Jonathan Field - Maker of Random Stuff

The flight seems a little shorter every year, I think. I spent my first week as a tourist in Johannesburg and Pretoria, two very different cities that sit right next to each other in the northeast. This is my fourth trip, and I’ll be here for six weeks.

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After witnessing an online debate over Kony 2012 the past few days, I wanted to put together a list of things I think people should consider about NGOs, nonprofits, and humanitarian efforts in general. Fact checking and debate are good things, but it seemed that a lot of the negativity was coming from some basic misunderstandings, fueled by ignorance and cynicism, and resulting in more of the same. The effects of these misunderstandings go way beyond the Kony 2012 issue. As someone who’s volunteered in rural Africa over the past few years, here’s some food for thought:

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