Gentlemen:
Wow!  I am so pleased that (hidden) - one of my students - found your website and posted on it.  I am the person who spoke up at the University of  (hidden) showing and tried to shame the professors whose criticisms were so personal and so irrelevant.

I would like to echo  (hidden) sentiments - that it was obvious you young men had no agenda when you went to Africa to try to find out why Africa's poverty was so entrenched, and why all of the good intentions and (now) trillions of dollars poured into the country over the past 50 years have not alleviated the situation in any meaningful way.  The "message" was that of the hundreds of people you interviewed, and if some people don't like it, well, don't shoot the messenger.  But more about that in a moment...

I am writing to offer two thoughts, from long experience in higher education, and in this area:

One: you are not alone.  Some of those who have worked in this area for decades - as well as some who have decided, like you, to examine, dispassionately, what's been done - have reached the same conclusion that so many in your film have - that "top-down" aid does not work as it is intended to.  Alvaro Vargas Llosa (South America), Paul Polak (Africa), and David Bornstein (social entrepreneur) are three writers you should read - and contact, if you can - as they will be able to shed light not only on WHY these earlier programs have not worked, but WHAT ELSE can be done that WILL work.  You will find that what they tell you reinforces what you were told by so many in Africa.

The class I teach (that  (hidden) has taken) is called " (hidden) ,  (hidden) Development and  (hidden) Policy" and the section we were discussing the week before your film was screened here was on entrepreneurial poverty initiatives.  The writers I mentioned above - and many, many others - all explain that the initiatives and programs that work best are the most "entrepreneurial" ones - meaning, the ones with "boots on the ground," working directly with the intended recipients as participants, becoming aware of their actual needs, wants, constraints (medical, nutritional, topological, climatological, cultural, etc.)  If mistakes are made when these programs are small, grassroots efforts, they can be "tweaked" and adjusted while they are still small - witness your African farmer's efforts to create alternative irrigation methods that worked despite droughts - and then scaled UP successfully.  The problem with the big, multi-million (or billion) dollar programs - especially those managed from afar (as nearly all of them are) is that those running the programs have little familiarity with the region, culture, etc.  And so when problems arise (and problems ALWAYS arise), rather than being small problems that can be adjusted, they are widespread, systemic, catastrophic failures that you've just thrown millions at.  But rather than admitting, "we didn't know what we were doing," the "answer" is always, "we need more millions." Or billions.  And if you oppose this, you become someone who is now somehow not interested in alleviating the plight of the those suffering horrifically.

This accusation is manifestly unfair, but you need to be prepared for it - and prepared to defend against it.  And this brings me to my next point.

I see from your website that you've already been to a number of places with this film.  If you have not already figured this out, you will encounter incredible hostility on college campuses.  I suspected this when I saw the title and description of your film, but I was sure of it once I watched the film.

It was poignant, gut-wrenching, and heart-rending.  But as I said in my comments after your film was screened here on the  (hidden) campus, it skewers a number of sacred cows.  Many, many academics believe that there is no good program unless it is a government program.  No matter how many times dictators take money from western nations and blow it on themselves, academics here will insist that they are just misunderstood, and what's needed is "more money."

The first professor who criticized your film last night made me furious, as he just flung a bunch of accusations at you in a diatribe against a film you never made!  He criticized you for not having addressed suffering in America in a film about suffering in AFRICA?  I'm sorry, but what does the fact that the bottom has fallen out of the investment market here have to do with a little girl afflicted with HIV/AIDS in Africa, trying to feed her four little brothers?  Are we supposed to equate the difficulties of someone like me whose lost a lot of money from my pension (for example) with THAT???  He should be ashamed of himself for even trying to assert that those were actual criticisms of the film.

Let me tell you what was really going on last night: the LAST thing many academics want to hear - and that fellow was apparently among them - is that entrepreneurship, individual enterprise, and market initiatives are solutions to poverty.  They will not listen to that message in this country, and they will not listen to it elsewhere.  They loathe capitalism, loathe free markets, loathe individual initiative - and so what your film presented was anathema to them.

And keep in mind, these were not even YOUR suggestions, nor YOUR criticisms, but those of the political leaders, heads of NGOs, villagers, and other community leaders you interviewed in Africa.  For those who purport to want to end poverty, but who refuse to listen to the poor, doesn't that tell you something?

I have been in higher education for nearly 20 years.  In that time, I have heard plenty about how "capitalist imperialism" has destroyed nations, reduced them to poverty, etc.  But now it is apparent that so-called "capitalist imperialism" has been replaced by a pseudo-intellectualist imperialism.  By which I mean that a worldwide army of "scholars" who publish for like-minded others in peer-reviewed journals think they know better than the intended recipients of their "beneficence" what those people need.  And God help anyone who tries to - or does - prove them wrong.

You tasted just a bit of their disdain last night.  I would suspect that it was not the first time.  It certainly will not be the last.  My advice (unsolicited, albeit): DO NOT APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR FILM, ITS VOICES, OR ITS MESSAGE.  The people who criticize you cannot abide anyone pointing out their failures.  They profess to "speak truth to power." But they have BECOME the power, and will not permit anyone to speak truth to them.

You will notice that they did not actually challenge any of the things your speakers said.  Because they cannot.  And they know it.  And it would be manifestly politically incorrect to mock the Africans themselves.  So they did the next best thing - they mocked the filmmakers.

Don't fall for it, gentlemen.  You did a fine thing.  Be proud of yourselves.  Be proud of your film.  Welcome the attacks - it means you are doing something right.  And I will look forward to hearing more from all of you.

