Riding on the wave of conservativism

Instead of focusing on the obviously unfortunate state of my face, I have decided that a bigger problem is the way things are going here in Mali. I am not referring, however, to my and Tim's stay here, but rather the ways in which Mali's so-called 'sustainable' development is progressing. For example, the other day Tim and I are walking to the store to buy some food to cook for the next day and these school kids are walking near us... they are teenagers... anyway, they say to us, 'hey white people---- give me 5 francs!' Tim replies back in Bambara 'no' and we walk on.... the people here are so bold in terms of asking for money or your things. I have been asked several times to give someone my watch, or even my shirt. 'Hey, I like your shirt. Give it to me.'
Now in my opinion, it is not entirely the Malians' fault for thinking that it is okay to just come up and ask for your things or your money... they are given things all the time, and most especially by white people. These white people who give them things are also not entirely in the wrong. They think they are helping these poor Malians who have no safe drinking water, staggeringly high infant mortality rates, etc. Unfortunately, these white people I am referring to are from NGOs and other international organizations.
These NGO white people come in and bring with the the most high tech water pumps, engineers, construction crew and they build these people pumps with safe drinking water and the Malians are happy and thankful. They throw the white people parties with xylophones; they sacrifice goats and sheep in their honor; they dance for them, take pictures, etc. And then the white people leave believing in a job well done. What they forget is that putting a well-engineered pump in a village is not sustainable and it is not progress; it only buys time. Maybe this time is until the next group of white people come to either fix it when it breaks or build a new one when more people come to settle in the village where there is a tubab-built pump. The problem is with the mindset this type of work creates. These Malians did not have to invest a single thing into the building of this pump, and because of that do not take proper care of it. It is like saving for something you really want and buying it all on your own or your mom and dad buying it for you. There is a certain higher level of responsibility associated with investing your time and your own money into something, than getting it for free from some random group of white people that are there for 2 months, build whatever, and get the hell out. These NGO workers have bosses that need results, and big boss-man's realizing that 10 pumps have been built in the Sikasso region, instead of 5 makes for a much better showing.
That, my friends, is what is different about the peace corps. We live like they do; we speak their language; we get to know them and their children. We make them invest in their future. In order to get any kind of grant money here to help with any projects, you must raise a certain percentage of the project's cost in village. They then have a personal stake in the project. It is their money, and their time. They, along with we peace corps volunteers, can be proud of what we together accomplished, big or small. And honestly, doesn't it make more sense that something sustainable would take more time?
Here is where the title comes in: It is not like before coming here I was sold on just giving money to poor countries, or coming here and giving them things that we 1st worlders consider important--- I simply believe that you cannot truly help a country, unless it first tries to help itself. That being said, Mali is and will remain stagnant in terms of development until it figures that out for itself. 'Michele the American' can come here and do all she can, but at the end of her two years she can pretty much guarantee she will be out of here. I do not believe in international or domestic welfare; I believe in self-gratification and self-fulfillment. Welfare, NGOs, International Orgs should be more involved in that business than in the 'here's some free money' business. While I am at it I may as well criticize the IMF and World Bank. They try to help, but end up hurting the countries they supposedly try to help by charging them ridiculous interest rates on loans for supposed economy-boosting projects that only land said countries in greater debt. Why can't there be some organization, other than the peace corps (something with a better budget/more money), that can combine what is good about the IMF, World Bank, and the NGO-Intl Orgs? Who knows...