Global Development: Local is Global

In my Global Health course a few weeks ago we had a very engaging Panel Discussion on “Ethics in Global Health.” Although all of the discussions that ensured were interesting there was one in particular that really resonated with me. A particularly inspiring colleague of mine asked a question that sparked some debate about the topic of global development in general. One of the speakers asked this provocative question: “Why do you feel the need to go abroad to work on development? Couldn’t you volunteer in an inner-city neighborhood here?”. What a good question! What are our goals for pursuing a career in global health and development?  Of course we want to help people but what stops us from starting here where we live, in the richest country in the world that also has some of the most striking inequality and disparity in the world?

I am not sure what the answer to the question is but I can share my perspective. Firstly, I was not born in this country so I have always felt a strong need to give back to the impoverished country I was born in. Secondly, like most people, I actually really like going abroad, experiencing life in another context and meeting the people who live there. Thirdly, quite honestly, sometimes I really do forget how much disparity our country really does have.

But personally, I do have to share that I have become so much more attuned to the nation’s inequalities after coming to this university. For some reason, being in this microcosm  of elitism and privelege has really opened my eyes about myself and those around me. For the first time in my life I began to think about how inequal and injust our society can be from racial issues to socioeconomic issues to even immigration. And I think the elections have also shed some light on some issues that had before escaped my radar. I just hope that we do not become so farsighted on the global inequalities and infections that we forget those plaguing our own nation.

Sadly, I do realize how trendy the field of global development and especially global health can get. When you have names like Bono, Angelia Jolie and Brad Pitt advocating for the world’s poor you can begin to understand how “cool” this work is becoming. I mean after all, people our age always strive to be different and unique, not to mention to touch of exoticism that comes  with travelling and working in countries most people can not even locate on a map much yet dream of visiting. But I think we should not let these distractions keep us away from the real object at hand - if we are really in this for helping people we should be willing to do that regardless of locale.

This is why I have felt quite moved lately to try to push for engagement in local issues through our club. There are so many examples of people in this country who live worst than some people in developed countries. I hope we can start to think about some ideas whereby we can reach out to people in our own country  and help them help themselves out of poverty. So this is not a discouragement to think globally but I think sometimes it can be useful to at least think of that old acitivist truism: “Think Global, Act Local”.