I am the Director of an organisation called Nuru Kenya. We, as a locally led organisation, are especially exposed to the effects of the constantly changing social, legal, economic, and political environments we operate in. We have to be vigilant to remain relevant locally, attractive to funders and politically ‘aligned’. The pressure to please donors, authorities, and community members can be overwhelming and can lead to mission creep or organisational collapse. As a leader in a locally -led organisation, I have come to value Nuru International’s role as first and foremost a committed mentor, not just as funders. These ‘mentors’ wade through the ‘mucky waters’ with us. They are genuinely interested in building our capacity to make wise decisions and not simply whether we ‘spend their money according to their plans’. This is a story of taking this journey together.
In the beginning…
When I began my career in the development field, I focused only on delivering the outputs of projects that had been planned by the funders. There was no room for change in plans. Everything was well thought out, timed, budgeted, and the expected results outlined.
I worked mechanically. I interpreted localisation to mean:
- Local organisations would defer to the rules and regulations of international organisations.
- Local organisations would implement the agenda of international organisations.
- Local organisations would need to maneuver bureaucracies and meet donor requirements.
- Local organisations had to spend down donor funding.
Be bold enough
Then I took over an expatriate-led intervention. The expats knew they would relinquish control of the intervention at some point. When we took over, we struggled to fit into their roles. We worked with the tools they left behind.
However, after a while, we realised we needed to change. The tools were not suited for us. We explored local tools and there was progress. We did not have to continue to struggle to impress them by using their methods with few results. We were bold enough to bring about change that was meaningful and impactful. It is important to provide room for the local teams and communities to design their solutions and make choices. And the local implementing teams needed to competently negotiate for space at the decision-making table.
I often heard concepts of replication and scaling of best practices, cost-effective approaches, and evidence-based interventions. I now know the story of development is different for every community. The majority of these practices began as unique ideas of a struggling community that were bold enough to take on their challenges, document their struggles, and celebrate their achievements. When funders impose these ‘best practices’ on other communities, they stifle innovation and creativity. They implement a foreigner’s success story in a clueless and disinterested community, and the community ends up disillusioned.
This blog is part of CDA’s From Where I Stand series, designed to listen to people most affected by aid as they explore and amplify their leadership experiences, stories, and lessons for the aid sector.
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