Paul Lynch
Class of 2002

Journal Entries by Paul Lynch

May 20, 2005:

Yesterday, I attended an NGO coordination meeting in Hikkaduwa. The representatives from a variety of NGOs, specialists from various fields and government officials convened to clarify what is happening. I believe this is the first time the District Secretary attended, along with a few other government representatives. The meeting discussed some of the issues and observations that many of the organizations were facing. The primary purpose of the meeting was updating the collective on the status of the different NGO's projects and the progress they had made along with requests for partnerships or specialists. In addition, the NGOs focused on the clarification of governmental policies and where to send survey information gathered in the field. Unfortunately, there was no mention of methodology and how these programs were being administered, let alone how they were affecting the local community. The unspoken assumption was that everybody's work was helping and aiding the people of Sri Lanka. The tactics that seem to be working, failing or causing more damage then benefit were never addressed. I therefore, took it upon myself to question some of the tactics that were being used and ask whether or not there was any representation from the affected populations in this decision making process. I was informed that there are appointed government officials to these regions and it is the responsibility of the local areas to come and speak to them. However, when you visit the camps and the chiefs of these areas (the citizens as well) say there is nobody that will listen to them. No mechanism for mediation between government, NGO and affected population exists. I asked a few more questions and the representative from OCHA promptly, rather rudely informed me the purpose of this meeting was for NGO coordination and these questions are irrelevant. I waited a little bit longer before I spoke again and went through the thought process of whether it is my place or not. Being the strong-headed, often stubborn individual I am, I decided it was not only proper but my place to remind these people why they are here and inform them that the local population needs to be involved in the decision making process. In order to coordinate between NGOs someone, besides the NGOs themselves, needs to monitor the effectiveness of project implementation.

One of the major problems here is that the majority of the people working for these organizations are not aware of long-term consequences for short term fixes. Traditionally, aid work has been conducted to quickly return peoples lives back into a basic level of "safety" and then leave. Normally, this was achieved relatively quickly and the organization would move on to the next project or disaster. In Sri Lanka, the level of destruction here was complete in some areas, leaving absolutely no infrastructure or house standing. Consequently, the former Band-Aid solution of aid work will not suit the conditions here. I think the NGOs understand this realty, but are unwilling to change their methodology. Maybe I am just a young man representing a new generation that sees a need for massive reassessment of how the world conducts a relief and reconstruction effort, but at least I have studied how it has been done in the past and read enough case studies to know what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately, many of the people who are coordinating this effort from the west are probably the very leaders of projects that failed horribly on implementation but succeeded in marketing itself for future endeavors. Some projects are effective while others completely fail, just the same, the evolving global community needs to adapt to the growing needs of the disadvantaged peoples. Imagine a rigid old anthropologist from the 1960s explaining the superiority of his strategies, tactics and research methodologies with a young modern anthropologist. He is advocating a one-way approach that does not encompass the positive fusion of old and new principles. His rigidity to use an old method does not include the evolutionary principles that originally created his preferred form of analysis. Instead it says the evolution of thought stopped with his generation whereas the modern form continues to build and expand upon the framework and perspective of the past. A new generation reflects and hopefully improves upon the theories and practices of his or her predecessors. Right now, the NGOs and the governments of the world need to accept the new theories and implement them into their strategy, as well as, be willing to accept and internalize constructive criticism. This news does not attempt to hurt the NGOs and the governments or demonize them for trying to spread goodwill; it simply questions the methodology they prescribe as a means to achieve their goals. In effect, this constructive criticism supports their effort more than hinders them, as long as they realize and adopt to the changing atmosphere.

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May 18, 2005
Sri Lanka

A component of contention amongst the aid workers is that many of the Sri Lankans watch while foreigners bust their butts all day long and the locals won't lift a finger to rebuild their own house. Is culture to blame (the common excuse used here, but everywhere in the world locals are described as lazy if they do not assimilate to a foreign societal framework)? An argument presented to me by some aid workers:

"Most people in America and Europe were spawned from hard workers that succeeded either academically, financially, and socially or a combination of the three. Where as in small villages the way of life did not foster competition with a capitalistic slant, driving ambition and grandeurs of wealth."

