Secondly, there is this issue of trust. There are villages where the people simply do not trust each other AT ALL. I have seen villages where each person thinks they ought to steal first before their neighbours do.
If someone is willing to donate a new facility, but the local people would prefer the "nuts and bolts" which make up the facility, why should they respect the donor's wishes over their own needs?
Learning about this, and figuring out how to make a positive impact without upsetting some people is what I am trying to do here. I have had people tell me that the mere visit of a foreigner to one family caused envy among the neighbors because they assumed that this family was getting money from that visitor, and then they made up stories about that family and tried to discredit them with their landlord.
One of the issues with the thinking around community projects is the propensity to consider beneficiaries of donations as though they can't possibly do anything wrong - so the thinking goes that if a project fails the blame should never be placed on the beneficiaries - it can be placed on donors, the intermediate agencies, monitoring agencies.. EVERYONE apart from the beneficiary.
I am not supportive of such an approach.
I think it is far more helpful in the long run to make it very clear to the folks in these areas that if the donations made to them are misused that it will impact all donations in the future - that it is contingent upon them to ensure that the donations are well used, that the equipment is protected etc.. and that there are real consequences to not doing that.
That is, treat them as adults - not as infants. Make them accountable. Stop pussyfooting around talking about tough issues. Have people explain why something was allowed to be looted etc.
(I'm not familiar with Mr. Beast. I will say that the 2 videos I've seen bordered on psychopathy. But I think the general principle of my statement is still worth exploring.)