Photo: Alexander Breitenbach

The shadow of the person passing by the bus stop is an appearance of him. It resembles a certain likeness but it does not reveal all their features. These remain undisclosed unless someone sheds some new light on the scene or takes a closer view.

The situation with development work in the Global South seems similar. It is more complex than it appears (or made to appear). In order to obtain a "working understanding" of how the systems actually work, I had to take a deeper look through the narrative. I needed to understand the stakeholders' intentions, ambitions, cultural background and how these all relate to each other. This takes time and even now, three years after my return, I still gain new insights.

In this blog I will write about my experiences in development work and my assessment. Follow me and feel free to contact me for comments or questions. I'd be happy to answer.

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George May 3, 2015, 6:32 PM

Great blog post! Following

Photo: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, by Christian Krknjak, Pexels.com

Latent expectations are like underground rivers - unnoticed and yet powerfully shaping rocks and soil over time.

In a similar way latent expectations in development projects are real and powerful, shaping communication and collaboration. They remain hidden over a long period of time because they are taken for granted or considered to have a higher priority over the official agreements.

Latent expectations have a strong impact on people’s attitude and behaviour and therefore are likely to have ...

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"Babu Goa", by A. Breitenbach

Our new house was overlooking the village and the bay. The gate had been built already but the fence was not yet completely finished. The garden was a mess and I decided to give it some care. I weeded it and removed the stones. The good-looking ones I used for framing the parking lot and the walkways, as is custom in Tanzania. I proceeded slowly, as I found the time.

One day, when my wife and I returned home, I noticed that the job had been finished. All the paths and the car-park had a nice stone lining. But who could have completed the work? .

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