Agua Sin Fronteras (ASF)

Paper instructions

Scenario:
You work for Agua Sin Fronteras (ASF, or “Water Without Borders”), an international nonprofit. ASF works to provide access to clean drinking water, improve sanitation, and deliver health education programs. Globally, children living in urban poverty have little control over their water sources. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) awarded funding to ASF to work on solving this problem. ASF plans to use this money to expand its efforts into new countries.
Your supervisor, Sue Edge, asked you to be on a committee that recommends countries for ASF’s programs. These programs include the following:
– Building wells
– Installing water purification systems
– Creating educational materials about water health

Directions:
1. Committee Orientation Activity
The committee leader, Ty Dalwave, wants the team to be aware of their biases when doing research. To build that awareness, he has asked everyone to reflect on their worldview by doing the following:

Describe your worldview, including how it changes and forms.
How do you view the world?

How do you understand how the world works? How do you understand your purpose in the world?

What assumptions, beliefs, and values affect how you explain the world, understand your circumstances, and live your life?

How did your worldview develop? How has it changed over time?

Explain how your worldview affects the way you interact and perceive others at work.

How could your worldview affect your interactions with and perceptions of your coworkers?

2. Committee Brief
Now that you’ve reflected on your worldview and its effect on how you navigate the world, you are ready to start researching. As a committee member, you will investigate the social, political, and cultural situations of another country and report what you learn to the group.

1. Choose a country to research.
Choose a country that you are not familiar with and would like to learn more about.
Note: For this project, you should assume that ASF’s worldview is the same as your own. For this reason, you must investigate a country that’s different from your own.

2. Research your chosen country.
Use the Country Analysis Questions document to help you research your chosen country’s social, political, and cultural situations.

If you would like to, you can do some of your own research beyond the country profiles information provided in the Supporting Materials section. Remember to use authoritative sources and cite them in your work.

3. Explore how ASF could conduct operations in your selected country.

The committee wants you to present your findings in a committee brief. Remember to assume that ASF’s worldview is the same as your own and base your responses on that. In your committee brief, include the following information:

The name of your selected country

A summary of the country’s geography, government, health, education, culture, economy, and history

A discussion of how you think various groups in your selected country would perceive ASF’s work:

What potential sources of conflict do you expect? Brainstorm and describe at least three.

How do people in your own country interact in groups and at work? How does this compare to your selected country?

Propose at least three actionable solutions to address potential conflict and foster collaboration. Consider the following question:

If ASF started working in the country that you chose, what recommendations would you make to support collaboration and avoid conflict between differing worldviews?

ANSWER

Description of My Worldview

People hold different views about the world. As far as I am concerned, I consider the world to be a road which is both bumpy and flat. We are passengers on this road. The world is a road since life in it is not static. As the American poet Robert Frost once said, “It goes on” (Frost et al., 2017). While some people are happy in the world, others are not. Those who are happy are travelling on the flat part of the road. The ones who are not happy are exposed to the bumpy side. As passengers, our safety on the road depends on the vehicle we are using. A vehicle in this case refers to the economic, social, and political structures and systems of our countries.

The world functions in a way that it is not a level playing field. Any metaphorical play field is level when all players have equal chances of succeeding (Early, 2011). Countries around the world do not have such equal chances since some are developed while others are underdeveloped. The developed nations are rich due to good economic policies and political systems. In contrast, the underdeveloped countries are poor due to bad governance and corruption. In my view, everybody is in the world for a purpose. I think I have a role to play in making the world a better place than I found it. I can achieve this purpose by helping other people.

I believe that everyone in the world is entitled to good life. According to the United Nations and the Rule of Law (n.d.), every human being has to be treated with both respect and dignity. This requirement can be afforded to persons through allowing them to enjoy all their human rights. In regard to this, it is my assumption that everybody needs to enjoy the right to clean and safe water, and the right to improved sanitation. Governments around the world should ensure that their citizens enjoy these basic rights. I value equality in terms of distribution of the available resources and opportunities. All people in a country ought to benefit from its water and sanitation projects regardless of their age, gender, socio-economic status or ethnic background.

