A different take on NGOs and poverty

On Friday night, I was the only person from Mondo in town, so I decided to go out to Maasai Camp, an expat hangout. I spent the first half of the evening with a few Brits who have been living in Africa for a few years. They claim that Africa would be the richest continent in the world if the NGO money was spent wisely. Instead, much of the money is spent on brand new range rovers and upholding the NGO directors’ very posh lifestyle. There is certainly some truth to this, especially when passing by the NGO compounds or checking out their fancy cars etc. They say NGOs actually want poverty to persist so they can keep living like kings. They recommended I purchase a book called “Lords of Poverty”, which explains their theory in greater detail. I will try to pick up the book before going back to Nga tonight. I will comment further after reading it.

I spent the second part of the evening with bush pilots from Canada and the US. The Canadian pilot I met was saying she received a two-minute training on vaccines and she is now responsible for all inoculations. She flies into rural villages with a doctor and a nurse, and does vaccines while the doctor evaluates the patients. Most other pilots were not med-pilots but working for safari companies. Overall, I had a fun night and thought much about what was said.