Story from the field

 

Good times will conquer the bad times!

 

NGO Mondo has been doing capacity building and income generating activities in rural town Shianda, in Kenya since 2010. Their partner, Western Focus Community Organization (WEFOCO), has been registered since 2009, since Janika Tamm from Mondo was one of the mentor for Esther Mumia, to start WEFOCO. And they’ve been colleagues since.

WEFOCO is an umbrella organization for the community groups around Shianda, who are mainly doing agriculture activities or having livestock or selling firewood or building bricks etc. These groups have been receiving trainings from the EU AID volunteer program since 2018. 15 volunteers have been doing trainings from poultry keeping to marketing, from nutrition and health to gender inequality. This time one of my assignment was to evaluate how the groups feel about our trainings and what they have learned and what they would like to learn in the future. For this I conducted one-on-one interviews with the chairladies and the chairmen and also focus group interviews with the groups. We came to realize that there has been changes in mindsets for the women to be more aware of their rights. They are more open to talk about issues and they will turn for help to the authorities. Families describe they like how they understand their children better and they spend more time talking and explaining things to them.  Another positive influence is that groups are all wanting to continue to learn, to repeat the trainings and to spread the knowledge with their communities.

Due to the struggles which were caused by COVID-19 pandemic, Shianda was facing many difficulties. One of the immediate impact was a lack of access to HIV treatments (medicine being out of stock) and rise in teenage pregnancies, meaning youths having unprotected sex. Another issue that caused insecurities among the communities was the rise in market prices, which went up straight away when the crisis started and haven’t gone down yet. This was affecting our groups who depend on the market, either by being the customer or selling the products. The ones that sell say that they are not making any profit anymore.

Despite all the struggles our groups remain hopeful and positive for changes to come. With the micro finance program we could give the groups a poultry project which will keep them stable for some time.

One thing that was said by one of the chairladies is “other organizations we have seen come and go, but WEFOCO has stayed and for this we are proud”. They feel that they are part of the community, that they should continue to make an effort to learn and educate others and that even when Mondo is not around, they will keep going! Shianda and its people are welcoming anyone and everyone and will stay in your heart for a long time and for this I want to thank Mondo and WEFOCO!

 

Sustainable Development Project Kenya - Step 4

 Step 4 of the tailor's Sustainable Development Project 

Design and develop an action plan to expand the PD solutions

The aim of this step is to develop a plan of action based on each of the inquiry findings. The plan of action has to be developed by the group.

The steps to create the plan of action are the following:

- Define your goal;

- List down the steps;

- Prioritize tasks and add deadlines;

- Set milestones;

- Identify the resources needed;

- Visualize your action plan;

- Monitor, evaluate and update.

Before starting this step with the tailors I had no idea how hard it would actually be.

I thought it would be done in two meetings and that the steps above were so logical and not difficult to achieve.

We started by reviewing the main goals we wrote down during the first step and tried to divide them into several smaller goals aiming towards the main ones. We formulated the smaller goals in action terms.

With the idea of diversifying the pedagogical way of working we divided the goals and the team in three smaller groups. Each group had about three small goals and their task was first to list down the steps/ideas to reach the goal, then to write down the tasks for each step/idea, and finally to write down the resources they would need for the tasks.

To me this exercise was not difficult and I let them work for a few minutes before passing through each group to see how they were doing.

I quickly realized that they couldn't deliver many ideas because they were not used to organizing steps and tasks in that manner. They told me it felt like a school assignment and some older tailors felt like they were too old for "school exercises". After trying to explain to each group the exercise with concrete examples that they understood well, they still didn't really get the point of it.

At the second meeting I asked them to present their ideas so far on flip charts to the other groups to see if we could do the exercise as one group based on the ideas they had already written down. This was one of the tailor's suggestions. This again wasn't very productive and I couldn't get so many things out of them. I didn't want to give the answers at every step because it goes against the approach and my way of working.

So at some point I stopped and told them this is not working. I asked them what they understand of the exercise and how they think we should proceed to have some sort of a plan of action which is necessary to reach their goal. I felt frustrated that I couldn't find a way to reach that objective in a way that is culturally done there. I asked them how would they organize wedding preparation for a family member or if they have a mary-go-round meeting or a big dinner for a family reunion. I was trying to get them to tell me the steps of their organisation. But nothing would come out of them.

