Afghanistan, leadership & the Girl Scouts
09:38, 5 January 2009
.. Posted in Development, Relief and Advocacy Efforts.. Link
"Capacity-building" or "capacity-development" are very popular jargon among development circles. But the phrase is much more than jargon to me: I'm convinced that any aid, relief, humanitarian, development, whatever project, no matter how well-intentioned, must have a strong capacity-building component for local people. Otherwise, the project is, in the end, throwing money at a problem, and any benefits will disappear when the humanitarian workers leave.
On a very small scale, I'm doing my own little capacity-building project with a young Afghan woman I worked with in Kabul. She still at the same employer, and she's pursuing her Master's degree in her spare time. I help her with her studies and assignments as much as I can via email. She very much wants to be a leader in her country some day. I've told her that a degree isn't enough, and suggested that she start thinking about a small project she could create, either where she works now or outside of work, as a volunteer, that build her leadership skills and could demonstrate to others that she's a leader.
The idea of creating your own projects to show your leadership abilities is a VERY foreign idea for Afghanistan, for both women AND men, but particularly for women. In Afghanistan, a young person who is ambitious is sometimes looked at as presumptuous -- only old men are wise enough to lead, in the minds of most Afghans. And when a woman tries to lead, she's not only pressured by men in society; she's often mocked by other women, who may say she's being unwomanly and unIslamic. Her family may be pressured by neighbors to "reign her in." So a woman who wants to be a leader in Afghanistan has to be very careful in pursuing her dream.
Luckily, the woman I am attempting to help has the full support of her parents to pursue her dreams. I've been making suggestions for simple projects my friend could try to undertake to build her skills as a leader. And one of the best sources I've found for suggestions for her has been the Junior Girl Scout Badgebook
(2001), by the Girl Scouts of the USA. Yes, that's what I said! I know the badges are focused on 8 to 11 year-olds, but hear me out: the project ideas in this book are rarely simple or quaint. I found myself thinking that I wasn't savvy enough at 42 years old to do many of the projects the book suggests. No, my friend can't pursue the sailing badge ("Small Craft") -- and neither can I -- but other badges, with recommendations for starting your own business, launching an awareness campaign, taking action to help the environment, being a model citizen, and, ofcourse, how to be a leader -- these and others are all excellent suggestions for women and girls wanting to be leaders anywhere, even in Afghanistan. Actually, I might be trying some of these myself...
Jayne Cravens
