Email my mom sent me from Doha, where she’s accompanying my Dad at the UNCTAD Conference. @seblindstrom #camel (Taken with instagram)

Efficient and effective development aid these days seems to be an exception to the rule. Military efforts to bring peace and prosperity to a region seem to be more and more misguided. 

It may be that I am in a cynical mood, in need of reevaluating my priorities or analytic skills… nevertheless, I am noticing that I am becoming more convinced that trade and commerce provide much more than simple economic gains.

I am realizing that I am more and more eager to focus my efforts on supporting to small and medium sized businesses; real, sustainable engines of growth. There is sometimes no need to label entrepreneurship as “social” — entrepreneurship is inherently social as I discovered at the Third Global Review of the WTO’s Aid for Trade Conference in Geneva July 2011.

Please note: I think foreign aid from developed to developing (and least developed countries) is very important and should not be decreased! However, more efforts should always be taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the amount of aid currently being given and… support for entrepreneurship, especially in developing countries, are deserving of more attention. I like the way Bill Easterly expresses support for the often overlooked eight Millennium Development Goal.

While I continue to learn more about the global market, complex relation between donors and development aid —which types are more effective than others and why—  do check out this unique company which is making camel milk more available around the world: Wondermilk.

I had the opportunity to taste camel milk a couple of months ago. It’s a little bit strong, but otherwise delicious, amazingly nutritious and rich in vitamins (close to human breast milk). It feels great to be supporting a traditional form of livelihood.

If Wondermilk is reading this, I wonder if they’ve thought about making ice cream from camel milk!

Many thanks to @SebLindstrom for introducing me to his fascinating work with with camels, shoot him a tweet to find out more about it or check out more about Wondermilk via the link below.

(via Sarah Jahangir: Moving in on the Camel Milk Market | Young Female Entrepreneurs)

Spotted: more camel love.

 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, What Took You So Long to Respect the Camel?

May 2011

What took you so long to… Respect the Camel?

Here’s an excerpt of a post originally written by Brock LeMieux:

Alicia Sully and Sebastian Lindstrom, founders of the creative and cultural movement, are turning the documentary film industry upside down and they’re taking you with them, playfully documenting “unsung issues and untold stories” around the world.

Camel milk, or the “new oil”, as filmmaker Alicia Sully calls it, contains three times the amount of vitamin C found in cow’s milk. Rich in iron, vitamin B, and unsaturated fatty acids, it is believed to be beneficial for people suffering from HIV-Aids. In Central Asia, Mongolia, and Somaliland, it is given to patients recovering from various maladies. From anemia to tuberculosis, the milk most closely related to human’s is even said to ease symptoms of autism. Camel milk is commonly referred to as “liquid gold” for tens of millions of people across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

The story of the camel and groundbreaking research on its milk and cheese has sent the team on a five-month trek through 15 different countries. With “Respect the Camel” as the initial title for the documentary, the team aims to raise awareness of the rapid decline of camel populations and lack of research regarding the milk’s valuable medicinal properties.

“This is an unbiased research trip” Lindstrom elaborates. “We’re not pushing anything here. It’s easy to say this is the solution but we’re simply asking for more research in the field.” What they are seeing is clear. Nomads that have herded for hundreds of years are falling into the trap of convenience; it’s far easier to care for other livestock. Meanwhile, traditional pastoral communities are losing sight of the versatile properties of a creature that symbolizes food, medicine, art, literature, and transportation in over 100 countries. There is a certain passion between man and the camel that goes almost unexplained. A bond must be created between the camel and herder. Without it, camels can become unhappy which translates directly to a substantial decrease in their milk production.

(via From the Sandbox: Respect the Camel: In Search of Unsung… Cheese? By Brock LeMieux | Sandbox)