COL's Poverty Reduction Outcomes through Education, Innovations and Networks (COL-PROTEIN) initiative provides funding to open and distance learning (ODL) programmes designed to reduce rural poverty. COL-PROTEIN provides resources, consultancy, expert advice and financial support up to CDN$20,000 to not-for-profit groups and institutions in Commonwealth countries. Five projects funded in 2005 recently reported outcomes from their activities.
Solar cooking training in Nigeria
Fantsuam Foundation is an NGO in Nigeria that has been working to facilitate solar cooking, which has benefits in terms of convenience, expense and health effects over other methods of cooking. Solar cooking is used in most countries of the world, particularly in India and China. Fantsuam's project promoted solar cooking in rural Nigeria by providing training workshops and creating workshop videos for further training. Participants learned how to cook using solar energy and how to construct solar stoves. They have also conducted solar cooking demonstrations, set up exhibits at trade fairs and established a solar stove production and training facility. To ensure sustainability of the project beyond funding from COL-PROTEIN, the team is exploring fundraising activities.
Learning for Fishing Communities in India
CONSIDER is a non-profit organisation committed to improving the quality of life of weak, vulnerable and marginalised people in society. Based in Andhra Pradesh, India, CONSIDER works to reduce the impact of disasters on the living conditions of the vulnerable. The December 2004 tsunami had a devastating effect on the fishing community of Andhra Pradesh, causing death and destroying the livelihoods of those involved in fishing. Faced with this destruction and the challenges of lack of proper fishing equipment, insufficient knowledge and depletion of marine resources, traditional fisher folk increasingly find themselves highly indebted to money lenders and unable to repay their huge loans. Funded by COL-PROTEIN, CONSIDER is using information and communications technologies (ICTs) and ODL to improve awareness of improved fishing techniques, develop self-supporting cooperatives for women and provide sustained community services.
By providing the fisher folk and their families with computer literacy training, information such as post-harvest processing and links to government departments, this project is giving people access to information and skills that will help lift them out of poverty.
Kitchen gardens and nutrition initiative in Kenya
Women in the Fishing Industry Project (WIFIP) Education and Development Trust works to enhance and sustain the livelihoods of women in the fishing industry by training them on different topical and development issues. WIFIP wanted to provide training in food and nutrition to enhance livelihoods and promote food security. With COL-PROTEIN's support, WIFIP developed a two-day workshop that covered topics such as a balanced diet, malnutrition, infant feeding, nutrition and HIV/AIDS, and food hygiene and safety. WIFIP conducted training to more than 140 women at seven fish landing beaches in the Lake Victoria area of Western Kenya. WIFIP also developed radio programmes that were transmitted on a local radio station and a workshop about kitchen gardening that was delivered to 180 women at seven beaches. Workshop participants were enthusiastic about the workshops and gained valuable knowledge about healthy eating that will benefit their families and their communities. Many women reported that they are in a better position to start a kitchen garden and make good use of their locally available goods.
Small business training for rural women in the Upper Nkam Division in Cameroon
Protégé QV is a Cameroon-based NGO that works to promote initiatives to induce rural development, protect the environment and improve the well being of the community. The goal of this project was to use radio-based learning and cell phones to give skills to rural women, helping them make the transition from survivalist activities to professional micro-enterprises.
The project involved:
- identifying the needs of rural business women,
- hiring local experts to create training content in various aspects of small business management,
- providing training in radio production and script writing so local women could produce radio programmes based on the training content, and
- creating a multimedia resource kit, which provides the information on a CD for self-training.
Local women created 12 radio programmes that were broadcast on the community radio station and aired at the weekly open market. They also hosted several group discussions about issues such as taxation, keeping business records and animal rearing. To ensure the sustainability of the project, and facilitate ongoing support and sharing of information, Protégé QV helped create a network of 19 women representing 103 groups, more than 7,200 women, in the region. A new organisation "Circle of Trainer for Development", known by its French acronym, CERFODEV, was established and the members were trained in sending text messages by cell phone.
This project successfully mobilised women, provided them with skills and information, and created a network that will continue to share knowledge and help women to fight poverty.
Computer skills coaching in the Solomon Islands
The Rural Development Volunteer Association (RDVA) in Honiara, Solomon Islands wanted to expand the Youthfirst Computer Centre, an ICT resource and learning centre for young people. This project focused on coaching rural trainers so they are able to provide computer skills training to people in their community. The RDVA created training manuals for both students and instructors, and provided extensive training to 18 people, who in turn have already trained several dozen people in their communities. The RVDA reports that as the trainers return and spread awareness about the training in schools and the general public, there is an overwhelming interest in the rural communities. Community members ranging from farmers to storeowners to students have taken part in training. This project has built capacity both with the Youthfirst Computer Centre and with community members in many rural areas.
www.col.org/protein
The Stockholm Challenge, held in May 2006 in Stockholm, is an international competition for projects using information communication technologies (ICTs) in innovative ways for development and change. The judges chose 150 finalists out of over 1,100 nominations. Two COL programmes were among those finalists.
