TRUST MATTERS…but should be provable!

I was part of a joint team of Christian Aid and Community Links and Human Empowerment Initiatives (CLHEI) staff who were on field activities across some communities in three local governments of Benue state. The team was on the field to monitor the implementation of the COVID 19 secondary impact response, an intervention back funded by STARTFUND Network.

The activities include the distribution of Non Food Items (NFI)and Cash distribution targeting vulnerable people such as the very old, those with disabilities and widows.

Now in each of the communities we visited, I noticed that the beneficiaries as they sign and collect their cash envelopes, they walk away without sparing a moment to count and confirm if the cash in the envelope was accurate as promised.

This was despite the fact that there was a clear instruction earlier that they (beneficiaries) count the money to ensure it was complete.

So I walk over to one of them, an old woman, and asked her why she did not count the cash in her envelope? She looked at me, smiled and responded, “I trust CLHEI to keep to do the right thing”.

And I replied, “Really”? I then asked the old woman, “what if some notes were missing in the envelope?” At this point, some other beneficiaries who were close by became interested in our conversation and moved closer to make sense of what I was trying to explain.

I then asked them to assume they took the money home without confirming how much was inside the envelope. Then later at home they want to spend the money and discovered that some notes where missing and the total cash is not compete as promised.

“So will they still trust CLHEI to have done the right thing?” I asked.

At this point, some of the beneficiaries who were standing around me with the envelopes in their hands stared at me dumbfounded. And with a smile one of the women said, “I will count mine now”.

And immediately all of them started counting their cash. And when the finish counting, they looked up at me with smiles on their faces, satisfied that the number of cash notes in the envelopes were accurate as promised. They thanked me and walked away.

As they walked away, I asked myself, “that I trust someone or something is it enough?” Maybe not, it needs to be proven. And watching the beneficiaries count their cash, only hit home the fact that trust should and must be provable.

Why Trust matters

Trust is a vital ingredient of human interactions in a society which enable things to be done with relative ease. And as such, trust is built in very small moments and it also needs to be proven, that each party in a deal keep to his/her words.

And when you keep to your words- you show respect to the other party which in turn reinforces the trust between the two parties.

For organizations such as Community Links and Human Empowerment Initiatives that works in rural communities where the poor and vulnerable people in such communities have over time been exploited, deceived, and cheated, CLHEI cannot afford to betray the trust the people have in the organization.

As one woman puts it, “We trust this organization’s (that is CLHEI) approach compare to others”.

So it’s little wonder that when the people come, in an orderly way to sign, and collect money meant for them with relative easy, they get carried away and see no need to count the money. According to them, “they trust CLHEI”.