The New Recruits – Can Capitalism Save the World?

If you have Netflix, you most likely know about their play now feature. This is where I get to watch a lot of documentaries. I can't get enough of them. I watched one last night called The New Recruits - Can Capitalism Save the World? which aired on PBS in June, 2010. I was very interested to discover one of the recruits sent to India was a woman - a tall, blonde, California woman named Heidi - and I was eager to watch her experience.

Heidi

The concept of this movie is instead of giving charity to the poor, you sell things to the poor which generates profit. In this case the recruits were selling clean toilet facilities in Kenya, LED lights in India, and drip irrigation technology in Pakistan. It's a concept I have never heard of before, and if you're scratching your head wondering how the poor have enough money to purchase these goods, well, so was I. And, in most cases, they didn't.

An Indian man tries out an LED light with solar charger.

Heidi was the only woman featured in the documentary and seemed to experience the most hardships as well. While the men were upbeat and positive and seemed to be enjoying their respective placement countries, images of Heidi were always quite depressing, like one scene where she is shown reading a newspaper with the headline, 34 yr old MBA student gang raped in Noida, near where Heidi worked and lived.

"It's really disturbing," Heidi says. "Not surprising, not surprising. It's not a safe place to be a woman, here in India. It's not a safe place to be a woman."

Written in her bio on the PBS website, Heidi says, "It’s as though India kisses my cheek one minute and slaps me across the face the next.”

I was so surprised to see a strong woman with a MBA in business from Standford University having so much trouble in India. In each shot she appeared more worn out and overwhelmed, a completely different Heidi from the one we were presented in the beginning of the film.

But while watching her struggles, I actually became more accepting of my own failed experience in India. I didn't wish for Heidi to have a bad experience - I actually thought it would be quite the opposite for her - but it was nice not to feel so alone; an intelligent woman who was provided eight weeks of preparation before making the trip also found India to be a struggle in many of the same ways I did. She helped me not to feel so alone and bad about myself after so many commenters on this blog attacked and hurt me for the emotions I was expressing while in India.

Netflix reviewers didn't cut Heidi or Christina, another white woman working in her office, any slack either; "I hate the two white blondes who are like type A personalities," one person wrote. "Their portrayal of India as male dominated and rapists and lawless land is very wrong. I think they have personality problems and lack insight."

Christina (left) and Heidi in Uttar Pradash, India

You know what I think it is? I think it's being a woman. The men sent to Pakistan and Kenya appeared to be relaxed and enjoying their experience, while Heidi and Christina were covering their heads to hide their blonde hair and having to always play it safe whether it be traveling or following a curfew.

I thought this documentary was really good, and I enjoyed getting to see new ideas people were implementing to help the poor. I had no idea it would have such an effect on me, and it wasn't the effect I expected it would be. I highly recommend you watch it. If you don't have Netflix, you can watch it on PBS for free here. I would love to hear your take on the film.