‘Hoe kijkt coördinator Edward Bailor terug op het project?’
De partner vertelt... van 16 september 2022 door Edward Bailor
Elk jaar vragen we onze partner hoe het project is gegaan en welke lessen de partner heeft geleerd.
Context and summary
Describe the original plan/idea for the project. Has the project been executed as planned?
The project aims to provide 3 classroom blocks, 1 head teacher office, 1 staff room, 1 store, 60 benches and desks, 3 cupboards and 8 compartments toilet/latrine for DEC Primary School, New Maforkie. These facilities will help to enhance a safe and conducive learning environment and address key challenges (overcrowding in classes, sitting accommodation and WASH situation) in the school.
The project was implemented as planned; the partner organization (CTF), through funds and support from WSN was able to effectively and efficiently coordinate all project activities. The community also mobilized local support (local materials and labour) and actively participated in the project implementation. The project participants (33 youngsters) physically participated in the construction work and children and cultural programs. The building contractor and his team worked closely with the participants and community to construct the school building.
Give a (short) general description of the implementation of the project.
At the inception of the project, the local coordinators formed and orientated 3 local committees (Children, Cultural and Technical/construction). Other consultation and engagement meetings were held with key stakeholders to stimulate local contributions. In 2021, CTF and the community constructed the foundation of the building and raised 2 layers of bricks.
The construction of the 8 compartments toilet commenced and was completed in July 2022. The accommodation for the project participants and other necessary facilitation concerns were well addressed before the participant’s arrival in Sierra Leone.
On the day of arrival of the participant at the project location (Maforki village), CTF organized an opening ceremony of the project in which key stakeholders including the local leaders, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education and Regional Coordinator of Free Quality School Education were in attendance. During the meeting, strategic and nonstrategic issues pertaining to the project were discussed; the relevant stakeholders expressed their appreciation for the project and promised to offer their utmost support to ensure that the project is successful.
The community provided local materials and unskilled labour who worked closely with the project participants on the building. The local coordinators ensured that the building materials were available and also coordinated the construction work with the technical team leader of World Servant and the construction team. The construction team worked side by side with participants to ensure that every participant was actively involved in the work. The team constructed the super wall structure and also completed part of the roofing and handed over the school to the community before their departure. The remaining work will be completed by the community and the construction team.
The Children, Life skills and Cultural programs were well organized. The local committee members worked closely with the team leaders to execute planned activities.
How do you look back on the following topics? How was it arranged, what went well, what could be done better?
Construction
Buildings worked on
Tasks to be done
The following are the task to be completed before the final handing over of the school by the partner organization to the community:
• Complete roofing
• Plastering and revealing
• Fixing of doors and window
• Ceiling
• Floor screeding
• Construction of steps and ramp
• Painting
Programs
Children program
The children's program was well organized with support from the teachers of the school and the local coordinator (Team Lead). The daily average turnout of children was around 100 between the ages of 6 to 12. The children's program was organized at the school field. There were a few interrupted days when the children's program did not take place as a result of the rains. The children's program lead always engaged the teachers and local coordinator to discuss the program plan for the day before the program commenced and there was also a short evaluation discussion with the local coordinator about the program. The children had the opportunity to listen to stories from the bible, sang Christian songs, practiced craftwork and played different games. The children's program climaxed with a party for the children
Cultural and touristic outings
During the 3 weeks of the project, the participants had the opportunity to explore and experience Sierra Leone and its culture. The following cultural events and/or touristic outings were organized by the cultural lead, local coordinators and local cultural committee:
1. Cooking of local dishes: 3 participants/groups helped the cooking staff prepare local dishes
2. Evening program where the cultural lead came up with questions asked by the participants about the history of the civil war in Sierra Leone, Ebola, things that are typical about Sierra Leone and its culture, malaria and the leadership/governance structure of the Maforki chiefdom. The local coordinators (Umaru and Samuel) and the head teacher of the primary school talked about the aforementioned issues.
3. Boat trip to Mabolo: on the first Saturday of the project, the team visited the Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute in Rokupr where the director of the institute did a presentation on the institute’s activities and its facilities, before embarking on the boat trip to Mambolo. Upon arrival at Mambolo, the team visited the residence of the paramount chief before touring the historical sites and witnessed some livelihood activities in the village.
4. Cultural dance: the local drummers were invited to play their drums and the children and women from the community displayed their local dancing moves at the accommodation of the participants.
5. Hiking: the team hiked to one of the nearby forests with the Team Lead of CTF and one of the local headmen who was the tour guide.
6. Visit a local clinic and the district hospital in Port Loko: four different groups with a minimum of five participants/group visited both the clinic and hospital in Port Loko on two different occasions.
6. Storytelling: the storytelling was done at Laminaya village.
7. Sleepover: thirteen participants were placed in 3 groups to sleep at the homes of three different families/households.
8. Laundering: some participants also helped with the laundering with the cooking staff.
9. Football match (small competition): the team played a football match with the
the local team of Maforkie village.
10. Home visit: six participants and one leader/group visited the homes of the locals in the village.
11. Burnfire night
12. Men and women afternoon (women worked at the construction site and the men cooked the meal).
13. Dutch evening: key community stakeholders, builders and the cook were invited for dinners and were also given gifts as a recognition by the team for their support of the project.