I am not sure if I agree with the validity of this statement, but it does reveal much about the cultural context of how we frame our lives and the work we do. In both the industrially privileged world and the economically depressed world, people work to live. At the same time the varying systems of "luxury" and "convenience" the West endears, shifts that common practice to a notion of "living to work." It is a marketing issue of modern goods and redefining notions of what you "need" with what you "want".

The effect on the labor force and the work ethic occurs because sustaining a less lavish lifestyle tends to be less resource intensive (thereby less expensive) than luxury. Being raised in a capitalistic, goal-oriented society prioritizes a career over happiness and convenience over sanity. Family values and time spent with them diminishes as the social fabric of a community degrades. While in a village lifestyle, work between men and women tends to be disproportionate like the west (women having to run the home and sometimes work outside as well), but still the total time spent working decreases. With less entertainment or "distractions" of city life the time spent with community increases. So if people in Sri Lanka are not working enough by a western standard can they be blamed or are they following their socio-cultural framework?

Education is needed in order to facilitate change. If an agency wishes to maximize the work output of a workday, it is all about marketing; if the program is in the best interest of the community then a foreign intervention group must extend themselves to explain and justify the rationale for such a project and then listen to what they have to say about it. There are different approaches to achieve the same goal. A fact that far to often escapes human practice. So goes the phrase, "humans are creatures of habit." For example, if an organization wants a population to decrease its growth rate, do you tell the people to stop having sex or use birth control? Or should they notice that growth rates decrease naturally with increased education of women.

Many of the volunteer workers describe the work ethic of the Sinhalese villagers as atrocious and very discouraging. They have expressed that in many cases, monetary compensation has even failed. This is the argument many NGOs have resorted to as an explanation for lack of local participation and often site this "cultural fault" of the Sinhalese to blame them of their failures. The level of education amongst the relief workers tends to be relatively high, but very few have any educational background or experience in either development or cross-cultural interaction. Let alone, dealing with Sri Lankans and this ad hoc response reveals the general inadequacy of the NGO groups' ability to administer long-term solutions to a systemic issue. As for "work ethic" the problem originates in communication and cultural misunderstanding between a foreign and local concept of work. The NGOs ask, "How can a people be so lazy and unwilling to build their own community? Why can they not see it is in their best interest?" The Sri Lankan people built the preexisting roads, houses and infrastructure (though not up to western standards) and these questions indicate the ethnocentricity of these organizations that fail to realize the greater cultural context. In order to answer these questions properly, the Sinhalese historical perception of a foreigner must be taken into account; as well as, to ascertain what post-tsunami local subculture was created by the introduction of aid to an almost entirely dismantled socio-economic system. A vital factor in solving this issue is to recognize how the Sinhalese perception of foreigners has changed during the aid process and does that inhibit the same people's ability to now administer a reconstruction program. The initial work of the foreigners was handing out essential goods, working while the local people were shocked and digesting what just happened. The local population's view of them has changed and they quite possibly could expect that same pattern of work to continue. For one, the concept of altruism and philanthropy is a western socio-cultural practice indicative of the level of wealth the western world possesses. The Sinhalese have yet to grasp this concept of altruism and philanthropy. They are convinced that every foreigner here is getting paid for their work, when in reality they couldn't be farther from the truth. Most of the manual labor and basic relief workers are not receiving compensation rather tend to have paid and continue to pay from their own pocket. Maybe the locals here figure they will take as much as they can while they can because there is so much work that needs to be completed and if the foreigners want to build our houses then let them, we'll finish the rest when they leave. The honeymoon period is ending and the future does not look good if these groups cannot figure out a way to work together. The work being conducted here is not horrible or malicious, but there is very little attention being paid to sustainability, economic viability and equitable livelihood. The government is virtually absent in the affected areas and if the NGOs and the local people do not find out a means of cooperating more of the same will follow. So how do we go about assisting and redirecting the workers sentiment into a sustainable framework?

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April 29-April 30, 2005
Sri Lanka

Prior to yesterday, not a second past in the last 2 weeks when the temperature dropped below 85 degrees. Sleeping sunburnt and sweaty, hopefully with a fan, we slept and continued on to the next day. As for today, I don't know where to begin. When you notice the severity of a particular situation a choice is presented: avoid or internalize. Visiting ambalangota, just north of Galle led me to a truth about human interaction; it was a difficult day to witness, it was a difficult day to understand. There was a conflict between members of a community whose social dynamics and history I don't understand and neither do the aid workers, but something happened today that revealed something else had gone a rye.

