The other day, I was having a
conversation with someone about the goals of Pangea Proxima and, more
generally, about development work. This
person suggested to me that I consider introducing clinical trials to impoverished
rural areas of the countries that I may work in. The rationale was that clinical trials were a
method of supplying people with medical assessments and medications that they
would not have access to otherwise. As
well-intentioned as this perspective may be, I couldn’t help but be surprised
that the larger implications regarding ethical practices and sustainability
weren’t immediately understood as well.
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| Children of Butajira, Ethiopia |
I joined Pangea Proxima as a
consultant because I believe in work that is thoughtful in its development as
well as respectful of human dignity regardless of location or socioeconomic
status of the people benefiting from the project. The goal is always to develop projects that
have staying power, that community members have ownership over, that elicit
pride. A clinical trial, while
potentially providing healthcare to the selected participants, is time-limited
and for a select few. Sustainable
projects should ideally have a long-lasting impact and be available to
all. In addition, I don’t believe that
using a person’s inability to access healthcare as an avenue to test medical
practices or medications is morally acceptable.
So this leads me to my question of... why? Why would someone who I believe to be
generally ethical suggest a project idea that I believe is a great departure
from the direction that development work should be heading?
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| Mural in Hawassa, Ethiopia |
I think the answer to this
question lies in the distance that people can place between those living in
wealthy countries as opposed to people living in low-income, and therefore low-resource,
countries. There is a tendency to try to
fix the problem of poverty by throwing solutions at it, in the form of money or
donations, when these may not ultimately be a solution at all. Feeding a person for a day may mean that
their stomach is full today, but empty again tomorrow; the underlying issue
that caused the hunger remains. I
believe that educating and empowering an individual or a community is 100 times
more effective in promoting development than donating food or clothing is. Increasing skills in sustainable farming or
building practices not only provides lasting food and shelter, it maintains the
dignity of the project participants.
There is a movement in the
international development world that is shifting away from the previous
paradigm of wealthy countries donating money and an agenda for poor countries
to implement. The shift is toward the
empowerment of people in low-income countries to find and implement solutions
for their own countries because they are, quite obviously, the people who know
their land best. I believe that the most
successful and ethical projects that require outside funding or support are the ones that truly harness and empower the voices of the
target population. Pangea Proxima is
attempting to do just this by building local capacity, employing local people
in projects, getting ideas from local people and consulting with the community
every step of the way. I believe that
this is the direction that development work needs to head in in order to
maintain integrity, and for this reason I am very proud to join the Pangea
Proxima team.
Author: Marina Marcus (Pangea Proxima International Consultant- Global Health Specialist)
