Doing Good

When first arriving to Zimbabwe and being introduced to the world of development workers it appeared almost as if ones worth was defined by the number of hardship postings one had been to. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan and DRC gave the highest scores. If you had not experienced Zimbabwe during its hardship years then you really hadn’t experienced Zimbabwe at all. It seemed as if one was not able to understand the difficulties they had been through in order to be were they were at. In reality however, foriegners were the ones that suffered the least during the worst of times in the country. Foreigners had access to foreign currency and were able to stock up with supplies from Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa whereas most Zimbabweans did not have the means to do so. Most positions in places considered as hardship destinations often offers additional benefits such as secuity assurances and travels holidays of the country. Surely, one must be able to lead a decent life also when working in the development and humanitarian field. My argument is that aid still manages to uphold an image of doing good in a harsh environment whilst the reality is that aid lead quite a good life. Yes, some-a few- have been in situations where their life is at risk, but it is a life which is chosen. Most Zimbabweans never had that choice.