To attempt to help others improve their lot is, by nature, to delve in the realm of value and meaning, where interpretation of information is as important as the information itself. In international development projects (or national ones, or even personal ones, frankly) the flow and friction of ideas and the shared investment in what are ultimately shared resources and shared consequence means there's great potential for such efforts to yield great good. However, there's also the potential that they wind up ineffective and possibly even destructive. The causes for this are many. But to the extent that failure of empathy and understanding play a role, new approaches could yield new solutions.

 

Courage + Innovation = New Solutions
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Sarah Hart (@sarahjeanhart) February 2012   It’s a clear, chilly afternoon and a small group has gathered on a rooftop in Manhattan. On a table in a corner are bags of chips and some bottles of wine, and a fire’s been lit in the stylish little pit designed for that purpose. It would be a

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Initiatives We Admire, and Why
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MORE COMING SOON – SORRY FOR THE DELAY! THE HAPPY NEWS IS THAT THE LIST OF INSPIRING AND EXCITING VENTURES THAT I WANT TO CELEBRATE HERE KEEPS GROWING. I HEARTILY APPLAUD ALL OF YOU OUT THERE WITH MORAL INTEGRITY, COURAGE, AND CREATIVE VISION, AND LOOK FORWARD TO AMPLIFYING YOUR GOOD WORK.   African Leadership Academy,

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Detroit Re-New
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DECEMBER 17, 2010 By Sarah J Hart If you are not familiar with Detroit, and you drive around on a little tour, this is what might, initially, impress you: The beautiful brick homes – gorgeous homes! Expansive, distinguished, embellished with elaborate woodwork and fanciful touches of stained glass and shingling – now abandoned. They are

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Indelibly Writ Into the Air and Into the Sand
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FEBRUARY 22, 2011 By Sarah J Hart I had occasion one time to watch an earnest young man try to design a school that would promote and celebrate traditional dance in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The value of such a school would be to preserve culture and to allow a peaceful structure for the

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On Education and Interpretation
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JULY 31, 2010 By Sarah J Hart Last fall I accompanied a group of graduate students from Columbia University’s school of architecture on a research trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their semester’s task was to design potential new schools for Congo. The class was inspired by economist Jeffrey Sachs, who argues that education

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U2, US, and the Oil Spill
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JULY 21, 2010 By Sarah J Hart On occasion I attend a lecture series that hosts artists, thinkers, inventors, and innovators showcasing their work. So far, nearly everything presented has been either a critique of some social phenomenon – such as the sharp and funny performances of Clarina Bezzola – or born of an effort

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