Draw me a sheep... Nightfall questionings, self-criticism and doodles

So I was once in a foreign country, more isolated than a shipwrecked sailor in the middle of the ocean. Thus you can imagine my amazement when I was awakened by an odd little voice.

It said: “If you please, draw me a program!” [1]

Isn’t it how we want all to start writing our humanitarian involvement?

Draw me a sheep: child dream or ideal humanitarian paradigm?

Nightfall questionings, self-criticism and doodles in Papua

Re-reading the chapter 2 of the Little Prince.

I wonder: couldn’t we all easily identify ourselves to the narrator, far from the civilized world, putting his life at risk, bringing help to somebody in demand?

Can we not put in regard the way we would like to work in the field with the way the narrator replies to the demand, listen to the comments and correct his work in order to fulfill the real need of the demander?

Isn’t he the true image of field commitment and accountability?

What is left of our field expectations in that regard?

How can we think our response to needs compare to St Exupery’s one? Let me try to express myself through a performing doodle[2].

Further reading and thinking.

One sentence stops me again: "No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor […]. What I need is a sheep’

Doesn’t a big part of our program/project/field dialectic with our expected beneficiaries/stakeholders/right bearers or whatever the hell we want to call them, stops before? Don’t we just draw what we know to draw without listening to the demand?

For our defense, we draw what we know how to draw of course, and proudly and sincerely offer it. Ok, maybe we heard a need, we think that we are can answer even if it means forcing a bit the inputs we have and thread the cube in a round hole. Hoping to convince people –and ourselves- that what we offer can fulfill their demand.

True, for our defense again, I have to acknowledge the fact that yes, return critics from our expected beneficiaries/stakeholders/right bearers/whatever the hell we want to call them, are rare. For the good reason our ‘receivers’ are often not as stubborn and ‘impolite’ as a little Prince from outer space.

Later.

I read again. Expressed need by a demander to somebody ready to help… Rare issue anyway I must say. Do we ourselves wait for the demand to pop out?

Nevertheless the self-criticism: easy to go on for a long time... And to be honest, I still define my humanitarian commitment as a quest to answer people’s needs. From sometimes subjective needs assessment, through seldom geopolitics choices, occasionally shoe-polished proposals to donors, somehow ‘embellished’ reports, till reduced impact after 5 years, I stay very naïve and proud of it as it is this maybe childish dream that is keeping me going, this is towards this ideal humanitarian paradigm that I want to –try to- tend.

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[1] My reference for all the text is chapter 2 of the Little Prince by Antoine de St Exupery http://www.angelfire.com/hi/littleprince/chapter2.html  

[2] Inspired by another great one ‘ La gestion de projet’ http://www.redpeppers.fr/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/gestion-projet-web.gif