Inspiration from an unlikely source...

Ever have one of those days that reminds you of why you’re in school? About why you care about what you study? And in my case, of why you’re going to live and work in Vietnam for eight months? I had one of those days a while ago, and it feels pretty amazing. And it surprisingly happened thanks to social media.

An old high-school friend of mine recently read my last blog post, and noticed that I’m studying International Development. I hadn’t talked to this friend in probably around 5 years until he sent me message asking me to define development. It made me so happy that someone outside my “INDEV bubble” was taking such interest in my field of study!

I had to ponder his question for a while, which kind of made me concerned. I mean, I’ve been “studying development” for 3 years. This is a question that I should be able answer without even thinking about it. But of course, there is no one answer to “What is development?”. In the end though, this is what I replied to him:

I haven't been asked that question since first year, and it's one I'm still trying to figure out. It's hard even for development students like me to define. In the most basic sense, it's trying to create progress in reducing the vast inequalities between the rich and poor of the world. That means it's a very multi-disciplinary field, which tackles issues from human rights to climate change and everything in between. And, of course, all these issues play into one another which makes solving them even more complicated.

“I think all development practitioners are driven by the general passion to see an end to poverty. They care about making this world a little less screwed up, which is probably why you find you talk like development students! As one of my friends and fellow students says, development practitioners are working themselves out of a job.

Another big aspect of practicing development (in my opinion) is that we must always be humble, adaptive, and open. We can't go into a developing country and expect our Western ways to solve their problems. Change must be made by working with the poor, not by telling them how they should be doing things.”

Creating this definition reminded me that I really am working towards positive change. It reminded me of the core reason I decided to go into International Development: because I want to help people. I get to say that I’m trying to save the world as a carrier… and that sounds like a pretty good job description to me.

The "Growing" Informal Economy

A few weeks ago, a guest lecturer in one of my classes said that the informal economy is a declining sector (to clarify, the informal economy means all economic activity that isn’t monitored or taxed by the government. Think of a poor slum-dweller starting a small business from their home). When she said that, I had to think that she didn’t have her facts straight. I’ve researched the informal economy in developing-world cities before, and believed it’s growing with rural-urban migration and urban poverty. I decided that, like a good scholar, I’d do more research into it to see what the real story on the informal economy is.

The answer is that the informal economy is growing, on a global scale. It’s hard to quantify the growth considering it can only be measured by self-reporting, however, many sources will tell you it is an expanding sector. In the past decade, informal employment has accounted for over 60% of urban employment and 90% of new jobs (According to the United Nations). In 2010, Informal employment made up 82% of all non-agricultural employment in South Asia, 66% in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 51% in Latin America. In other words, it’s huge contributor to the livelihoods of the poor. It contributes 25% to 40% of GDP in Asian and Africa, for example.

What’s more important than these numbers are the causes, effects, and solutions to them.  People are forced into the informal economy when they migrate from rural, majorly agricultural, areas into cities with the prospect of finding a job and a better life for their family. However, when they get there, they find that they can’t find a job or are unable to be an entrepreneur in the formal economy because of start-up costs and regulations. The biggest problem with informal employment is that the government isn’t there to regulate wages, working conditions or safety standards, meaning informal workers are often in danger and get paid very poorly. Informal businesses are also at a competitive disadvantage because they lack access to markets and have a bad reputation. The solution to these issues is not to try and get rid of the informal economy altogether, but to recognize the potential it has! Think of how many people are involved in the informal economy, and the innovation that these entrepreneurs create. A few ways to work WITH rather than against the informality might be microfinance, or giving the poor land tenure rights. Can you think of any others? And what do you think about this issue?

Turners Syndrome and Development

This post is a little more personal, but it’s something I’ve wanted to write about for a while. I have a condition called Turners Syndrome, which is a random genetic abnormality where a girl is born with only one X chromosome (as opposed to the usual 2). Turners Syndrome has a prevalence rate of about 1 in 2500 female births, and 98% of pregnancies where the baby has Turners end up in miscarriage. Turners has a long list of symptoms, and each girl with Turners has a unique combination of these symptoms. The ones I have (which are some of the most common) are short stature, infertility, a wide neck, low hairline, birthmarks, a bicuspid aortic valve (a heart condition), and a horseshoe kidney. Some other more severe symptoms include webbing between fingers and toes, learning disorders and spatial problems. If you want to learn more about the condition, take a look at this article by another woman with Turners Syndrome: http://bethanymaxine.hubpages.com/hub/What-is-Turner-Syndrome

I was diagnosed with Turners at age 15, and consider myself very lucky to have modern health care to help me manage my condition. Regular doctor’s visits, heart/kidney scans, and hormone replacement are all I need to live a completely normal life with Turners. However, I can imagine there are many girls all over the world with my condition who are not as fortunate as me. For women in the developing world, Turners could have a big impact on their lives. First of all, diagnosis is probably very low in developing countries, seeing as the technology needed to diagnose genetic disorders would not be very accessible. Also, the resources needed to manage the symptoms (such as ultrasound machines and growth hormones) would be few and far between.

Turners would also be socially stigmatizing in developing countries. For example, I take birth control as an estrogen replacement (as do almost all women with Turners). Contraception is frowned upon and culturally unacceptable in many poorer regions of the world, so Turners women in those places would avoid taking the birth control they need. Also, infertility would cast women out of marriage and a family in developing countries and would diminish their “value” to society. The learning disabilities that often come with Turners could also isolate women, seeing as learning disabilities are not well understood or provided for in the developing world.

As a woman with Turners and a development practitioner, I can only hope that conditions like mine will one day be manageable in both the developed and developing world. This might not be the kind of change I will be working for in my future, however, it’s an issue I am now more conscious of.

Rain Barrels

As a fundraiser to help subsidize some of the costs of our placements this September, INDEVOURS (my fellow 4^th year International Development students and I) are selling rain barrels. You can check out this fundraiser and take part of it at http://indevours.wordpress.com/events/rain-barrel-fundraiser/ and www.rainbarrel.ca/indevours (Feel free to check out the whole website to learn more about us as well!). So I thought I’d share some of the benefits of rain barrels, and how they are so effective (especially in cities)!

A rain barrel does exactly what the name says… it collects rain. You can use that rain for watering your plants, doing your laundry, doing your dishes, washing your car, or anything else that you’d use unfiltered water for! The first benefit for homeowners is saving on your water bill. In the summer, 40% of residential water is used for lawns and gardens, which is a lot on your monthly water bill. Rain barrels can save 1300 gallons of water per household during the summer alone, which saves you money! Another benefit is healthier plants and soil. Tap water has chlorine and fluoride in it, which isn’t good for the soil or it’s microorganisms. They also reduce runoff (aka rain water that isn’t absorbed into soil), which is especially important in urban areas where the majority of the ground is paved and rain water is forced to runoff into rivers, streams or storm drains. This reduces flooding, and also means less water needs to be drawn from other sources. In other words, rain barrels are a quick and easy way to save money and the environment. And just think of the possibilities it has as a tool for development! Rain barrels would allow slum dwellers and even rural farmers to start small gardens, reduce their utilities expenses, have cleaner water (which could be boiled or filtered for drinking), and become more self-sustaining!

So what’s your opinion on rain barrels? What other benefits can you think of?