The power of blue eyes.

Is one woman really any more beautiful than the other?? (photo source: http://www.redbubble.net, the meanest Indian)

Its funny how at any given time, you might perceive yourself a certain way that is completely different from the way other people think. People who are fairer and more caucasian-looking have far more power than a native does in their own countries, particularly in the developing world. I wish caucasians would understand this, and respect and use this power more responsibly, particularly when they visit the developing world. 

I have been in multiple situations (I am darker skinned and have dark eyes), where a blue-eyed blonde-haired person has walked into a situation  advocating the same thing I have and they are much more likely to get a response than I am.  I don't angry about it, but I do get frustrated when caucasians behave irresponsibly (which happens a lot).

On a personal level, I'm often struck by how beauty is so differently perceived by the women I'm around while in the field. Many of the women I've come across in the developing world are strikingly beautiful; partially because they just are physically beautiful, but more so because the hard work and years have built character, wisdom, and strength into their forms such that it really can overwhelm you. When I tell them this, they scoff. Often they have ideas like..." I wish I had blue eyes" or 'white skin" or "fewer lines on my face" or some such thing.

Recently, I saw this video of Toni Morrison reflecting on her outstanding book The Bluest Eye, that largely centers around the life of a negro child growing up in the middle of the US who desperately wants blue eyes. Somehow, this video captured the essence of what I feel everytime I speak to a beautiful poor woman in the developing world.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is COOL!

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a young Pakistani journalist determined to tell the stories that no one else will (photo source: The Guardian)

Among my cool new finds are documentaries made by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Sharmeen is just COOL, because she has guts and tells stories that we all need to hear. (In fact Sharmeen, if you are reading this, I would really like to be your friend!). Her main subjects generally revolve around women and children in different Asian and South Asian contexts, the underground abortion industry in the Philippines, gang violence in Indonesia, child suicide bombers in Pakistan, women's lives under the Taliban, Islamic issues, and more.

A few days ago, I watched her excellent report titled "Children of the Taliban" and was blown away. Here, VOA does a profile of the film:




Here is an interview with her:

Links I liked

1. Anita and the secret lives of her bees

2. A straw house passes major earthquake tests.

3. The future of water technology is in the nano!

4. The story of two innovative women and their way out of poverty.

5. B-school graduates are finally learning to do something with their degrees.

Garden Tutors, poop for food, cruelty and poverty

I wanted to put these in "Links I liked" but had a short commentary to add with each one. So I made a separate post of them all.

1. PSFK put up this great post about Garden Tutors. It got me thinking about what if we gave more educated farming tutorials to farmers in India and other parts of the world, to both start kitchen gardens of their own (so that they have something to eat during the year that is nutritious), as well as to teach them better farming techniques to survive the drought and pests. "Agricultural Tutors" of sorts.

I just loved this Garden Tutors program and how people are signing up madly. I'm a bit of an amateur gardener and I think working with the earth really makes you want to protect and take care of it better.


2. This post from Wronging Rights, downright cracked me up. When nuts rule the world, this is the kind of nonsense we can expect.


3. I found this post from the PSD Blog about the differences in the way women and men are approached in terms of entrepreneurship to be fascinating. My own personal view from my fieldwork has been that women face a myriad of pushback in terms of entrepreneurship, particularly if they are poor. Firstly their lifestyles are such that they have very little time to build a business --- between motherhood, housechores (which take a LOT of time), their job, and taking care of their demanding families (husbands and in-laws)--- the playing field is not even. Women who often speak of starting a business get shot down quickly by their families, by their communities and of course by banking institutions (though micro-credit is changing this a little bit).

4. Alanna Shaikh in Blood and Milk, muses about whether poverty causes cruelty or inequality?? I had to really pause and think about this. I have to disagree with both of these. I know plenty of people who have been extremely poor, harboring the several injustices and inequalities that are unpardonable, and I've never seen them be cruel. Cruelty comes from a lack of morals, and human weakness or greed. Cruelty happens irrespective of socio-economic circumstances, religions, castes or cultures. And in this case, i had to ask for a definition of cruelty. It seemed so unfair to label someone as "cruel" who had unknowingly given his child up as a servant (and she had ended up as a prostitute instead). This is one of those hard questions to answer.

Links I liked

1. Married for 50 years. A photoessay of love. Who would've thought that in this day and age, marriages like this still exist!

2. Top 10 Reflections of a First-Time TEDster. If you want to know why people spend $6000 for a 4-day ticket to this conference, some every year, then read the post!

3. How to solve our the US Credit Crisis. This cracked me up, but is also SO totally true!

4. Ten most bizarre soft drinks (I would assume that they are all being consumed, else they wouldn't be sold now, would they!). Warning: high queaziness factor here!

5. Bearing children is not always a woman's choice. More of the world needs to understand this.

6. What the hell is going on with the Ivory Coast?? Can reporters get it right already!!

Links I liked

Here are my favorite links from the week:

1. They are digitizing the soils across Africa which I thought was absolutely fascinating, and a project with tremendous potential for agro-development. Truly gargantuan, but important!

2. The Places We Live is a really well-done site (accompanies the book) about slum life around the world. Read/view and be moved!

3. Ranking Rich Countries in the World and their giving. This was pre-Obama, remember!

4. The Destiny of Girls, an article in the Washington Post about the inequality of women in India.

5. Solvatten has been making waves in the blogosphere. What do you think??

Interesting aid Tweets

A couple of links I liked:

1. A sweet, yet sad look at how resourceful street children carve out a life in India. I often wonder how well these kids would do if they were adopted and looked after in some circumstance. Imagine if every middle class family took on one of these kids, paid them to do chores, sponsored their education, and gave them a place to sleep and eat, what a different world India would be!

2. A has done an excellent two-part write-up on the differences between the work/impact of Relief and Development Aid agencies. It gives a fairly clear idea of the strengths and weaknesses of this process, as well as outlines holes and inefficiencies. I see good dialogue happening from this topic.

3. Another potentially great debate will be stimulated by this post about How True is your Altruism? The author muses about altruistic fatigue...do people get tired of giving? and how genuine are their feelings of giving? Do political affiliations, for example play a role?

4. Manuel Borego blogs about stimulating BoP markets in disaster areas as a means to Relief. I think its easier said than done. BoPs are the first hit in disaster zones; they worry first about survival, and coping with the tragedies in their lives. Stimulating a market that has had its coping mechanisms ripped apart takes time and dedication, which relief organizations don't foray into. Essentially, great idea...but not so practical.

5. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) has put out a great report on Women and Entrepreneurship. Turns out that women entrepreneurs significantly contribute to economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also says that women with strong social networks are more successful...this is not surprising considering that word-of-mouth plays a significant role in market consumption. Finally, all those neighborly housecalls and gossip have paid off well :-)