One of my pet peeves is badly visualized or explained data. I’ve read evaluation reports where it literally felt like the person just randomly pushed graph command buttons over Excel data tables and where the explanatory text was totally unyoked from the data display. I’ve furrowed my brow and wasted time trying to comprehend the […]
More Recent Posts
Generation X and Volunteerism – nuancing the “hero” status
A couple of days ago I published a graph showing that Gen Xers have increased their rates of volunteerism over the past 5-6 years, while the rates of the Baby Boomers and Millennials decreased. (See full post here.) Being that I am smack in the middle of the Gen X birth range, this was a […]
Volunteerism and Employment: the surprising relationship
Volunteerism: it’s not a function of spare time! We know that people volunteer when they have both the heart for it and the resources for it, but which resource is more important, time or money? I would have thought that time would be the critical resource. This feels like the case for me anyway – the […]
El primer Principio de Desarrollo Internacional Basado en la Comunidad
A pedido voy a publicar de nuevo el articulo Staying for Tea (Quedándose para el Té) como una serie de entradas de blog en seis partes. El artículo fue publicado originalmente en una revista llamada The Global Citizen (El Ciudadano Global). Mientras publico cada sección, las siguientes ligas se activarán: [1:Quedarse para el Té] [2:Importa el […]
Staying for Tea: coming to you soon ¡en español!
ENGLISH As I’ve been tracking the location of my subscribers, I’ve noticed a funny thing. I’ve got more readers of this blog from Cambodia, India, and Vanuatu than I do from Bolivia, Colombia, and Guatemala – places where I’ve actually lived…for like seven years! Strange, I thought, to have such extensive personal and professional networks […]
A Staying for Tea Story: India 2006
As the depth of my hypocrisy sunk in, I struggled to contain my emotions. “Tell her ‘yes, and I’ll be right back,’” I instructed my translator, as shame deepened the red of my sun-baked ears. Turning to my small entourage of colleagues, I asked them to follow me off the woman’s property back toward the […]
Staying for Tea – Conclusion
We should not be paralyzed by the fear of committing errors, but we should be self-conscious and think critically about how we go about serving others. This is the final post of a 6-part series republishing the original Staying for Tea article from The Global Citizen journal (2005). You can link to the other posts in this series here: [1: Stay for Tea] [2: […]
Do INGOs pay a globalization penalty?
I came across this graphic this morning in the latest issue of the McKinsey Quarterly and wondered how it might relate to INGOs. (read full article here) I’ve worked for half a dozen INGOs and recognize some of the pain points noted here, in particular the creeping complexity and culture clashes […]
The Fifth Principle of Community-Based International Development
Since you don’t have the power to steer a community, don’t pretend you’re at the helm. Since people with self-respect resist arrogant generosity, make sure to operate at eye-level. Since, unlike us, God does have the power to transform a community, we should be interceding passionately on its behalf. This is the fifth post of […]
Participation Ladders 101
In my last post ‘Fa•ci•pu•la•tion‘, I shared a table from Robert Chambers, which is essentially a participation ladder with multiple dimensions. The good thing about ladders is that they are simple and easy to get. But, the reason I choose to share the table rather than a ladder is that the latter (pun intended) can […]
Staying for Tea
by Aaron Ausland
