Tevel B'Tzedek

Machete in hand, shredding jungle foliage, thick and overgrown, like a lonely tramp in the wilderness. The wind whips up bristling through the trees bringing the sounds and smells of the surrounding hinterlands. Eventually, one emerges to find an untouched hamlet, still grieving, still rebuilding in the aftermath of disaster. The explorer, ashen-faced, walks purposefully to the nearest elder to pronounce, “it is ok, I am here to help”. As the gentle bubble of an oneiric thought bursts, I realise I have not arrived at this fabricated reality. Instead, I wake from a comfortable snooze, enveloped by soft, downy sheets.

Seven days prior to my arrival, and I am not sure what to expect. Indeed, in prejudging what I am about to embark upon, it would be just as futile to draw upon accumulated experience as dreams.

In writing, I have to thank an education as arbiter for my prejudice. I am also grateful to my brother for drawing my attention firstly, to the importance of the facts - which means a focus on the work I will be doing in country. Secondly, to how that may interact with a wider purpose - to improve the diurnal struggle that is life for all of us. I realise that it is a good job I won’t turn up alone, isolated and indifferent to the culture. There will be others to draw on for advice, namely the NGO for which I will be working, Tevel B’Tzedek.

TBT, is an Israeli NGO which acts in a simple yet revolutionary way in low income countries. Instead of promising the earth and delivering dust, TBT provides a framework for communities to help themselves. There is no cash for water pumps, no food aid for households, no bricks and mortar for schools. In place of one-off donations are time and expertise directed towards the needs of the community.

In a country that has just agreed a $10billion aid package with the United Nations (roughly equivalent to annual GDP), it is striking that an ‘aid’ organization spends nothing on hand outs. The objective of TBT’s work is to use technological know-how and human capital, coupled with an enthusiasm for local activism to unlock the potential of the community. I will be amongst eight volunteers, beginning our work in November following an intense introduction.

Conscious of a tendency to make premature comment, I will do my best not to reduce what is one of the most complex and difficult subjects, development, in one of the most complex countries, Haiti, to mere snippets of cumbersome prose. Therefore, I will say no more about the country which will become my home for four months or more; nor will I add my opinion to the subject of how to ‘fix’ Haiti as though it were as artless as replacing a snapped fan-belt.

To reiterate, if there ought to be a wider objective to this blog, perhaps it should be to ask whether TBT’s model of development will thrive in the unique surrounds of Haiti. This won’t be answered overnight; alas, it may take an entire career to begin to unpick the pitfalls of any ‘method’ of development. Moreover, in the final analysis, I can only interpret what I have seen through the lens of my own prejudice - for which I make no apology.