Time Flies in Liberia
One of the biggest differences between the “developing” world and the “developed” world is the understanding and conception of time. Here, folks are laid back, and instead of scheduling meetings at 2 they schedule the meetings at “any time after 2.” Things always seemed to get pushed back until tomorrow, and in general stuff takes a heck of a lot longer to get done. This is quite understandable. Just getting from one’s home to one’s office can be a marathon journey involving any number of technological malfunctions, infrastructure failures, or governmental fiascos. In Liberia, where there is not really even a power grid, it makes sense that things just can’t be done quite as quickly.
This often means a lot of waiting around. Whether it’s waiting for weird traffic catastrophes, the power to come back on, or some government minister to take his or her sweet time, the result of this time insensitivity is a lot of unproductive time. Now whether this is a chicken or the egg, I’m not sure, but this is directly related to the fact that people’s time in these countries is MUCH less valuable. Even if folks are paid employees, the cost of them waiting around being unproductive is minimal. Imagine an American management consultant or lawyer sitting around in some dim office in the developing world, sweating and wondering how many hundreds of dollars worth of his or her time was being flushed down the toilet by this cultural / structural difference. It’s no wonder these folks don’t come around here too much!
Now Andrew, how does this relate to microfinance? What is the most important thing a microfinance organization has to enforce on its customers? Financial discipline! Whether it is through group meetings or set repayment dates / times, in order for microfinance organizations to get paid back, and in essence, function, they have to effectively manage this relaxed view of time. What would happen if an MFI allowed its borrowers, to pay, later this afternoon, or tomorrow, or maybe next week? One of the most challenging parts of microfinance is working with people’s mindsets, and getting them to respect and understand that in order to run a business efficiently (their own included) certain deadlines must be followed. Many MFIs have this down to a science. They time group meetings to the minute, and do not accept exceptions. In many cases this efficiency allows them to serve more customers, and operate more profitably. Hopefully some of this discipline rubs off on the borrowers as well. The more wisely and efficiently one uses his or her time (in spite of external factors), the more profit one can squeeze out of a day.
I am aware of how capitalist and western this post sounds, and I am aware of some of the intractable external impediments in the developing world, but I believe that by learning to manage one’s own time effectively and efficiently, despite external factors, folks in Liberia and elsewhere can make important gains in their own economic standing. I hope microfinance can be a path to that progress, and eventually provide for the kind of excess wealth that affords luxurious relaxation!
I sympathize with some of your feelings and frustrations. The amount of idle time sitting around, waiting for village banking sessions in the Dominican Republic was at times enough to drive you mad. Indeed, I think that there is a lot to be said for improving time management in the developing world for the purpose of personal economic gain, but I think that at the same time the western world has often sacrificed some of the familial relationships and the virtue of patience in exchange for greater personal wealth.
In my opinion, the last line of your post truly captures the false reality that too many westerners find themselves embracing, that more money will buy you freedom through better vacations and an improved ability to consume luxuries to make life easier. Instead, it often ends up in more hours at the office, a compromising of our character, and sacrifice of our relationships to invest our time in our jobs. On the other end of the spectrum I don’t deny that there is a certain amount of wealth that greatly improves life and one’s freedom to live it well (when you worry every day about where the next meal or clean bucket of water will come from you are likely not able to invest in your family, community, or church very well); that’s where microfinance comes in.
Without digressing too much, I guess that I’m trying to say that these people’s time is only “less valuable” in the managerial realm, but perhaps much richer contexts outside of wealth creation. Perhaps some of this was implied in your comment about this being a capitalist sounding argument.
Mirofinance is an interesting meeting point between two worlds. No doubt, in order to function well, loan recipients will need to leave behind some of the more relaxed views of punctuality to allow local organizations to operate sustainably and provide a potentially life-changing loan to others like themselves.
Although I can see how my last line could hint at luxury = material things in the western sense, thats not exactly how I meant it. I guess the problems is not necessarily the idle time itself, everyone loves enjoying idle time, the problem is the uncertainty attached to the idle time. If one is idle but their family is hungry and their roof is leaking, their own inaction weighs on their brain, they cant enjoy it. If that inaction is a result of the fact that their aren’t enough economic opportunities in the country (external factors) that is a shame. One of the things that I have found constant across the world is people’s desire to work hard enough to have security for themselves and their family. Once they are secure enough in their job or business, then they can choose to have idle time and it can truly be enjoyed *however they choose to enjoy it*. Hopefully microfinance can help people gain that security.
I agree 100%.