Erum Shazia Hasan points a critical eye at humanitarian aid in novel We Meant Well
CBC Books | Posted: October 5, 2023 12:56 PM | Last Updated: October 5, 2023
The debut novel is longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize
Erum Shazia Hasan's We Meant Well is a novel that poses a difficult moral dilemma for its protagonist, Maya, an aid worker who must decide who to believe when her coworker at the orphanage, Marc, is accused of assaulting her former protégé, Lele.
Caught between worlds with protests raging outside the orphanage, Maya must also balance the fate of the organization against the accusations. Navigating around these variables provides both challenge and insight as the complexity of the situation reveals the character of everyone involved.
Hasan is a Toronto-based writer and a sustainable development consultant for various UN agencies. We Meant Well is her debut novel.
We Meant Well is on the longlist for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The shortlist will be announced on Oct. 11.
Hasan spoke to CBC Books about how she wrote We Meant Well.
The problematic side of international aid
"I work in this international aid industry as a sustainable development consultant. What I do is usually I go and develop different environmental projects and programs and countries. Part of my work involves interviewing local communities, sitting with them, finding out what their biggest environmental issues are and then crafting a project around that that will respond to that.
"I always found that role very uncomfortable — there's a strange power dynamic. It was observing the aid and charity industry at large and seeing how all these international experts come from everywhere and are working in these countries. I started to see the problematic elements of that."
Crafting characters
"I love fiction. I wanted to create characters and a story and make it so that it doesn't feel like it's reporting on some sort of issues, social issues of the day, but that all of these issues become crystallized within people.
That process of seeing all of this in fictional form rather than an academic form was the most surprising and also the most enjoyable aspect for me. - Erum Shazia Hasan
"How they're personalized manifests in the interaction between people's personal lives and then their jobs and their work. That process of seeing all of this in fictional form rather than an academic form was the most surprising and also the most enjoyable aspect for me."
LISTEN | Erum Shazia Hasan talks about her debut novel on Ontario Morning:
Living in two worlds
"Writing this was a natural process because I live in two worlds. But for Maya there's discomfort in those two worlds. I think the reason I also wrote this book was because I feel that sometimes, especially when we're in Canada, we feel so far away from things that are happening elsewhere or we feel so powerless or we feel so disconnected from other cultures.
"When I'm travelling I notice how much impact, for example, Canadians have in other places or how people are singing songs that Canadians have written. When I come back, we're drinking the coffee that has been picked by some of the farmers I've worked with. I see such an intimacy and such fluidity between cultures.
I feel that sometimes, especially when we're in Canada, we feel so far away from things that are happening elsewhere or we feel so powerless or we feel so disconnected from other cultures. - Erum Shazia Hasan
"Because I see it as a smooth connection, I wanted to pick that out and see how it would work for a person who doesn't live it so naturally — where she feels like she is one person at home and then she's someone else at work — and she's trying to manage these. I wanted to pick a little bit at how those two states are her own internal insecurities, challenges, complexities which manifest in place and identity."
Thoughtful collaboration
"I want to make sure that the book is not seen as just a blind critique of humanitarianism. When I look at big, broader issues, societal issues or international issues — people need allyship, they need camaraderie, they need to work together. We can't let you know whether it's in our communities or somewhere else. If someone is struggling to just be like, 'Ok, well, they'll figure that out or they'll work it out on their own.'
I want to make sure that the book is not seen as just a blind critique of humanitarianism. When I look at big, broader issues, societal issues or international issues — people need allyship, - Erum Shazia Hasan
"I do believe that we need thoughtful collaboration. But I think one of the things is to always remember that in any dynamic where there's one person giving money and someone receiving it, there is going to be a power imbalance. And so just think about what that means. What is part of that power dynamic and what are the kinds of things that we imprison people in when they're receiving and we are giving. I just want people to maybe think about that a bit more."
Erum Shazia Hasan's comments have been edited for length and clarity.