Deepening The Data With More Voices: Invitation for in-depth interviews
Deepening the data with more voices Where you might come in We are entering the next phase of our AidWorkVoices project and again need your help, this time from a few of you who want or may be wiling to share your stories. One of the most interesting nuggets to come from the survey data thus far are the thoughts you’ve had about identity. In the post “You are as you are seen” many of our respondents–you–wrestled with exactly that: how you are seen by those around you matters on many levels. Many of you believe that the way you are seen (for example: young, white, attractive Western female) has an impact on your overall effectiveness. A second impact is that on the self concept of the aid worker: how she or he feels about her or himself. Our goal at this particular stage is to deepen the data with more…
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FollowThe Role of Humanitarian Aid & Development?
Question 60: “Please elaborate on your views about the future of humanitarian aid work.” The majority of respondents who have answered this question thus far seem to have focused their comments on things ultimately to do with technical delivery, implementation and efficiency. But a few have chosen take on what I consider to be probably the most important question facing the humanitarian aid and development industry today. “I think the aid industry is still figuring out what its role should be and how it should have an impact – and the people who can support that (taxpayers, donors, etc) still aren’t sure about its value. I am hopeful but somewhat skeptical that the aid industry will continue to grow and always have a positive impact, as a result.” This response hits it on the head. What is our role, as aid workers and aid organizations, vis-à-vis the bigger picture? Maybe…
Read MoreYes, a snapshot can be useful…
…but there is so much more being offered by many respondents. As I read though the many responses to the various open ended questions on the survey many patterns emerge. One pattern is that many people will qualify their statements and add critical context. Here are just three examples that came in response to the question about corruption [“Please use the space below to elaborate on the questions above related to corruption.”]: In the organisation, it is bloated with money and many people simply gorge at the trough of development aid. I am thankfully removed from this in my field, I have little reason to interact with others in my organisation. I do see the old boys network everywhere, the British upper middle classes in particular seem to have taken over other organisations, such as parts of the UN for example. Corruption is endemic to the human condition however. Regarding…
Read MoreMore voices coming soon….
Non-English versions of the survey coming soon Though I don’t have any firm numbers to go by, a quick scan of available data is that English is not the first language of most humanitarian aid workers. While it is a fact of life that the default language of many (most?) organizations in the aid world industry is English (with French coming in a very strong second), of the over 300,000 aid and development workers globally I’ll repeat: for most English is at best a second language. This fact is perhaps reflected in our data in that we have attracted a very small number of local aid workers: Our main goal in taking on this project was to provide a space for more discussion about the lives and views of aid workers and so, toward…
Read MorePerceptions, Realities?
Perceptions, Realities? Our survey of aid workers (read: anyone who’s ever somehow been part of the aid industry, ever) has been live for about one week, now. We’re seeing some interesting patterns begin to emerge out of the quantitative portions, and we’re getting some really interesting responses from you in the open-ended boxes. Thank you, and please keep those responses coming! One piece of the picture of who you are (and me, too. I’m an aid worker), which I find particularly interesting, is what’s starting to emerge from multiple-choice questions #44 and #46, and “elaborate your thoughts” open-ended answer boxes which accompany them both. In their entirety, these two questions read: Question 44: Many (most?) humanitarian aid workers will ultimately become ex-humanitarian aid workers. Excluding those few -but tragic- that will die in service, which below do you think is the *most* common reason why humanitarian aid workers choose to…
Read MoreThanks for taking our survey….
Thanks for taking our survey…. and what was that all about, anyway? Don’t know what we’re talking about? Take The Survey! Thanks for taking the time to join this conversation. You’re probably wondering who are we are why are we doing this? First things, first. Meet the research collaborators: Dr. Thomas Arcaro, Professor of Sociology at Elon University. Founding Director of the Periclean Scholars Program, and lead researcher on this project. “J.” 20+ year aid industry veteran, co-founder/blogger at Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like, blogger at AidSpeak, and author of two humanitarian novels: This project, according to “J.” I’ve spent the better part of the past twenty years believing that something was wrong with me. I knew the cause, of course: I am a professional aid worker, and I have been for some time. And that fact alone seemed, for a while, to explain it all. Aid-work-induced weirdness was for…
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