I was following a team setting up tents to provide the interim houses, impermanent but a step towards bearable. Monsoon season looms in the dark clouds just eyesight away. The people and the NGOs agree, the government hasn't been helping and there is little perception that this will change any time soon. So without guidance the various groups and organizations continue on with their work. Some try desperately to coordinate with each other and the government, some couldn't care the least and want to go about their work.

I was following Project Galle (and I must identify that I only followed them for 2 days and it is unfair to assume that I can fully assess the impact of their work; however, from the research side, I feel I have a clear conceptualization of their history, approach and method of implementation). Project Galle is a group run by expats that were living in Sri Lanka when the Tsunami hit, they took it upon themselves to organize the influx of foreign labor and aid into the area. On this particular scorching day, the volunteers entered an affected area that was absolutely destroyed in the Tsunami. They began setting up tents with very little help from the local population. Actually, none when it came to the physical work, meaning that the people who "own" the land were just watching the foreigners (who also didn't really know how to pitch this kind of tent). The assignment of what work gets done where was based on an assessment team sent in a week ago to discern who is in need of a tent. Today being the delivery date, the implementation so to speak revealed much about Project Galle's process. Something went wrong between intention and application and sparked a conflict between the community. A heated, nonviolent, fight broke out. The reason, internal competition and necessity of aid that somehow was not being properly administered. Pointing fingers with emotional accusation of thiever and misrepresentation. Supposedly some people received too much and others not enough. The response from many of the volunteers and the coordinator was that they have to trust that the assessment team did their job. I question how they analyzed to determine what is adequate, what is appropriate because apparently the methodology was conducted in an ill manner.

In the end the prevailing observation: too much of the work here leaves a sour taste in my mouth. There are many people here who have accomplished enormous tasks of distributing aid in a triage manner and often times it has not only greatly helped the tragedy of this disaster but also changed lives. However, many of the aid workers are not educated in socio-economic conditions of the developing world, the effects of development when conducted from a top down approach within a western framework. The initial work that most did here is commendable, but now that these foreigners have tasted the power of actually helping strangers, a very foreign concept from daily life in the West, they don't want to let go of such a rewarding feeling; its like they've tasted sugar for the first time and are willing to do anything to keep it in supply. Now, there are thousands building careers out of this and want to leave their past lives behind, but honestly they don't have a clue about how to properly administer a redevelopment project in a socially conscious manner. Will they take into account the socio-cultural context of development and involve the local population in education, design and implementation? Some maybe, but the majority of the foreign aid workers have absolutely no previous knowledge of international politics and development. It is time to pass over the baton and alter the course of how aid is being administered. The needs have switched from emergency and triage to a phase of urgency necessitating proper planning.

At this point we should apply a top down approach to the foreign aid workers administrative structure that utilizes a bottom-up, grass roots, development structure. These conflicts can be avoided and with them the discrepancies, overlap and misallocation of funds. Camp organizers should be placed in every major community to serve as the liason between the local community and the organizations working there. Someone living with the affected population paired with a translator or a Sri Lankan (not from the community because of favoritism and objectivity) speaking both English and the local language so that when an organization enters the area to administer aid or set up a project it can be coordinated in a manner that represents the needs of the community. Simultaneously, a decentralization process of setting up a locally chosen council to decide what needs and goals are to be met. In any situation such as this, people will try to obtain every resource they can whether they need it or not; people will sell what you give them and ask someone else for another to replace what they just sold. We need to be able to identify who is who in the community to ensure that underrepresented populations within a community are also receiving a fair share of the benefits.

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May 1, 2005:

