At the end of my four years, I will, arguably, be sufficiently educated in my field - I will have learned about the development process itself and covered a broad range of topics including the various related human and environmental issues, not to mention everything I will learn on my placement. But will this education actually give me the necessary skills, tools and knowledge to deal with problems in the world? Many of these problems are deeply rooted in decades of history and conflict, and I cannot even begin to fully comprehend them.
Learning is a continuous process; there is always more to see and discover and learn, and just when we think we have a solution, things change.
While I still consider myself a learner, the people facing these problems are more learners than I will ever be, and as such they are in a much better position to deal with their own problems. They have lived through them, learned from them, and are capable of coming up with solutions. I think people in all cultures and all walks of life around the globe have a fascinating capacity for innovation - they are more than capable of finding solutions, and their solutions within their context will likely be infinitely better than any solution we can come up with.
Many people seem to be content living how they are; who says we can go and try to help them? Do they even need help? What does "helping them" mean?
Maybe development isn't the right term for it. There is not always something wrong that needs to be "changed" or "developed", it is just perceived as being wrong because it is different from how we view things in the Western world.
A better term might be growth. This doesn't mean taking one thing and changing it for the better (or worse), but instead working with what already exists, adding expert knowledge (whether that means local knowledge and/or outside expertise), and harnessing the good qualities to shape something within its cultural context, allowing it to grow into something even better. I like to see it as we are providing avenues for this growth to occur, being catalysts for an ongoing process that is already in progress.
For me, a big issue with the notion of development is that no matter how it is done, even if it is done in a way that seems to be participatory with local people, sustainable, and non-authoritative, I still feel like it is the Western world imposing our own solutions and telling others that they need our help. Yes, they may need help, and morally I feel obliged to help others in need so they can live a decent and happy life with opportunity and free from vulnerabilities, but I know that maybe our help is not the answer. I already mentioned that I believe that everyone has the ability to innovate and come up with solutions to their own problems; perhaps we are just providing resources and support to make this process easier, faster, and more efficient.
So, while I will continue to seek ways to improve the lives of others, I am still uncertain what is the best way to go about development or growth in a larger sense.
Whatever my role, present or future, I do know that change is inevitable; it will happen with or without me being there. But hopefully I can be a catalyst of this change and use my knowledge of the past and present to incite growth and make things better and more sustainable for the future.