Just on the outskirts
of a small village in the Savelugu-Nanton district of northern Ghana, the rural
path I walked up opened onto a luscious green meeting spot under a Nim tree. As
I sat down on the long wooden bench with my colleague Fusca, the eyes of over
20 women were fixed upon us. Curiosity, suspicion, intrigue, and doubt met us
as the representative from the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) introduced us
as the new NGO in town, which would strive to assist these women with their
income generating activities over the next 12 months. Just one month before, I
had been tucked away in the dark recesses of the university library as I
completed my masters course wanting, needing, striving!!! for a new challenge. Now
International Service gave me that challenge and a great deal more!
Partnerships, in theory, are meant to benefit those who participate in them. International Service follow the U.N’s Sustainable Development Goals focusing on ‘livelihoods’. The NFED’s core objective is to build economic and social capital in rural areas where literacy rates are low, and consequently, knowledge of effective income generating activities are sparse. USAID defined partnership as a model which ‘allows projects bespoke to local needs and concerns to receive added capacity and enhance the ability of the local partner to expand their services, reduce costs, and heighten impact’[i]. In practice, however, things don't always work out that way, and in the world of development, creating effective, well-implemented partnerships is a tremendous challenge. So what does that mean for us here, in the community, on the long wooden bench, face-to-face with the beneficiary?
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| Sahakpaligu village, Savelugu-Nanton district, Ghana. 10/2015 |
Partnerships, in theory, are meant to benefit those who participate in them. International Service follow the U.N’s Sustainable Development Goals focusing on ‘livelihoods’. The NFED’s core objective is to build economic and social capital in rural areas where literacy rates are low, and consequently, knowledge of effective income generating activities are sparse. USAID defined partnership as a model which ‘allows projects bespoke to local needs and concerns to receive added capacity and enhance the ability of the local partner to expand their services, reduce costs, and heighten impact’[i]. In practice, however, things don't always work out that way, and in the world of development, creating effective, well-implemented partnerships is a tremendous challenge. So what does that mean for us here, in the community, on the long wooden bench, face-to-face with the beneficiary?
As a team
leader you listen to every word the partner, and most importantly, the
beneficiary has to say. You read the expansive planning documents with inputs,
outcomes, and impacts and then you create your objectives. Team NFED has three:
Generate a group profile, produce a baseline survey for each of the six income
generating groups (IGG) we’ll be working with, and assist the IGG facilitator
during training activities, designed to build community skills and add value to
commodities sold at market. Within just three weeks of establishing this
partnership, after long meetings, heated debates, and searches for common
ground, International Service volunteers have worked in sync with the NFED to
meet with all six communities over four consecutive visits, building capacity,
and setting the first solid foundations for supporting our beneficiary’s
livelihoods.
Partnership
is a relationship of equals, of honesty, and openness. Now, when we visit the
communities, and we approach the luscious green meeting spot, and sit under the
Nim tree on the long wooden bench, we’re joined by excited, warm, and accepting
partners. Members of the community, NFED and International Service - we all
have a common goal, despite our different agendas: to empower the communities
we work with. It is highly rewarding, but it is certainly challenging. And
these kinds of projects can work sustainably if we foster and embrace the
support of dedicated, global citizens. The question you must ask is, 'Am I one
of them?'
[i] USAID
(1997) ‘New partnership initiative (NPI) resource guide: a strategic guide to
development partnering’. Report of the NPI Learning Team. Washington DC: United
States Agency for International Development
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