Do The Things We Do Have An Positive Impact On The Poorest Of The Poor?

hi andrew,

i don't find the remark of your officemate "do the things we do have an positive impact on the poorest of the poor?" sarcastic as i have basically the same question addressed to "development" oriented people? i work with an ngo ercof (www.ercof.org) and we are into migration and development.

as a development manager, you are aware of poverty mapping. i believe this is really needed to have more effective (not just efficient) intervention strategies. for effectiveness is doing the right things, while efficiency is doing things right.

doing the wrong things right is fatal! it is similar to giving the right dose of medicine but the wrong medicine to a patient. also most performance indicators are quantitative (efficiency indicators) not qualitative (effective).

in anything i do, i ask myself first the question "is it the right thing to do?" only when i am fully convinced that i am doing the right thing will i ask the second question, "am i doing it right?"

this way i always find meaning in anything i do. that is how i end up as an advocate of change.

so if you have yet to answer "yes" to the question, then you have to start asking yourself, "are what we doing as development managers in the government the right things to do to create positive impact on the poorest of the poor?"

are you familiar with pcm/lfa (project cycle management/log frame approach?

you said that there are those from the rural areas who don't actually see themselves as "poor," but just living a "simple life." this is actually what i meant when i said, "being poor is only a state of mind, of not having enough, a never-ending desire to have more than what we really have."

cheers!

tony