Cultural Relativity vs. Behavior Change

When I think of development work, specifically behavior change, in terms of culture and the alterations we aim to make to local traditions, however unfounded in reason those traditions may be, it makes me want to skip out on development work and return to anthropology – focusing on understanding people instead of trying to change them. But then, when I remember that so much of the way people live their lives (i.e. part of their “culture”) is the direct consequence of frivolous, unmonitored development, leaving a majority of the world’s population in misery, I remember why I’m here. Then the biggest issue becomes priorities. Every rural African, by default, has to focus on the immediate present and think about how they will provide for their family THAT DAY. Development work focuses on the exact opposite – influencing decisions that affect long term change and social improvement. Acres of trees and grass, valuable organic material, are burned to the ground every day to round up a few small wild animals that might provide protein for a family for that day…and how can I possibly presume to tell them this is a bad idea? It’s really disheartening.

Anyway, maybe there’s a way to find a middle-ground: changing people’s behavior without encroaching upon their culture, or at least the parts of it that make it unique and special, sacrificing aspects that might be partially responsible for jeopardizing personal well-being, for instance, the omnipresence of cassava, a crop that is known for its endurance but not its nutritional content. A background in anthropology tells me “keep your distance, observe respectfully, and don’t presume that people want/need to change”, and yet my experience as a development worker tells me “it’s the responsibility of developed nations to aid those in distress, those who may in fact be the casualties of the ‘success stories’ that fostered such privilege in more developed nations”. It’s really confusing.

My little soapbox for the day.

Unrelated but also potentially of interest to readers (are you out there?) is the difficulty of finding fruits and veggies in Mozambican villages. The natural inclination is to equate living in a rural town with the availability of fresh, chemical-free produce, but that’s not the case for several reasons. Most of the fruits and veggies I can find in Morrumbala are grown locally. In the States, local fare has become synonymous with "fresh and organic" and is usually accompanied with lots of options; however, that's because even small scale farmers in the States can afford lots of what we refer to as "inputs". Not only does their land have a history of being well-cared for, but they can afford fertilizer and pesticides (organic ones to boot!), they have easy access to water, and the weather conditions are more friendly, or at least can be controlled with greenhouses and shade coverings, etc. Here, you're at the mercy of the desert gods. Everyone has a lot of land, but no water. It's very sandy and hot most of the year, seeds are hard to come by, and transport to markets even more difficult. Small scale rural farmers are lucky to own a bicycle, let alone a cart to truck their wimpy produce into town.

So there are a lot of reasons that food is hard to come by in the rural areas, even if you're a little white girl with money to pay for it. :) And speaking of little white girls, we are definitely not cut out to endure the African elements.... The sun and sand are enough to have me dragging my feet by 10am every day.