Posts Tagged ‘international development’

About a month ago, one of the hundreds of emails that I get from the LSE had an interesting title: OUCAN Conference: Chinese Investment in Africa. I get these emails so frequently that I often pass up many very interesting conferences and talks. But this one, I opened it immediately and signed up with Jennifer, a fellow MPAer who shares this Sino-African interest.

The conference is held by OUCAN: Oxford University China-Africa Network. Ever since befriending my Chinese friends in Cameroon, whom more or less adopted me as a daughter, I have been deeply interested in this subject.

Due to the hectic end of the term, Jenn and I could only make Day 2 of this conference. We took a train from Paddington bright and early at 8:20 to get to Oxford. It was nice to get out of London. The sunny weather also helped lifting the mood! The conference wasn’t as full as I thought it would be, and had a surprisingly low number of students. There were more LSE students there than Oxford, which I thought was odd. Also, considering it’s a China-Africa conference, the proportion of Africans present were strangely low.

Nevertheless, it was one of the more stimulating conferences/talks that I have attended this year. Throughout the day, I heard practitioners from the World Bank/DFID, China’s IPRCC, a Senegalese economist, Spanish journalists in China, Angolan Embassy rep, etc. The lack of students actually allowed us a great deal of opportunities to network and to exchange interesting ideas with these practitioners. Besides, I always love a chance to speak English, Chinese and French all within 45 minutes. I talked about Taiwan as a fun place to travel in Chinese while discussed lots of various things about Africa in French. Good to know I still got it!

Anyhow, the debates were incredibly interesting as both extreme points of views were represented. On the one hand, there were those who applauded the Chinese efficiency in Africa in terms of infrastructure development. On the other, there were some who recognized positive impact of China’s role in Africa, but criticized on the lack of opportunities created for Africans, lack of accountability on the part of the Chinese government. I stand somewhere in the middle. Having personal ties with both the Africans and Chinese people on the ground, it’s hard for me to take one extreme position or another.

My Chinese Family's Shop in Cameroon

One thing that was repeated highlighted throughout the day was the resiliency of the Chinese people in Africa. One presenter described the way Chinese were doing business in Egypt – they recognized a need for larger Egyptian women to buy clothes without going to the market, where they may feel embarrassed. The Chinese walked around with a 25kg bag of different clothing goods and went door to door to sell them to Egyptian women. They did not speak a word of Arabic, yet were able to somehow make the sell. The presenter highlighted on the sacrifices that the Chinese are willing to make, and I couldn’t help but think of my Chinese family in Cameroon.

While the Western world criticizes Chinese practices, not enough credit is given for these Chinese workers who are willing to be a world apart from their family, to live in a place where they do not speak the language, do not understand the culture, and do not have luxury conditions (especially compare to Western aid workers). Perhaps people would not be so quick to form judgment if they would just take the time to cultivate some connections and to understand the people – both the Africans and the Chinese.

I would love to take part in more of these conversations and see more Africans and Chinese become engaged. There is something about discussing development with an African in French that makes me feel very alive!

Definitely a wonderful day in Oxford! Jenn and I then finished out the day by eating at a delicious Chinese restaurant in Queensway upon returning to London. Who knew there were so many authentic Asian restaurants in this part of the town. Not to mention, the oriental version of Costcutter – it blew my mind!

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Within the international development stream of the MPA program at the LSE, we are only allowed to have one option unit during the first year. After a quick browsing through the approved option list, I immediately decided upon a course named “Regulations of Financial Markets”.  While fellow students were struggling to decide on a course, I was at ease with my choice.

Two years in the Peace Corps piqued my interest on the question of how to improve access to financial instruments in the developing world and strengthening its financial systems. It all seem a bit vague, and I didn’t know how one tackles a massive problem as such. But I do know that finding a perfect middle ground between my finance and development background is goal.

