Probably the biggest frustration I encountered in Laos was the bureaucratic and Western ideals that go along with the process of development. My internship revolved around maternal health programs in Laos. An organization called the International Management Group (IMG) set up 17 maternity waiting homes around the country each with full staff and expecting mothers from the surrounding communities who used the homes. Now, the women were entitled to receive rice from the World Food Programme if they attended so many hours of health education. To get the rice, the nurses had to fill out forms and submit them to the WFP in order to obtain the rice. The problem was not one of the nurses or other staff members could understand them. They were set up in a way that Western organizations would understand, something that was convenient for them. This made me so mad because the nurses could not understand how to fill them out properly, meaning they were not receiving the appropriate amount of rice. Yet, no one would catch on. Administrators of the program would go in to the homes and scream and almost demean the men and women doing such difficult and strenuous work in the homes. I hated observing this, it was absolutely heartbreaking. I hated being associated with the Westerners who were pushing these methods on people who barely have basic math skills. It frustrated me beyond belief that what was a convenience to the WFP and IMG was such a terrifying burden on the homes. This was an unfair and selfish way to conduct something as important as distributing food and really allowed me to see a little bit of a dark side I was definitely not intending to.