I’m honoured to let you all know that this recently published book, White Saviorism in International Development, includes a chapter co-authored by my colleague Shama Dossa and myself. The chapter agues that the principles and practices of evaluation are tools for the White gaze, and perpetuate neo-colonial and racist aspects of global development. Here is … Continue reading
Tagged with international perspectives …
How do CBO leaders in eastern and southern Africa define social change, effectiveness, and success – and how can funders better support them?
I am proud to share this peer-reviewed article I co-authored alongside Susan Wilkinson-Maposa, and my colleagues who are CBO leaders: Mary Kabati, Prosper Ndaiga, Saeed Wame and Moses Zulu. In this piece, we discussed the community-based organisation (CBO) leader and practitioner perspective on social change and partnering. Through surveys, interviews, and convenings involving CBOs from … Continue reading
Solidarity over charity: Prioritising long-term shifts over band-aid responses (article in Alliance)
“Modern charity has largely failed to produce real, lasting change.” In Alliance Magazine, I explored how the framework of charity has failed to achieve lasting, systemic change or a shift towards equality despite the good intentions of funders and the billions of dollars that have been spent. I explore how solidarity offers a different framework, … Continue reading
Challenges of fundraising for community-driven action (Participatory Grantmaking Community discussion)
I was thrilled to join the Participatory Grantmaking Community for a conversation about the tensions of fundraising for participatory grantmaking (PGM) along with Paul-Gilbert Colletaz from the Red Umbrella Fund and Yodit Tesfamariam from Camden Giving. We started the conversation with some guiding tensions about whether it matters where the money for participatory grantmaking comes … Continue reading
Conceptualizing early schooling in Pakistan: Perspectives from teachers and parents
As I was completing my doctoral dissertation on ready schools in Pakistan a couple of years ago, I was intrigued by the in-depth conversations I had with so many parents and teachers about what education and knowledge meant to them, and how it fit within their values and worldviews. So, I was thrilled when I … Continue reading
Book review: Early childhood education for Muslim children
Note: My colleague Hasina Ebrahim from South Africa invited me to review her insightful book as it was being published in late 2016. I was honoured to have the opportunity to review it and comment on its contribution to the field. Hasina Banu Ebrahim’s book, Early Childhood Education for Muslim Children: Rationales and Practices in South Africa (2017), is … Continue reading
Reflections on the 2016 US Elections (including some thoughts on parenting in this context)
Note 1: As some of you may know, I am a Canadian Muslim, of Pakistani heritage, living with my family in California, USA at this time. Note 2: While this post is not explicitly about early childhood development, which is the general focus of my blog, there are very real implications for those who are parenting … Continue reading
Parenting with community support: Our experience in Tanzania
In late February, my family landed at the small Mwanza airport in Tanzania. With our luggage and our toddler, Z, hoisted on my hip, we climbed down the airplane stairs and onto the shuttle bus that would take us to the terminal. The shuttle bus was packed and I remember feeling slightly disappointed that … Continue reading
Why I use the term ‘Majority world’ instead of ‘developing countries’ or ‘Third world’
Edit [August 2019] – I want clarify that I did not come up with the term ‘Majority World’. From what I understand, the term was coined and introduced by Shahidul Alam, and I would like to acknowledge and appreciate him for bringing this term into the discourse over a decade ago. You can read more … Continue reading
Noteworthy ECD resources (v3): Building resilience
[This post is part of my Noteworthy Early Childhood Development (ECD) Resources series, which rounds up and highlights key resources on particular topics.] Resilience – the capacity to adapt to and cope with change and stress – is fundamental to well-being. Building resilience in early childhood lays the foundation for long-term academic and social success. In … Continue reading
Sadaf Shallwani 