Directly inspired by, and envisioned as something of a companion piece to this post, my best advice on how to write about aid work:

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First and foremost it is of critical importance that you do not interview or speak with a representative of an established, well-known NGO, INGO or academic known for her/his research on international or humanitarian aid. Rather, be sure to find a small, start-up organization that no one has heard of. The credibility of the organization that you interview should be in direct inverse proportion to the magnitude and visibility of the disaster that you’re covering. In other words, the larger and more visible the disaster, the farther outside mainstream you should look for “expert” sources. Small, volunteer-based organizations that specialize in “actually helping while everyone else is busy ‘coordinating’” are solid gold. Organizations formed three months ago around a celebrity cult-of-personality in response to this particular disaster are pure platinum.

Assume at the outset that aid basically never[...]

[Published in AidBlogs - Read the original article]