A blog comes in handy at times, like when Nora Schenkel's piece in the New York Times yesterday was not open for comments. "I Came to Haiti to Do Good..." is one of those pieces that elicits mixed feelings for me as I just came from Haiti just last week.…

Financial mismanagement. Lay-offs of local and international staff. Inappropriate conduct by leadership. Finally, a visit planned from headquarters to see what’s going on. What do you do?

A superior continues to make passes at you. You find out you’re paid less than someone doing your exact same job. Someone takes undue credit for work you did.

The rules don’t…

No matter how self-aware we are when we come into international aid, philanthropy, or social enterprise, most people, especially in the beginning, operate from a worldview in which change in poor people’s lives is possible with our help.

As I've written before, the jury is still out on this in my mind.

In my career, I have…

As part of a photography project on humanitarianism, you're invited to ask a question that will be considered for publication. Here is how it starts:

If someone from your country goes abroad for months or years in order to help others, what would you like to know about…

A new blog has been started and it is for YOU. It is a blog focused on women working in aid and development. The topics that can be discussed are a bit of a free for all. 

Check it out here: http://womenworkinginaidanddevelopment.wordpress.com/

And please DO get in touch if you fancy writing something on a topic of your choice. There is so much to be discussed - let's start the discussions! 

Dear aid worker,

How can you contribute to aid effectiveness while also enjoying yourself?

Here you have some ineffective options...

$10 = two fairtrade venti lattes from Starbucks

$10 = a ticket to watch an "awareness raising" film about violation of human rights, starred by George Clooney

$10 = 1/4 of a pair of TOMS Shoes

$10 = 1/10th of a goat from a HRI Affiliate gift catalogue

$10 = 2.5 beers at the expat…

We grew up with western thinking and evaluating, and this shapes us so strong that we can only think, see and evaluate in this way. But everything can be seen also completely differently, and there is a large variety of different ways of seeing in our world. Thus life in many other countries means somewhat completely different than for us, and accordingly the naturally felt rights are also different.…

There is, caused by the economic globalization, the effort to make everything everywhere alike, in the name of simplification for travelers and for the propagation of the economy, as well as power. This helps the companies to develop everywhere the same consumer interests.…

Our Kickstarter is live so if you'd like to help support getting this published please click here: Chasing Misery's Kickstarter. Also, if you're considering submitting an essay for selection in the publication please remember that tomorrow (30 March) is the deadline and more details are here.

What happens when “innovation” is valued to the detriment of basic services? I demonstrate how an emphasis on innovation and advocacy have sidelined basic rehabilitation services in improving the lives of those with disabilities, and argue that we need to pay more attention to what works, and less to what is sexy.

Check out my non-sexy post over at WhyDev.

Before we work for development, we should ask ourselves where the development should lead to, where does our own development leads to, where does the traditional development of the other country leads to, and which values has their development different to ours?

People from other cultures have completely…

In my other online life...

Humanitarian Fiction Challenge: Spy Thriller

The ultimate in humanitarian romance having …

Calling all women photographers...amateur or otherwise. We're looking for 10 photographs to be published the book: Chasing Misery which is an anthology of essays by women in aid work. Essay submissions are due 30 March and we're just putting the broad call out for photograph submissions as well. If you have a picture that was taken during a humanitarian response in the last 10 years that you think is brilliant please submit it to: kelseyhoppe@inkampala.com by Mar 30 - (under 5MB for the…

Calling all women photographers...amateur or otherwise. We're looking for 10 photographs to be published the book: Chasing Misery which is an anthology of essays by women in aid work. Essay submissions are due 30 March and we're just putting the broad call out for photograph submissions as well. If you have a picture that was taken during a humanitarian response in the last 10 years that you think is brilliant please submit it to: kelseyhoppe@inkampala.com by Mar 30 - (under 5MB for the…

In my latest blog post on WhyDev, I managed to stir up a hornet's nest and 46 comments from both sides of the debate. I argue that humblebragging, selfies and strategic sunset/cocktail/laptop/feet up pics are not a great look for aid workers, because, apart from looking a bit ridiculous, excessive broadcasting portrays the work that we do poorly.

There was a strong reaction to this post, some for and…

Attention all writers/aspiring writers on the subject of humanitarian aid. We're looking for women who have worked in a humanitarian response in the past 10 years who would like to submit an essay for an upcoming anthology collecting views and experiences. Visit: http://www.chasingmisery.blogspot.com/ for all guidelines.

As the title suggests, I'm curious to know whether there are organisations that provide funding for individuals to work as technical advisors, or capacity builders (buzzword alert) for grassroots organisations. I have had the pleasure of working in this position for a disability organisation in Cambodia, but after May this year, funding has run out.

There are lots of volunteer schemes funded by AusAID that do exactly this,…