Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
I don't know that there's any strong political conclusion to be drawn from my brother's article about Venance LaFrance, his young friend in Haiti. But it seems an appropriate thing to post six months after the earthquake. My brother and his family live in Port-au-Prince. You can read his account of the earthquake here, and mine of being in Washington DC when it happened here. Since my family was there, the event made a more violent impression on me than it would have otherwise.
I suppose if you want to see a political message in the article, it's here:
This last failure was what convinced us to leave the Lafrances to their own destiny. Our small experiment in social engineering had done more harm than good, and the Lafrances were as poor when we were done as when we started.
Which is exactly what I concluded after performing similar experiments in Laos.
Nouane had never been able to afford a long-distance phone call. The UNDP paid him $90 each month, on which he supported his cousins, daughters, sister, and nephews. I cannot say that I ever did anything for Nouane but tip him well when I left. In fact, I cannot claim that I renounced any of the extraordinary UN perks, nor that I left Laos in any manner better off than I had found it.
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May '10
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
) It is fairly clear that the first responsibility for one's plight in life is almost always the person in the mirror. It seems to me that most bad luck stories that remain bad luck stories reveal some other pathology as the root cause. So many you see who endure a disaster and a lousy set of cards to begin with somehow get better if they keep pushing and stay in the middle of the road instead of the ditch (to quote Dennis Miller quoting Leno).
I think that all of us who are rich (e.g., any middle class American with a job) would be happy to help the way Mischa did if we saw any indication that the opportunity would be seized.
Claire, have you had much experience with microcapital, to the extent possible to have an opinion? It seems to me that you can test the initial investment cheaply, and build up or pull back as the borrower performs. But gifts instead of loans just don't seem to work, and the problem is generally with the recipient rather than the evil greed of the lender.
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
For anyone who's interested, NPR has a great, great podcast available -- I know, I know, but I promise: this is mostly sensible stuff -- called Planet Money, which is only infrequently reflexively lefty, and they've done some terrific reporting on Haiti (and a few other troubled places) and have been awfully critical of the typical NGO.
The most recent Haiti piece is here, and it's worth listening to. After, that is, you listen to the Ricochet podcast.
May '10
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
I spent a summer working on a USAID project for a US firm and was left very disillusioned by the experience. At the level of bringing in food and water and blankets, NGOs do amazing and important work and I trusted that to be the case when I sent President Clinton my money to help.But after that... when it comes to rebuilding, the whole exercise goes horribly wrong somehow. The NPR story that Rob references, for example, referred to the fact that the NGOs import so much to Haiti that they suffocate local markets.
I would love to give money to an organization that would just plop down with some loan officers and start making business loans with the only judgment being about the soundness of the business plan. Subsidize the rates by all means, but be tough as nails in enforcing timely payment. I'm not talking about a micro-loan to buy a goat, but real small business loans for bar owners and DVD importers and car parts suppliers and beauty school operators. If the Haitian government could just be responsible for "rule of law," then I think you'd really make a difference.
May '10
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
Oh and P.S./ That's one heckuva family you've got there Claire! Do you have any relatives that I could vote for?
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
No personal experience, but I'm familiar with the encouraging data on microcredit loans to women.
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
Well, if the Haitian government had any aptitude for "rule of law," none of this--or much less of it--would need be discussed. By the way, did you see the link I posted to the article by Pooja Bhatia about NGOs killing the domestic medical peanut butter industry? Same theme.
May '10
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
Trace, I wouldn't be so quick to disparage small loans (i.e., microcapital). One of the biggest problems with our own financial institutions and businesses such as pharmas is gthaty they are only interested in quick payout, large deals.
FINCA was flounded and is run by a former Pillsbury VP who left to run his own company, and is the best type of foreign aid that I have seen- teaching entrepreneurship and responsibility while offering opportunity. The older I get the less I am impressed by overnight silver bullet solutions:
http://www.finca.org/site/c.erKPI2PCIoE/b.2394109/k.4F31/Charitable_Microfinance_Organization.htm
May '10
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
Claire Berlinski:
Which is exactly what I concluded after performing similar experiments in Laos.
I read your article on Laos and enjoyed it immensely. Small world. I, too, lived in Laos (JFK rhymed it with chaos) --from about 73 to 75. My last few months overlapped with the "coalition" government before it collapsed and the commies took over. I was gone before that happened. Though I was not a highly paid aid worker, I look back on those years as two of the happiest of my life, and I think you can understand why. I finally went back a couple years ago and the ramshackle building I had lived in had become the quite presentable Taipan Hotel (which has apparently further metamorphosed into the Best Western Vientiane!). Although, the corrupt nature of "foreign aid" has probably not changed, the winds of foreign investment have blown away some of the clouds.
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
Outstripp, almost all the mail I've received about that piece in the years since it's been published has been from people who once lived there and feel the unique nostalgia the place inspires. (I also get mail from time to time from others appalled by the corruption and waste in the foreign aid industry there; evidently that remains unchanged.)
May '10
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
Is this how it is to ever be between us Duane? Prince v. Grind?
Listen I think we are preaching the same thing. Maybe I want to add an extra zero. But still George Bailey not Mr. Potter. By all means fund the family goat milk collective but don't forget about the thriving tattoo parlor that wants to expand!
My main point is that bringing the capital with some green eyeshades but no DEVELOPMENT agenda might just yield more productive results for the culture long term.
May '10
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
Trace- I agree. As you may have noticed, a pet peeve for me is the green eyeshade types who are always looking for home runs instead of any kind of portfolio asset allocation that includes a few solid singles and doubles that cost less but pay off less. There are a lot of markets that are not served as a consequence.
Claire, after reading the Laos piece, I have concluded that you are morphing into an eccentric female who always collects multitudes of cats wherever you live. Do they follow you to the martial arts gym?
May '10
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
It's weird. I went to a party in Trinidad and there was a Japanese guy who had worked in Laos. I was staying in a B&B in Tonga and there was an Ozzie guy who had lived there...
Re: Where there’s life, there’s hope; and where there’s hope, there’s life
Well, keep in mind that in the kinds of places I tend to live, there are always lots of stray animals. So it's not just a coincidence. But yes, they follow me everywhere. I'm the Pied Piper of cats. And I'm not the only one: My brother adopted a Haitian cat, who not only survived the earthquake but was evacuated with them by the Italian air force. It was quite a drama because at first the pilot said he couldn't take a cat--I suppose it seemed indecent to evacuate an animal when hundreds of thousands of desperate people couldn't escape--but in the end my brother persuaded him that a six-pound Haitian cat couldn't possibly be displacing a human being. The pilot agreed, declaring the cat an honorary Italian citizen: No Italian, he said, must be left behind. We were all much relieved.