but this money is in reality a loan made to Madagascar. Will the future (hopefully consensus, legitimate, and recognized) government be saddled with this debt?

The other good news I mentioned? Well, it is a bit more tongue-in-cheek, but it arises from a recent Economist Baobab post that says:

RULING parties in Africa often have to answer as much to their donors as their citizens. A recent paper suggests that the government in Somaliland has become more accountable to its citizens because of the lack of aid. Now, in Madagascar's case the lack of aid has not created a more accountable government. But it is interesting that the opportunity may be there to do so. We cannot actually take too much from this study, as the post continues to say:

Somaliland's experiences cannot be applied directly elsewhere. But it offers some lessons. The resource constraints which led to a more inclusive government gave each clan a stake in maintaining stability. It is impossible to judge whether this outweighs the benefits that aid might have brought, but it should give donors pause for thought when they start splashing cash around. But it sure is interesting nonetheless!

(Special thanks to my friend Ryan Marsh for sharing a lot of these links)

Finally, on a more fun (and patriotic Malagasy) note, here is a video of the primary school in my old village, Antanandava, singing the Malagasy National Anthem:

and the translation of the anthem:

O, our beloved fatherland,

O, fair Madagascar,

Our love will never decay,

But will last eternally.

CHORUS:

O, Lord Creator, do Thou bless

This Island of our Fathers,

That she may be happy and prosperous

For our own satisfaction.

O, our beloved fatherland,

Let us be thy servant

With body, heart and spirit

In dear and worthy service.

CHORUS

O, our beloved fatherland,

May God bless thee,

That created all lands;

In order He maintains thee.

CHORUS

Mazatoa fetybe e! And Enjoy the celebrations!

Zoma mahafinaritra basically means Wonderful Friday. In honor of the weekend, below is this week's Friday Music Video. In keeping with sharing the big hits in Madagascar over the last 2 years, here is "Zah Mbo Gaga" by Joy K, Jerry Marcoss and Big MJ. (Note: Jerry Marcoss is a huge star and makes most of the hits, so expect to see plenty of him... and the title bascially means "I'm still surprised"... I think that's it, but it is dialect so I'm not sure)

If you would like another, non-musical video (and in English!), here is a great 10 minute documentary called Shanty Town Cinderellas. It is about young high school graduates in Cape Town proud to celebrate a Matric Ball (like a prom, but only for those who finish all of their schooling). Hat Tip: A View From the Cave via Africa is a Country

Shanty Town Cinderellas - Documentary from Clingfilm.tv on Vimeo.

As I personally adapt to post-Peace Corps life, this blog is also adapting. It is shifting from a general journal of my experiences in Madagascar to a commentary on the world of international development and whatever else strikes my fancy as I begin my graduate studies. Why a blog as part of my intellectual growth as a development student? Glad you asked, as a recent MPA graduate from NYU (specializing in international development) answered just such a question in his own blog. I think the main point is encapsulated in this excerpt:

It’ll create a useful log of your own ideas. And publishing it to the world is an accountability mechanism. Like hiring a personal trainer for your intellectual development. You gotta get smart.Check out the full post here

As part of this adaptation, I decided to give the blog an overall facelift. For starters, the main page is less cluttered. I have created new pages for About (personal info, blog info, etc.), Blog Roll (some further blog reading on development / international relations), and Madagascar (general Mada sites and PCV blog links). Take a look around, and stay tuned as together we face the strain...

As promised, here's the first of the TGIF music video posts. I start with a double-whammy of songs that were incredibly pervasive in Madagascar, courtesy of the World Cup.  Those of you who watched it probably know these, but they were EVERYWHERE in Madagascar.  Especially the first one:

Shakira - Waka Waka - This official World Cup 2010 song was a huge hit, and so pervasive that random street kids new not only the song but the dance! Here's the official video:

The second song is Wavin' Flag by K'naan, and was the theme for two excellent Coca-Cola commercials... the first is about goal celebrations (which I only ever saw in French, and was really confused about.. it makes a lot more sense and is pretty cool in English) -

And the second is the same song but another fun video (baobab trees, robots, South African children, and references to the celebrations in the first commercial) -

Happy Weekend!

...When I get older, I will be stronger, they'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag...