Tonight, I did the introductory reading for Regulations of Financial Markets. The particular text I was reading is The Development and Regulation of Non-Banking Financial Institutions by Jeffrey Carmichael and Michael Pomerleano. At the end of the first chapter where it had given a brief overview of the financial system and various financial institutions, it discussed why Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) are important; the chapter concluded:

A well-developed and properly regulated NBFI sector is thus and important component of a broad, balanced, efficient financial system that spreads risks and provides a sound base for economic growth and prosperity. However, in developing countries that lack a coherent policy framework and effective regulations, nonbank financial institutions, such as insurance, leasing and finance companies, and collective investment vehicles, can exacerbate the fragility of the financial system. The fragility is often the result of a conscious effort to arbitrage and circumvent banking regulations.

I feel like I just had a super nerdy moment and that I indeed will be able to find the answer to my big cloudy question at the end of this degree. I hope.

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Last year’s International Literacy Day helped me spread an important message and bolstered support for the Books For Cameroon project. I received lots of positive responses on my post as to why I started the project and why I value literacy. Here we are one year later, and the project lives on. I could not be more proud of my replacement Cristina and the efforts of RIDEV and other Peace Corps volunteers for keeping it strong.

As you probably could tell from recent posts, I already really miss Cameroon and my time there. I have been reflecting a great deal and today I thought about the what felt like an insane project at the time. We built or improved upon over 30 libraries and brought 23,000+ books to Cameroon. That is so crazy! Yet, in the grand scope of things, that is a drop in the bucket. Think about how many books are held at your local library? Easily over 20,000. And how many libraries are in your neighborhood alone?

Being back in the U.S., I see people around me taking things for granted all the time. Heck, even I myself often take things for granted. The ability to read is simply one of them. I was thinking about the children whom I taught, and couldn’t follow along the words with their fingers as I read them. Even adults, who struggle to read business handouts that I gave while I effortlessly read them in my fourth language.

We talk about development efforts from all different  angles all the time – how to improve economic growth, health, nutrition, anti-corruption, etc. The most sustainable ways to development is to motivate individuals to help themselves. If they can’t read, how far, how effective and how accurately could the information spread?

I love to read, though I have less time all the time to really enjoy a good book. I still crave getting lost in a great plot or being inspired by a biography. After all, reading is the cheapest form of entertainment. I seldom know an avid reader who is not opened minded about the world. Tonight, I was horrified to hear that the Koran burning pastor has never even READ the Koran. Has no one ever taught him not to judge a book by its cover? No matter who you are, burning another religion’s sacred text makes you a disgrace for mankind.

I hope by raising awareness on literacy and importance of not just skimming pages on your computer, but to actually sit down to read a book, citizens of this world will have a greater understanding for one another. Take some time to learn about different initiatives that promote literacy in your area, or to follow the progress of my Books For Cameroon project at http://www.facebook.com/booksforcameroon

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My heart has been heavy since I learned the news of the tragic earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th. The next day, I happened to be in the provincial capital of Bafoussam running various errands. While in the supermarket, news coverage on France24 about the tragic event plastered the display of televisions on sale. The images were shocking.

Immediately, my thoughts wandered back to the time when I learned that my family had to sleep in a park due to a similar event. In 1999, a same magnitude of earthquake hit the island of Taiwan. I was already in the U.S. by this time, but my parents and my sister were still on the island. I was reminded of the stories told by my family from that day. It was my sister’s birthday. My parents described the terror of the moment when the quake hit, hiding in the bathroom, holding onto one another while the quake pasts. And the following week of camping out in a park with the community, in case of after waves.

Reports on Haiti reflect the stark difference between these two events due to the level of infrastructure. Certainly, there are many other factors as to how the aftermath of these two earthquake of similar magnitude differs. Yet, it’s not difficult to see how the island of Taiwan, while small in size, was equipped with the infrastructure to quickly recover and mobilize necessary aid. Haiti, a country that had little to begin with, is not so lucky.

With a heavy heart, I wanted to do what little I could to help. So, even with my measly Peace Corps salary, I donated $20 to the Red Cross relief fund. I am stuck in Cameroon helping the people here, so all I can do is give what little money I have. If I can make that bit of contribution, then I am most certain that you can as well. It is unfortunate that there are heartless scammers out there who are exploiting this tragedy. To ensure that your contribution is well-utilized, consider the few reputable organizations below. There are many other well-intended organizations out there, but do take some time to do the research!

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