With respect,
/ (hidden)
(hidden)
University of  (hidden)

Hello!

I just wanted to send you guys a quick email with a few comments and a question about your film -- first of all, i just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your film; several scenes really moved me and you have made me think about the situation in Africa in several new ways. Also, to the two of you that spoke after the screening, I would like to apologize for the contributions of the panelists; my professor was among them (hence how I found out about the screening) and I was seriously disappointed that he and the other panelists chose to take a bizarrely-critical tone in their comments. Just know that we, the audience, apparently had a very different experience in viewing the film and will not hesitate to speak highly of it and encourage others to take a look. :)

Finally, just a quick question -- I noticed that many languages were spoken throughout your travels, and as I've been studying languages for the past several years, I was curious as to how much you guys prepped for that aspect of your trip and how extensively you relied on translators. We got a few glimpses of translation, but there were a number of interviews in which there was no immediate translation on film. Just curious. :)

Thank you for sharing your film and your time with our campus tonight -- it was greatly appreciated! Keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

(hidden)

I saw your documentary film tonight at (hidden) , and I wanted to say thank you for making the film. My goal was to learn and see the face of African Poverty, and I thought with the 6 months you all travelled there you did a great job. You provoked emotion within me, both frustration and sadness. Most of all you fed my already growing curiosity of what can be done to improve development and aid work? Re-create the model?? More educational trainings and programs to make agricultural, health and micro finance projects sustainable? A mix of comprehensive educational programs along with resources?? I think about this all the time!!
I remember my Peace Corps Director in Panama told me that when he was in PC in Nicaragua the methodology was “Influx of Cash and Earnings” during my time in PC Panama(200 (hidden) ’) the methodology had changed to “sustainability”. I like to subscribe to the later “sustainability”.  
I would love to have some conversations about how to begin to recreate the model. All of my international development experience has been in Latin America. Development and Aid problems, I think, are often the same whether it is Africa or Latin America. But, as my friend who does Aids development work in Africa, says “Africa is the center of the universe for development”. She’s right. Although I would love to get involved hands on, and give of myself and my time to work on these issues in Africa….I have found it extremely difficult to find a job that will take me there!! Now, I’m looking into getting my masters in International Educational Development and hoping this will help market myself, towards working on projects in Africa.
Likes you guys discussed in you film what is the benefit of just making people more aware of the problem (when you compared helping a girl with a bad eye or telling someone about what’s going on)? If the overwhelming option for people that want to help is to donate money, and that then fuels the f’d up, in many ways through creating dependency, aid world what can people do?? Is their gaining the knowledge of the realities of poverty enough? I’m someone that would love to give of my time and dedicate my work to helping, and yet I have trouble finding an organization in Africa to do it through, because my development experience is in Latin America.
Well I realize I am rambling, but there was such a line to speak with  (hidden) (I think that was one of your names) after the screening that I thought it best to come home and type!  I would love to hear your opinions and have some conversations on all of this maybe start something new??
I currently live in NYC, and work for a Micro Finance Nonprofit called  (hidden) , modeled after the Grameen Bank. I manage groups of our entrepreneurs, Spanish and English, and write the Educational Curriculum on business for our organization. I am also a returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Panama. I served in a remote indigenous Wounaan Village in the  (hidden) Province of Panama. The gov’t always tried to keep them dependent on gov’t aid!
Thanks for making your film.
(hidden)

Hi there,

I'm a (hidden) at  (hidden) and saw your film at  (hidden) in NYC. There were a lot of interesting comments made in the audience and I just wanted to say that I thought your film really made an impression on me. During my  (hidden) , I've read a lot on all these issues of aid allocation and all the different evidence and theories people have. It was definitely good to be able to put faces to all these issues - I think i feel all the more frustrated by the issue, but I suppose that's a good thing! So one reflection I have is just that maybe the organizers need to consider the audience you're having a discussion with. Say tonight, maybe it would have been more helpful to have a panel of experts/people who have similar experiences along with you to avoid the sort of finger pointing I felt some people were doing. Being in a community of such knowledgeable people, it's so easy to forget that a huge part of the population don't have a clue about any of this! So keep up with sharing these stories and being the voice of the people in Africa.

Thanks,
(hidden)

Hi guys/brothers,

I saw your documentary Friday (hidden) and loved it.  I thought it was very dead in what the problems of African development aid are.

I've ran a non-profit called  (hidden) ! since I've been 19, and we basically have come to the same conclusion you guys have.  We've actually used the $1 trillion dollar of aid quote in our core approach articulation.  Our answer is to not give away any money but to work to empower young leaders in Africa (we're mostly in Uganda right now, which you sadly drove thru in the documentary :) so that they will start initiatives that will address their socieites problems.  We think it's a much more sustainable approach and will begin to get rid of the big dependency issue.  Our 22 scholarship students have already created about $35k in societal value after only about 3 years, and we just launched programs that put 375 students across Uganda through a 2 year leadership program.

I'm sure you guys are really busy with the screening but I'd really love to use your documentary for some of the things we're doing (I'm checking right now to see if it would work well for our student clubs), and think there's potential for an event that screens the documentary, and then has a panel of organizations that have innovated with their approach.  I obviously think this would be great for  (hidden), but think some bigger orgs that could participate include the  (hidden) ,  (hidden) and  (hidden) .  I know  (hidden) people at all the orgs that I'm sure would be interested in this (and maybe could even get higher ups at those orgs to come). 

In any case, let me know what you think of the above and if you have any interest in talking more.

All the best,

(hidden)