wasn’t offered to them? Who are we, I wondered, to construct universal human rights doctrines that are, even at face value, Westernized and individualized conceptualizations, and deliver them as gifts to ‘the deserving’? Could introducing our ideas of ‘education for all’


be parallel to imposing our own form of democracy, through force, on a country such as Iraq? I began to fear this was the case, yet I still held on to more idealized notions of development work. Could there still be value in these actions? My dilemma hinged on the following questions: Can those who might not understand the paths of the marginalized still endeavor to listen and bring voice and positive action to places that deserve it? Might there be core elements of a shared human condition, and a conceptualization of justice, that crosses physical and cultural boundaries? Four years out of my graduate studies,


I am still working on education-related humanitarian initiatives. Why am I still on this path? I still confront the dichotomies that complicate this type of work every day, but I have decided that a combination of good intentions and a relatively well-informed, critical mind can do well by others. I ask myself and my colleagues hard


questions. When conducting research on new models for alternative education programs for crisis-affected youth, for example, I ask myself what I do not know and what I can learn from the intended beneficiaries and my in- country colleagues who have spent their lives in the areas of focus. I listen. I do my best to express what I think I understand. And I test that understanding constantly. When I consider what some argue are the ‘negative’


impacts of the Education for All* initiative, I also consider the opportunities it has opened up. On a recent trip to refugee camps in northern Ethiopia, I interviewed nearly 60 children and their parents to understand what their goals were in relation to formal education. I used open-ended questions so as not to presuppose their answers. I heard an overwhelming interest in early literacy, both in their mother tongues and in English. Part of me is concerned with the effects of English instruction on local language and culture. However, the part of me that accepts the importance of self-determination also accepts the right of people to advance themselves, however they choose.


Photo: Jia Lu


there may be certain inalienable rights to which we all, regardless of our cultural construct, can and will subscribe. In a world in which global economic and political forces impose their will on the developing world, can another force, armed with hope, medical supplies and curricular resources, not serve as an effective counterbalance? I would say that I have found a certain peace.


Every day, I actively listen, think, criticize, analyze and accept. I endeavor to live and work with active and actualized respect.


*Education for All is a global movement led by


UNESCO, aiming to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults.


Jen Steele is a staff consultant with the International


Rescue Committee, working within its Child and Youth Protection and Development team on education sector initiatives.


iAM March 2011 35


I still cannot ignore the fact that the same theory


of modernization drives not only international development but humanitarian response as well. It is largely Western and focused on the rights of the individual. We prioritize per capita stability in the form of set and often Westernized standards: the number of litres of clean water per day to which a displaced person should have access, the number of kilometers between a displaced child’s home and his/her place of schooling, the type of psycho-social care a victim of gender-based violence should be provided with. But perhaps it is acceptable to hang on to the idea that


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