community and management skills training

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Community & Management Skills TrainingHuman Resource Development Unit

Prepared by: Asadullah Akramyar, Kerry Jane Wilson

October 2005

Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan RefugeesPaikob-e-Naswar, Wazirabad, PO Box 208, Kabul, AfghanistanPhone: (+93)(020) 220 17 50 Mobile (+93)(0)70 28 82 32E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.dacaar.org



TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. COURSE OBJECTIVES...................................................................................................4

2. SUMMARY OF TRAINING SESSIONS............................................................................5

DAY I........................................................................................................................................6

3. OPENING SESSION.........................................................................................................8

3.1 INAUGURATION OF THE WORKSHOP ..............................................................................83.2 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................83.3 FEARS AND EXPECTATIONS..........................................................................................83.4 RULES SETTING...........................................................................................................8

4. INTRODUCTION TO DACAAR ........................................................................................9

5. SUSTAINABILITY .......................................................................................................... 11

5.1 THE BRIDGE ..............................................................................................................125.2 THE KIND NGO ......................................................................................................... 135.3 HELPING PEOPLE TO HELP THEMSELVES .....................................................................15

5.4 RIVER CODE..............................................................................................................175.5 QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RIVER CODE .........................................................................185.6 SUSTAINABILITY OF DACAAR PROJECTS ...................................................................185.7 PRIORITY INTERVENTION PROJECTS (PIPS)................................................................19

5.7.1 Agriculture ............................................................................................................ 19 5.7.2 Soil Conservation & Forestry................................................................................19 5.7.3 Irrigation ...............................................................................................................19

DAY II.....................................................................................................................................20

6. THE VILLAGE ORGANISATION (VO)...........................................................................21

6.1 CO-OPERATIVE SQUARES ...........................................................................................226.1.1 Procedures........................................................................................................... 22

6.1.2 Instructions........................................................................................................... 22 6.1.3 Rules ....................................................................................................................22

6.2 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ............................................................................................236.3 THE WOLF .................................................................................................................246.4 THE CANDLE CODE.....................................................................................................256.5 PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING ..........................................................................276.6 OWNERSHIP OF THE VILLAGE ORGANISATION .............................................................276.7 EVALUATION OF THE VILLAGE ORGANISATION .............................................................28

6.7.1 Encouraging factors: ............................................................................................28 6.7.2 Discouraging factors:............................................................................................28

6.8 ROLE OF VILLAGE ORGANISATION ..............................................................................28

DAY III....................................................................................................................................30

7. MANAGEMENT OF A VILLAGE PROJECT..................................................................31

8. MANAGEMENT OF VILLAGE ORGANIZATION MEETINGS.......................................33

8.1 PROCEDURES FOR HOLDING MEETINGS ......................................................................348.2 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OFFICE BEARERS ...............................................................37

8.2.1 Responsibilities of the Chairperson:.....................................................................37 8.2.2 Responsibilities of the secretary...........................................................................37 8.2.3 Responsibilities of treasurer ................................................................................. 38



DACAAR ManualCommunity & Management Skills Training

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9. COURSE EVALUATION ................................................................................................40

9.1 EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE ....................................................................................41




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1. COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of the training course the trainees should have gained an understanding of thefollowing:

The Background and purpose of DACAAR.

Sustainable development.

Empowerment

The role of the Village Organisation in sustainable development and empowerment.

Management of village meetings

Village Organisation management.




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2. SUMMARY OF TRAINING SESSIONS

Day - I

Opening Session

Introduction to DACAAR

Sustainability

Helping people to help themselves

1 Hour and 30 Minutes

30 Minutes

1 Hour and 30 Minutes

2 Hours

Total 5 Hours 30 Minutes

Day - II

The Village Organization

Roles & Responsibilities of Village Organisation

Management of Village Project

3 Hour 30 Minutes

1 Hour

1 Hour


Day - III

Management of VO meetings

Responsibilities of the office bearers

Evaluation of training

Hour 30 Minutes

3 Hours

1 Hour


Lunch break will be at 12:30- 02:00 pm. Tea break will be at 10:00 am and 03:00 pm for 30minutes




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DAY I




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Training Methodology

The training will be participant centred; participants will be motivated to participate and to beinvolved in the training. Different techniques such as group discussion, brainstorming,question and answers, role-play and codes will be used during sessions. The participants willbe encouraged to share their ideas, observations and experiences with each other.

To maintain continuity during the training a review of the previous day’s training will be doneevery morning and the points, which need elaboration, will be explained to the participants.




