Development organisations can put systems in place, but they need trained local staff to make them work
One of the great criticisms levelled against organisations working in development, especially those that have their origin in the 'west', is that they can create a culture of dependency. Rather than helping to strengthen systems, they risk causing reliance on outside assistance. This is why all organisations should pit training at the heart of what they do.
There are many fine organisations that are working with communities or governments and helping improve how they can serve their populations. But employing expatriate or foreign staff or volunteers in programmes in developing countries is potentially one of the most unhelpful things an organisation can do.
It is not difficult to see why this is a tempting approach, and may seem like the most practical and effective thing to do: skills already exist in one part of the worlds, so why not transfer those skills to somewhere where there is a desperate need for them?
Riders for Health is often asked by people looking to help and make a difference whether they can volunteer their skills as mechanics. It's hard to criticise the motives of someone who just wants to help, but what would it say about our organisation if we accepted the offer?
Riders for Health works in seven countries in Africa to manage and maintain vehicles for ministries of health so they don't break down and so that health workers can deliver regular, lifesaving health care.
It is a system based on preventive, routine vehicle maintenance. It is based on vehicle technicians, supply chain experts, accountants, fuel officers and programme managers. It is the same system that makes any industry work anywhere in the world, but instead of helping a supermarket get food from a farm to a warehouse to the shelves every day, it is making sure that health workers can reach even the most remote, rural, isolated village in Africa.
There is no system for managing fleets of vehicles in rural places in a systematic way. Having to repair a broken down vehicle is already a massive failure in a system where you need all your vehicles to work all the time.
When Riders begins work with a new partner in a new country, we will almost certainly have to put this system for managing vehicles in place for the first time. This can be a substantial challenge, and it is one that faces many organisations working in development.
Yet, even though Riders are creating this system, we don't use expatriate technicians, we employ local mechanics. When we start new programmes where people might not be experienced in a preventive system we might use a trainer from our programme in Zimbabwe or Zambia to train them. Or they might travel to our Academy in Harare. Very soon, one or two of the technicians will shine out as particularly talented, and they will be trained to train others.
Riders can put a system in place. But the understanding of how the civil service and government works, the workplace culture and the best way to get things done can only come with local knowledge. That is why having local staff in leadership positions is crucial.
One of the biggest reasons for taking this approach, especially in development, is that local people have a vested interest in making the programme a success. They want it to work, not simply because they like the idea of development, but because they are the ones who will need the health worker to reach their village when their child is sick, they need a clean water supply because they are drinking the water, it is their children who are relying on the schools for their education.
The solution is about training, about making sure that at the end of each year there are more people in a society that can do the thing you think is important than at the start. Many of the technicians in our apprentice scheme say that their ambition is to work for themselves and use the skills they've learned to take control of their own future. The result is that the skills that one trainer passes on are reaching deep into society.
This takes time and obviously it can be more challenging than simply bringing in ready-made experts. But it must be the goal of all organisations, whatever their size or how urgent the problem.
People are at the heart of any organisation. They are probably the biggest factor in whether it is a success or not. It makes sense to make sure that your biggest resource is going to have the biggest impact.
Matthew Hann is communications manager for Riders for Health. Follow @ridersforhealth on Twitter
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