Well, I have made my successful return to the United States! After a week-long Ethiopian adventure (including the discovery of the "lost" Ark of the Covenant, more on this soon), I flew into Washington, DC last Friday. I met up with some old friends (basically family, really, right boys?) and they took me for huge steaks and good wine at a local establishment. By the end of the night, we were drinking good beer and rocking out to a live cover band. It was good to be home... and I thought readjustment was supposed to be difficult? The next day we had a barbecue (burgers and brats!), played cornhole, listened to drinkin' music, and played beer pong. Of course, I was dressed in a THB hat, Marc Ravalomanana t-shirt, and jellies, so maybe the readjusting would take longer than I thought. And yes, you get some weird stares in the DC metro area as a 27-year old male wearing jellies. Surprisingly, my defense that it is the footwear of choice for rice paddies, muddy roads and village elders was not accepted as valid.

Now I am staying with family down in Hilton Head, SC, taking some R&R before starting my graduate program in the fall. I have decided to maintain this blog throughout my graduate program and possibly beyond, and make it a place to share my thoughts (uh-oh) and adventures (double uh-oh). Over the next few weeks, I will probably redesign the blog a bit, hopefully making it more readable and make the links and other sections more interesting/timely. Sadly, I may need to cut out the song lyrics titles for my posts, since I may not be able to find enough lines to cover the increased posts. This may only be sad to me. It will be a mixed blessing to my Mom, who thinks every lyric comes from a Hootie and the Blowfish song (Note: she thinks most music created between 1996 and 2005 was by Hootie). Don't worry though, the name of the blog will remain the same! Most importantly, I hope to post more often. I hope to write up a summary of my trip to Ethiopia, as it was a beautiful and fascinating place to visit. I also will give a wrap-up of my Peace Corps Madagascar adventure and some other of my Malagasy stories. And I think I will institute a music post each Friday (focusing on tunes from Madagascar at least at first, especially those that were popular during my second tenure there, so get excited RPCVs).

For now, here's what I've been experiencing on my return to the US of A:

The Good

-Beer. Dark beer in particular, although I've been enjoying everything from Guiness to Yuengling to Miller/Bud/Coors Lite/Light.

-Food. After a long night at above-mentioned live music venue, we grabbed some Taco Bell, and it was magical. In addition to the meals my first two days, I had some sushi, Not too bad! (although I do miss rice - see The Bad)

-The people. The more things change, the more they stay the same, and it is nice to know that you can go home again and the people still remember you and you can pick up where you left off with good friends and family.

-Sports. I returned just in time to see some excellent Stanley Cup finals games and game 6 of the NBA finals, where He Who Shall Not Be Named (*) choked away the title to the Mavs.

The Bad

-Portions. Way too much meat, not enough rice. Seriously, rice portions are tiny.

-Eating with a fork. How do people do it? I am used to eating everything with a spoon, and only occasionally using a fork (to hold my meat while cutting it with the spoon).

-You cannot carry a pocketknife around everywhere. And certainly not in airports.

-People on the street. No one greets each other when passing them on the street. In DC, everyone just avoided my gaze and wouldn't acknowledge my hello. I fear that in New York City, someone might attack me for trying to say hello...

-Constant Connectedness. People flipped when they heard I had not bought a cell phone yet, as everyone else has full-on iphone/droid/blackberry addictions (although now I have a number - 843 422 8195, for those interested).

-The 24 hour news cycle. I did NOT miss constant analysis of the Republican nomination, Obama's wars, congressional twitter scandals, nor Brett Favre.

-The people. This includes the Malagasy from my communities, the Peace Corps staff, and my fellow volunteers. I miss you all!

There are a number of things I knew I could no longer do when I got back, such as point with my lips, tsk at females as a pickup line, pick my nose in the middle of a conversation, and play with random small children. So far, I have been pretty successful at keeping these habits in check (except for the lip pointing that is). Those of you I see in the next few months will have to tell me how I am doing on these...

In closing, I wanted to include the song that this post's title comes from. Warning: it may cause unexpected smiling and/or bouncing.

*-For those who don't know, I am a Cleveland sports fan (aka I am a masochist), so there was a certain amount of shadenfreude in watching the Heat lose.

After long processes of program research, applications, decision-waiting, and deciding, I am set on the next two years of my life: Headed to Columbia University in New York City! I thought I'd take some time to explain the program, my decision, and my future plans/goals...

The Program: Master of Public Administration in Development Practice

The School: Columbia University - School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) (*)

The program is the first of a new network of programs aimed at creating holistic development practitioners. What does this mean? Most people involved in international development are experts in a particular field; however, any development project requires an understanding of many different fields. See the below excerpt from the program's website:

"The field of sustainable development is growing rapidly and facing challenges of increasing complexity,” said Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University.“ Today's practitioners must confront the enormous and interconnected crises of climate change, extreme poverty, epidemic disease, hunger, rapid population growth, and environmental degradation. The new MPA Program in Development Practice will train professionals with the multi-disciplinary knowledge, including the natural sciences, tools and management skills they will need for success.” Consider, for example, the many areas of core knowledge necessary to effectively address the challenge of combating chronic hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa: Agricultural science is required to understand the biophysical factors contributing to the stagnation of crop yields and the technical solutions that could quickly boost food output and provide a source of quality nutrition in rural areas. Environmental science is required to manage the agricultural land environment and to understand its interactions with climate change. Health science and disease control are required to promote nutrition and labor productivity among farmers and to fight the parasites that contribute to undernourishment. Engineering is required to understand the fundamental infrastructural requirements to support energy, irrigation, storage, transportation, and communications systems. Economics is required to ensure that both farm- and macro-scale policy solutions are economically sustainable and supportive of long-term solutions to the poverty trap. Political science is required to understand the social promoters and inhibitors of investing in rural areas. Anthropology is required to ensure that priorities and innovations are relevant and manageable in local contexts. Management and administration are necessary to promote institutional development at the local and national level, and participatory planning skills are necessary to ensure multi-stakeholder design of solutions. None of these individual areas of knowledge is sufficient on its own to solve Africa’s hunger challenge. All are necessary, and more. Therefore, again using the website's language: "The MPA degree in Development Practice (MPA-DP) trains aspiring practitioners to understand, develop and implement integrated approaches to sustainable development."

The Faculty:

The MPA-DP program includes top faculty members from various disciplines. The star of this program (and Columbia's Earth Institute) is Jeffrey Sachs, economist, author of many books such as "Common Wealth" and "The End of Poverty," Director of the UN Millennium Project... this Masters in Development Practice program and network (see below) is basically his brainchild. Here is a nice overview of the MPA-DP faculty

In a more general sense, SIPA boasts excellent faculty, both in academia and policy practice. For instance:

-Joseph Stiglitz, economist, author of Globalization and Its Discontents (W.W. Norton June 2001), winner of the Nobel Prize in economics for his analyses of markets with asymmetric information, a lead author of the 1995 Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize;

-Jagdish Bhagwati, renowned economist

-Gary Sick, served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan

-David Dinkins, former Mayor of New York City

-Stephen Sestanovich, former ambassador-at-large and special advisor to the Secretary of State on the New Independent States (NIS) - In this role, he was responsible for the overall coordination of U.S. policy toward the states of the former Soviet Union

Those are just a few that jumped out at me...

So, between location (NYC - global financial center, home to the United Nations, the city that never sleeps), faculty (lots of exciting professors, research opportunities, and lecturers), potential to attract top speakers (lots of Big Names who pass through NYC schedule an engagement at SIPA or one of its affiliates, including heads-of-state, former ambassadors, visiting professors, etc.), and the program (it is exciting to be part of a new [2-years-old] program focused on creating well-rounded development practitioners), Columbia turned out to be the right choice for me. And the name brand ain't too shabby... So I will be spending the next 2 years chasing this master's degree in New York City, with a field internship next summer in a developing country, and then hopefully I will further pursue work on-the-ground in a developing country. Exciting stuff! To all of my New Yorker friends, I look forward to seeing you in late August. And to my friends in the cities where I turned down excellent programs (Chicago, DC, and Atlanta), no hard feelings! SIPA is just the right fit for me. And I will come visit at some point to make up for it... (In less than a month for DC folks!)

(*) = in the Malagasy language, "Sipa" means boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other. I think this is fitting, because as a grad student I may not have much time for a real "sipa!"

