Optimal allocation of humanitarian resources (by Tanguy)

I spent the weekend with the kids in the Thai-Cambodian border city of Koh Kong, about 200km south west of Phnom Penh. The orphanage takes the children on a trip to discover "the outside world" twice a year and I was lucky enough to arrive at the right time; so I tagged along. I must say I had an amazing weekend; we visited a zoo, saw a forest of special Cambodian trees that grow only in the sea water and the highlight of my trip was swimming in the ocean along side dolphins (Note: I was happy when realized they were dolphins and not sharks)

I also discovered Cambodia outside its capital city and saw much of the poverty and misery that plague its rural regions. This brought me to reflect on the apparent contrast between the opportunities the orphans I work with enjoy and the millions of other children, orphans or not, who are still left in the dark.

In a previous post "The humanitarian dream" I write that thanks to the Sovann Komar village, the abandoned orphans now have access to education like other children in Cambodia. Well, not every child in Cambodia has access to school, in fact it has become obvious to me that little actually do. As I come to this realization, I now ask myself how to best allocate humanitarian resources in order to maximize their long-term impact on the world. These are a few of the thoughts currently on my mind.

The Sovann Komar village is doing an outstanding job! The childeren go to school (currently an outside school), learn to speak proper English (which I never did as you can tell from all my grammatical errors in this blog) and can do math almost as well as kids of their age in the US. In short, I have been immensely impressed by the kids' abilities, and believe that many of these orphans have a true potential to serve as tomorrow leaders inside or outside of Cambodia.

As I compared the situation of the Sovann Komar orphans with that of the other kids I met along the way to Koh Kong, I feel a sense of unfairness and discomfort. Shouldn't they also receive a share of the humanitarian pie? Why am I helping the kids who are already in an orphange rather than those children for whom much still needs to be done?

I try to reconcile this feeling with the follow thought experiment: assume the capital available to fight poverty in Cambodia is set and limited to $1 million (this represents money as well as time and effort spent). That capital can be allocated to help say 1 million children each receiving $1 of aid equivalent; or the same capital can spent to help 1,000 children each with $1,000 of aid equivalent. In the first case, 1 million children will be better off but only marginally so with no clear long-term improvement overall. In the second scenario the
large resource allocation will enable these 1,000 children to grow and become successful leaders, entrepreneurs, professors, and politicians (the rare good ones). This is Sovann Komar's mission. Remembering how they are the products of successful humanitarian programs, these grown-up children will then take upon their shoulder the responsibility to effect change and contribute themselves by expanding, recreating and developing succesful humanitarian programs around the world. A significant long-term impact on the original purpose of fighting poverty may then be achieved.

This logic is how I try to reconcile the apparent unfairness to the million of children we are currently not helping because the resources are being concentrated on a few. Sovann Komar concentrates its resources to make a significant impact on the lives of a few orphans knowing that years later these orphans will in turns give back and work towards the betterment of society for future generations -- at least I like to think of it that way.


(Note to myself: mathematical optimization of the allocation of humanitarian resources sounds like a good complex topic to spend some time studying; factor in both short and long term effects; for what time frame is concentration of resources better)

Two bodies, an ox and a snake (by Tanguy)

Last week was quite gruesome. We found two dead bodies, one man and one women, floating in the Mekong river where we get our water. Theo, one of the orphan, came up to me and whispered in my ear not to get close from the river because he didn't want to "ghost" to come get me. The police quickly removed the bodies from the scene. This event brings chills down my spine and makes me realize of the fragility of life not just in Cambodia but life in general.

As a side note, I stepped on a snake while trying to get water from the river and it freaked the heck of me! I must have pulverized the world record for high jump. Next time people should scare athletes with snakes and other unwelcome surprises during the Olympics, it will make the Games even more interesting.

I also witnessed a head-on collision between a bus loaded with passenger and an ox that was crossing the road. Not much was left of either the ox or the bus; the passengers seemed a little shaken but okay.

The humanitarian dream (by Tanguy)

Yesterday was my first day at the Sovann Komar/Golden Children Village. The orphanage is this beautiful small village with eighty children aged between 2 and 8 years old. The kids either don't have parents anymore or were abandoned; as a result, they are alone with no one to turn to. However thanks to the village they can now smile, sing and get schooling like other children in Cambodia.

I believe the ultimate humanitarian dream is to give every person on this planet the same equal chance to success; regardless of their family background, where they were born or come from. While the dream may seems thousands of miles away, I believe that it is projects such as Sovann Komar that bring this dream closer to reality one step at a time.

This reminds me of a speech that my good friend Ankur once gave (Ankur Luthra's University Medal Speech). Below are his words:

If something, anything, bothers you, I challenge you to do something about it. You ask “Can I make a difference?” With confidence, I say absolutely. You ask, “But how vast could that difference possibly be?” Good question; it reminds me of a surgeon in India I read about who works for free. After a morning bombing, he saw an afternoon waiting room of hundreds of dying men unable to afford care who turned to him to save their lives. When the doctor was told by an onlooker he cannot possibly make a significant difference considering he could only save a few of the hundred, the doctor replies, "Ask the last man I saved how significant my difference was." That's the beauty of making a difference, my friends. It is not judged on extensiveness; it is judged on heart, dedication, and patience. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Four days until departure (by Christine)

It's Christmas Eve at home, but only four days remain until I go off to Cambodia. Fortunately my team mate Tanguy has arrived safely. I am definitely extremely excited about not only traveling abroad for a full four weeks, but to also have the chance to do such impacting work is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is my first time traveling so long without my family and my first time doing work in another country, so it is a scary but exhilirating experience even anticipating the trip. I have been told to always expect the unexpected, so I will have to prepare as many back up plans as I can think of.

I am going to Cambodia at a time in my life when I have a lot of choices in front of me - of lifestyle, career, and countless other things. Despite how difficult it has been to see clearly the right next steps, I know that at MIT I have been surrounded by amazing opportunities. The MIT PSC has opened a path for me that I never dreamed I would take, and I can only strive to live up to the expectations of the donors and of the children I am going to help.

Unique opportunities for MIT students (by Tanguy)

I am going back to Asia. This time I'll be working in Cambodia for a short month to help set up a water filtration system and the teaching curriculum at an orphanage in Phnom Penh. My friend Christine and I both received a fellowship from the MIT Public Service Center for the project.

I find it amazing that MIT has such a thing as the Public Service Center. The way it works is basically donors give money to the center which then helps students go around the world to work on projects with lasting impact to the local community. In our case, by the time we leave the orphanage will hopefully have access to clean drinkable water as well as a teaching curriculum established that can be approved by the Cambodian Ministry of Education.

I would have loved having such opportunity while at Berkeley where I did my undergrad. I believe there is a lot more to gain from college than what is taught in class. Personally, I have learned more at Berkeley from my extracurricular activities --studying Chinese, doing research and interning abroad-- than from my engineering classes themselves. I have found that the things that influenced my life the most so far came from unsuspected opportunities that were along the way while I was pursuing another goal... The power of the MIT Public Service Center is that it allows and encourages MIT students to pursue these opportunities.