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3. OPENING SESSION

3.1 Inauguration of the workshop

Recitation of verses from the holy Quran

3.2 Introduction

Participants will be asked to pair off and be introduced to each other and then they are askedto appear before the trainees and in turn introduce (name, designation and village) eachother to the audience.

3.3 Fears and Expectations

After his partner has introduced an individual he steps forward and expresses his Fears andExpectations from the training course. The facilitator records this information on a flip chart.

At the end, the facilitator will compare the expectations with the stated objectives of theworkshop and explain to the trainees that some of these points not discussed in sufficient

details will be covered in future training courses.

3.4 Rules Setting

Ask the participants to suggest rules for the smooth running of the training in a disciplinedenvironment. Get consensus on the suggestions made and write them up on a chart to befollowed by all.




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4. INTRODUCTION TO DACAAR

Objectives

By the end of this session the trainees will have understood:

The origins and purpose of DACAAR

The policy and philosophy of DACAAR




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Introduction to DACAAR

Let me have a word with you about the history of DACAAR.

DACAAR (Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees) is a development non-governmental organization which works towards sustainable livelihoods for rural Afghansincluding the lasting return of refugees and internally displaced people.

DACAAR works at village level in close cooperation with the local population in order toenable them to meet basic needs and secure improved livelihoods. At the national level,DACAAR is also actively involved in nation building with the Government of Afghanistan.

DACAAR was established in 1984 specifically to provide support and relief to Afghanrefugees in Pakistan. Since 1989, DACAAR has furthermore worked in Afghanistan,concentrating on rehabilitation and development work.

Explain to the participants that DACAAR is owned by three organisations in Denmark and itsmoney comes from different European governments. Ordinary people in Europe, who want tohelp people in poorer countries, give their money to the three organisations that ownDACAAR.

DACAAR’s work with the people of Afghanistan is based on certain principles and beliefs.

These principles and beliefs are:

• That development should be sustainable

• That helping communities should make them independent not dependent

Let us discuss these two ideas.




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5. SUSTAINABILITY

Objectives

By the end of this session the participants will have understood:

What does sustainability mean in development?

Why development work needs to be sustainable?




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Sustainability

Read the first story about the bridge.

5.1 The Bridge

Chairperson was once a poor village in Afghanistan. The village was situated on one side ofa deep and narrow river and the road to the main town was on the other side. The villagershad built a bridge to cross the river made of rocks and wood but they were always having towork together as a community to repair the bridge and it took a lot of labour and a lot of treesto keep it fixed.

Then one day an NGO stopped their big white vehicle on the other side of the river. Theycame to the village and told the villagers “we are going to build you a bridge”. The villagerswere very happy. After a long time, so long the villagers had almost given up hope, the bigwhite vehicle came back, and the engineers destroyed the old bridge and soon work startedon the new bridge.

The villagers worked on the project and the NGO paid them well so they were happy. Theydidn’t know what the bridge would look like when it was finished because no one asked themfor their opinion but they didn’t mind because they were getting a bridge.

When the bridge was finished some of the villagers were a little worried because a smallstream usually came down from the mountainside in spring just where the support on oneside of the bridge was situated. The villagers were afraid that the stream would damage thefoundation of the bridge in the spring. But they did not say anything. Soon the bridge wasfinished and the engineers left, the NGO left and the villagers were very happy.

In the spring there was a flood and the usual water came down from the mountain andstarted under-cutting the foundation of the bridge. People discussed it but no one didanything because they thought that maybe the NGO would come back. After three years theundercutting of the foundation was so bad that the support fell down then the whole bridge

fell down. The villagers had no bridge at all and although they had been able to mend theirold bridge no one in the village was skilled enough to build a new bridge in the old style ofrocks and wood.

Ask the questions

1. Were the people better off before the NGO came or after?2. What mistakes did the NGO make?3. Was it a good idea for the people to say nothing?4. Was the project sustainable?5. What should the NGO do in future to make their projects more sustainable?6. Would it have been better if the NGO had used only local resources.7. What are local resources?

Local resources are:

Materials (sand, stone, work etc)Skills (well- diggers, craftsmen etc)Knowledge (culture experience, knowledge of local conditions)




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5.2 The Kind NGO

Chairperson once was a poor village called Yakshera. The village was in such a remotearea of Afghanistan that it was very difficult to buy fertiliser and anyway the farmers were toopoor to purchase it because the price was so high. Instead they used traditional fertiliser.Also they had only local varieties of wheat to grow. This local wheat was strong and healthybut had a low yield.

One day an NGO came to the village and said to the villagers that they wanted to help themwith their agriculture. The NGO staff talked to the villagers for a long time and found outwhat were their agriculture problems. Then after that they set up an agriculture programmethat made the villagers very happy.