Their answer to my question "how do you want to proceed to reach that planning objective?" was that they are eager to learn how to plan and organize in the way that I am asking them to in the exercise, that they have never done it in a specific way before, that they don't really understand the difference between the idea, the task and the resource, that they don't know how to take notes on their own because they were never thought to do so at school. They said they need me to help them more for the first few goals so they have examples and can do the rest on their own. They said they want to improve their organisation skills.

So in the end I took one of the more pressing goal delay wise and we did it together and focused on that one only for starters. We later implemented it and it was more or less a success.

This step was the most interesting for me as I saw that I didn't know how to proceed at first when I realized they have never learned to organize and plan things the way I have in school and in my whole life. It was a huge cultural difference understanding and I really asked myself if this organizing way that I work with is the best for this context. Should I really teach them how to plan and organise in that fashion or is it just me thinking this is the best way to do it and so it would be good for them to learn how to do it. I really wasn't sure of a lot of things I was doing with them because I didn't know if I should force those ways of working on them.

But they also couldn't give me another way of working. And they as a group had this ambitious project that in my opinion needed some structure however basic.

So I took a step back and reflected on those challenging thoughts for a few days.

I felt a lack of experience on my part, frustration, deep questioning of the method of that step of the approach in that context, I asked myself what am I supposed to do to go forward.

Then it all hit me in the next meeting we had with the tailors. Other issues came out like the fact that they didn't really understand the meaning of a team and of their team. They told me this during the meeting and I was chocked because we had already discussed it before and it is the base of the whole thing. So I put the action planning aside and we talked about it for the rest of the meeting. I also asked them to meet without me to figure out what are the rules of their team and their shop. Other things came up with random questions they asked. That was for me a huge help in realizing what are the priorities of these meetings and trainings. For example, one asked a salary question that led to discussing the financial records, the work organization and the salary, expenses and tailor shop capital percentages for each selling. Another question on who does what order led to talking about an order record book, how to make it, how to keep track, who should keep track, team roles and so on.

THIS was a revelation for me. At a moment of doubt of the approach on my side and struggle on how to go forward with all the things we had to do, the tailors are the ones who helped me untangle this brain knot I was developing. The questions that came out at that time showed that everyone was a bit confused at that moment of the approach, me included.

THIS moment proved to me once again that the answers are in the people and in the practice of the approach. Because this approach seems easy in theory but oh how absolutely hard it is in practice and in this context with on top of it all the cultural challenges and differences.

It was magical for me and everything became clear again. I was living one of my work values up front (the people you work for/with give you the way) and it felt like heaven. The questions the tailors asked in their confusion led to things I hadn't even thought about yet, it challenged my thought on the approach and the meeting, training and work construction I had organized until then.

Because I was no longer the one with the answers - I was a bit lost in the intensity and the mountain that represents this work, realizing I don't know how to proceed, I really cannot know everything in that one brain of mine (of course) - because of that I was in real equality with the group in terms of knowledge and insight in that moment and that is when we found the way forward together. I think this is a great learning moment for me, I am so grateful for this struggle, and what it led to. I will lean on that experience to improve the approach in that context and field for the next one. And I feel empowered.

In that context I think now that the best way to plan things is to do it informally. To let the tailors ask all their questions on the whole project and then go from there, one step at a time without a western organised structure.

Although I still ask myself if that would have worked from the start without all the things we did beforehand? That is an approach I will try with them when I go back.

Goodbye Party in Kenyan Style!

The last weeks before closing a project can be stressful, there are always so many things you want to do... people to see, finish documents, fill in documents, say goodbyes, close all financial reports, evaluations...etc. 

Knowing myself, I know I'm not good at keeping things for the last minute, so in general, I stress 2 weeks in advance (like it was the last minute, lol) so that in the last week I can have time for any eventuality. 

The last week of the project was saved in my calendar to have final meetings with the organizations I have been working with: Precious Virginia Home, Rise and Shine Special School, EARC and of course Wefoco. 

We discussed the work we did together and followed up implementation of actions learned in the training and in the action plans. 

(Feedback from training participants on their knowledge level to support children with disabilities, before the training, now and future needs) 

(Plan of action to improve services and meet further learning needs). 

A sample of a Facilitator Manual to provide training on How to Support Children with Cerebral Palsy and Profound Multiple Learning Disabilities together with supporting resources (handouts, posters in English and Swahili) was delivered to each Institution. This resource will allow these organizations to continue to facilitate training at a local level by to staff members, parents/caretakers of children with disabilities or other community members. 

