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In this Exchange Global Impact ReportA fruitful summer at ICA International has laid the groundwork for what we anticipate will be a tremendous Fall. Highlights of recent accomplishments include: * Work is underway to re-release on DVD a digitally remastered 30th anniversary edition of the original version of ICAI's The World of Human Development. The film highlights the ICA's human development projects with footage shot in 1977 in Ijede, Nigeria; Kawangware, Kenya; Bayad, Egypt; Maliwada, India; Oombulgurri, Australia; Sudtonngan, the Philippines; Hai Ou, Taiwan; Kwangyung Il, Korea; Oyubari, Japan; and Majuro, the Marshall Islands. With an introduction and wrap-up by Ben Kingsley, a shortened version of the original film was released in 1983 for ICAI's International Exposition of Rural Development. The DVD will be made available for sale during this holiday season, and all ICAI individual members will receive a complimentary copy.
* Two new staff members joined our team in July: Sarah Farina, Director of Global Capacity Building, oversees the newly formed Capacity Building Unit; and Mike Watson, Director of Global Policy, manages the Policy Unit. Sarah and Mike received an in-depth orientation in ICA history, philosophy, and methods, and the full staff team completed its Work Plan for the remainder of the year. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to these new members of our dynamic team. * Outreach to the wider international development community, from funders to other INGOs, is an essential component of extending the role and impact of the ICA network. A wide variety of such outreach meetings were carried out in the Netherlands and Switzerland, in order to build support for next year’s conference, as well as the continued growth and development of ICAI and every national ICA. As we celebrate the progress that has been made, I ask you to remember that the work of ICA International is possible only through the consistent commitment of people just like you. Please become a member today or participate in the Secretary General’s Circle or Investor’s Circle. The task before us of realizing comprehensive, lasting human development worldwide is achievable – but only through the collective efforts and commitment of all of our hearts and minds.
Australia
A “Fair Go”
In Australia, we have a saying to have a fair go, which means, “to give everyone a chance to participate, to have a say, to have their share in what’s happening.” And so it was when ICA Australia incorporated a Sustainable Communities Fair into the program of its annual retreat, held in Brisbane, Queensland in mid-July. With the theme “Turning Ripples into Waves,” ICA Australia and other organisations came together to share activities and learn what initiatives were at work in the arena of helping communities to be sustainable, both socially and environmentally. Located on the banks of the Brisbane River, the venue provided a unique atmosphere that added the sense of being connected to land in the midst of urban community.
Booths were set up for people to display their activities. Guest presenters gave video and PowerPoint presentations on such topics as: the Universarium project in Canada; the myths and realities of sustainable energy; and what one family did to construct a cost-saving, environment-friendly house, using energy-saving techniques and recycled products. ICA had a number of booths, including ICA International, Technology of Participation (ToP), International Partnerships, and Indigenous Partnerships. There was even an Ecological Awareness booth, where anyone could display what they were doing individually to contribute to sustainable community in their own homes and lifestyles.
Once in a while, one of the many balloons would pop loudly, giving us all a jolt. Perhaps not such a bad thing – we can all use a bit of a jolt now and then. Especially when dealing with the future of our planet and the communities we live in, as well as the future we want to leave for our children and grandchildren. When the Fair was over, there was a new sense among us that we were all connected, sharing common understandings and care towards practical applications and workable solutions to build sustainable community right here, right now. Share a comment on this article. BangladeshA World of Support A swirl of activities has brought the global ICA network to Bangladesh this year – and it’s just the beginning!
In February, ICAI President Nelson Stover met with villagers participating in our Integrated Community Development Project in Chandpur and inaugurated the Education for Underprivileged Children Project in the Ghoramara Asrayan Prokalpa area. During his visit, Nelson also led a training program, together with Shubhnarain Singh of ICA India and Elaine Stover of the US, on Technology of Participation, Effective Living and Leadership, and Community Development at the National Institute of Local Government. Twenty participants from ICA Bangladesh, VERC, UCEP Bangladesh, IHDOB, the University of Dhaka, and the Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University attended the training.
In March, Maria and Richard Maguire from ICA Australia provided invaluable capacity building support through a ToP training program for fifteen NGO leaders from ICA Bangladesh, Hunger Free World, Action Aid Bangladesh, and the Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University. In addition, Maria and Richard facilitated ICA Bangladesh’s strategic plan for 2007-2009. In November, ICA Bangladesh will host the 4th Sub-Continental ICA Meeting, with participation from ICA Nepal and ICA India, as well as ICAI, ICA Japan, ICA Taiwan, and ICA Australia. We will be planning for collaborative activities in the Sub-Continent, as well as the 7th Conference on Human Development next year in Japan.
