Post-Mari in China

I was traveling in China for 7 weeks as an in-the-field representative for GlobalGiving. Many of my posts are from the trip, but I reblog, post things now and then.

[mariinthefield]

[mariinthefield]

NYCで行なわれているSocial Good Summitと言うイベントに来ています。 テーマは「2030年に世界をより良くするために今からどうすればいいのか」と言うもので 3日で100人以上のパネリストが参加しています。 で、私は何してるかと言うとそのイベントについてメイン会場の隣の小部屋で 他の50人位の人達とTwitterで呟いたり ブログで内容を書くことが仕事なのです。 そして50人が最低限10ツイートしたら500ツイートが発生し social good summitが話題になるという仕掛けです。 日本でも今イベントがあったらこんなことやるんだろうか。 しかしパネリストが多すぎて内容が薄っぺらくなっちゃうのが残念。 皆各自一時間ずつプレゼンして欲しい位。 とりあえず今の若い人達"millenial"はSNSを使えて 情報に簡単にアクセスできるから、 彼らをどうやってNGOの活動に興味をもってもらえるか、 そしてどうやって活動に参加してもらえるか皆知恵を絞って考えているみたいです。

[mariinthefield]

Where is your Impact, Acumen Fund?

As someone who wants to be in the developing field, I have a respect for Acumen Fund's work.  Trying to allocate the money to those who work hard to eradicate poverty created a new trend in philanthropy, and I think it is a step in the right direction.  

While I feel GlobalGiving is doing an amazing work providing small grassroots organizations a place to fundraise, I also feel the limit of charity.  With charity, you cannot move a huge amount of capital (you can if you were a big charity, but most of them with strings attached).  

At the same time, I am a little baffled by their presentation of "impact" on their website.  Here are some of the things that are on my mind;

-Where IS the impact?   In all the portfolios, the impact is summarized in only a couple of sentences.  Is there evaluation for the program?  Did people benefit in the long run?  Did they restore dignity, as the Fund's mission statement?  There is an in-depth case study paper by UMichigan, but it is not publicly accessible.  Why aren't they making it public?  A couple of questions come to mind.

-And, where is the OVERALL impact? According to their website, Acumen Fund invested $81 million to 72 social enterprises in 10 years.  Awesome!  Now, how many did they help to pull out of poverty?  Did the communities' income rise as a result of Acumen funded projects??

-Which method was more successful than others? There are a several portfolios per area.  Was there a better method than others?  Is there a comparative study across cases/ countries?  

The reason why I became such a doubter is because the new "elixir" of poverty reduction, which I wanted to get involved so badly, turned out to be not too effective.  

Maybe all the questions are answered not on the website - maybe they are released to the investors.  But if traditional aid was criticized for lack of  transparency, I hope that Acumen will take another further step to disclosing the results of the enterprises as well.  

[mikeywaves]

I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist. 

My name is Ela.  I am seventeen years old.  I am not Muslim, but my friend told me about her friend being discriminated against for wearing a hijab.  So I decided to see the discrimination firsthand to get a better understanding of what Muslim women go through. 

My friend and I pinned scarves around our heads, and then we went to the mall.  Normally, vendors try to get us to buy things and ask us to sample a snack.  Clerks usually ask us if we need help, tell us about sales, and smile at us.  Not today.  People, including vendors, clerks, and other shoppers, wouldn’t look at us.  They didn’t talk to us.  They acted like we didn’t exist.  They didn’t want to be caught staring at us, so they didn’t look at all. 

And then, in one store, a girl (who looked about four years old) asked her mom if my friend and I were terrorists.  She wasn’t trying to be mean or anything.  I don’t even think she could have grasped the idea of prejudice.  However, her mother’s response is one I can never forgive or forget.  The mother hushed her child, glared at me, and then took her daughter by the hand and led her out of the store. 

All that because I put a scarf on my head.  Just like that, a mother taught her little girl that being Muslim was evil.  It didn’t matter that I was a nice person.  All that mattered was that I looked different.  That little girl may grow up and teach her children the same thing. 

This experiment gave me a huge wakeup call.  It lasted for only a few hours, so I can’t even begin to imagine how much prejudice Muslim girls go through every day.  It reminded me of something that many people know but rarely remember: the women in hijabs are people, just like all those women out there who aren’t Muslim. 

People of Tumblr, please help me spread this message.  Treat Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Taoists, etc., exactly the way you want to be treated, regardless of what they’re wearing or not wearing, no exceptions.  Reblog this.  Tell your friends.  I don’t know that the world will ever totally wipe out prejudice, but we can try, one blog at a time.  