After long processes of program research, applications, decision-waiting, and deciding, I am set on the next two years of my life: Headed to Columbia University in New York City! I thought I'd take some time to explain the program, my decision, and my future plans/goals...

The Program: Master of Public Administration in Development Practice

The School: Columbia University - School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) (*)

The program is the first of a new network of programs aimed at creating holistic development practitioners. What does this mean? Most people involved in international development are experts in a particular field; however, any development project requires an understanding of many different fields. See the below excerpt from the program's website:

"The field of sustainable development is growing rapidly and facing challenges of increasing complexity,” said Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University.“ Today's practitioners must confront the enormous and interconnected crises of climate change, extreme poverty, epidemic disease, hunger, rapid population growth, and environmental degradation. The new MPA Program in Development Practice will train professionals with the multi-disciplinary knowledge, including the natural sciences, tools and management skills they will need for success.” Consider, for example, the many areas of core knowledge necessary to effectively address the challenge of combating chronic hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa: Agricultural science is required to understand the biophysical factors contributing to the stagnation of crop yields and the technical solutions that could quickly boost food output and provide a source of quality nutrition in rural areas. Environmental science is required to manage the agricultural land environment and to understand its interactions with climate change. Health science and disease control are required to promote nutrition and labor productivity among farmers and to fight the parasites that contribute to undernourishment. Engineering is required to understand the fundamental infrastructural requirements to support energy, irrigation, storage, transportation, and communications systems. Economics is required to ensure that both farm- and macro-scale policy solutions are economically sustainable and supportive of long-term solutions to the poverty trap. Political science is required to understand the social promoters and inhibitors of investing in rural areas. Anthropology is required to ensure that priorities and innovations are relevant and manageable in local contexts. Management and administration are necessary to promote institutional development at the local and national level, and participatory planning skills are necessary to ensure multi-stakeholder design of solutions. None of these individual areas of knowledge is sufficient on its own to solve Africa’s hunger challenge. All are necessary, and more. Therefore, again using the website's language: "The MPA degree in Development Practice (MPA-DP) trains aspiring practitioners to understand, develop and implement integrated approaches to sustainable development."

The Faculty:

The MPA-DP program includes top faculty members from various disciplines. The star of this program (and Columbia's Earth Institute) is Jeffrey Sachs, economist, author of many books such as "Common Wealth" and "The End of Poverty," Director of the UN Millennium Project... this Masters in Development Practice program and network (see below) is basically his brainchild. Here is a nice overview of the MPA-DP faculty

In a more general sense, SIPA boasts excellent faculty, both in academia and policy practice. For instance:

-Joseph Stiglitz, economist, author of Globalization and Its Discontents (W.W. Norton June 2001), winner of the Nobel Prize in economics for his analyses of markets with asymmetric information, a lead author of the 1995 Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize;

-Jagdish Bhagwati, renowned economist

-Gary Sick, served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan

-David Dinkins, former Mayor of New York City

-Stephen Sestanovich, former ambassador-at-large and special advisor to the Secretary of State on the New Independent States (NIS) - In this role, he was responsible for the overall coordination of U.S. policy toward the states of the former Soviet Union

Those are just a few that jumped out at me...

So, between location (NYC - global financial center, home to the United Nations, the city that never sleeps), faculty (lots of exciting professors, research opportunities, and lecturers), potential to attract top speakers (lots of Big Names who pass through NYC schedule an engagement at SIPA or one of its affiliates, including heads-of-state, former ambassadors, visiting professors, etc.), and the program (it is exciting to be part of a new [2-years-old] program focused on creating well-rounded development practitioners), Columbia turned out to be the right choice for me. And the name brand ain't too shabby... So I will be spending the next 2 years chasing this master's degree in New York City, with a field internship next summer in a developing country, and then hopefully I will further pursue work on-the-ground in a developing country. Exciting stuff! To all of my New Yorker friends, I look forward to seeing you in late August. And to my friends in the cities where I turned down excellent programs (Chicago, DC, and Atlanta), no hard feelings! SIPA is just the right fit for me. And I will come visit at some point to make up for it... (In less than a month for DC folks!)

(*) = in the Malagasy language, "Sipa" means boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other. I think this is fitting, because as a grad student I may not have much time for a real "sipa!"