Beyond Good Intentions: A Journey into the Realities of International Aid

by Tori Hogan

Overview

In the wake of several international aid failures, including the tsunami recovery efforts in Indonesia and the recent earthquake relief in Haiti, much of the world has become aware of the shortcomings of aid, and Hogan is the expert who's been using her voice and creating her platform to address these issues

Hogan's Beyond Good Intentions film series has 95,000 viewers hailing from 158 countries, and has a strong foothold within the academic community

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580054348
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	09/25/2012
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Tori Hogan is the founder and director of Beyond Good Intentions, an organization that produces films and educational programs on the topic of international aid effectiveness.

Hogan has spent more than a decade immersing herself in the developing world as an aid worker, volunteer, researcher, filmmaker, and aid critic. In 2006, frustrated by the lack of results she was witnessing while working with refugee populations in Africa and the Middle East, she embarked on a yearlong round-the-world journey, meeting with countless aid organizations and recipients to produce a ten-part film series on aid effectiveness, Beyond Good Intentions. Since then, she has dedicated her time to educating young people worldwide about this topic.

Hogan’s endless curiosity about the world has taken her to every continent and to more than seventy-five countries. She received her bachelor's degree from Duke University, went to Egypt on a Fulbright scholarship, where she studied at the American University of Cairo, and obtained an MEd degree in international education policy from Harvard University. Hogan currently lives in San Francisco, but remains a global nomad at heart.

Editorial Reviews

This latest incarnation of Hogan’s Beyond Good Intentions project, which investigates systemic problems in international aid, takes the form of a travel memoir tracing her search for a young Somali refugee whose honest words about the failure of humanitarian groups eight years earlier had sparked her interest in aid reform. Although depressingly little else has changed at the muddy U.N.-run camp she revisits, Hogan doesn’t find the boy she’s looking for, but she continues on through Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, visiting hospitals, orphanages, agricultural education projects, and textile factories. Hogan, who has spent most of her career analyzing problems in the aid system, believes that it might be more inspiring to find solutions. In some of the places she visits, the results are disappointing: aid recipients are denied dignity; handouts eat away at their self-sufficiency; jobs are funneled to expatriates instead of locals; resources are wasted. However, Hogan manages to uncover a few projects that have taken root in local communities, such as a booming microfinance center in Uganda launched by just a few locals trained as “change agents.” Though Hogan’s insights into the dark side of international aid are eye-opening for those unfamiliar with this world, the book suffers from a fixation on her tumultuous romance with a Dutch traveler named Mark, its simple prose waxing unsophisticated as Hogan moons over how “cute” her “soul mate” is. Agent: Gary Morris, David Black Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"A profoundly bold and inspiring book. Anyone who wants to help make the world a better place will find revelations in Tori Hogan's journey. Beyond Good Intentions will touch your heart and change your mind." —Larry King

"With remarkable honesty, self-awareness, and an easy and often wry style, Tori Hogan allows the reader to accompany her as she explores what does and doesn’t work in development, and life." —Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

From the Publisher

In her debut memoir, filmmaker and activist Hogan examines the problems with international aid efforts in Africa. While a 2002 trip to the continent first exposed the author to the imperfect relationship between refugees and international aid, her return trip in 2010 further confirmed that the so-called solution of international aid was actually part of the problem. "Transitioning from a bleeding heart to a critic of the humanitarian regime was not an easy process," Hogan admits, adding that her criticism will likely do little to make her "a popular person in certain circles." Despite the criticism, she maintains full pressure on what she views as an inefficient, bureaucratic and occasionally unethical system of outsiders helping refugees in need without ever asking what they actually need. Hogan's straight talk with the refugees provides some basis for her argument, though many readers will sorely miss the lack of quantitative data. Somewhat awkwardly inserted alongside her critique is the story of her own floundering love, which adds some personal drama but detracts from her intended mission of providing a "wake-up call and a source of inspiration on how we can more effectively change the world." Nevertheless, Hogan's experiences sound the call for increased scrutiny on charitable aid, forcing readers to ask the difficult question of whether throwing money at a problem has the power to cleanse first-world guilt. A bold argument based mostly on experiences and observations rather than statistical support.

Kirkus Reviews

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