My classroom at the school is known as the UNICEF classroom because UNICEF paid for it to be equipped with a TV and DVD player plus a first aid kit and a few pieces of exercise equipment and UNICEF propaganda. And periodically, I’m told, UNICEF comes to check on the room. Now, my room doesn’t have electricity running to the outlets, which renders the TV and DVD player useless. The sports equipment consists of a pair of 5lb. dumbbells, a flat basketball and flat volleyball, and a pump with two broken needles. The first aid kit has some bandages.
About a month or two ago, I came to my club only to be told that there were people from the UN coming to visit. My assumption was that they would sit in on my club and see just how the room is being utilized. However, when they came escorted by the director of the school, a teacher, and a handpicked student, I quickly came to see that they were going to sit in my room and have a meeting, regardless of the fact that my club was scheduled for that time. Now, the UNICEF room is not used at any other time of the day, so they easily could have scheduled the meeting for earlier or later, but they didn’t. And no one thought to tell me ahead of time so I could make other arrangements for my club. For a while I sat in the room and listened as the meeting took place. I was introduced as a Peace Corps volunteer who uses the room and then quickly forgotten as the student went into an obviously memorized welcome in English and the school director proceeded to lie to their faces about how the school adhered to UNICEF policy. How the school was eradicating discrimination between genders. How the school has a suggestion box that kids can use. One of my club kids had come and was sitting next to me while this was going on and we just exchanged knowing looks, as if to say to one another “can you believe this bullshit?”
I expected someone from the UN to turn to me and ask me about my clubs and what I saw going on at the school. I expected them to actually investigate, not just come to a horse and pony show and go merrily on their way. (I can say that the one good thing about these events is it gave me the opportunity to teach my kids the phrase ‘horse and pony show.’) Eventually I moved my students to my counterpart’s room and taught them there, still fully expecting someone from the UN would be curious enough to seek me out. No one came. Shame on the UN.
I vented my frustration to my boyfriend online and he said that’s what the UN is like. They don’t care about anything except being able to say they’ve gotten results whether they have or not. So they do a quick meeting and take the director at her word and go home. I asked “isn’t there anyone who’s not corrupt?” He responded “you,” which was really sweet but actually spoke to a greater truth. I don’t have much faith in my organization, but I do have faith in the individual volunteers working here. It is not organizations that will change the world, but individuals.