My name is Zander Rounds, I’m from Boston and I participated in the winter 2011-2012 Saha Global Leadership Program. I just recently graduated from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service with an international politics major. A couple years ago, having studied models of international development from a theoretical perspective, I was drawn to Saha Global. Their leadership program seemed like an ideal way to gain on-the-ground field experience and perhaps put what I had been studying into practice. To be quite honest, I also entertained a vague notion that I wanted to “help people” but did not quite understand what that meant.
My time with Saha Global exceeded my expectations, challenging my assumptions about the role I can play as a privileged outsider. In a word, I learned that, though I went to Ghana thinking that I was going to “develop” others, it was in fact I who was “developed”—by the superstar local staff and the energetic villagers of the village that I worked in. With the help of these wonderful people, I developed a more critical and nuanced understanding of the challenges and benefits of doing international development work.
In a sector of society that, in my opinion, is filled with people who with the best of intentions go out into the world to help only to inadvertently cause harm, Saha Global seems to do things right. I was so excited about the Saha model that I spent the following summer working as an intern in their US office, during which time I gained valuable insight into the inner workings of a dynamic and growing social business. Soon, I am off to China. I was awarded a Fulbright grant to conduct research on Chinese-African relations, an issue that I actually became aware while I was a Saha Field Rep. I am grateful for the knowledge and skills I gained through working with Saha Global and excited to take them with me on my newest adventure.
Want to learn more about Zander’s experience or have any specific questions? Zander would love to tell you more! Feel free to email him at zanderrounds33@yahoo.com Also check out what he’s up to now!
While monitoring with Eric on Wednesday, Arasheitu, one of the entrepreneurs running the business in Kagbal, joined us for household visits. As a way to gauge our efforts to educate community members on the health benefits of drinking clean water, one of the questions we ask households when monitoring is, “Do you know why dugout water is unsafe to drink?” Anytime we asked this question and a community member would respond with, “No,” Arasheitu stepped in to explain why dugout water was unsafe to drink and the negative implications it has for health. Community members also told Eric and I that Arasheitu and her colleagues at the center, Adamu and Sanatu, were teaching people how to collect rainwater properly and reminding people to come and refill at the center with their safety storage containers on a regular basis. It was really amazing to see the level of Arasheitu’s initiative and her enthusiasm for helping her community. Eric and I also lucked out because one of the women in Kagbal had recently given birth to a baby boy and community members were celebrating the naming ceremony. Thanks to the CWS fellows and the women of Kagbal hard at work running the treatment center, this new addition to the 
community, Abrahim, will always have the option of clean drinking water. That is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job as Ghana Country Director.
