Lately, I've been pretty consumed with analyzing whether I made an impact this past year. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been reflecting on "what I have done over these last 11 months to make Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village a better place".
Impact is a very tricky thing. For starters, a strategy oftentimes needs to be sustainable to truly have impact. A sustainable nonprofit would be one that is able to continuously fulfill its mission over the long-term, which involves factors like financial sustainability, adaptability, strategic planning and leadership succession planning (you can read more about this here).
Most people want to feel that they've made a positive impact but, in reality, oftentimes while intentions are genuine and good, that just isn't the case. As in politics, while a policy may be developed with the best intentions in mind, the long-term impact is more damaging than before the policy was in place (examples here). In the Village we oftentimes have short-term visitors come with hopes of making a difference. They may want to present on a topic they are an expert on or offer money to a kid who wants to go to the United States for school. While these offers are generous, they are oftentimes more harmful than helpful (one presentation takes lots of staff resources to coordinate or a student gets to the U.S. but then what do they do in terms of costs for food, housing, etc.).
Even for long-term visitors, like myself, it is hard to leave an impact that actually helps the community. Being able to "teach a man to fish" versus doing it myself, was something I struggled with. I think, more than anything this year, I learned to be more patient for that reason alone. I can leave a suite of communications templates in place for the organization to use, but what I really should do is teach HR how to write up their own templates. Or, I can develop programs to acquire grants but if the programs are not completely aligned with our mission, and instead add additional work for our staff, that is not a win. That's why there is such an emphasis on capacity building instead of program building in the world of these fellowships. As fellows, we are probably best utilized in helping our Rwandan counterparts strengthen their skills, abilities, processes and resources instead of developing programs, facilitating classes or building partnerships. Hopefully, the support I have provided will lead the Village towards future success.
Impact can also be tricky because sometimes it is challenging to measure. If you were to ask a foundation or donor for money they would say "show me the numbers". They want hard data to prove that what they plan to invest in is going to have the returns they desire, just like an investor in a start-up. It is critical that organizations measure their impact to help them understand if they are actually achieving their goals and mission, and identify ways to continue to improve. However, when it comes to emotional impact, it becomes much harder to measure your success. Much of what we do at the Village fits into the emotional impact category, so determining how best to measure this will continue to be a hurdle.
To me, it is very easy to be tough on myself regarding whether I made a significant impact or not. And, I think something amazing can come out of this struggle - the ability to be intentional in decision-making. For instance, is the extra 15 minutes spent chatting with my 'village family' at night worth it? You can't measure the impact but you could have sparked an idea in one girl's mind or given a girl the love she needed to be more confident for a test the following day. Each decision and use of time leads to a different outcome, and some outcomes will have greater impact than others. Many times you will never know that outcome. Time is a finite thing and determining how you use yours is precious. If this year has taught me anything, that is definitely a lesson well learned.