14. Visit the local markets (some participants visited the Farehdugu market and the market in Lunsar).
15. Tour to Taccugama chimpanzee park
16. Visit Leicester Peak Mountain.
17. Surfing at the Bureh beach
18. Market day at the Freetown souvenir market
19. Cultural exchange evening
Life Skills program and Football for Water (also include the amount of tranings given and the number of people from the community actively involved in training).
The life skills program was imperative and gave an opportunity for the youth who attended to gain critical and essential skills that would be beneficial for their daily activities. It was facilitated by three participants and coordinated by the local coordinator (Team Lead) and one of the teachers from the primary school who helped to mobilize the youths. It was organized in the local church building which was suitable and offered enough sitting accommodation for the youths and there was no possibility of any interruption by rains when the program is ongoing. The participants were well abreast and had a deeper knowledge of the topics discussed. The program was for 3 days and for each day, a new topic was discussed. The challenges faced especially on the first day of the program was that many of the youth between the ages of 13 to 15 were unable to clearly expressed themselves and contribute to the topic that was discussed. This made us slightly change our approach and invited only youths who were above 15 years old. In the future, I recommend the age requirement for the youths to be 15 years and above.
Cooperation and involvement
Leadership team World Servants
The leadership team of World Servant were cooperative with both the local coordinators and the community people. They had a positive collaboration with the relevant stakeholders. They also had high concerns about the well-being of the participants which was significant as well. Among the team, the leaders always ensured that the participants were well prepared to facilitate some of the activities like children’s and life skills programs. For executing project-related activities, they always engaged or had discussions with the relevant person(s) concerned in order to make decisions.
Local leaders / key persons
The local leaders were delighted about the project and their involvement was felt at every stage of the project. With their influence in the community, they were able to stimulate local contribution. They also inspired other members of the community to give their unwavering commitment to the project. They played key leadership roles in mobilizing unskilled labour. From the preplanning to the implementation phase, they were directly involved in interfacing with other stakeholders in the district.
Community
One of the strongest pillars of the success of the project is community involvement. The presence of the community in every stage of the project has been significant. They contributed local materials like sticks, ball stones, and labour. At the inception of the project, they were engaged and informed about the project in detail and were also formed into committees; since then, the committees have been very committed and instrumental to the goals of the project. During the foundation work, they helped in digging the trench, transporting ball stones to the site, backfilling the foundation and clearing debris around the building. They constructed the makeshift structure which the participants used to have their meals and programs. They also had a positive relationship and interaction with the world Servant team. The community also ensured that there were at least 10 men at the site and 10 women to fetch water during the project.
Beneficiaries
The cooperation between the project beneficiaries and the team was positive. They had a friendly interaction and a meaningful relationship. The teachers and pupils including parents were delighted about the project and the team. The teachers were highly involved in the project activities.
(Local) authorities
The local authorities who are also doubling as the custodians of the land should be well abreast with any development project within their chiefdom or district. From the inception to the implementation of the project, the local authorities were well informed and also involved in the project. A cross-section of the local authorities or their representatives attended most of the consultation meetings. During the opening ceremony, the District Director of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education and the Regional Coordinator for Free Quality School Education gave their absolute commitment to the project and they made regular follow up on the progress of the project. Other local leaders like the section chief and speaker have monitored the progress of the project.
Facilitation of the team
Accommodation
The project participants and local coordinators of the partner organization resided at the existing school facility which has six classroom blocks, a store and office space. The participants occupied three of the classrooms (male 1 and female 2) and one of the other three remaining classrooms was utilized for storing food and other properties. Each participant had a bunker bed, foam mattress and bedspread to sleep on. All classrooms were well paved and had floormats. The participants had their meal and evening programs in a spacious makeshift structure constructed with sticks and thatches and roofed with tarpaulin located within the school compound. The school compound had a toilet (newly constructed toilet/latrine) and water-well handpump facilities. The classrooms were electrified with provisions for charging electronic devices. There were two security arm guards for securing the accommodation at night during the project.
On arrival in Lungi, Sierra Leone, the participants resided in a fenced and gated guest house. The accommodation was safe, well secured and conducive for the participants. The participants also spent their last two nights before departure to the Netherlands at the Bureh beach resort. seventeen rooms were booked, and two participants slept in a room.
Food
The participants were provided with three daily meals and two tea breaks in between meals. Both local and continental dishes were provided for the participants. Two light meals were served for breakfast and lunch and one heavy meal was served for dinner. The kitchen staff ensured that safety measures were adopted in preparing and serving meals.
Transportation
On arrival, the participants were transported from the airport to the accommodation in Lungi and from the accommodation to the project location (Maforki) in a bus that was hired within the project district. The same bus was used for tourist outings to Mambolo. A different bus was hired from Freetown to transport the participants to Freetown for other touristic tours. The same bus was used to transport the participants to the airport. There was also a standby vehicle during the project for internal movements of participants and materials.
Safety
The safety and well-being of the team were major concerns for the partner organization. In ensuring this, actions like hiring security arm guards to secure the accommodation of the team at night and community engagement to discuss security and safety issues were taken. The Assistant Inspector General of Port Loko district and other key stakeholders in the district were well informed about the project.
Lessons learned
1. The arrival and departure times of the participants helped to easily facilitate transportation and also saved cost on accommodation.
2. Provision of meals with less oil reduced on the number of diarrhoea cases.
3. The high rate of inflation and constant increase in the prices especially for fuel, food commodities and building materials posed some challenges in implementing project activities.
