Humanitarianism: Design Thinking Across the Disciplines
This class brought together ten students in disciplines varying from biology and nursing to architecture and graphic design to build a concept around how design thinking can influence humanitarian projects. Throughout the semester, we learned about Tanzania, its history and culture, and we read many works on humanitarian aid in Africa and what has been successful or has failed. Our professor is affiliated with a Cincinnati-based organization called Village Life Outreach Program (VLOP), who in conjunction with Engineering Without Borders (EWB) at UC, have conducted a series of projects based on the individual needs of the three village communities the organization works with in Tanzania. These communities were selected by the Tanzanian partner organization, the Shirati, Health, Education, and Development (SHED) Foundation. Over Spring Break, we traveled to Tanzania to work with SHED and VLOP for one week, mostly on some evaluation and planning work. This was 10 days of intense exposure to a very different kind of life, culture, and place. It was an immensely educational experience for me, and I'm so glad I was able to be a part of the class.
Burere VillageRelevant projects were associated primarily with the latrine assessment and school improvement.
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Nyambogo VillageRelevant projects were associated primarily with the water catchment at the school and the borehole built by EWB, which is considered one of the big successes of recent times in this village.
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We spent one week with SHED in Shirati conducting various evaluations, with each person focusing on 2-3 different projects for the most part, after which, we left and went to Kenya to the Masai Mara on a safari for two days before returning to the states.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
The class was really nice because it was so research-based, which I loved. We tried our best not go into our brigade with assumptions, by reading extensively about humanitarian aid in Africa, and thoroughly learning about Tanzania's history and culture to the best of our ability from the literature available. We also had speakers from VLOP as well as other organizations like Design Impact, come to class and talk about their experiences using humanitarian design. With all these things in mind, we prepared for the many things we had to achieve in the time we were on-site during the brigade.
That being said, I felt as though the time we had there was too short to achieve anything concrete. Most of what we did was evaluation and preparatory work for others who are going there this summer for a more extensive internship with SHED. There is only so much we can do when we are at an on-site location for six days, especially when we have about 10 different projects to conduct in three different villages. A lot of the days, we were splitting up, groups of us going to different villages on the same days to conduct our evaluations. The committee meetings with the villages we sat in on were very illuminating but also frustrating at times because there can be lots of communication barriers. When I talked to a friend of mine who had traveled with me there, and who had much more experience than me in travel to developing regions, he told me my feelings were completely normal, especially when, as individuals, we did not have the time to develop the relationships with the partner like VLOP, as an organization, has been able to do over many years. At the Burere health committee meeting, which I was leading due to the fact that I was the leader of the latrine project evaluation, I was deeply disconcerted when the villagers thanked me for the work that VLOP has done because I had not personally contributed to any of that work. However, that is the way the game is done, and how much ever we wish that the communities perceived us as equals rather than superiors, sometimes coming from the developed world comes with that baggage of "white privilege" which, no matter how much of a correct mindset we try to go in with, still arrives there with us, because there comes a point when one can no longer control entirely how others perceive him.
However, on the positive side, I made some friends, especially those in my class, who I hope to maintain closeness to even beyond this class and graduation. I also met so many wonderful people from the partner, SHED, who gave us the deep honor of being able to stay with them for the week that we were in Shirati. I also hope that, if the future brings me the opportunity, I would be able to use any skills that I gain in public health, medical school and beyond, to perhaps contribute more to VLOP, as I would definitely like to continue to work with them in future.
That being said, I felt as though the time we had there was too short to achieve anything concrete. Most of what we did was evaluation and preparatory work for others who are going there this summer for a more extensive internship with SHED. There is only so much we can do when we are at an on-site location for six days, especially when we have about 10 different projects to conduct in three different villages. A lot of the days, we were splitting up, groups of us going to different villages on the same days to conduct our evaluations. The committee meetings with the villages we sat in on were very illuminating but also frustrating at times because there can be lots of communication barriers. When I talked to a friend of mine who had traveled with me there, and who had much more experience than me in travel to developing regions, he told me my feelings were completely normal, especially when, as individuals, we did not have the time to develop the relationships with the partner like VLOP, as an organization, has been able to do over many years. At the Burere health committee meeting, which I was leading due to the fact that I was the leader of the latrine project evaluation, I was deeply disconcerted when the villagers thanked me for the work that VLOP has done because I had not personally contributed to any of that work. However, that is the way the game is done, and how much ever we wish that the communities perceived us as equals rather than superiors, sometimes coming from the developed world comes with that baggage of "white privilege" which, no matter how much of a correct mindset we try to go in with, still arrives there with us, because there comes a point when one can no longer control entirely how others perceive him.
However, on the positive side, I made some friends, especially those in my class, who I hope to maintain closeness to even beyond this class and graduation. I also met so many wonderful people from the partner, SHED, who gave us the deep honor of being able to stay with them for the week that we were in Shirati. I also hope that, if the future brings me the opportunity, I would be able to use any skills that I gain in public health, medical school and beyond, to perhaps contribute more to VLOP, as I would definitely like to continue to work with them in future.
Masai Mara---Safari in Kenya
The lifestyle we lived in Shirati was extremely different from here. In an attempt to make sure we don't experience reverse culture-shock too severely after coming back, Professor Zaretsky attempted to give us a gradual assimilation back into the lifestyle we have here, by taking us to a more tourist-geared safari in Kenya. It was really fun and the lodge we stayed in was gorgeous. Here is a video I made of a significant portion of my safari experience.