September 8th is the International Development Cooperation Day and we at Mundukide would like to take advantage of the day to pay tribute to the contribution of development workers.
As the Mundukide Foundation is a non-governmental organisation for development, we work with groups that live in situations of great need. And development workers are a fundamental element of our work.
On the one hand, the development worker, living on the ground and working with its inhabitants on a daily basis, helps us to better understand the situation of the place. Their needs and desires, capacities and limitations; points of view that would be difficult to assimilate without being there…
And the same goes in the other direction: the development worker also informs them of our capacities and limitations.
It must be taken into account that development cooperation brings together people and associations that live in very different situations. It is very enriching. But collaboration between those who have such different starting points is not easy. And for this to be possible, the development worker plays a vital role as a bridge.
On the other hand, the contribution of the development worker in the place must also be taken into account.
In fact, innovation and the exchange of experiences are a fundamental element in development cooperation. The cooperator does not command. He or she will not give orders or guidelines. But through them he or she can contribute new points of view, the opportunity to learn new techniques or learn about different experiences. How can things change without new points of view, knowledge and techniques? This innovation is fundamental in the processes of change that are intended to be promoted in development cooperation.
And finally, it must be stressed that being a cooperator is not an easy thing: Leaving family and friends to integrate into such a different reality is usually a great challenge. And where there is so much need, life is usually neither easy nor pleasant.
But in Mundukide, the projects that have given the best results have all had one element in common: a good cooperator.
Experience tells us that they are an essential and fundamental element in development cooperation. And for all this, we want to convey our gratitude to them.
