Going Backwards

One of the most frustrating things we’ve encountered at site so far is learning first hand about how what is traditionally considered development can so easily go in the wrong direction. After only two months, we’ve learned of a bank in Mandritsara that closed, a hydro-electric generator in Marotandrano that had to be shut down because it interfered with rice farming, a grain storage building that is no longer operational due to mismanagement and embezzling, and a local clinic doctor who just moved away, leaving the population with reduced access to even the meagre healthcare previously available. Witnessing the decaying infrastructure of these failed projects is disheartening. We think a lot about sustainability with our work, but if such clear needs like financing/credit, electricity, and healthcare don’t have staying power, how are our potatoes and eucalyptus trees going to do any better? I hope that the answer is simply that you need to walk before you can run, and that the community just wasn’t ready for those institutions and services. Ideally, with the increased health, higher incomes, and labor saved from our projects, people will be able to support things like banking and municipal services. Still I’d like to hear from the group on this. Any other examples of development going backwards, and thoughts on how to keep things moving in the right direction?