ChileWomen Take on the World There is no shortage of women’s leadership in Lampa, Chile! Located just outside Santiago, this region is home to a community of women who lead workshops on teaching and self-improvement, elders groups, neighborhood committees, and local religious organizations. On May 19, these local leaders gathered in Sol de Septiembre for the Women’s World Forum, facilitated by ICA Chile.
The Forum was organized by a team of women from Sol de Septiembre, site of ICA Chile’s human development project. Its goals were to:
The Forum was sponsored by Mayor Carlos Escobar and the Women’s Affairs Office. The organizing team recruited community and organizational leaders from both the city and rural areas, using every form of local media to raise awareness about this event. Mayor Escobar opened the event by speaking of the past and present of this community, as well as the important role that women play in the development of the region. He recalled how “the rural Lampa community in the past was very demanding, especially to women. If they were wives or elder daughters, they had to work hard in activities linked to the land, such as milking cows and taking care of animals. This limited them in their pursuit of other possibilities. While I acknowledge women’s leadership in different community organizations, I do urge you to continue to support each other and decide to play new roles in political and socio-economic activities at a higher level.”
ICA facilitators designed the Forum around two consensus workshops: one focused on the problems of society today; and a second one how to solve these problems through concrete actions. Women discussed challenges such as: drugs and alcohol; insufficient institutional support, including health support and care; economic and employment discrimination; undignified care for elders; environmental problems; and strained family communication. The group also exchanged views on the abilities and gifts of female leaders, as well as tools for balancing care for themselves, their families, their communities, and the wider world. It was encouraging to see such a diverse group of women openly exchanging points of view on the problems our society faces on a daily basis. At the conclusion of the Forum, women had identified five principal challenges and proposed concrete actions, which are now in the process of being implemented. These challenges and actions are: Undignified Care for Elders
Economic and Employment Discrimination
Lack of Family Communication
Insufficient Institutional Support
Drugs and Alcohol
At the end of the Forum, ICA facilitators asked participants which of the actions would be easiest and hardest to achieve, as well as which were most urgent. The women determined that each action was necessary and could be achieved. In order to do so, each participant will need to evaluate and utilize her personal abilities. These actions and results will be evaluated through the Office of Women’s Affairs in Lampa, as well as by ICA Chile. Share a comment on this article. NigeriaTraining Development Practitioners One of the major challenges facing development practitioners throughout Nigeria is inadequate project management expertise. These skills are essential for enabling our colleagues and partners to translate their visions into reality. Given this need, NIRADO developed a course on Participatory Project Cycle Management that equips development practitioners with skills for the development of successful project proposals, as well as effective, sustainable project management. We host the Participatory Project Cycle Management course monthly, in order to accommodate as many participants as possible. Topics include: Project Planning, Research (PRA) Tools, Action Planning, Log Frame, Execution, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Winning Proposal Writing. Two courses have been completed, with the third coming up later this month. Various organizations have participated, with interest growing as the word spreads.
Comments from recent course participants include: I will be more objective in my projects, bring more people on board as stakeholders, whose interest may make the project a huge success. I will henceforth organize my thought process and have my facts before embarking on any projects. I will also start celebrating small successes. I am going to start planning before any projects. One participant even composed a poem: NIRADO is the missing link between the government at the top and the down-trodden in the rural setting. Share a comment on this article. PeruFacilitating an Effective Marketplace The ICA Peru staff was recently approached to assist the Mercado Mayorista #1 association of 744 vegetable wholesalers, who handle the hundreds of different types of vegetables that come to the nation’s capital every day to feed the 10 million people in and around Lima. The 4,000 tons of vegetables they handle daily, 7 days per week, all pass through a cramped marketplace just two hectares in size. Since 1964, the wholesalers have been trying to get the government to move them to a spacious new site nearby, but political issues have kept the move from happening. The ICA staff decided they could best help by assisting the wholesalers to get organized so that their needs would be respected. The objective is to organize the members into 10 Guilds by vegetable categories and type of work, so that each Guild will be heard and also plan out its specific needs. This same approach was taken by the ICA in 1986 to very successfully organize six Industrial Guilds, which were then able to open the 288 hectare Industrial Park of Villa El Salvador. A very exciting and effective VISION workshop was held with the general membership on 26 July, with the results published and distributed the following Monday. It was a fabulous experience to see these bone-weary workers come alive after their 12-hour work day – and a 30-year struggle to be heard. There’s a whole new energy in the group, and they now see the way to get the changes that they so urgently need. ICA Peru is moving in the coming weeks to do sessions with each of the ten Guilds, to help them define their obstacles and then create a detailed strategic plan to move forward. Finally, the whole membership will meet again in a few weeks to hear reports from each of the Guilds and then create a plan of implementation and the specific assignments to secure the action that has been so long delayed. Government representatives have already indicated that they will pay attention to such a well-organized plan of action. This is just one more example of the nitty-gritty effective work that can be done with the ICA participatory methods, working in concert with most pressing needs in the society around us. It was especially exciting for us that our long-term colleague, Luis Paz Silva, had selected the new site for the market way back in 1964, and now he sees that we can finally get the relocation job done
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United StatesNew Possibilities for Family Literacy
Since Fall 2006, the Learning Basket has engaged parents throughout Illinois in a comprehensive approach to family literacy, which includes continuing education for adults and children, parenting classes, library visits, and parent and child activity time. The Secretary of State of Illinois Family Literacy Learning Basket program recently graduated 18 Spanish-speaking mothers and 15 teen mothers who are wards of the state. The Spanish-speaking parents began by overcoming the difficulty they face providing and understanding English in their environment. At the conclusion of the program, parents were more confident in handling day-to-day routines in English, managing their family’s affairs in Spanish or English, and using the library as a resource.