First they brought in improved seed and best quality Pakistan fertiliser and after that everyyear at planting time they brought in enough seed and fertiliser to supply the whole village.They sold the seed and fertiliser to the villagers at subsidised price. The villagers were veryhappy and soon they did not bother to keep very much seed wheat themselves because theNGO was supplying it. Soon also there was very little local variety of wheat being grown inthe village. The NGO also brought in good quality chemical sprays against wheat pests anddifferent diseases, which they brought from Pakistan, Iran and even from Europe. They soldit at subsidised prices to the villagers. Soon the villagers were getting huge crops and theywere living better and getting enough to eat.

After four years, the NGO started having money problems. They tried not to let the villagersknow because they did not want to worry them. So when one day the NGO told the villagersthat they would not be working with them any more the villagers were shocked. The NGOdisappeared just before planting time in the fourth year. When the planting time came thevillagers did not have enough seed to plant because they had expected the NGO to sell themseed wheat as usual. In addition the only wheat the villagers had was improved wheat andwithout fertiliser the yield of the improved wheat was very poor.

The villagers did not know what to do and for two years they faced worse problems than they

faced before the NGO came because they had poor harvest from the improved varietieswithout fertiliser. Eventually they went back to growing the local variety of wheat that did notneed fertiliser.

Ask the questions

1. Were the people better off before the NGO came or after?2. What mistakes did the NGO make?3. What mistakes did the community make?4. Was the project sustainable?5. What should the NGO do in future to make their projects more sustainable?




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Ask the participants to explain:

What does sustainability mean?

Why does DACAAR want all its projects to be sustainable?

Sustainable projects are:

• Projects which can be continued by the people themselves after the NGO leaves.

DACAAR does only sustainable projects because:

• DACAAR wants beneficiaries to be better off if DACAAR leaves a project area, not worseoff.




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5.3 Helping people to help themselves

When we were discussing DACAAR’s policy and philosophy we said that DACAAR’s secondpolicy after sustainability was to create independence not dependence. Now we will discussthis,

Display this chart on the board

Feed a man a fish and you feed him for a day

Teach him how to fish and you feed him for life

Ask one of the participants to explain what is in the drawing

The man has been given a fish to eat




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Ask the trainees what is the difference between giving a man a fish every day and teachinghim how to fish?

• The difference is dependence and independence.

Return to the story of The Bridge and The Kind NGO. Did they create dependence orindependence?

They created dependence so the projects were not sustainable.

Tell the participants that you are going to show them a small play




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5.4 River Code

Explain the River Code using the drawing on the chart.

Place string in two lines to represent the banks of the river. Pieces of paper/cloth are used torepresent stepping stones in the river and an island (a piece of bigger paper/cloth) is put in themiddle of the river.

Two men come to the river and look for a place to cross. The current is very strong and they areboth afraid to cross-stepping stones.

A third man comes along and sees their difficulty. He leads them up the river and shows themthe stepping stones. He encourages them to step on stones but both are afraid, so he agrees totake one man on his back. By the time he gets to the middle of the river, the man on his backseems very heavy. He has become very tired, so he puts him on the little island.

The third man goes back to fetch the second, who also wants to climb on his back. But the thirdman refuses. Instead he takes his hand and encourages him to step on the stones himself.Halfway across, the second man starts to manage alone. They both cross the river.When they get to the other side, they are extremely pleased with themselves and they walkedoff together completely forgetting about the first man, sitting alone on the island. He tries to gettheir attention, but they do not notice his frantic gestures for help.




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5.5 Questions about the River Code

After playing the River Code ask the following questions:

Q. What did you see happening in the play?

Q. What different approaches were used to help the two men across?

Q. Who could each person represent in real life?

Q. What does each side of the river represent?

A. Not developed and developed

Q. Why are some people left in the middle of the river?

A. Because of dependence

Q. In what ways can development projects build a sense of dependence?

A. If the development aid does not build the capacity of the people

Q. What must we do to ensure that those we work with develop a sense of independence?

A. Building their capacity and involving them in projects.

Q What is the connection between independence and sustainability?

A. Development projects which, create dependence, are not sustainable

5.6 Sustainability of DACAAR Projects

Ask the trainees to describe how, before DACAAR came to the village, they used to organise tohelp themselves.

Note to the trainer:

Make sure that you get the full picture of community based co-operative work, for example:

• Conflict resolution

• Informal credit

• Co-operative work e.g. on intakes.

• Broad-based agreements on water rights

• Enforcing of water rights through Merab etc.

