Why Enter International Development?
As a student attempting to enter the field of international development, I have begun to dread new introductions. I graduated in May from a tiny liberal arts college in Virginia with a degree in English and Creative Writing. In the fall, I will enter graduate school for a degree that will hopefully yield a salary that is enough to live on, and maybe, if I am very lucky, the chance to work in a developing country. At a time in my life when I am reciting these plans to many people – family, new and old friends, roommates – I find myself the subject of many politely interested nods. Last week, catching up over iced coffee with a friend deciding between Wall Street and law school, I mentioned my plan to work in developing countries, specifically on post-conflict education work. She looked at me and said, not unkindly, with a laugh, “I would be so out of there.”
There are times when I take a hard look at my chosen career path and think the same thing. During these times, I have to remind myself why I am interested in a field whose job opportunities are heavily dependent on the whims of politicians and the ever-changing size of American wallets and hearts. Like many people, my interest started with a desire to travel. When I was 17, I spent a month in Thailand through a company that ran trips for high school students willing to spend a year saving and planning for a trip to a developing country. Trekking, community service and sightseeing were all on the agenda. For the community service portion of the trip, we worked at an orphanage near the Burmese border in the northwest, in an area called Sangkhlaburi. The place was small, run by an American man and a Thai woman and at the time, hosted about seven to 10 children at any time, some of whom were Burmese refugees and others with parents involved in Thailand’s notorious sex industry. The girls were at high risk for sex trafficking and HIV.
We built a small room to expand the place and allow for arts and crafts activities, using the environmentally sound practice of mixing mud and straw and placing gobs of the mixture on a bamboo frame. We worked after breakfast every day until the monsoon rains arrived by late afternoon, but we had time to play with the kids at meals and after dinner. One boy, a Burmese refugee named Mao-Mao, caught everyone’s attention immediately. He was outspoken and smart, fluent in Burmese, Thai and English, and loved playing with us. Because of poor record-keeping in Burma and the general insignificance of birthdays in Burmese and Thai culture, we were never sure of his age, but we guessed he was about 5. One day, he was riding on my back and pointed me over to a small world map where he insisted that I point out where we were. Though I got the impression that he knew where Thailand was, I traced the province where we were anyway, and he asked me to point out where I was. As I pointed to Massachusetts, the reality of our respective trajectories suddenly hit me. A year from then, I would be in college. Lacking a state identity, Mao-Mao would be unable to even travel outside of his province for fear of deportation or imprisonment.
This sense of fundamental unfairness encouraged an interest in development in college. But I later came to view that orphanage in Thailand as a kind of microcosm for the multifaceted nature of development. We were introduced not just to the human side, but to the broad topics that development practitioners wrestle with on a daily basis, problems that involve government, health, education and the environment. I began to realize how interconnected these issues were, and how good, sustainable, development requires an approach grounded in many different skill sets. Development can require the entrepreneurial drive of a Wall Street broker, the mediation skills of a lawyer, the hand of a doctor, the guidance of an educator. When we practice development, we get to do it all. A perception of injustice may have encouraged my interest in development, but a bleeding heart was not enough to define my career choices. To me, a career in development means that I have the chance to build skills in a variety of fields and sectors and apply them hands-on, in an environment that is constantly changing and evolving. And really, what else could I ask for?
