Tilting at Windmills :: Baha'i Perspectives

Tilting at Windmills

nooshin October 18th, 2009

I’ve been following with interest a debate (a long-standing one which has recently hotted up) about the effectiveness of giving aid to developing countries. On one side is the argument that developmental aid and humanitarian assistance has been proven to save millions of lives, and it is not just effective, it is necessary. On the other hand, some (like the author of Dead Aid Dambisa Moyo) say that aid is deterimental to those it is trying to help, bringing corruption, market distortion, further poverty and aid dependence.

My personal take is that it is not that there is good aid or bad aid, but that the circumstances in each situation will determine if it is effective aid or not. Throwing money at a problem will never completely solve it. If the underlying issues are not addressed, it’s just good money and effort after bad. And in particular so if aid agencies, humanitarian organizations and governments don’t recognize the power in grassroots communities and in each individual. We need to harnass the potentialities latent in each member of the human race, empowering them to become a source of social good and development.

And you really don’t need to go further than the story of William Kamkwamba to see what I mean. At 14, the Malawian boy is forced to drop out of school for lack of fees. Inspired by a book in the village library (donated by a development agency!), William decides to build a windmill in order to provide electricity for his family home. He is undettered by the fact that he is not very educated, that he has no access to materials and parts for the windmill, or that no-one has ever done it before. Relying mostly on the illustrations in the book, and scrounging for scrap metal and materials others have thrown away, and ignoring the ridicule aimed at him, William built a crude but effective windmill which powered four light bulbs, a radio and cellphone charger.

William Kamkwamba

Since he built his first windmill, William has gone on to build five more, in and around his village. He has been given a scholarship to the African Leadership Academy in South Africa. He has given talks and speeches at international conferences and received worldwide acclaim. He is working on projects dealing with HIV, malaria, solar power and clean water. And last month, at the age of 22, his autobiography “The Boy Who Harnassed the Wind” was released worldwide.

When I read his story, and watched him speak, William humbled me, but most importanly, gave me hope. And reminded me of the emphasis the Baha’i Faith places on the potentialities in each one of us, and of our duty to make the most of them:

Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom…

Is any larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that by the confirming grace of God he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight.