in most forestry-related outcomes. This is a little disconcerting,
because it's quite clear, at the end of my first day of interviews, that
the municipal government is incompetent, corrupt, or (most likely) both.
That said, there do seem to be some good things happening in the
municipality, although most seems to be happening as a result of a
Norwegian Evangelical missionary organization. I'm no NGO
scholar--there are other people that have more experience to pass
judgment on these types of things, but I generally have been much more
impressed with religious organizations down here than secular ones.
While secular aid workers primarily seem motivated to keep their jobs
(makes sense, really), religious workers are trying to save souls and
convert others to their faith, which means they may have a stronger
incentive to help the people on the ground.
Another bright spot came out in one of my interviews in which a young
guy recommended to me by a local ex-pat as politically involved and
honest warned me that he was a biased source, since he was planning on
running for office in the near future. He has a pretty strong vision of
how he would like to see Sorata, and it sounds to me like he would make
a good mayor (or at least wouldn't make a worse one).
The role of the "political entrepreneur" in promoting accountability and
good governance through democratic means.
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