QUESTION TIME: What is the most important topic that you think your peers, that is other Implementing Agencies on IESF, can help you with?

I'm sharing a dynamic we are experiencing. What do you think?

What we are noticing here in Tanzania, when we reach the villages to present the activities and start implementing them, is that women and the communities in general mainly expect... money!

Our collaboration is "soft" - we are not building schools or water pumps - we are implementing Training activities, important Training activities, but with mid-term or long-term benefits for the beneficiaries and their families.

We are experiencing a need of immediate effect from their side, possibly direct money, as some other NGOs or organizations do.

They sometimes seem they are not able to get the real value of our contribution immediately.

We insist in explaining more deeply and in detail the positive effects of the Trainings in their lives.

Are you sometimes facing the same reaction? If so, how are you facing it?

thank you,

Francesca

Hello Francesca,

Thanks for sharing this. I'd like to share a situation that I'd say is somehow related basically when considering the short, medium and long term when working with vulnerable people.

We work with children and youth migrants workers at their different stages of departure, transit and destination. This means that when at departure we work with those who are "potential" candidates to go in insecure and dangerous migration. We carry out important sensitation and awareness raising activities to let them know about dangers and possible protection services they can count on if they decide to anyhow go in migration. All this is very good but at the end of the day a question coming up from communities that our field staff must answer is usually: " Ok good, we understand but what do we do if we stay in here?; what do you propose?...".

It wasn't totally clear at its first implementation stages that our project would also start livelihoods activities in departure regions as our target is children and youth migrant workers (and at departure they are not migrat workers...). And the reason is very simple: we work in very vulnerable and poor regions where most of the populations could be considered as potential candidates to go in dangerous migration to look for a job somewhere else. However, we realized that something else had to be done because otherwise we aren't defending our holistic approach and providing with long term solutions either. In this sense, training and livelihoods are to be developed under some target population criteria developed in this sense.

On top of your "soft" activities maybe you could also consider at least some "hard" activities organized under some clear criteria (mostly related to provide with material opportunities to those who have already certain skills). This short term activity accompanying the other ones could be seen as an attraction point and serve as an example of what can be achieved in medium or long term if done together with your training work. This might reinforce your approach as well...

I believe that even when it's medium and long term that better defines real improvements basically through all kind of "investments", these investments behaviors habits are not usually found in vulnerable people. I would say this is due to several factors but in any case: first is first, first is occupying yourself of your everyday emergencies, then you could let yourself consider some other issues equally useful but less urgent...

I hope this helps. Regards from Ivory Coast,

Diego

Having worked in Tanzania for 8 years with womens groups   I understand what Francesca is talking about - and this is a challenge and temptation which I believe has to be rejected, because to succumb to this expectation is to deprive people of the opportunity to grow and become empowered, and it keeps them trapped as 'dependents' unable to reach economic maturity. What you are doing in your soft approach  - training of human resources - is the best approach I believe, one that will lead ultimately to their economic and social empowerment (the two go hand in hand). But how do you reject the money approach yet keep them engaged in your training objectives? I think what you are doing sounds right - talk, talk, talk, drip, drip, drip  . . . it takes time, patience, and determination  - don't expect to succeed with every community or with every woman. It is also helpful if you can spend time understanding the culture and the hidden value-set of the people you are working with, so that you can build onto that. I agree with Diego  that there is no harm in offering a small amount of start-up support, but it's even better if this start-up capital can be self-generated through membership of a savings and loan society. In Uganda I evaluated some very successful Village Savings and Loans Societies (VSLA) which in some communities have been revolutionary for the villages concerned in terms of their economic and social empowerment (and in a different district had been much less successful - due to weak implementation and low level of post-training follow-up and support - and possibly because they were different ethnic group). So keep up the good work and believe in what you are doing - eventually you will reach the point where concrete results become clearly visible, and at that point you get lift-off.

Hello

At Young Africa we are facing the challenge of post graduate support. When the students we have trained have graduated how do we support them to be gainfully employed? We have had bad experiences with startupo toolkits where young people have sold these kits immediately after training. Can those working in vocational training share their experiences with us? We are interested in those young people in rural areas.

Thanks

Enet

Thank you all for your useful and interesting comments.

I agree with Diego about the need to include also some "hard" activities and our project considers, even if at a second stage, also some vocational Trainings and provide beneficiaries with educational kits, to produce honey, dried meat and leather tanning.

Furthermore, reading what Joy is commenting, I'm happy to add that we'll also work to establish self-generated groups of saving and loan (like VSLA), with similar methodology. We'll strenghten Village Community Banks (VICOBAs), while creating new ones, activating some micro-loans for the best performing ones.

I agree, in general, on the need to adjust methodologies or ways of operating while implementing the activties, if needed; flexibility is always the best choice.

Thank you and look luck to you!

Francesca