Labor Day, workers unite and socialist political rallies congregate throughout the country and world. While here in Sri Lanka, the reconstruction effort continues despite the holiday of worker's appreciation. Not as a blanket statement but more of an observation, there is a lack of appreciation for both the volunteers and the Sri Lankans working beside them. Another remark of inspection is the distance between the aid workers and the affected peoples is the largest I've ever seen. Imagine a tourist destination possessing all the amenities of luxury placed adjacent to a disaster zone. Many of the lodges in Hikkaduwa remained well intact and with about a month or so of work are seemingly unaffected by the Tsunami (except to note the lack of tourists). These are the places where many of the aid workers stay. In order to paint a proper picture, we must note that the people doing the best work tend to remain pretty low profile and have rented local accommodations where they can separate themselves from the hundreds sometimes thousands of foreign aid workers flooding in for a combination of vacation and relief work. Its the dawning of a new era, the age of conscientious tourism, where many work during the day and vacation at night, normally for a 2-3 week period. There is no doubt that many of the workers here deserve a night out to get away from the intense working and living conditions. Plus, there is a perception that all aid workers must be saints and work night and day, never pausing forever loving and caring. We must remember that these are just people trying to do something kind to another human being. If we drop our ego for a moment we will open the path of our heart. I saw it today when I listened to m ynew friend exclaim his dissatisfaction with a fellow foreign aid worker who he was helping out on weekends with his own money and labor. He apologized for bringing negative sentiment to the little bit of relaxation we get at the end of the day and then immediately dismissed his dissonance and said, "Screw it, I finish what I start." That was that, he will continue building the structure for the orphanage because he knows why he is here. Greg is here as a freelancer, a man who just wants to help, but when asked would never have thought he would do something like this. Yet, a week and a half ago he was supposed to leave. He left for Colombo, checked his bags, went through security and as he walked down the ramp to board he turned around and headed straight back to work. The next day he was in the field building and coordinating; he'll be here for another 3 weeks.

So he's back at it and I think that it is that exact sentiment that we wish to capture; our organization is named The Reclaim Initiative. That approach and dedication is something as a human species we need to reclaim. If we give avoice back to the people on the ground, the workers, the locals and the affected I think that we might have a chance to do some amazing work. There is much work here that is incredible, there is much that is less than desirable.

Today I attended the weekly NGO collaborative meeting in Hikkaduwa at the District Secretary's office and to be expected the District Secretary does not show. Is it not important or is she/he too busy? This is a common occurrence here, but we must also note that there has been virtually no new government appointments and the officials are now responsible for their old (slow and bureaucratic) as well as the added responsibility of the reconstruction effort. Nonetheless, communication is important and presently it is inadequate and the people are suffering as a result.

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Sri Lanka:
Paul's journal
Days 1-2

I arrived late at night on a Monday, 9:30 I think it was and when the airplane door opened I was greeted by a warm muggy waft of tropical air. I soon came to grips with the fact that it was 89 degrees outside and not only was it night, but it had just rained. Welcome to Sri Lanka.

The next few hours were more fluid than last time I arrived here, mainly because this time I actually knew someone in the country. Less than a day of acclamation and I began regaining contact with those whom I was working with just two months before. Aid and relief, the mission of most white-skinned people folk I encounter here and even the ones that lived here before have since joined the calling. An eclectic mix nonetheless, but the tying mechanism between them all is affluence and the ability to offer their time or their wealth.

You don't see people sprung from poverty of this level suddenly back in the trenches, so to speak. Normally, this kind of work derives from individuals that question the actions of their system and the privelages thereby afforded to them. That or they are serious adventures that wanted to continue exploring the world and inadvertently became introduced to injustice, the most powerful pull in life when truly internalized. Whatever the road, the result is a group of people, some prepared some not, attempting to rebuild the lives of those previously forgotten. I do question what exactly are we aiding and is this a brief sigh of relief or an attempt to relieve the stress of preexisting poverty.

Days 3-5

Before this disaster occurred very few cared about the poor fisherman of Sri Lanka or the thousands of families missing branches from their trees because of a brutal civil war. Suddenly, the world community cares, at least, appears to care for awhile. I cannot say that I am separate of this tendency for I too was not so concerned on the well-being of Sri Lankans in particular. The extent of my focus on Sri Lanka was dominated by surf and I figured if I ever traveled here it would be a two-part trip. First would be surf and second would be a component of political strife dealing with the war. Now, things are a bit different and I find myself deeply entrenched within a conflict of great significance. I want to know: are we offering a foot or a hand, pulling people out of poverty or kicking them back into its thralls?

