humanitarian design

Designers can contribute outside their own cultural and economic backgrounds.  I attended A Better World by Design conference and I heard a lot of different things.  That said, I’m not sure what is right, and what the best approach that a designer should make when faced with a situation involving extreme differences in culture and economy.  All the different professionals speaking and answering questions were representing different ideas and selling their passion.  Is this what you need in order to succeed? 

Wanting to contribute in solving a problem is great.  Thinking that you can solve every problem is not the right mind set.  There are so many problems in the world it is easy to feel overwhelmed.  The approach should be to hone in on a specific problem in a specific place in a specific instance, now.  I think in this way there is a focus and direction.  If the focus is broad, it is like drawing a huge circle then realizing that there are parts that are inefficient and unnecessary.  If there is a starting point then specific branching off, there is an opportunity to be able to grow into a thoughtful organic shape. 

Can you begin building without knowing if your foundation will be stable?  Time has to be spent getting to know the culture you are trying to help.  In order to understand their true needs and also to understand what you really offer as an outsider and a person who realistically can escape and be ignorant of their problem.  There also has to be an exchange of ideas through the whole project especially building projects.  People will not use or upkeep what they don’t like or feel connected to.

An example of positive interventions that have served as a case study for future projects is Gonofone by Iqbal Z. Quadir.  Though it is obvious in the result that the project is succeeding; I would like to explore a different side to designing the project.  I would like to focus on, the purpose and reasoning. 

Quadir’s idea was not to bring technology to the masses but to help build power to the people.  He is empowering the people not by charitably handing out working telephones, but by providing jobs and in turn purposely not handing the power to the government.  Quadir designed his help so that the people of the village could support themselves, and make their own decisions, and have possession and control of their situation. 

There are so many good intentions in the world they are just misguided and sometimes more hurt than good.  The US has for sixty years been putting money into programs to provide relief for refuges in underdeveloped countries.  Where is the change?  Or better yet where is the sustained change?  Just handing money to the government is not helping the country.  Why?  Quadir gave examples of developed countries that have gained power.  The similarities are that as the power of the people became stronger the governing powers decreased. 

Knowing what you are contributing, and how you, as a force, are going to be absorbed, rejected, insignificant, affective is how designers can contribute outside their culture.