Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, May 02, 2010
the Do Something conundrum
sometimes, world's collide.
lately, i have really been struggling with people who want to get involved in addressing human trafficking and want to volunteer with my organisation. often, it starts off with an unsolicited email requesting more information from me or an offer to take me for lunch or coffee to discuss how they can get involved.
let me offer a full disclosure here and say that volunteer management is not my strong suit.
if i spent time responded to each email (which i do) and sitting down with each person (which i don't), i would be spending all of my time, which is already suffering from competing priorities, explaining the same things to people and convincing them not to start another ngo, not to screen the same film that has been shown in this city 4 times in the last 6 months, and not to go busting down doors and conducting their own investigations.
i believe that i have sorted this dilemma by asking volunteers to organisation a volunteer information session where i will cover all of these things in a group setting and figure out what people can offer our organisation and how we can best use their skills and passion. but what is interesting is that i feel as i am struggling with an issue that is being felt across the development sector board.
case in point:
i recently commented on a development-focused blog, Tales From the Hood, about why someone who calls themself an Aid Worker must defend and define that to other people and yet we all accept someone's answer of Doctor when asked, what do you do? and i know that the whole concept of Aid Worker is a misunderstood and misrepresented one, but the jist of the original post seems to link well to what i have been struggling with lately. in a nutshell, some american dude had an idea to collect 1 million t shirts in the states and distribute them to africans. this is a bad idea. i won't go into the details of why this is a bad idea here, but you can browse through the blogs i have listed on this page for a lot more information on why this is a Bad Idea.
the linkage is this: why is it that simply because someone wants to do a good thing do they seem to feel as they have a right to? i am the first to admit, i don't know the answer to this question.
but the people who want to Do Something sometimes feel that just wanting to do that something is enough to justify their actions. and sometimes, wonderful and innovative ideas can come from this, but often, bad ideas are pushed forwarded and supported simply because isn't it great that so-and-so is doing something!
what i find interesting about all of this is that people who come to me wanting to get involved locally (which i sincerely think is great) on trafficking-related issues and how do you harness that enthusiasm and energy to make their doing something into doing something meaningful and worthwhile?
i am still working through this and luckily, i have some experienced people around me to bounce ideas off and to support me to think of creative solutions to this dilemma, but i think at its root, it is the same challenge felt when bad development ideas are supported and implemented simply because someone feels they have the right to Do Something.
and maybe they do?
lately, i have really been struggling with people who want to get involved in addressing human trafficking and want to volunteer with my organisation. often, it starts off with an unsolicited email requesting more information from me or an offer to take me for lunch or coffee to discuss how they can get involved.
let me offer a full disclosure here and say that volunteer management is not my strong suit.
if i spent time responded to each email (which i do) and sitting down with each person (which i don't), i would be spending all of my time, which is already suffering from competing priorities, explaining the same things to people and convincing them not to start another ngo, not to screen the same film that has been shown in this city 4 times in the last 6 months, and not to go busting down doors and conducting their own investigations.
i believe that i have sorted this dilemma by asking volunteers to organisation a volunteer information session where i will cover all of these things in a group setting and figure out what people can offer our organisation and how we can best use their skills and passion. but what is interesting is that i feel as i am struggling with an issue that is being felt across the development sector board.
case in point:
i recently commented on a development-focused blog, Tales From the Hood, about why someone who calls themself an Aid Worker must defend and define that to other people and yet we all accept someone's answer of Doctor when asked, what do you do? and i know that the whole concept of Aid Worker is a misunderstood and misrepresented one, but the jist of the original post seems to link well to what i have been struggling with lately. in a nutshell, some american dude had an idea to collect 1 million t shirts in the states and distribute them to africans. this is a bad idea. i won't go into the details of why this is a bad idea here, but you can browse through the blogs i have listed on this page for a lot more information on why this is a Bad Idea.
the linkage is this: why is it that simply because someone wants to do a good thing do they seem to feel as they have a right to? i am the first to admit, i don't know the answer to this question.
but the people who want to Do Something sometimes feel that just wanting to do that something is enough to justify their actions. and sometimes, wonderful and innovative ideas can come from this, but often, bad ideas are pushed forwarded and supported simply because isn't it great that so-and-so is doing something!
what i find interesting about all of this is that people who come to me wanting to get involved locally (which i sincerely think is great) on trafficking-related issues and how do you harness that enthusiasm and energy to make their doing something into doing something meaningful and worthwhile?
i am still working through this and luckily, i have some experienced people around me to bounce ideas off and to support me to think of creative solutions to this dilemma, but i think at its root, it is the same challenge felt when bad development ideas are supported and implemented simply because someone feels they have the right to Do Something.
and maybe they do?
Thursday, March 29, 2007
privatisation of a public good
Now on tap at upscale restaurants – tap water
MICHELLE LOCKE
Associated Press
BERKELEY, CALIF. — Bye-bye bottled water. Hello eau de tap. A new trend is in the pipeline, with some upscale restaurants ditching packaged H2O in the name of conservation.
The bottled water backlash, which recently spread to the venerable Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, is spurred by environmental concerns over the energy used in transportation as well as the disposal of all those containers.
“We just decided this was something we had to do,” said Mike Kossa-Rienzi, general manager of Chez Panisse, where owner Alice Waters has pioneered the eat local, eat fresh concept. “It just makes sense to us to not have to use all the energy and resources to bottle water in Italy and then truck it to our restaurant and then after that deal with the recycling of it.”
Chez Panisse stopped serving bottled non-sparkling water last year and expects to stop serving bottled carbonated water in a few weeks, just as soon as the restaurant's new carbonator is installed, said Mr. Kossa-Rienzi, who visited a San Francisco restaurant, Incanto, to see how it made the switch some years ago.