Ask the trainees in what ways are the DACAAR projects sustainable and how do they createindependence? Are there any ways in which the projects are not sustainable?

Form groups and ask the groups to discuss the different projects of DACAAR




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5.7 Priority Intervention Projects (PIPs)

• DACAAR tries to make the village participate as much as possible in selection, design,implementation, monitoring/evaluation and maintenance.

5.7.1 Agriculture

• DACAAR makes the villagers themselves decide on which improved seeds they wantthrough trials and sets up contract seed growers who can continue to produce quality seedwithout the help of DACAAR.

• DACAAR encourages farmers to test suggestions for new agriculture practices through OnFarm Trials and to decide for themselves whether to adopt the new practices themselves.

• DACAAR does not give things to farmers which they will not be able to get for themselves ifDACAAR leaves

5.7.2 Soil Conservation & Forestry

• DACAAR is showing farmers activities, which they can do themselves such as check dams.

• DACAAR is setting up farmers as tree growers so that, villager are not dependent onDACAAR for trees.

5.7.3 Irrigation

• DACAAR is introducing technology (PCPLs,* nuccas*) which, in time, the farmers should beable to make themselves or buy locally.

When we talk about creating independence as opposed to dependence we usually call itempowerment. DACAAR is working to empower the village to be able to improve their situationthemselves.

The most important way that DACAAR tries to do this is through the Village Organisation.

* PCPL : Pre-cast Concrete Parabolic Lining

* Nuccas are in fact division boxes used for distribution of irrigation water




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DAY II




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6. THE VILLAGE ORGANISATION (VO)

Objective


What is the purpose of a Village Organisation (VO)

What are the characteristics of a strong Village Organisation (VO)




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Village Organisation

In the previous sessions we discussed whether DACAAR projects were sustainable or theycreated dependence and we finished by saying that the Village Organisation is the key to thewhole process. So let us now look at the Village Organisation.

First we will discuss the purpose of the VO.

Form groups and give each group a set of envelopes containing co-operative squaresAsk the members to form squares out of the different pieces available within groups.

6.1 Co-operative squares

6.1.1 Procedures

1. The animator begins by explaining that we want to look at what is essential to successfulgroup co-operation.

2. Ask the participants to form groups of five and to sit around a table. ( It is possible to hasone extra person to observe each group).

3. The animator then reads the instructions to the whole group

6.1.2 Instructions

Each of you will have an envelope, which has pieces of cardboard for forming squares.When the animator gets the signal to begin. The task of your group is to form five squares ofequal size. The task will not be completed until each has before him or Chairperson has aperfect square of the same size as those in front of the other group members.

6.1.3 Rules

I. No member may speak. The task must be done in silence.II. You may not take or ask for a piece from any other person but you can give pieces toothers.

4. Ask if there are any question and answer them.5. Give each group of five a set of squares in the five envelopes.6. Ask the groups to begin work. The animator watches the tables during the exercise to

enforce the rules.7. When the task is completed, ask each group to discuss the following question.




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6.2 Discussion questions

• In what way do you think each of you helped or hindered the group in completing itstask?

• How did members feel when someone holding a key piece did not see the solution?

• How did members feel when someone completed a square incorrectly and then sat backwithout helping the group further?

• What feelings did they think that person had.

• How did members feel about the person who could not see the solution as quickly asothers?

• How are some of the things you learnt from this game true of real life and problems youhave in your own situation.

• After these questions are discussed in small groups, call the whole group together for a

discussion on question f. Add a final question for the whole group.

• What have we learnt about co-operation?

This question can be discussed in groups of 3s and then shared; points can be put up onnewsprint.

Summary

Some points that may arise from the group can be summarised by the animator as follows:

1) Each person should understand the total problem.

2) Each person needs to understand how to contribute towards solving the problem.

3) Each person needs to be aware of the potential contributions of other members in agroup

4) When working co-operatively in groups, we need to recognise the problems of5) the people in order to help them make their maximum contribution.

6) Groups whose members pay attention to helping each other work well are likely to bemore effective than groups whose members ignore each other.




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6.3 The wolf

While displaying the pictures ask the trainees the following questions:

• What do you see happening in the first pictures?

• What do you see happening in the second picture?

• What messages do you think the pictures carry?

• What can they mean in your community and family life

This series of pictures demonstrate that if individuals act independently they are often morevulnerable than if they act in a group.




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The facilitator gives an example

Mahafiz Aziz, forest keeper of Pingram village was appointed by his community to look afterthe village forest. Two men from the village of Garmaba were frequently harassing him.

