Number Two from Zuckerman's tips I think resonated the loudest with me.
'Don’t fight culture (If people cook by stirring their stews, they’re not
going to use a solar oven, no matter what you do to market it. Make
them a better stove instead.)'
We have to use a great deal of cultural relativity when considering development projects in Africa. We can't be too ignorant and to remove their culture from them insisting that the Western way is better. Their culture to them is central to their identity just as it is to us, and often the most precious thing to them in their lives. The aim in development work is not to transform cultures into the consumer capitalist model of hideous waste and individualism, but to improve the quality of their lives by affording them greater health and freedom by creating a greater variety of choices about how to live their lives.
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