undertake the work, but the means to accomplish it were blocked by bureaucratic red tape and skepticism. As a result, the needs of children from the community remained unattended to, and the action plans sat on shelves collecting dust. During my internship, one of the things that became
apparent to me was that small community organizations often find themselves in this sort of dilemma. In order to secure funding, an organization has to have the right connections and proven experience. At the same time, in order for the organization to prove itself, it must have access to funds. It is a dilemma that inhibits their effectiveness, both in terms of achieving their objectives and of meeting the needs and demands of their communities. While these organizations find themselves in a
difficult position, there must be ways forward for them, because they remain a valuable piece of the development puzzle. Why? Individuals and smaller
Within development circles, certain terms and
ideas that hold real potential have buzzed around. With each passing generation, terms such as ‘community development’, ‘grassroots development’, ‘empowerment’, and ‘capacity-building’ have passed through the revolving door. Though these terms have noble intentions, the actualization of them seems to be lacking in many ways. Do these terms lose their meaning over the course of time, or are they simply neglected in favor of newer ones? In other words, why is it that there tends to be theoretical support for small NGO involvement in the development process, but putting this theory into action becomes problematic? This gap needs to be addressed. One of the ways to make this happen is to acknowledge the fundamental role of these small organizations and to bring them into the development fold. To do this we must recognize what is inhibiting their involvement.
Ghana, like elsewhere in the developing world, has a large and growing number of NGOs, each striving to contribute to their local communities as part of a national development project. A negative outcome of this growth has been the appearance of a few fraudulent organizations, which have made it harder for genuine NGOs to secure much- needed assistance. Tragically, the actions of a few individuals have resulted in the general mistrust of many small, up- and-coming organizations. The director of the organization for which I worked pointed to this as a reason for his difficulty in securing funding. In this classic case of one bad apple spoiling the bunch, there needs to be a
Small NGOs service their communities. Photo: Jia Lu
organizations who have dedicated themselves to the service of their communities have better knowledge of their surroundings. Members of local NGOs live in these spaces, regularly communicate and interact with members of their community and are more aware of their issues and concerns than any expert or government agency could be.
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remedy, a system of identifying legitimate organizations that do
real work in their communities. I want to be clear that the issue at hand is not
an overabundance of NGOs in developing nations − growth was bound to happen as more and more groups participate in determining the futures of their communities, and rightfully so. This phenomenon should be seen as a positive outcome of the
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