[mariinthefield]

Dumplings for thought

I have no excuse for not writing a post for over a month.  It's been 3 weeks since I left China, and in a couple of hours I'm going back being a student again.  China seems so far away now, but at the same time, I could imagine myself back in the enormous train station in Beijing, fighting my way to get a ticket.  In any case, Charlene and I successfully left China without any big trouble.

In the last days that we were in Beijing, we had our last meeting at Beijing office of Gates Foundation.  This meeting invited key non-profit players in Beijing, to discuss the possibility of collaborating with GlobalGiving and among each other to develop the non-profit sector in China.  The discussion was interesting, because while all the participants agreed to collaborate with GlobalGiving, they were not willing to share information or resources among themselves.  They argued that by sharing information, they would lose competitiveness in the sector, thus losing donation or funding.  

This discussion was really interesting for me, because the outcome exactly matched my observations towards the Chinese people - they are super competitive.  Of course there are competitive people everywhere in the world, but the competition is so visible in China.  On the trains, supermarkets, cabs on the street - you had to fight for everything to get what you want, and when you got something, the reward was only for you and your family and friends.  Being taught it is good to be "Always Open" - one of GlobalGiving's mottos- the discussion in Gates Foundation reminded me there's a huge difference in the cultures in the non-profit sectors of these two countries.

I would like to see how the non-profit sector that has so much to develop in China, becomes in a few years.  Would it evolve like in the U.S., or would it turn into something completely different?  We can only wait to find out.

[mariinthefield]

I took a week off from the internship to spend time in Guilin with my boyfriend and his mom, Gail. The highlight of the trip was the Li River cruise, where we enjoyed the beautiful scenery for 4 hours. I didn't know that the back of 20 yuan banknote was the scene from the river!

[mariinthefield]

In China, everything is possible, but nothing comes easy.

A meeting participant

[mariinthefield]

Part 2 of deliciousness in China Photo 1 - gelatiao in Fuyang. Thick noodles with vegetables and peanut sauce. Yum! Photo 2 - Taiwanese dessert. I feel like the Taiwanese are pros at making the most delicious stuff. Photo 3- the famous Peking Duck. Photo 4 - My new found love, zha-jiang-mian. You could eat this everywhere in Beijing for 10kuai ($1.5) and it's delicious.

[mariinthefield]

Words of wisdom I found today - my favorite is No.5!

[mariinthefield]

Charlene and I visited a Cummins Grantee called Dandelion School on Tuesday - this was the first site visit we had in Beijing after we arrived here last Saturday, so we were pretty excited! Dandelion school is located south of the central city, and it is the only middle school to accept migrant workers' children in Beijing. These children face great challenges at home - their parents are out working all day, and they have to do all the house chores. Their living conditions are extremely poor, thus does not provide a good environment for them to concentrate on studying. As a result, many children are academically behind, and most do not make it to high school. Here at Dandelion school, the school teaches, feeds, and nurtures children. I was most impressed on how the school incorporates art to build students' confidence. My favorite was called "parent's hand", where all students study a hand of their parent's, and draw exactly how they see it. Through this activity, they appreciate the hard work of their parents. The day visited happened to be the kick-off ceremony for students who are starting summer camp to learn English. Students practiced for hours how to march in the field - kind of reminded me of my school years in Japan! I sincerely hope the students at Dandelion School take the opportunity provided at the school, and bloom - like a dandelion!

[mariinthefield]

I've never been to a city with such diverse pricing environment as Shanghai. While I bought my fake Tiffany earrings for $5 a pair, there are legitimate Chanel, Gucci, Rolex in every department store that we walk in - and also packed with customers. One day, we had a meeting at a nice lounge at a hotel. The cheapest drink there - a cup of tea- was 58 kuai (10 USD)!!! I'm from Tokyo, one of the most expensive cities to live in, but even for me this price took me by surprise. Also, I'm an unpaid intern. I sadly sipped on my $10 tea thinking that there would be no dinner for me. But then, my awesome partner/ Shanghai expert Charlene saved my day. She found a small stand that sells pancakes where you could add eggs, bacons, cheese and all the other delicious things. It cost me 6 kuai (90 cents) for this filling meal. Now that's what I'm talking about :)

[mariinthefield]