Across the San Francisco Bay at Poggio in Sausalito, Larry Mindel has been serving filtered tap water — he has a machine that filters and carbonates — since the restaurant opened in 2003.
Environmental concerns are one factor. Another is price. Even though he could charge diners double or triple what he pays for water, he said it gives him a “stab” to pay so much — or charge others — for something that falls from the sky.
“Haven't you gone to a restaurant and they just expect you to order two or three bottles of water and it's $27 by the time you're done?” he said. “I just thought that from a consumer's point of view that they were getting shortchanged.”
While lots of restaurants serve tap water, the trend of upscale places going exclusively to tap appears to be new, said Gigi Kellett, associate campaigns director for Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based group that is campaigning against bottled water as privatizing a public resource.
Not surprisingly, the notion of giving up the bottle fizzled with the International Bottled Water Association, based in Alexandria, Va. Spokesman Stephen Kay argued the switch wouldn't have that big of a conservation impact and restricts customer choices.
On the other hand, Susan Leal, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, said the switch will let city water shine.
“They're taking a step against the, I believe, deception that's going on out there, which is that somehow bottled water is superior to tap water,” Ms. Leal said.
Switching to municipal water can put a damper on profits since there's a healthy markup on bottled water — no sommelier savvy required.
Back when he banned the bottle, Mr. Mindel recalls other restaurateurs raised their eyebrows and asked if he knew what he was doing. In fact, said Mr. Mindel, he did.
“It's not like we've got bad water here. Our water's terrific,” Mr. Mindel said. “I don't think we've had one single person that's said, ‘Oh, can't you bring me Perrier?'”
Customer Joan Nitis certainly endorsed the no-bottle approach Wednesday as she lunched at Poggio with Anita Pira.
“I love that,” she said. “Usually I don't have water in a restaurant, but here I do. It's just refreshing.”
Ms. Pira appreciated not having to pay extra for water.
“We can buy more wine,” she said with a smile.
i really hope that drinking tap water becomes fashionable because bottled water in canada, the us, and europe has really bugged me for some time. if you have clean drinking water coming out of your tap, then drink it. paying for it to be processed, bottled, and delivered is just silly, not to mention wasteful. if you can drink water coming out of your tap then it means that you are living in a wealthy country and there are so many millions of people who are dying because they cannot.
MICHELLE LOCKE
Associated Press
BERKELEY, CALIF. — Bye-bye bottled water. Hello eau de tap. A new trend is in the pipeline, with some upscale restaurants ditching packaged H2O in the name of conservation.
The bottled water backlash, which recently spread to the venerable Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, is spurred by environmental concerns over the energy used in transportation as well as the disposal of all those containers.
“We just decided this was something we had to do,” said Mike Kossa-Rienzi, general manager of Chez Panisse, where owner Alice Waters has pioneered the eat local, eat fresh concept. “It just makes sense to us to not have to use all the energy and resources to bottle water in Italy and then truck it to our restaurant and then after that deal with the recycling of it.”
Chez Panisse stopped serving bottled non-sparkling water last year and expects to stop serving bottled carbonated water in a few weeks, just as soon as the restaurant's new carbonator is installed, said Mr. Kossa-Rienzi, who visited a San Francisco restaurant, Incanto, to see how it made the switch some years ago.
Across the San Francisco Bay at Poggio in Sausalito, Larry Mindel has been serving filtered tap water — he has a machine that filters and carbonates — since the restaurant opened in 2003.
Environmental concerns are one factor. Another is price. Even though he could charge diners double or triple what he pays for water, he said it gives him a “stab” to pay so much — or charge others — for something that falls from the sky.
“Haven't you gone to a restaurant and they just expect you to order two or three bottles of water and it's $27 by the time you're done?” he said. “I just thought that from a consumer's point of view that they were getting shortchanged.”
While lots of restaurants serve tap water, the trend of upscale places going exclusively to tap appears to be new, said Gigi Kellett, associate campaigns director for Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based group that is campaigning against bottled water as privatizing a public resource.
Not surprisingly, the notion of giving up the bottle fizzled with the International Bottled Water Association, based in Alexandria, Va. Spokesman Stephen Kay argued the switch wouldn't have that big of a conservation impact and restricts customer choices.
On the other hand, Susan Leal, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, said the switch will let city water shine.
“They're taking a step against the, I believe, deception that's going on out there, which is that somehow bottled water is superior to tap water,” Ms. Leal said.
Switching to municipal water can put a damper on profits since there's a healthy markup on bottled water — no sommelier savvy required.
Back when he banned the bottle, Mr. Mindel recalls other restaurateurs raised their eyebrows and asked if he knew what he was doing. In fact, said Mr. Mindel, he did.
“It's not like we've got bad water here. Our water's terrific,” Mr. Mindel said. “I don't think we've had one single person that's said, ‘Oh, can't you bring me Perrier?'”
Customer Joan Nitis certainly endorsed the no-bottle approach Wednesday as she lunched at Poggio with Anita Pira.
“I love that,” she said. “Usually I don't have water in a restaurant, but here I do. It's just refreshing.”
Ms. Pira appreciated not having to pay extra for water.
“We can buy more wine,” she said with a smile.
i really hope that drinking tap water becomes fashionable because bottled water in canada, the us, and europe has really bugged me for some time. if you have clean drinking water coming out of your tap, then drink it. paying for it to be processed, bottled, and delivered is just silly, not to mention wasteful. if you can drink water coming out of your tap then it means that you are living in a wealthy country and there are so many millions of people who are dying because they cannot.
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