My Life in Azerbaijan - Am I really making a difference here?

April 10, 2010
The most common complains from PCVs is lack of work. Not many PCV has enough work to fill the week. Some organizations do not even care whether volunteers show up to work or not. Compare to other PCVs; I am busy most of the time. The bank keeps me occupied during the week. However, busy does not necessary mean that I am happy for what I do. I often asked myself THE question: Is my work really making a difference here in Azerbaijan?

More than once I was frustrated by how inefficiency the bank (my organization) functions here. It took my bank three days to open an account for me. I can deposit money to and withdraw money from the same account, but I can not transfer oversea money to this account. In order for my sister wiring US$ to me, I had to pay the bank 10 azn to open another account, and of course, it took me another three days to see it happen. When the money finally arrived, I had to wait for anther three days to claim the money, and needless to say, it was not free. I had to pay another 20 azn for the bank fee. When I requested a copy of the paper works that I signed for both accounts, they were not available, maybe I will get it in two weeks or maybe not, who knows. My frustration usually is answered by a common but honest reply from one of my co-workers, “You are in Azerbaijan Chi, and this is how we work here”

My impression of most Azeri people is: they do not want the change. They are comfortable with things that currently are and resent ideas that are unfamiliar to them. Instead of solving problems, they choose to hide them. Instead of facing the situations, they choose to avoid them. The corruption and bribery are notorious in the country, but people choose to accept it. When I first reported the leaking of my kitchen sink to my landlord, he saw it as a minor problem, no need to fix it. When the pipe finally exploded, he tried to convince me that it would be ok to just put a bucket under the pipe. When I reported to my organization about errors that I found on their audited financial, the HQ acknowledged it but never did anything to fix it. I could write pages and pages of findings of the bank’s financial reporting deficiencies and listed all the recommendations, but I would never heard anything back from the HQ or saw any steps being taken to correct the situations.

It takes pride to admit error, it takes courage to make change, it takes time to see thing happen but it also takes more sufferings if the situation does not improve. I am the 7th group of PCV arriving in the country and there will more groups coming after me. “Help the people to help themselves” is one of our PCV missions. What if they do not want to help themselves?