The teenage mothers in the program have also improved their reading scores dramatically. These improved skills make them more attractive to employers and some have recently started their first jobs. Because of the emphasis on pre-literacy skills in the parenting program, these young mothers grasp the value of literacy in their lives and now use the library as a resource for parenting, job searches, and borrowing books for themselves and their babies.
I feel confident, playful, understand my children’s behavior more easily and deal with them confidently in different situations. I gained confidence by speaking (in English), learning in a group, and being around other mothers. I understand how important play is to a child. Now I encourage my children to express and share their feelings and thoughts with me.
Before coming to the program, I always had a problem with my children fighting, even though I treated them both the same. Then I realized that one child is more sensitive and prone to jealousy than the other. Now I try to be more sensitive to the feelings of that child. Toward the end of this program, the atmosphere in the home is much more calm and peaceful. The Learning Basket Practitioners Courses also graduated 10 new participants in Chicago and 16 in San Luis Valley, Colorado. This Summer, the Learning Basket Program in Chicago was also awarded a Penny Severns Grant for the first time. This new grant extends the benefits of family literacy to the teen mothers who are wards of the state until the start of a new school year. The Learning Basket program was designed by Dr. Elise Packard, who continues to consult with ICA USA in addition to her new role with Pro Literacy Wordwide. Share a comment on this article. Home Fueled In late May, I saw a sign at the local Volkswagen dealer saying “diesels available” and told my wife that we should go look. A simple conversion kit now allows the diesel engine to run on either commercial low-sulfur diesel fuel or on filtered, recycled cooking oil – virtually independent of petroleum reserves being pumped from the ground. Between business and family travels, I drive about 25,000 miles per year. In 2000, I purchased a new mid-sized American car. By May 2007, this car had 174,000 miles on it and the air conditioner was beginning to fail. The car needed to be replaced before the summer heat arrived. My environmental studies have helped me understand that, globally, the daily production rate of oil cannot be substantially increased – ever. The cost of gasoline hovers around $3.00/gallon (and will likely never go down) and the conditions for the production of additional reserves of petroleum will never again exist on earth. So I was actively looking for alternatives to petroleum-powered vehicles to meet my transportation needs. At a green products convention several years ago, I met a man who had converted his pickup truck to run on recycled vegetable oil. After our discussion, I had a pretty good idea of how the process worked. A lot of information about this alternative is available on the internet, including places like Co-op America, where the Summer 2007 issue focuses on “Fuels for the Future”.
When we showed up at the Volkswagen dealership, we found out that they had 7 diesels on the lot and that VW would not be making any more until the 2009 model year. By the end of the day, we had chosen the car we liked and closed the deal. Although the car is more expensive than my previous car, our calculations indicate that at the end of 10 years, the car will still provide reliable transportation and will have cost us less than had we bought a car similar to the one we had before.
Once I had purchased the car, I ordered the conversion kit from Greasecar and had it installed in two days. Our local installer also goes to local restaurants and collects the cooking oil they need to dispose of (thus reducing the amount of oil put into landfills). He gave me a “used” 55-gallon drum, from which I pump the oil into my car. He filters out the particulate matter at his factory and then delivers it to my house for $1.50/gallon, whenever my drum is empty. I have fabricated the pumping system onto the tank in such a way as to power it with my car’s electrical system. So far, the car performs as well as any vehicle that I have driven, whether it runs on diesel or vegetable oil. It goes at highway speed over the Appalachian Mountains and manages well around town. Yet I am producing 70% less CO2 pollution than a Prius, and there will be no battery to recycle in the future. There is also no noticeable smell in or around the car (contrary to popular opinion). In short, this seems like a quite workable and environmentally-friendly system. I also drive with the satisfaction of knowing that I’m making the future a more livable place. Share a comment on this article.
See more photos from ICA projects around the world in our online gallery.
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