What actually motivates Isaac is:

• Hardwork
• Results
• Recognition of effort

And sandwiches… it should be fufu or Waakye (popular Ghanaian dishes) , since Isaac enjoys both of these regularly.

It confirms that men are fundamentally motivated by their stomachs, but it also reminds me of the value of friendship and laughter.

Belinda is a smart, highly efficient, focused young lady with a lot of passion and drive.  And a lot of motivation.  When asked what motivates her, she replied “but there is more than one!”

I stayed with Belinda for a month when I arrived back to Ghana in February.  She loves to debate; she loves being right.  She is passionate about civil rights.  She has a masters degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ghana and is fortunate to have traveled abroad for international debate tournaments (that she and Isaac won) and with her father.

Belinda and Isaac are my counterparts and some of my best friends here.  They are well educated, passionate young Ghanaians.  Both have masters degrees from the University of Ghana.  Both have traveled to international debating tournaments and won.  Both are strong, inspiring people.  Belinda is filled with a “get it done” efficient energy.  Isaac has a thoughtful approach to managing people.  Both have a wicked sense of humour which makes working with them so much fun.

Recently though I got to be the one giving some tough love to the recently arrived short-term EWB volunteer that will be working with me this summer on the ADVANCE project.  As many parents might be familiar with, there is a fine balance between providing guidance and letting someone figure it out on their own.  Tough love is that: providing support while leaving someone to figure it out on their own, take charge of their experience and learning, and push their comfort zone and limits to grow further as an individual.

I’ve guided Erin this past week – spending the entire week with her, introducing her to the ADVANCE staff, to her partner organization ASRuD in the Volta region and taking her to her new town/home.  But I’ve also pushed her – getting her to go around a market by herself, getting her to ride on the back of a motorbike with the field staff, and finally leaving – knowing she’ll be lonely, but also knowing that she needs to be alone to figure it out.  And of course, these experiences where she was pushed a bit farther are the ones she will remember the most.

Tough love – in business and in life it’s a delicate balance that I recommend.

It is a debate that I’ve felt myself as I travel around Ghana and previously Malawi to do my work. I can’t say that I’ve ever come to a good conclusion, but I try my best to find a balance that I can live with and that will let me sleep well at night. I think that’s maybe all we can ask for.

Part of the expectations from EWB is a week-long village stay (and regular shorter ones), our cultural immersion, our recognition and appreciation of the challenges on the ground and of culture. We are not perfect, but it’s a good start and a way to unlearn what we thought we knew to start learning again. It’s a value we have and we stick to it (and occasionally try to get some CIDA people stuck at their desks in Accra to get out to the field – still trying).

Sarah Grant, a fellow EWBer and development worker who inspires others and embodies what a good development worker should be.

What are your thoughts on this?  How does this resonate with you? What could you do in your community to help you understand poverty in your own community, not as a tourist and guilty observer, but as a conscious, curious and caring part of a solution?

Amazing when you can boil down an ingrained challenge of development into the positioning of a light bulb and a ceiling fan.

This is a well positioned light bulb and ceiling fan.  It’s rare.  There is enough space between both tools to allow decent light and still blow sufficient amounts of air.  A poorly positioned ceiling fan on the other hand effectively cuts the light in patterns that resemble a disco nightclub or one of those old roller-skating rinks.  If it doesn’t make you dizzy or give you a headache, it’ll certainly make you want to turn off the light – the same is not true of the ceiling fan since you’ll suffer more from the heat.

This trivial example is representative of the design and implementation challenge here.  Why not work hard to provide a good service offering and a job well done?  Why not design a system that serves both functions equally well without obstructing the other?  Why not move the ceiling fan one foot further from the light?

Design for visual appeal and functionality, good customer service and efficiency are goals that every engineer strives to achieve in their work.  However, more than that, they are values and ingrained cultural norms that we have come to accept as the norm and expectation.  In a different culture, these norms might be replaced by stronger values of community, family and cost.  One might choose to have a relative do the job in order to keep the family and community strong as opposed to hiring the best talent.  Businesses compete on price and historical relationships rather than service delivery and effectiveness.

In development it is important to recognize what is possible and where the current state is (and why) to know how to compromise to a reasonable medium.  Neither way is wrong or right, although I’d prefer to not get a headache every night.