Wrapping Up

I'm back home now, and it's time to wrap up my blog. The last week was a whirlwind. I was quite sick for a couple of days, but managed to pull myself together to take my husband on a quick tour of the area around Port-au-Prince, seizing a much needed vacation and time together.

I feel very fortunate that time and opportunity aligned themselves to allow me to experience Haiti and witness first-hand the work that MCC is doing there in response to the earthquake. I have met a host of wonderful, competent people with diverse perspectives. I have learned to appreciate the beauty and complexity that is Haiti. In spite of devastation, filth and general disorder, Haitians are resilient, generous, love beauty and have an amazing spiritual capacity.

I feel I have accomplished the work I came to do. I have been able to mentor local staff, prepare for future "auditability" of accounting records, offer some practical recommendations for office procedures and wrote a manual to ensure their continued practice. I have re-arranged the financial statements to provide transparency and align with strategic direction, and even had the opportunity to assist with capacity building by putting on a course for one of our local partner organizations.

I wouldn't be surprised if Haiti is the NGO capital of the world. It has been interesting to discover what this world looks like from an accounting perspective. NGO's are very passionate about what they do, and I've found many view accounting as a time-wasting activity required as a year end audit requirement to reassure donors, instead of a tool to effectively manage resources to better serve beneficiaries. I see much opportunity for accountants to provide mentoring and training to NGOs in the practice of good financial management.

In development work, there is a tension between upward accountability to donors and downward accountability to beneficiaries. Donors, providing funding and program sustainability, are looking for feel-good stories that align with their pre-conceived ideas of what beneficiaries need and want. Beneficiaries, on the other hand, want honesty, empowerment and relevance within the context of their own culture and situation. Transparency to beneficiaries is a concept gaining ground, and of particular concern in Haiti where there is little visibility of the monies promised.

I will never think of accountability in quite the same way. Choosing the topic of this blog in a somewhat arbitrary fashion, accountability has proven to dog me at every corner. I hope that perhaps this blog has also given you pause to think and challenged your ideas of accountability, not only within the world of NGOs in Haiti, but also as a donor, and even within the world of business. Thanks again for the privilege of allowing me to share my ideas with you.