- GRASSUP-Now: COL supported four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Western Kenya involved in agriculture and environment, health education with a focus on HIV/AIDS, micro-financing and small business skills and use of technology to implement the "Grassroots Socio-economic Underpinnings: Poverty Reduction, Food Security & Nutrition, Open & Distance Learning (ODL) for Women (GRASSUP Now)" project. The project uses ODL to empower women in three poor ruralcommunities in the Lake Victoria basin, strengthening their capacity to participate fully in society. The education and training was facilitated by audiocassette recording, video, computer-based training materials in print and CD-ROMs.
- Answering Farmers' Needs in Nigeria: COL supported the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria, which implemented this project in Ago-Are in south-western Nigeria. It is a public-private partnership run by the community for lifelong learning and linkages leading to improved food and livelihood security. The project helps rural farmers to access relevant and timely information for food production, processing, marketing and enterprise development, and raising their income. Equipped with basic ICT infrastructure, the Ago-Are resource centre provides training, links to a community help desk and other sources of information on the Internet, and access to farming equipment for rental.
www.stockholmchallenge.se
COL President Sir John Daniel shares his thoughts about The White Man's Burden: Why the West's efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good, by William Easterly.
According to Easterly, development today must address two tragedies. The first is simply that there are still so many poor people in the world. This tragedy has motivated heads of state and others to make many grand declarations. These include the Millennium Declaration with its Development Goals; the Dakar Goals, the UK's Commission on Africa and so on. COL works within the agenda set by these declarations.
The second tragedy, which gets less attention, is that 50 years of effort by aid agencies and the spending of trillions of dollars have done so little to cure the first tragedy. Some countries are actually poorer than they were 50 years ago, but even where there has been progress, it has been much less than expected. The goals and target dates that international bodies have set for eliminating hunger or achieving universal education have to be pushed into the future with dull regularity as deadlines come around and targets are missed - often by a wide margin.
Easterly's diagnosis of the reasons for the failure of development would be an essay in itself. Basically he ascribes it to the weakness that rich governments and their development agencies have for grand plans. For him, the key to progress is to abandon grand plans and to search for local solutions. True development needs more searchers and fewer planners.
He also argues that one reason development efforts have failed for so long is that development agencies are not accountable to those they are trying to help. Rich country taxpayers respond well to grand plans and announcements of large sums of money for development, especially if popular figures like Bono are brought in to promote the package. Much less attention is paid to what actually happens on the ground as a result of all this money and hype.
A former World Bank economist, William Easterly looks at the world as it really is. I commend his book, The White Man's Burden, for anyone interested in a thoughtful discussion about the reality of development.
COL's Young Professionals Attachment Programme: Canadian Youth for Global Learning sends young professionals overseas every year to participate in their first paid career-related international placement. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada's Young Professionals International initiative is a component of the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy (YES) Career Focus Program. The programme prepares and positions young Canadians for future employment by bridging the gap between formal education and a career. Placements are between six and 12 months with one of COL's partner institutions in a Commonwealth country. COL has placed young professionals in 14 Commonwealth countries since 2000 and currently has 10 young professionals in the field.
Kerri Jackes, one of the participants in the 2005/2006 Young Professionals Attachment Programme, shares her experience working in Nairobi.
Nairobi? That's in Africa, right?
I was at crossroads - not exactly sure where to direct my career: choose a graduate studies path or try my hand at a new profession. I had a couple of years of work experience under my belt, mostly in corporate instructional design. It was a job that kept me busy but wasn't related to my university studies or inspired passion. When I found COL's Young Professionals Attachment Programme, I jumped at the chance to practice and learn a different approach in education. I immediately packed my bags and updated my passport.
I even surprised myself when I accepted a position in Africa. While I knew Nairobi is in Kenya, my knowledge was limited and my expectations were unclear. Internet searches yielded little more than safari holiday tour operator websites, who used "one-night stay" and "early morning departure" to describe the city. Conversely, it's surprising how much unsolicited advice people willingly offer: avoid flour weevils, do not wear earrings, never leave the flat after dark and beware of infectious tropical diseases (apparently transmittable simply by thinking of them!). Despite the warnings, it took little time to adjust to the city that I quickly considered home.
It was a commonly asked question: "So, you're going to use the Internet to teach farmers in Africa?" "Well not really," was my usual response. The curious would prod on with queries on electricity and Internet access in rural villages. Truthfully, I was also curious how my work would be meaningful.
