The term ‘white male privilege’, first used in the 1970s, describes an all too common phenomenon – the power inherent in the position of development theorists and practitioners (usually white, educated, middle-upper class people) in relation to local communities. It points to the assumptions made about local people and harks back to the (dark) days of colonial superiority.

Community development is an incredibly complex undertaking – we come into contact with a myriad voices, conflicting interests, differing ideas, complicated relationships, subtle yet pervasive power dynamics, deep-seated values and prejudices, and much more that is part and parcel of human communities. Let’s think about our own suburbs or communities. Some members seek to preserve the status quo, whether from fear of change or the benefit they derive from it. Others want to see the status quo upset and challenged. There are people whose voices are more powerful and whose opinions are more regularly heard. Then there are those who are unable or reluctant to speak up. Some desire to engage with their community and work for its betterment; others simply want to be left alone. There are poor, rich, sick, healthy, young, old, educated and uneducated, bold and shy – all with different ideas, desires and views of what is right and good/helpful. It’s complicated!

Imagine that into this diverse neighbourhood comes a person or group wanting to help develop our community. Imagine that these people have never lived in our neighbourhood so have no clue about its particular complexities, they are not from our cultural background nor can they even speak our language! What, we would ask, do they think they can offer us?

Now we get to the heart of the development presumption: What gives someone (and it still tends to be white, educated, middle-upper class people) the right to go into a community, whether in their own country or another, and assume they have the knowledge, resources, or ideas that the local people need?

This is a difficult and serious question. This is where critical reflection becomes so vital. The lives of many communities are impacted for better or for worse on the basis of such self and organisational deliberation. A holistic aid program is continually questioning its assumptions, motivations, beliefs about community development and this issue of presumption. We are well aware of the damage done in the name of well-intentioned international development. Many projects voice their frustrations about non-government organisations (NGOs) throwing money and ideas around with little consultation or consideration of local needs.

 Organisations like Maranatha Health (MH) seek to be very different. MH believes in building genuine relationships based on mutual respect and understanding, and from that position engage local villagers in conversations about how they themselves, supported by MH, might assist their community make positive lasting changes. Their missionaries are learning the language and relying on local people who already know their neighbourhood to help them become aware of the complexities around them. I know that I would be much more open to someone coming to help develop my neighbourhood if they approached us in this way. We pray that MH may demonstrate truly transformational community development and challenge the unhelpful ways that many NGOs have done development in the past. Above all we hope no one will ever be able to accuse us of acting from a position of ‘white male privilege’ despite our white, educated heritage.

This article was written by Liesl Shipard, Project Coordinator

Maranatha Health Australia (one of the Mission Travel Giving Back grant recipients)

For more information on the work they do in Uganda, go to www.maranathahealth.org/