In the footsteps of Livingstone

Last week I travelled to Zambia for a strategy and planning meeting.  The meeting included a field visit to learn about some alternate development approaches that are being piloted in various communities in Zambia.  The primary reason that these programs are different is that every aspect of the development process is fully owned and facilitated by the community themselves, rather than a combination of internal and external inputs.  At face value this may only seem to be a subtle difference, but the impacts on the ground are profound, and it was both insightful and challenging to see how communities approach chronic issues in areas of malnutrition, hunger, child protection and economic development with a different approach.  At the heart of this approach also lies a community's capacity to develop its own resources over a period of time.

Community members explain their development process

Good development is both art and science, and these elements need to be balanced in equal measure to see systemic and sustainable positive change occur in communities.  If this were simple to achieve, poverty would not be the global issue it is today. Alas, whilst the concepts are simple, effective implementation is not straightforward and a range of internal or external factors can influence or constrain success.  Across the developing world, failed or stagnating projects are not uncommon, and my sense is that building and shaping effective development practice is more of a journey than a  defined end point or destination.  One of the key elements of the projects we visited in Zambia (and more broadly across World Vision), is an absolute focus on sustainable improvement of children's wellbeing.  Every aspect of the work is measured through this lens, and this in itself drives an important dynamic in measuring a 'return on investment' for the resources committed to community development (and related decisions about where investment should be prioritised or reduced).  In this regard, there is an interested confluence of corporate or business thinking, with traditional community development practice. 

The venue for our meeting was located close to Victoria Falls, and I was fortunate to be able to visit the falls during the visit.  The falls themselves are breathtaking, and I can well understand David Livingstone's journal notes after coming upon the falls for the first time in 1857. He wrote:

"the most wonderful site I had witnessed in Africa.  No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England.  It had never been seen before by European eyes, but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight".

The falls were in full flood during our visit, and the sound was deafening like a jet engine.  Water and blasting mist is everywhere, and it's hard to not be overwhelmed by the power and majesty of the falls.  I felt very privileged to visit such a special place, and have vowed to return with Sarah and the kids next time!  

On a final note, I also enjoyed running each morning with a colleague across the bridge over the Zambezi river right up to the Zimbabwe border point.  One of life's more interesting runs!

Zambezi River sunset, just above the falls.  The cloud
is the mist/spray coming off the falls

The daily run!