The placement allowed me to discover new trends in education and learning. I arrived with some experience in eLearning and I was familiar with concepts in distance education, but its potential impact on development eluded me until I began to research and make presentations on the subject. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICFRAF), my host organisation, is committed to making its learning objects open and reusable for quality agriculture and natural resource management education. I quickly believed in the merit of the project and worked to support their innovative approach. Debates are still ongoing with my employer in Canada about using similar repositories and adopting this new technology.
I developed personally and professionally while in Nairobi. I became more adaptable to unpredictability and had to practice flexibility in project planning. I also fine-tuned my research skills and developed an interest in distance education. The placement provided me with opportunities to attend conferences and workshops and to meet leading professionals in the field. I began to understand issues in open and distance learning that affect Africa and elsewhere. The work, people and research in repositories and open learning influenced my decision to pursue a graduate degree in education once I returned to Canada.
Living away from family and friends for any extended period of time tests even the most positive attitudes. I was fortunate to see things, befriend people and gain a first-hand feel for a lifestyle that can be both incredibly challenging and effortless. When I left Nairobi, I also left behind an extended family that in their everyday lives displayed strength of character and taught me to do the same. Obvious clichés aside, this truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that sparked a passion and fostered relationships that transcended borders.
A year went by as quick as a flash. The familiar Ottawa landscapes soon returned and the purple jacaranda trees of Nairobi seemed very far away. My mother instantly found me amidst airport crowds looking for their luggage and loved ones. In one sweep she hugged me and told me never do that to her again! I had spent a year living, working and travelling in Africa. To my mother's dismay, there's nothing I want more than to do it again... and again.
www.col.org/internship
By Greg Star
Since late 2000, COL has been offering a series of "Writing Effectively" distance learning courses for the staff of several UN agencies and international NGOs. I have been a tutor for these courses since April 2001, and this experience has been both enjoyable and enlightening for me. Unlike teaching in a conventional classroom or tutoring someone in their home, these courses present a set of unique challenges for learners and tutors alike. As a tutor, my main challenge is to build a rapport with learners whom I never see face-to-face. I have always found that this rapport helps to bridge the physical distance between us and increase the learners' level of comfort with the mode of course delivery, especially if this is their first time taking a distance learning course. In turn, they are more confident in their ability to navigate through this new learning environment.
Tutoring these courses also requires a great deal of flexibility with time, as the learners' hectic schedules and heavy workloads make it difficult for them to focus on the course. Furthermore, depending on their position, they are frequently away on mission, and this can lead to a loss of momentum. Despite these trying circumstances, I must help them to stay on track and not become discouraged in their effort to complete the course. I must also be very accommodating with respect to deadlines for assignment submission.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of my job is the learners' wide range of English competency and writing skills. This, of course, requires me to adapt my tutoring approach to fit each individual learner. For example, in some cases, the learners need a lot of support as they make their way through the course. These people generally ask a lot of questions about the concepts covered and the instructions for doing the activities and assignments. In contrast, other learners need very little guidance or clarification, and are able to fulfil the course requirements with only minimal support from me. In either scenario, I must be responsive to the particular needs of the learner to help them get the greatest possible benefit from the course.
I am always delighted when I see learners make progress in improving their writing skills, whether that means writing more clearly, concisely or with a more reader-focussed approach. I must admit, however, that I feel especially gratified when they tell me that my comments and suggestions have helped them to write more effectively in their daily working lives. For me, this is the ultimate satisfaction!
In addition to my role as tutor, I have enjoyed the opportunity to correspond with people from all corners of the globe, many of whom are on the frontline of events that we only read about in the daily news. For example, I have had learners working on the ground in areas of conflict and natural disasters such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Colombia and many parts of Africa, notably Darfur. Their first-hand accounts of these events have been fascinating to read, and have given me a whole new perspective on world affairs.
Reflecting back on the past five years, I must say that tutoring these "Writing Effectively" courses has been a truly unique experience. Compared to my other teaching and tutoring jobs, the skills needed to be a successful distance learning tutor are more subtle, and the results are more rewarding.
Greg Star has been a tutor with COL's "Writing Effectively" courses for the World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He lives in Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada.
Standing, left To right: Burchell Whiteman (Caribbean), Tara De Mel (Asia), Michael Omolewa (Nigeria), N.K. Sinha (representing Sudeep K. Banerjee, India), Shona Butterfield (New Zealand), David Levesque (representing Desmond Bermingham, U.K.), Denise Chong (Canada), Penina Mlama (Africa)
Seated: Jenny Glennie (South Africa), Lewis Perinbam (Chair), Donald McKinnon (Commonwealth Secretary-General), Asha Kanwar (Vice President), Sir John Daniel (President and CEO).
Missing: Teima Onorio (Pacific)
www.col.org/board
COL's Knowledge Finder provides free and open educational resources for educators and learners. This full knowledge base of about one million documents includes a specialised open courseware library. There's also online training on the site to help users search effectively.
www.col.org/kf www.colfinder.org/ocw
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