Just about one and a half months ago I was informed that I had been offered a 6 month internship in Ethiopia with Oxfam Canada. This is my new blog to record and share my experiences from this internship. Oxfam is a major international organization that supports livelihoods and equality throughout the world by supporting local partner organizations with resources and training in developing nations. I find myself here largely by coincidence. However, in a roundabout way, my path to Ethiopia led through my previous volunteer position working in Southwest Uganda on water and sanitation projects for Rotary International.
I worked in SW Uganda with the heavily marginalized Batwa people in 2008 and 2009. My partners and I observed a strong lack of engagement of the Batwa communities on the water and sanitation projects that we were initiating. The projects were intended to reduce water borne disease and death among their children but we found strong resistance in the communities to participate on their own water and sanitation projects. We realized the hard way what it means to work on a project that has a top down approach to development. That is, an approach that conceives of a project without in-depth input and involvement from the community on the front end.
We were continually faced with the challenge of communities unwilling to participate in our projects because the projects, while not necessarily unwanted, were not conceived of initially in partnership with the community members themselves. There was also a strong aid dependency of the communities caused by the conditioning of NGOs in the area who were better known for providing handouts rather than hand ups. In an effort to improve our approach our team of volunteers began to research effective approaches that catalyzed community engagement and participation in projects.
Through research, one of our dedicated volunteers, Maria Ryan, came across an organization known as the Coady International Institute (please follow the sidebar link to learn more about the Coady). The Coady Institute is a research and learning based organization dedicated to community driven development. That is a type of development that focuses on supporting and respecting the existing cultural practices and assets of communities while improving their ability to organize effectively around their own initiatives. Maria began a dialogue with staff member Brianne Peters at the Coady which eventually led to my enrollment in the three week certificate course there last Fall in Nova Scotia called, “Mobilizing assets for community-driven development.”
While I was there I learned that the Coady was involved in a partnership with Oxfam on an exciting 8 year pilot project using community based approaches in Ethiopia. Having moved on from my volunteer position in Uganda, when I was informed of an internship opening, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. I wanted to participate in a development process that for once put the community in the driver’s seat and puts the NGO in the role of supporting the community’s initiatives. More to come on the work in the coming days and months, stay tuned!
I worked in SW Uganda with the heavily marginalized Batwa people in 2008 and 2009. My partners and I observed a strong lack of engagement of the Batwa communities on the water and sanitation projects that we were initiating. The projects were intended to reduce water borne disease and death among their children but we found strong resistance in the communities to participate on their own water and sanitation projects. We realized the hard way what it means to work on a project that has a top down approach to development. That is, an approach that conceives of a project without in-depth input and involvement from the community on the front end.
We were continually faced with the challenge of communities unwilling to participate in our projects because the projects, while not necessarily unwanted, were not conceived of initially in partnership with the community members themselves. There was also a strong aid dependency of the communities caused by the conditioning of NGOs in the area who were better known for providing handouts rather than hand ups. In an effort to improve our approach our team of volunteers began to research effective approaches that catalyzed community engagement and participation in projects.
Through research, one of our dedicated volunteers, Maria Ryan, came across an organization known as the Coady International Institute (please follow the sidebar link to learn more about the Coady). The Coady Institute is a research and learning based organization dedicated to community driven development. That is a type of development that focuses on supporting and respecting the existing cultural practices and assets of communities while improving their ability to organize effectively around their own initiatives. Maria began a dialogue with staff member Brianne Peters at the Coady which eventually led to my enrollment in the three week certificate course there last Fall in Nova Scotia called, “Mobilizing assets for community-driven development.”
While I was there I learned that the Coady was involved in a partnership with Oxfam on an exciting 8 year pilot project using community based approaches in Ethiopia. Having moved on from my volunteer position in Uganda, when I was informed of an internship opening, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. I wanted to participate in a development process that for once put the community in the driver’s seat and puts the NGO in the role of supporting the community’s initiatives. More to come on the work in the coming days and months, stay tuned!
Sol- I'm forever inspired by your motivation to serve those in need. Can't wait to hear more about Ethiopia!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear more about your perceptions of life in Ethiopia, Sol!
ReplyDeleteI imagine that after Ethiopia and Uganda, the Ridge won't seem strange at all. Ken
ReplyDelete