Twice Aziz caught the men cutting trees in the forest. Aziz while confiscating the wood fromthe men cautioned them to stop cutting and stealing the trees.

The men threatened him and told him that they would make him suffer. One day the forestkeeper noticed that his tomato plants had been uprooted. He said nothing to anybody.

When Aziz caught the men again in the forest with loads of freshly cut wood on their backshe again warned them and took the wood away from them. One of the men said “you did notlearn your lesson from your tomato plants. This time we will tie you to a tree and set you onfire along with the forest.

Aziz then became afraid and reported the matter to the elders of the village. The eldersdiscussed the matter with the elders of Garmaba village. As a result not only were the menstopped from stealing trees they were also made to apologise and pay for the tomatoes theyhad uprooted.

6.4 The candle code

While displaying the picture ask the trainees the following questions:

• What do you see in the picture• What message do the candles give

• What do they represent in real life

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3




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Referring to the plates of candles we see that a single candle provides less light two candlesprovide more but candles as in plate 3 provides enough light to brightening all thesurroundings.

This resembles a gathering of people in a forum where they discuss issues. More peoples’contribution to the discussion sheds more light on the matter thus bringing the details of theissue more clearly in focus. In other words it makes it possible for all participants to have a

wider scope and clearer vision.

Now we have discussed the benefits of:

• Co-operation to solve problems

• Being in a group to give security

• Exchanging ideas and discussing to get better solutions and more vision.

Ask the trainees if they know such a forum which gave them all of the above? (co-operation,group security and vision)?

Get them to say the VO. Then ask them if they had such a thing before. Get them to say

that they had Chairperson and Jergas before. Then ask them about the differences betweenVO and the Chairperson.

Then say to the trainees that of course in fact they have always had a Chairperson. So whatis the difference between Chairperson and a VO ?

The VO may be different from the Chairperson in that the VO requires more:

• Transparency.

• Accountability from its leaders

• Participation by all its members in decision making.

Let us start with transparency. What do we mean by this

Transparency is like a stream of karez water when it comes straight from the mountains.Everything that is lying in the bottom of the stream can be seen by anybody that looks in thestream because the water is so clear. In the same way discussion, plans, actions etc of VOleaders and of the VO should be clear to the members and to the whole village.

Here is an example of what might happen:

Chairperson was once a chairman of a VO who agreed at a meeting with his VO that hewould talk to the local education department about setting up a school in the village. Becausethe neighbouring village had a new school but would not let their children attend it. When hereached the local

education department they told him that they had already planned to build a school in hisvillage after two years. They also said that they could force the next village to allow two orthree children to attend their school in the mean time.The chairman went back to his village and told the VO that they would get a school after twoyears. The VO was very happy and pleased with the chairman. However he did not tell themabout the offer that several children could go to the school in the next Village. Instead hesent this own children. When the VO members found out they were very angry not that thechairman had sent his children, although they did not respect him for this, but because he hidthe information from them.




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Accountability is the status where every member of the VO can ask for explanation aboutreasons, consequences or justification of any decision made by an individual or a group onbehalf of the VO. Here is a story about it

Chairperson was one a VO who decided to buy a thresher that would belong to the VO. TheChairman and the secretary agreed to take the collected money and go and check and buythe thresher on behalf of all the VO members.

When the harvesting season came it was found that the new thresher was of poor qualitythey could not use it. The chairman and secretary told the VO that they were very sorry andsince they had selected the bad thresher they would pay back the money to the members.

The last point regarding Village Organisations is that all members should be involved indecision making.

6.5 Participation in decision-making

Chairperson was once a meeting between an NGO and Chairperson about building a bridgeto the village. The Chairperson agreed that the village would contribute all the unskilledlabour for the bridge and that the work could start the next day. The Chairperson went to themosque and told the people what had been decided. The next day the NGO engineersarrived and a few people came from the village forWorking but not very many. When asked why they had not come to work the young man said“ we did not agree to work, nobody asked us whether we wanted to work or not”.

Note for the trainer

To overcome problems may not be possible by the people as individuals, but it is mucheasier through organised groups. Once they are well organised, the people will easilydistinguish between needs and wishes. They may not be influential but they will certainlybecome effective. They will come to know about the paths, which they never knew before,and these paths, if followed, will lead them to a permanent and sustainable development.

6.6 Ownership of the Village Organisation

Ask the trainees who should own the Village Organisation? The village or DACAAR?

The answer is that the village should own the VO

Ask them whether they think at the moment they own their VO or DACAAR does?

Ask them what proves that they own the Village Organisation.

