Doing Development in West Africa ─ A Reader by and for Undergraduates

In recent years the popularity of service learning and study abroad programs that bring students to the global South has soared, thanks to this generation of college students' desire to make a positive difference in the world. This collection contains essays by undergraduates who recount their experience in Togo working on projects that established health insurance at a local clinic, built a cyber café, created a microlending program for teens, and started a local writers group. The essays show students putting their optimism to work while learning that paying attention to local knowledge can make all the difference in a project's success. Students also conducted research on global health topics, examining the complex relationships between traditional healing practices and biomedicine. Charles Piot's introduction contextualizes student-initiated development within the history of development work in West Africa since 1960, while his epilogue provides an update on the projects, compiles an inventory of best practices, and describes the types of project that are likely to succeed. Doing Development in West Africa provides a relatable and intimate look into the range of challenges, successes, and failures that come with studying abroad in the global South.

Charles Piot is Professor of Cultural Anthropology and African and African American Studies at Duke University, and the author ofNostalgia for the Future: West Africa after the Cold War.