For anyone looking to make a difference in the world, some good questions for introspection:
- What is a good life?
- How do I teach people to fish?
- How can I explain difficult concepts to “uneducated” people?
- How can I serve as a “voice for the voiceless”?
- How do I build rapport with people who are vastly different from me?
- Is throwing back “just one starfish” enough?
- How can I sell the difference between “charity” and “empowerment”?
- How long does it take to “make a difference”?
- Isn’t it good enough as long as I’m doing something to “make a difference”?
- What’s the difference between doing “for” or doing “with” the people I want to help?
- How do I know if there are people already working on the issues/areas in which I’m interested?
- How do I learn how people approach their own problems?
- How can I focus on what resources people do have, rather than what they don’t have?
- How do I help unleash community action and get behind people’s existing efforts to help themselves?
- What do I do when things aren’t going my way? (which they sometimes won’t)
- How do I get feedback from the people I want to help?
- What does it mean to “walk boldly” and “fail proudly”?
- With so much information at our fingertips, how do I stay open to what I don’t or can’t know?
- Do I romanticize poverty?
- How do I identify and challenge my own assumptions about people in need?
- How can I best portray Africa when people have so many pre-conceived notions? (HINT: It’s not a country.)
- How do I tell a compelling story about people in need that doesn’t simplify or stereotype?
- What constitutes “expertise”? Who has it?
- What knowledge or skills do I need to be successful in international assistance work?
- How do I know if I should start my own organization?
- How do I find a mentor?
- How can I determine if I should become an expat “aid worker”? [edit: or start-up founder, social entrepreneur, etc...]