The answer is:

• The VO calls the meeting• The VO decides on the agenda

• The VO keeps the documents.

• The results of the VO work will belong to them.




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6.7 Evaluation of the Village Organisation

Go round the room and ask the participants to provide responses to questions about each ofthe two factors encouraging and discouraging factors existing in their Village Organisations.Ask them to pay special attention to transparency, accountability, and participation indecision-making and ownership of the VO.

The facilitator records their statements on the flip chart.

Some of the responses may be as under:

6.7.1 Encouraging factors:

• Regular attendance of the staff in routine meetings

• Constructive criticism by the members

• Accountability

• Confident discussion

6.7.2 Discouraging factors:

• Poor attendance

• Lack of active participation in the discussion.

• Partisanship in the meetings.

Ask the participants what are they going to do about the discouraging factors

6.8 Role of Village Organisation

Brainstorm the participants by asking them this question:

What are the responsibilities of a Village Organisation?

Record their answers on the flip chart

The answers may be something like:

• To identify, plan and manage village level development projects.

• To identify needs.• To carry out development activities and assign tasks.

• To motivate and interest others in joining the organisation.

• To enhance the skills of the members through training.

• To relate to governmental and non-governmental organisations to seek their interventionfor alleviating the problems existing in the community.

• To respect and value the members equally.• To work for the betterment of all members indiscriminately.

• To generate their own funds for helping the VO members

• To discuss wider problems with other VOs, government and non-governmental agencies.

Tell the trainees that these are all activities which the VO may become involved in. Inparticular we would like to discuss planning and management of activities.




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Note for the Trainer

Identification of village development activities, analysis of resources and problems, planning,implementation, supervision and control are the tasks which require common deliberation,recommendations, decision-making and joint efforts. Now the question is how can we put allthese tasks into practice and in which circumstances can we continue with this processwithout facing any barriers?




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DAY III




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7. MANAGEMENT OF A VILLAGE PROJECT

Objectives


The Importance of planning

The importance of documenting decisions and agreements




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Management of a Village Project

Tell the trainees that we are going to consider the importance of planning and management.

Ask the trainees to imagine that they want to hold a farmer field day and ask DACAAR toprovide transportation and the tea. The VO will arrange the whole day DACAAR will simplygive a sum of money to the VO for the tea and transport.

Brainstorm them on what are the steps they need to take in planing.

You can use pictures prepared in advance to demonstrate the steps they need to take. Pinthe pictures in a line on the wall as they are suggested by the trainees.

The suggested steps are:

• Holding a meeting to discuss details of the field day.

• Identify the farm where the field day is going to be held.

• Identify the farmer who does the presentation and the elder (speaker)

• Speak to DACAAR about the transport and the tea.

•

Give details of the number of people to DACAAR in writing.• Sign an agreement with DACAAR and taking the money etc.

• Allocation of responsibilities (who prepares the tea, who looks after the guests)

Ask the trainees whether it is always necessary to plan like this. Ask them whether in future ifDACAAR gives them a sum of money against a written plan whether they are ready tomanage the project themselves.

Ask the trainees what are the responsibilities of the VO leaders in this planing andmanagement process.




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8. MANAGEMENT OF VILLAGE ORGANIZATION MEETINGS

Objectives


Definition and procedures of VO meetingsResponsibilities of Office bearersUpdating the journals and registers.




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Management of VO Meetings

Brainstorm the participants by asking them this question:

What is a meeting

List the answers without comments. The answers may be something like:

It is a forum where views are expressedIt is an occasion for deliberating on pros and cons of issues

Display this definition:

It is a gathering of village people to discuss issues, develop consensus, thusmoving from “I” to “We”

8.1 Procedures for holding meetings

Before the role playing ask the participants to carefully watch the play. Inform them that theywill be required to critique the play afterwards

Role-play

All members and the office bearers have gathered for the VO monthly meeting.

Secretary: Says, the time is up and 73 members are present. We can start if…

Chairperson: ‘With the name of All Mighty Allah’. Shall we begin our meeting? OKMr. Secretary! What is the agenda for today’s meeting?

Secretary: Yes Says, the agenda for today’s meeting is as follows:1. Follow–up of the actions on our decisions in the previous meeting2. Sofi Abid wants to discuss the collapse of upper section of the Karez.

Let me ask everybody if they have anything else to discuss? Looking at the members, in alouder voice asks; Any other issues for discussion?

Merab: “The wage of the hand pump mechanic” .

Chairperson: Asks the members: “Are we ready to discuss the wages other mechanictoday?”

Members: ‘Yes’. Say in an uproar. The secretary writes it down as item 3, in theagenda.