Certificates were also delivered to all the participants in the training sessions from parents, cooks, caretakers, gatekeepers to teachers, directors and therapists. 

But there is no goodbye without a proper party. To my surprise, when I reach Precious Home, ready to have our final meeting, all the staff, some parents, the director and even the local carpenter we involved in the workshops for assistive devices, were there waiting for me with cake, soda and lunch. 

During the meeting parents, caretakers and the director expressed how they are implementing what was learned and the impact of having the EUAV working closely with them. The feedback was very positive: parents shared that now they know better how to position their children and how important it is to keep a good positioning, and caretakers shared how they are using the learned strategies to improve the communication with the children on a daily basis. Even the local carpenter shared that he had never done this kind of products before (adapter chair, standing frame, roll...) and now he feels more confident in the making of these devices and its a new skill that was added to his previous ones. 

After delivering the certificates, a beautiful “Farwell Andreia” cake was waiting for me! there were singing and dancing and has the social rule demands the guest (me) cuts the cake and gives a piece to each person. 

After the cake the party was not over yet, there was a photo session, where we joined everyone together with the supplies created in the workshops and the therapy supplies donated to support the therapist work. A lot of photos, a lot of smiles and a great celebration vibe was in the air. 

There was not enough time to cook the chicken for the lunch, so tradition demands we need to take it home. Since the chicken was a male it was gifted to the male member present in the day: Diego - videomaker from Mondo that was following my day has a volunteer in Shianda. Quite handy for me since I don't eat meat! :) 

With a feeling of gratitude, I said goodbye to this amazing team. 

Knowing that even at a distance we will keep in touch! 

 

Stop teenage pregnancy

Organizing a campaign 

Organizing a campaign is a hustle, but organizing a campaign during world-wide pandemic... we managed. 

Actually, to be honest, the covid restrictions were just something that we head to deal with at the last minute and that's why it became an issue. Changing location, getting permission, following the rules etc...We tried our best but we had to admit that this had an impact on the event. It is because we didn't get as much publicity as we would've wanted. However, organizing anything during these times is a wonder itself, so we are grateful for it. In addition, we had media coverage, which was a new thing for me. Radio, tv, newspapers. And I remember one of the WEFOCO women group chair ladies being so happy for having friends calling her and telling her she was on tv :) 

But what's it all about? 

During the pandemic the schools in Kenya were closed, which left a lot of teenagers idling. Teens were sent back home from boarding to help around the house and do some small work for the family. A lot of the families were scared and worried and had to push their children to find any kind of jobs. There are many sides to this story. One is teens idling and having unprotected sex. The other is that it's common in rural areas for girls to find boys to be the providers for the family, a lot of them started to look to create their own families. Since it was not sure when the schools will open and anyhow the whole situation was very uncertain for the whole world. Of course, we can't change the social norms with one campaign but we can do our part in contributing towards the change and raise awareness of the situation.

Teenage pregnancies is something that needs to be talked about and addressed, as very often the girls are left raising their children alone and don't have enough financial stability. This causes a lot of distress to the families and mental health issues for the girls. Some families abandon their children when such things happen and also dropping out of school is very common in these situations. We have seen some small changes and some schools letting their students to continue, which raises hope for the change to happen.

Before having the campaign we were reading the news and talking with communities - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-teenage-pregnancie-idUSKBN27W11H 

Not because of the campaign but one of our program kid was also pregnant and we can happily say that she has returned to school and is helped to raise the child by her mother.   

 

The campaign 

We organized the campaign for youths for them to learn about different ways to protect themselves. We were talking about reproductive health and changes in the body and mind. We also included free HIV testing and counseling, which is always an important topic to raise awareness on. We had motivational speakers, show for the youths and a teenage mother to share her experience. Again, one of the WEFOCO women group chair ladies told me that it was the first time she saw something like that happening and heard this kind of stories shared, which was really eye-opening for her. That we are allowed to share and talk about "taboo" with our youths. It was a big deal for her, since she has a lot of orphans and single parents in her group, who she feels responsible for. 

To attract the youths we came up (Andreia to be precise) with the logo "COME INTO THE CIRCLE". It aimed to attract to join the safe circle of smart and educated teens, who know how to protect themselves and support each other and feel free to talk about their health and social norms. In the end, the shared feedback was encouraging and we were happy to see youths around Shianda gathering and enjoying good time. The show was something that I think many of them hadn't seen in a while and it was a great day for them to sing and dance and learn something meanwhile.