@Shanghai

One of the reasons why we are spending the latter half of the trip in Shanghai and Beijing is because we are doing some ground research on the Chinese non-profit sector. We have had two meetings a day every day since we arrived in Shanghai, meeting potential partners that could help GlobalGiving find awesome grassroots orgs. Thus, to attend these meetings, we took off our grimy pants and sneakers, replacing them with sweaters, dresses, and nice flats. The transition felt funny at first - I still kind of miss wearing my hat and sneakers, walking around in the remote villages. That being said, I can't be happier to be at a place with A/C, Wi-Fi, and hot water! One of the many things we found about the Chinese non-profit sector during our meetings is that the scene is kind of similar, yet very different from the U.S.'s. Many orgs we met said that the Chinese people are willing to give - but they don't necessarily care how their money is handled. Once they give to a charity foundation, they don't feel the need to be updated. Seems like the same could be said about domestic corporate donation also. At the same time, there is a huge lack of trust towards the Red Cross in China, and towards GONGOs (started by gov't agencies). Meanwhile, the government is loosening up their regulations for local NGOs (with the exception of intl orgs). Before, all NGOs had to register to a government agency, but in Beijing, Guangjhou, and Shanghai, there is a movement to not to require the registration with the agency. It seems like the sector is about to bloom- it's an interesting time to be here if you wanted to start an NGO. To be continued....

[mariinthefield]

I wrote a project report on the org that we visited recently in Fuyang, Anhui!

[mariinthefield]

Part 1 of deliciousness / funny things that I ate in China. Note to self - never challenge myself for Sichuan food. Photo 1 - Rabbit stir fry @Ningxia Photo 2 - best dumplings ever ($3) @Shanghai Photo 3 - yak meat with different veggies @Surmang Photo 4 - Mapotofu that destroyed my stomach @Chengdu Photo 5 - feast @Fuyang, Anhui

[mariinthefield]

On our way to the next site visit, we are currently stopping at Chengdu. Conveniently, Chengdu has the largest panda center in the world. We went at 8:30 because we were told that pandas are more active in the morning when they are fed. Well, I guess they were slightly more active than the other times I've seen them at the zoo but most of them were asleep in the most funniest/ cutest positions.

[mariinthefield]

Ha. how was the train?

I just finished my 25 hours train ride - I'd say it's much more comfortable than an economy seat of the airplane because you get to lie down! But many people here snore so that's a downer....

[mariinthefield]

When we first talked to the project leader, he told us "Surmang is one of the most gorgeous places on Earth". That was what I also expected of Yushu, a small Tibetan city in Qinghai Province. Instead, what Charlene and I saw after an hour flight from Xining were mountains of rubbles and dust. Then there was a sea of blue tents where people who lost their homes in the 2010 earthquake lived. We've seen a lot of construction going on, but not for houses that would accommodate the evacuees. It made me shudder to think how these people survived the harsh winter here. The following day, we set out to Surmang with Dr. Phuntsok who is the director of the clinic, and Janice, our translator. After 30 minutes we left Yushu, we were quickly surrounded by beautiful mountains, streams, and occasionally herds of yaks. As the city disappeared behind us, so did the cemented roads. For most of the 5 hour drive to Surmang, the roads were bumpy and winding as we drove through the mountains. At one point, we crossed a mountain that was 4,500m (13,000ft) - it was very cold up there. When we arrived at the clinic, we were greeted by Dr. So Drogha and her 3 year old daughter. We were allowed to stay at the second floor of the clinic with very comfortable beds and thick blankets. We were told on the road that summer is the calmest season for the clinic, because many people set out to dig caterpillar fungus (used in traditional Chinese medicine) in the mountains. This fungus is a main source of their revenue. Thus we spent most of our afternoon asking questions about the clinic, Tibetan culture, and the story of the earthquake. The next day was busier - there was a constant flow of patients. We were allowed to take photos while the doctors were seeing patients. Many patients came from the nearby village, but some of them drove on their motorbikes for an hour from the Tibetan Autonomous Region. It became very clear that the doctors were very respected in the region, and the patients really liked the clinic not only because it was free, but also the quality of medication that they were receiving. I was especially impressed how open and flexible the doctors were - one patient came at 9pm, but the doctor took a look at him in no time. On the third day, we left Surmang. The return journey added some twist when Dr. Phuntsok's jeep partly broke before crossing that 4,500m mountain. I'm glad that we made it back! I'm really thankful to the Surmang foundation team for their hospitality, and respect the great work they are doing for the community. Kachinjie! (Thank you in Tibetan). Photo 1 A glimpse of Yushu Photo 2 the clinic Photo 3 View from the mountain top behind the clinic Photo 4 Surmang clinic team Mari is an in-the-field representative for GlobalGiving in China. She is traveling China for 7 weeks. Follow her adventures at http://mariinthefield.tumblr.com