Chairperson: Najibullah Khan, didn’t you tell me last week that you wanted someadvice on the insects on your apple trees?

Najibullah: Yes I did.

Chairperson: Well why don’t you make an agenda?. Najibullah looks embarrassed.




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Chairperson: Do you want to discuss this?

Najibullah: Yes (in a quiet voice)

Chairperson: Is that alright with every body.

Members: Yes (collectively).

Secretary: Includes Najibullah’s “ Insects problem” in the agenda and reports loudlythat; Now we have 4 issues to discuss today .

Chairperson: OK. Mr. Secretary proceeds with the Item 1 of the agenda.

Secretary: Reports: according to our decision in the last meeting, the grazing land wasdivided into three parts. And for the time being grazing was allowed only inpart –1 that is near Chishma.

Chairperson: Looking at Haji Alif the Chairperson says “If I remember correctly the VOassigned Haji A to supervise the grazing land”!

Haji Alif : Yes sir, several times this month I monitored the grazing land; Fortunately allthe Herders and the Shepard are respecting the decisions. I saw no animal inthe 2 and 3rd section of the grazing land.

Kaka Gul: Off course it is our land, our cattle and it is to our benefit, why violate it.

Chairperson: Asks; “What is next?

Secretary: Now we discuss item 2 of the agenda “Collapse of the Krez”

Sofi Abiz: Reports that while on his way to the market he noticed that the upper portion of the Karez had collapsed blocking the flow of water.

Mirza: Says that ridge around there is very sandy. If the waterswells it may breach and wash the whole ridge. (urgency of action ).

Chairperson: Asks; “What is the solution”

Member B: Proposes for a free gang labour (Hashar) in turn

Member C: Rejects, it is not practical, It takes time to gather the workers. People dogeaway. He suggests that the village should hire labourers and members shouldbear the costs.

Chairperson: Asks the forum “ What do you think?” more voices of approval, saying “yesthis is fine with us.”

Chairperson: Raise you hands if you want it this way.

Secretary: Counting the hands. Reports loudly to chairperson; “50 hands”

Chairperson: This is our agreement that we employ labourers for the clearing and rebuildingof the Karez wall and share the cost. The Chairperson instructs the secretaryto record the resolution




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Secretary: So far he was taking minutes of the meeting and now starts to record theresolution in the relevant section of the Register.

Chairperson: Asks the Secretary to announce the next agenda item.

Note: the deliberation continues on the issues in the same manner as on item No.1.

Before the meeting ends the chair person asks the secretary to announce the decisions(Resolution) of the meeting.

Secretary: Reads out loud the resolutions of the meeting on all 4 agenda items from theVO Register.

Chairperson: Signs at the bottom of the resolutions on the register and announces themeeting to be adjourned.

Members: Members also sign in the register and disperse.

Ask the participants these questions:

• What were the strong points of the play?

• What were the weak points of the play?

• What do they think is the best way?

Referring to the best way of managing and documenting a meeting, emphasize the followingPoints:

• Meetings are presided over by Chairman/Deputy Chairman of the organization (in hisabsence the secretary, or any other member chosen by the members present in themeeting.) All or at least 70% all members should be present in the meetings.

• First of ll , minutes of the previous meetings should be read out. If any member raises an

objection, it should be explained and written down.

• Before the meeting starts, all the members should be asked to give important pointswhich could be noted by the secretary as an agenda point for the meeting

• All members should debate on the points in the agenda.

• All decisions taken in the meeting should be recorded in the register and signed by theoffice bearers of the organisation as well as by the members.

• Resolutions , if any, will be written and read aloud and then signed by the participatingmembers.

• The secretary will write the minutes of the meeting. ( it is details of the deliberations madeon issues)




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Note : the organisation keeping in view the circumstances, can discuss and decide on one orsome of the following points:

• Selection of the office bearers.

• Changing office bearers, if needed

• Resolving differences, based on the requirement of the social justice.

•

Resolving differences, based on the requirement of social justices.• Making members ready to act according to the participles of the organisation.

• To considers and decide on the pace of members’ attendance of the meeting andpayments of instalments.

• Selection of members for training.

• Maintenance arrangement after the completion of the project.

• Identifying the deserving loanees.

• To work for the betterment of the women.

8.2 Responsibilities of the office bearers

8.2.1 Responsibilities of the Chairperson:

Brainstorm the participants and ask them this question:

What are the duties of VO Chairperson?

Record their responses on a flip chart without comments. At the end display your own chartcontaining the duties of the chairperson.

