These photos were published a couple of months ago, but I just ran into them today.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/03/planet_slum?page=0,4

A Norwegian photojournalist spent six weeks living in the slums of Nairobi, Caracas, and Jakarta.

He took panoramic photographs of the homes that he saw there.

I found them extremely moving, in an unexpected way. This is not the usual set of poverty pity tragic pictures.

That element is there – what do you say about the family in Jakarta living in a house you can’t stand up in?

But what struck me was just how homey many of these slum dwellings are.

No matter how small or desperate the structure was, people were doing their best to make it a home.

The pictures feature decorations, family photos – efforts to make the spaces personal and welcoming.

It was a strong reminder of just how similar we humans are at our core.

It was also a strong reminder that no matter how poor a person might be, you can never say they have nothing.

Bad development work is based on the idea that poor people have nothing. Something is better than nothing, right? So anything you give these poor people will be better than what they had before. Even if it’s your old clothes, technology they can’t use, or a school building with no teacher.

But poor people don’t have nothing. They have families, friends – social ties. They have responsibilities. They have possessions, however meager. They have lives, no matter what those lives look like to Westerners.

The “it’s better than nothing” argument is meaningless. No one is starting from nothing. If you find yourself saying, “our program/charity/intervention is better than nothing” that’s more than just damning faint praise, it’s a sign that you have a problem.

Good development work is based on the idea of more. Identify what people have already, and what they value. Work with them to figure out how they can get more of that. More education, or more money, or more food. More control over their lives. Whatever it is, the focus should be on getting more of what they need - not some of whatever we can find.

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Chosen because the look in this girl’s eyes and her carefully tied scarf prove my point.

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