HimalayaNet #67 (February 5, 2000)

The following article, "Volunteerism: Coaches vs Players" by Ralph
Rosenberg ran in last month's issue of the HimalayaNet. It generated more
response than any article we have ever run.

I am providing a summary of the main points from all the responses Ralph
received, both positive and negative, for your review and continued
comments. I believe all of us will benefit from this frank exchange of
ideas, especially those contemplating volunteering in Nepal. It is through
this kind of dialogue that all of us can make continuous improvements in how we strive to help others through volunteerism. I thank Ralph for sharing these responses with us.

Scott Dimetrosky
Executive Director

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Volunteerism: Coaches Vs Players

My wife and I spent six weeks in Bandipur, Nepal, a remote, hill top village
near Dumre on the Katmandu to Pokhara highway. We went at the invitation of the village during the fall of 1998. (This was our third trip to Nepal, going back to 1973.)

My mission was to develop a comprehensive Master Plan to guide the
development of the village. After many interviews with the locals, the plan
addressed infrastructure improvements, telecommunications, e-commerce,
business development, and worldwide marketing. At the end of our stay, the plan was presented to the town leadership for implementation.

The Master Plan was agreed to by all concerned. I knew it would take at
least five years to make significant improvements in the village, but I
thought they would at least get started with some of the easier
recommendations. What I did not know is that the locals, especially the
men, would do nothing one year later.

I received a hint of this do nothing philosophy when the mayor looked at me
after being presented the plan and said "we will get a NGO (non governmental organization) to do everything. That is the way it is in Nepal. The Nepalis are very good at showing friendship to volunteers and NGO's and in the process subtly conditioned them to do the work.

I encourage those considering volunteering to Nepal to only do so as a
coach. You mission should be to provide resources and expertise to get
things done. The locals must be the players and do the work. It is called
"sweat equity." An agreement on this key point should be obtained before
even beginning to plan a volunteer/NGO project.

To illustrate how NOT to do this, take the most recent example from
Bandipur. A worldwide civic organization went to the village after we left
and built another hospital for the village. They did the work. The civic
organization only forgot one thing--a doctor. Now the village has a nice
hospital but no body to run it. Have the Nepali come up with a solution?
Of course not. I am sure they are waiting for western doctors to volunteer
their time to staff the hospital, as they do with the primary hospital.

What was needed was funding to recruit and educated a key person in the
village to become a future doctor or even a nurse practitioner (the US
term). Once a committed Nepali medical person was in place (the hard part),
go ahead and build the hospital (the easy part).

An example of how the Nepali in Bandipur want others to do everything for
them is the bazaar. In the ancient days it was beautiful and on a key
trading route. The bazaar was slated in those days so it would not be muddy during the monsoon or dusty during the dry season. One of the key
recommendations in my Master Plan was to re-slate the bazaar and park
vehicles outside the bazaar area.

There is ample slate nearby. In the village, there is lots of labor,
primarily men with nothing to do but drink tea during the day and "rocksie"
(moonshine) at night during their card games. When I suggested the men
slate the bazaar themselves I was greeted with, "no let the district do it."
With an old fashion "work party" the bazaar could have been slated in less
than one month.

The main point from my limited experience is that we must not do things for
others, even if we feel good doing it. The locals must invest their own
"sweat equity" and then take pride in the results. They must provide the
labor to get things done.

If you want to be a volunteer in Nepal, go as a coach, not a player. Get a
commitment before you start work that the locals will provide the labor and
do the work.

Ralph G. Rosenberg
Buena Vista, Colorado
ralphpamr@aol.com

RESPONSES:

"Just read your report in Himnet. I agree fully. An American doctor friend
of mine is trying to improve the training of Emergency Services physicians
by bringing Western physicians into Nepal and he has had nothing but
trouble.I have seen this similar attitude over and over again. In additions
to the problems that you (Ralph) describe, there are lots of inter- and
intra-tribal issues..."

Alanwald@juno.com

"I have just read with great interest your article concerning the
slothfulness of Nepalis. I fear they have been encouraged to be so by the
organizations you are talking about. I live in Katmandu and I am a
professor at the medical school in Maharajgunj. The Japanese built a lovely
academic building five years ago. There is no such thing as maintenance on
the building-or even so much as a custodian to keep it clean."

dissect@worldnet.att.net (A. Jay Chapman)