Responsibilities of the chairpersonChosen from the members of the organisation, the chairman should be a person wellrespected by the people. He should be able to have the members take right decisions. He isgreatly responsible for the progress of the organisation. Following are some of his

responsibilities:

• To preside over regular and urgent meetings of the organisation.

• In collaboration with the secretary, to prepare agenda of the meeting.

• Together with the secretary, to sign resolutions prepared by the organisation.

• Develop cooperation and coordination between the trained and other members of theorganisation

• To link th organisation with other development agencies

• To inform the organisation about the development activities and seek their cooperation inthose activities.

• To ensure that a democratic and conducive environment prevails over the meeting, thusthe voiceless gets a fair chance to express themselves.

8.2.2 Responsibilities of the secretary


What are the responsibilities of the VO Secretary?

Record their responses on a flip chart without comments. At the end display your own chartContaining the duties of the secretary.




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Secretary of organisation

Secretary of the organisation, who is chosen from the members, should be preferablyliterate, committed, honest and accepted by the members.

Responsibilities

• To introduce the agenda• To record main points of deliberation on issues and develop minutes of the meeting.

• To read aloud the actions taken on the decisions of the previous meetings.

• To make copies of the decisions and resolutions made in the meeting, verify them andsend them to the concerned agencies.

8.2.3 Responsibilities of treasurer


What are the responsibilities of VO treasures?

Record their responses on a flip chart without comments. At the end display your own chartContaining the duties of the treasurer

TreasurerHe is an elected member of the VO who is literate, honest and committed member of thevillage organisation.

Responsibilities

• To maintain and update the savings, micro finance and other financial registers. i.e;

• To collect instalments of the repayment and deposit them with the lending agencies

• To keep a complete record of the loans and other money matters and report on them to

the VO. • To prepare monthly summary report and fill out the defaults and reschedule report

frommats.

• To supervise /monitor the business and performance of the loanee. If not satisfactory, hemay decide to take the money back.

• Since treasures and the secretary are the office bearers who rare responsible fordocumentation registering of the VO affaires, we better indtroduce various documentsand registers.

Registers/Journal

For a good organisation, keeping a proper and complete record of actions is very important.A look in the journal shows at what level the organisation is and what is the standard of its

Performance. What development activities have been discussed and undertaken and finallywhat are the achievement. A good register book /journal should answer following threequestions:

• Where the organisation was (Past)

• Where the organisation is (Present)

• Where the organisation is going (future)




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The following registers/journals are maintained at VO level:

1. Journal of Meeting (maintained by secretary)2. Financial Registers (maintained by treasures) and they are:

a. VO Members Registerb. VO Savings Register

c. VO Cash Bookd. VO Loan Record [Loan Register]

Things to be noted when using the journals

• All records should be complete, correct and clear

• Details of actions should be orderly, clearly and simply recorded

• The least important to the most important decisions taken in the meeting should berecorded in the register.

• Names of the people responsible for implementation the decisions , their responsibilitiesand the time of fulfilling those responsibilities should be recorded.




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9. COURSE EVALUATION

Objectives

Through the completion of this questionnaire the trainees will have understood the strengthsand weakness of the course and the extent to which trainees have understood the conceptsdiscussed with them.

To asses the degree of information being assimilated by the participants

To identify the strengths and weakness of the training course

To get an idea about the effectiveness of the facilitator




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9.1 Evaluation Questionnaire

Questions No. of Trainees Percentage

1. Concept of sustainability

Clear Clear to some extent Not clear

2. Management of VO ( Meetings)

Before training

Fully aware Aware up to some extent Not aware

After training

Fully aware Aware to some extent Not aware

3. The role play on management of VO meeting

Useful Less useful Not useful

4. The facilitator

Was the facilitator clear and effective Less clear and effective Not clear and effective

5. What do you suggest for the improvement of the training course?

This questionnaire is served verbally and the trainees’ views are recorded.



DACAAR (Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees) is a development non-governmental organization which works towards sustainable livelihoods for rural Afghansincluding the lasting return of refugees and internally displaced people.

DACAAR works at village level in close cooperation with the local population in order toenable them to meet basic needs and secure improved livelihoods. At the national level,DACAAR is also actively involved in nation building with the Government of Afghanistan.

DACAAR was established in 1984 specifically to provide support and relief to Afghanrefugees in Pakistan. Since 1989, DACAAR has furthermore worked in Afghanistan,concentrating on rehabilitation and development work.

More information about DACAAR and its two major programmes – the Water and SanitationProgramme (WSP) and the Rural Development Programme (RDP) – is available atwww.dacaar.org

community and management skills training

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