Welcome to InSTEDD's Community Perspectives

Welcome to InSTEDD. I am really glad you are here and interested in our mission to enhance global disease and disaster response with technology tools. In addition to managing some of the projects, my particular focus is to ensure that diverse and grassroots voices are an important part of our work, from informing the tools we refine to the way technology is shared. My background is in international politics and social work, so I come with a geopolitical perspective and a deep appreciation for how power dynamics, culture and class can complicate working with people internationally. I really care about making a difference and would love to hear your experiences on successes you have had.

We are going to Cambodia at the end of January to continue our assessment process for our Mekong Collaboration Program. Most of my personal contacts are in Africa, so if you know of great community groups or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Cambodia you would recommend, please let me know.

My own approach is greatly informed by my time working in a Rwandan refugee camp after the genocide with the unaccompanied minors program. Instead of coming in with our 'outsider' answers, we looked at what the Rwandans were already doing (taking in stranger's children) and supported that effort. On the other side of Rwanda (Zaire, now Congo), international media attention on the children inspired many groups to set up orphanages which encouraged families to drop off their own children so they could get more food. There were other differences between the two regions, but the two differing approaches had profoundly different outcomes. In our camp, we had 5,000 children in foster care and 20 in a care center, and in Zaire they had 10,000 children in orphanages/care centers. After that experience, I begin any cross-cultural work or community work by seeking to understand what people are naturally doing and supporting those efforts.

What experiences have shaped your own view of working internationally?

Bye for now. I will be writing weekly so check back or email me at marcus@instedd.org.

Sincerely, Mary Jane