"It's true that Nepalis have been conditioned by NGOs to expect that things
will get done for them. Unfortunately it usually would. More than once, I
explained to Nepalis who were seeking funding for a project, why they didn't
need the money and how they could do most of it themselves, but knew that
some other NGO would give them the money. So, I would not disagree with
anything you said, but don't think that the problem is an unwillingness to
work. I realize that you meant the coach-player metaphor to indicate that
the Nepalis had to do the work, but it also means that the westerners, the
coaches, are telling the Nepalis what to do. In my opinion, that's where the
fault lies. The solutions aren't theirs. I've seen the same reactions in the
US, when an institution brings in experts to devise one plan or another to
fix a problem. Most employees sit back and say, fine, you do it. Basically,
the fixes are always ours, not theirs. NGOs are unwilling to let Nepalis
come up with their own solutions, and then become supporters of home-grown
work. As I read your report, I relived similar experiences and understood
your frustration and disappointment. However, the problem isn't a lack of
sweat-equity. It's much more about control."

amenocal@earthlink.net (Armando Menocal)

"I read your exhortation and share your frustration at Nepalis' aid
dependence and I agree with your conclusion that we shouldn't feed it. But
don't lose heart. Your work in Bandipur DID achieve something; it prompted
me to include a new, one page write up on Bandipur in the October 1999 issue
of "The Rough guide to Nepal." Tourism is one industry Nepalis seem to
embrace quite avidly through the free market, so once a few Bandipur folks
see the opportunity, I suspect they will grab it."

dreed@rmi.org (Dave Reed)
Note: Dave Reed is the author of "The Rough Guide to Nepal," and provided
good advice to me before I went to Nepal for the volunteer project. Thanks
Dave.

"What kind of value judgment is it to assume these people are less fortunate
and why would we assume they need our help? Have they attempted to make
change themselves? Help those that first help themselves. Otherwise you
will just end up Californicating everything. Someone from Colorado should
know better than that. Did you Wow them with your PowerPoint
presentation?.I would rather not go to Nepal to see a Western work ethic.
If they want to live in filth, well, that is what I want to see, a bunch of
people living in filth. It is their culture and their deal. Let them
improve their life as they see fit. There is plenty of help available
should they ask.".

Nklined@earthlink.net (Nick Kline)

"I read your very interesting and well written column.Your experience in
Bandipur is one of those reality checks than can really hurt, especially
when you realize how some (definitely not all) people tend to view
volunteerism as a wonderful free gift provided by generous foreigners with
too much time on their hands and money in their pockets."

Herb_schmidley@biotech.wisc.edu (Herb Schmidley)
Note: Herb is married to Nepali and went on to provide a lot of historical
perspective on the situation in Bandipur. He was not complimentary!

"I recently came back from a two-month trip to Nepal and I am writing a book
about my experiences. At one point during my trip I met other travelers who
experienced the same situations as those you mentioned. I also befriended a
wonderful young Nepali man in Katmandu who described the same scenarios in
his home village of Gorkha."

Innerfeldjodi@hotmail.com (Jodi Innerfeld)

"I am disappointed that HEC even published your article. I am sure you were
trying to enlighten others before they do what you did, but I just found the
piece to be a bit arrogant.I have spent over eight years inside Nepal. I
think you missed the boat by retaining your perspective towards life as it
has been developed within you (Ralph) as a Westerner. It takes much more
than a year or living over there to start to see how life truly is within
the Nepalese minds."

mtbnepal@hotmail.com (Greg Vann)
Note: Greg also provided pre-trip advice to me and offered to help us on
any future trip. In the future, he plans to live full time in Nepal and
dedicate his life to working with the Nepalis. Best wishes Dave.

"We've received some feedback that in the same issue of your article, we
published an announcement that we are looking for participants to join the
HEC in Nepal in December 2000 to construct a bridge. The goal is certainly
not to go to Nepal, select the site, build the bridge, and leave. The
project was initiated by Pemba Sherpa of Denver. He grew up in Sewangma,
visits every year, and has been planning this bridge since I met him three
years ago. Pemba is organizing the fundraising, the construction, and the
labor. He believed that including Western participants would add a
cross-cultural dimension to the project. The Westerners will work
side-by-side with Nepalis, assisting with the construction: the Sherpas will
be the owners, coaches, and players.

Scott Dimetrosky
scott@mountainexplorers.org

I thank HEC and all the caring individuals that responded to my article. If
we take them in the aggregate there is much to learn about volunteering in
Nepal or anywhere else. My wife (Pam) and I learned from the experience.
Perhaps, over the long term, we will see some part of the Bandipur Master
Plan implemented.

Finally, I offer this short story. In Bandipur there is no bakery. Baked
products, such as rolls and bread, are carried up the steep, long hill from
a village at the bottom of the hill. I found a family who wanted to open a
bakery. I took the gentlemen to Pokhara and found a used oven. The seller
wanted less than one hundred dollars (USD) and even offered to provide
complete bakery training. The Peace Corps offered to loan most of the
money. After a long series of discussion, the future baker insisted that
the Peace Corps give him the money. Of course they refused, with the
statement "we teach people how to fish, we do not give them fish."

Warm regards,
Ralph G. Rosenberg
Buena Vista, Colorado
Ralphpamr@aol.com

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