As a child, I grew up wondering why there are different groups of people in the world. The pictures of man and woman, old and young, the poor and the rich, the powerful and the weak, and the blacks and the whites at first made me think that we are not equal. However, as time went by, this worldview changed. My parents always emphasized that every person should be respected. At church, we were taught that all people are equal before God. At school, I learned about the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination. All these factors helped me to understand the importance of treating all people with equality and respect.

My Worldview versus Interaction with Others

My worldview influences the way I interact with other people at my workplace. I perceive my co-workers as team members with whom I can collaborate in order for the goals of the organization to be achieved. I appreciate everybody and treat them with respect. As a worker, I have also learned something about cultural relativism. Cultural relativism refers to the principle of not judging other cultures based on one’s own cultural standards and norms (Eller, 2015). I feel that other people are unique in their own way. As a result, I try to understand my co-workers based on their own cultural understandings.

Committee Brief

The Selected Country and Its Situation

For the purpose of this research, Papua New Guinea was selected. Papua New Guinea is a country which is located in Oceania within the south-western Pacific region. It encompasses New Guinea’s eastern half and other small offshore islands of Melanesia (Connell & Lee, 2018). The country’s neighbors include Australia, Indonesia, and Solomon Islands. Papua New Guinea is the world’s third largest island nation, and the 54^th largest country. It covers an area of 462,840 square kilometers. The country lies between 0-12°S and 140-160°E. Papua New Guinea is mainly mountainous. However, country has some low-lying plains within the region of southern New Guinea. It also has many active volcanoes, and it experiences frequent earthquakes. Geologically, the country is on the Indo-Australian tectonic plate. Currently, the country’s population is over 8,935,000 people.

Archaeological evidence suggests that people started living in the country as early as 45,000 to 60,000 years ago (Owens et al., 2018). These people were mainly descendants African migrants. Agriculture independently developed in the country from around the year 7000 BC. Portuguese traders introduced the sweet potato to the country during the 18th century, and it went on to become a stable food. Papua New Guinea became a British protectorate in 1884. However, the Commonwealth of Australia was given the authority to administer the colony as from 1905. The country became fully independent on September 16, 1975. Papua New Guinea has a variety of natural resources including forests and minerals. However, the mountainous and swampy nature of the country makes the country less attractive to outside developers and investors due to high cost of establishing infrastructure (Connell & Lee, 2018). Agriculture is the backbone of the country since it supports over 85 percent of the people, and contributes to 30 percent of the GDP. The country’s economic development is based on its Vision 2050, and other short-term policies.

The head of state of Papua New Guinea is Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom who is regarded as the country’s queen. She is represented by the governor-general, who is elected by the legislative arm of the government. The current governor-general is Bob Dadae. The prime minister is the head of the cabinet in Papua New Guinea. The position is currently held by James Marape. The country also has a unicameral National Parliament. National elections are held after every five years. According to the World Health Organization (2014), communicable diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, and tuberculosis are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in Papua New Guinea. Life expectancy in the county at birth is 68 for women and 64 for men. The government spends over 9.5% of its total expenditure on the health sector.

A large portion of the Papua New Guinea population is illiterate. Majority of those who are illiterate are women (). Education in the country is mainly provided by churches. For instance, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the county has over 500 schools. The country has six universities, and other tertiary institutions. Papua New Guinea is a culturally diverse country with over one thousand different cultural groups. Each of the groups has its own forms of art, architecture, music, dance, and weaponry (Owens et al., 2018). The use of seashells as a medium of exchange is still common in local customs such as in the payment of bride price. It is also important to note that Papua New Guinea is home to Kuk Early Agricultural Site. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was officially identified in 2008.