In regards to this project, it has been quite a challenge here to really set up shop. The approach of this project is much different from those in the past for normally I was by myself or with one other with a focus on mobility. This project warrants a home base, which I think will be quite comforting, a little enclave for creative thinking and escape from the field. I look forward to seeing the result of this approach because in the past, I had no ability to disengage from the lives of the people and I was inadvertently forced to assimilate to a culture on a greater level. So I do have a bit of trepidation and I wonder if I will like it or if for sanity purposes I will have to dance between the two realities. I have grown accustomed to a greater deal of assimilation and sense of displacement than most are willing to endure and in some way I have come to feed off of it. A friend from my past posed a vital question, existing beyond age: why does assimilation often only go one way, the way of the west, the way of the powerful. Is it not a personal choice? Our societies promote openness and freedom of democracy, but there is a sense that people of the world are not allowed to go on with their way of life unless they adopt western principles. Which, ultimately alters and erases large proportions of their culture. I wonder why we don't assimilate to some of the beautiful examples of peaceful interaction from other cultures. Is it that foreign of a concept?

Days 5-8

As for now, we (now that Shaun has arrived) are staying in a suburb of Colombo called Mt Lavinia, but when I say suburb it is a quite different reference than that of Orange County. Poverty still lies in dirt on the streets and drug addiction mixed with crime has become the reality for many of the left-behind. I have a friend that lives in this area, but I never envisioned I would ever stay in a pretty large expat area and thus our hope is to quickly find an apartment in town center. The problem, beyond the fact that we are living in a predominantly expat/tourist area, is that we are quite far from everything going on. There is one main road in and out of the city, which also is seemingly the main drag of town as well. Not to mention it is barely 4 lanes cluttered with busses, motos, 3-wheelers, cars, vans, and trucks? Traffic where your nails grow longer while waiting.

To describe the experience of living in this town would be virtually impossible, especially because I cannot even comprehend it. What would life be like to have a small shop here or a restaurant? Something I will never understand, despite my wishes. In the end all I will ever know is what it is to like for a foreigner.

Days 8-10

Some of what I wonder is whether we will help anybody through this process. I think that we will, but I want to make sure we're continually focusing on the people that were affected and positively reinforcing their role in the reconstruction process. Sometimes I feel that I have lost some of the sensitivity to what I see because I have seen atrocities with far too much frequency, but I am happy that I am regaining some of that original naïveté that I possessed when I started this whole documentary thing. Now, it is important for me to remain open and empathize. The most common function of humans to understand is through comparing and contrasting, but in a situation such as this it is also the most damaging. How can I compare the plight of a young African boy with full blown AIDS who can't play with his friends because he's growing to ill to walk, how do I compare that, with a man who lost his house his two twin girls and watched someone steal a necklace off his dead wife. I wonder why we do that, compare atrocities, is it perspective or is it a coping strategy. Because if it is less categorized as less severe in your head than is it less traumatic for you to deal with.

These mental images stay with you, but at least I have minimized how often I compare them. One of the benefits of naïveté is you have nothing to compare these experiences to, so it shocks and impacts your life with such force. Ironically enough, next Monday morning I head back to the south to see, compare, what progress or lack thereof has been made since I visited a few months ago.

We're going to test out and refine our research tactic on a small scale so as to have a better idea of how to present ourselves and what we aim to achieve here. In the last 10 days that I have been here, the angle and approach of our research has already refined itself into a niche. The ultimate focus will be to ascertain how local participation is being conducted here (most often some form is) and what are the obstacles between theory and implementation. Hopefully by identifying these characteristics we can begin to devise a strategy to correct them.

Days 10-12

Today, I asked myself what is money? And why don't we give it to each other when someone else needs it more? I couldn't really answer.

Yesterday, I was thinking about why I do the work I do; what is the inspiration for following this madness? I remember a conversation of discipline when I was about 10 years old. I was being scolded by my parents for making fun of someone at school. The details escape me, but I think I was teasing someone obviously less fortunate than me and also lacked the ability to ward off the onslaught of an elementary school posse that I was heading. My parents told me that I have certain gifts as a leader, but asked what kind of leader leads others to hurt those that lack the ability to defend themselves? They revealed the moral argument and in turn instilled that it is my responsibility to stand up for those who are being unjustly treated despite whether or not it was the "popular" thing to do. They told me the best people and the most popular people you meet, rarely have any enemies and tend to be friends with everybody from the underdogs to the top dogs. Maybe that is why I follow this path and do the things I do; its my responsibility.

Yet, sometimes I still walk right on by the homeless and deformed. Often I wonder what that makes me and whether or not I fully learned this lesson.

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