I remember sitting in a humid, makeshift office in Goma, staring at a spreadsheet that claimed we had secured millions in new funding. On paper, …
What Counts as Aid and What Does Not
How an Aid Budget Gets Decided
I once sat in a humid, windowless office in Goma, staring at a spreadsheet that claimed we had “secured” enough funding to stabilize the entire …
Who Does What in a Humanitarian Response
I remember sitting in a humid, corrugated metal office in Goma, staring at a spreadsheet that claimed we had “optimized our strategic response framework.” Outside, …
How a Project Gets Designed Before Funding
I spent a decade watching consultants in Nairobi draft fifty-page frameworks that looked beautiful on high-gloss paper, but they never accounted for the fact that …
The Thresholds Behind the Word Famine
I remember sitting in a humid, windowless office in Goma, staring at a stack of glossy reports that claimed everything was under control while the …
Two Routes Money Takes to a Country
I once sat in a humid warehouse outside Goma, staring at a stack of shipping manifests that didn’t match the “emergency relief” figures being touted …
Where Development Money Goes
I once spent three days sitting in a humid, stationary Toyota Land Cruiser outside a checkpoint in South Sudan, watching a shipment of temperature-sensitive vaccines …