Potential Conflicts and How to address them

Papua New Guinea is a developing country with large sanitation and water supply needs. It is estimated that about 61% of the country’s population does not access safe water. About 55% do not access improved sanitation (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development & The World Bank, 2015). Under such circumstances, the Agua Sin Fronteras (ASF)’s water, sanitation, and health projects can barely satisfy the needs of the locals. The organization should be ready to address various types of conflicts pertaining to implementation of its programs. There are several factors that hinder the progress of water and sanitation projects in the country. These factors can be grouped into three broad categories: lack of enabling environment, implementation bottlenecks, and contextual factors.

Papua New Guinea does not have an enabling environment for new sanitation and water projects to thrive (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development & The World Bank, 2015). The country lacks clear government policies and approaches to such projects. Government institutions and agencies are not committed to the programs. In terms of implementation bottlenecks, the country’s budgetary allocations to the water and sanitation sector are not enough. There is also a weak monitoring and evaluation system (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development & The World Bank, 2015). Such situations interfere with the sustainability of proposed projects. Some of the contextual factors that are likely to hamper the progress of ASF’s programs in Papua New Guinea include poor access to roads and electric power, political wrangles, ethnic conflicts, and customary ownership of land (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development & The World Bank, 2015).

In my country, cultural diversity is highly valued. People from different cultural backgrounds meet and interact freely without any problem. They meet at schools, colleges, churches, workplaces, and other meeting points. The appreciation of cultural diversity has played a key role in promoting unity and harmony. At workplace, people work as team members regardless of their ethnic and racial backgrounds. In Papua New Guinea, the situation is different. The country has over 7000 cultural groups (Owens et al., 2018). People from these cultural groups prefer using their ethnic languages. As a result, people from different ethnic origins treat each other with suspicion.

If ASF begins working in Papua New Guinea, something has to be done in order to enhance collaboration and reduce conflicts between different worldviews. To begin with, the government of the country should strengthen its sector institutions. Clear institutional arrangements help to ensure that various water projects and sanitation programs are well coordinated and managed for the benefit of the targeted groups (World Health Organization, 2014). For instance, there is need for the country to increase the capacity of both provincial and district governments in planning, implementing, and managing water supply and sanitation services. The undertaking can help to ensure that many people are reached by the projects.

The government of Papua New Guinea should also work on improving the infrastructure of the country. For instance, it should construct more and better roads, and install more electrical lines. Improved infrastructure is one of the most important pre-requisites for successful implementation of water and sanitation projects and program (World Health Organization, 2014). Electric power is necessary for provision of power that can be used to pump water from wells, and run water purification systems. Having good roads can help to ensure that ASF workers move freely from one place to another where the organization’s projects are located.

It is also important for the government to promote cultural tolerance among different cultural groups of the country. Cultural tolerance involves respecting and appreciating other cultures, and not discriminating those who embrace them (Eller, 2015). Encouraging cultural tolerance can enable the people of the country to live well in peace and harmony regardless of the cultures where they come from. Under such circumstances, it is easy for people to cooperate in order to ensure that water programs and sanitation projects are effectively implemented. Cultural tolerance can as well minimize nepotism and tribalism. These factors tend to interfere with the implementation of different projects by way of supporting corruption and misappropriation of funds.

References:

Connell, J. & Lee, H. M. (2018). Change and Continuity in the Pacific Revisiting the Region. London : Routledge.

Early, G. L. (2011). A Level Playing Field: African American Athletes and the Republic of Sports. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Eller, J. D. (2015). Cultural Anthropology: 101: London: Routledge.

Frost, R., Parini, J. & Paraskevas, M. (2017). Poetry for Kids: Robert Frost. Lake Forest, CA: MoonDance.

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development & The World Bank. (2015). Water Supply and Sanitation in Papua New Guinea: Turning Finance into Services for the Future. Retrieved from https://www.wsp.org/library/water-supply-and-sanitation-papua-new-guinea-turning-finance-services-future

Owens, K., Lean, G. A., Paraide, P., & Muke, C. (2018). History of Number: Evidence from Papua New Guinea and Oceania. Cham, Switzerland: Springer

United Nations and the Rule of Law. (n.d.). Rule of Law and Human Rights. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/rule-of-law-and-human-rights/

World Health Organization. (2014). Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: 2014 Update. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.