Monday 15 June - Day 83

It's very hot and sticky now. It was raining quite a bit this morning. It was actually quite a shock in such a sunny country! I'm used to summer (in the UK) being the one saeson you have less rain, not more. It's topsy-turvy! Hopefully they will have good rain here this year as poor rainfall leads to hardship and a struggle for survival. These communities are dependant on farming, and without water there isn't enough food to eat or produce to sell to earn a living.

I've been doing my packing today, preparing stuff to take and what to leave behind for when I come back in October, Inshallah, God willing. It's a funny time, saying goodbyes and preparing myself mentally for the change of culture, pace, weather, food, you name it, it's going to be different back in the UK. I'm looking forward to seeing my mum after 3 months away and having a reliable, and fast internet connection. What a difference that will make. I'll finally be able to update the website (abenekarantaa.org), as it's been rather neglected while I've been here. Not enough time for everything. The blog and a few emails have taken priority.

We had a successful last meeting on Sunday. The assessment team (local people, Kabiro Coly and Momadou Dabang) presented the Action Plan and results of the Participatory Needs Assessment to representations of the Chiefs of each of the three villages, Abene, Albadar and Dianna involved in the project. They have given their full support, one saying 'When someone comes to help you, you must run to go and answer them'.

The Action Plan is as follows below, in draft form. I am very pleased to have the support of the local community.

Draft Action Plan (version 1)

To provide two projects from October 2009 to June 2010 – English for Children and Adult Literacy/English.

English for Children
A 6-week pilot project of classes in English for Children was provided at Dianna English Language School and delivered by British school teacher Hawa Touré. We propose to continue funding the project in Dianna, increasing the number of classes from three to four, thus expanding the ages of the intake from 10 – 18 years to include 8 and 9 year olds. We also propose to roll the project out to Abené and Albadar; which will be delivered by British EFL teacher Christina Ballard. The project will benefit 180 children and run for a full academic year from October 2009 to June 2010.

Adult Literacy/English
We propose to pilot a literacy project in English for adults in all three villages – Abené, Albadar and Dianna. Classes will be provided for women in the three villages and for men in Abené and Albadar. Classes in Dianna will be delivered by British literacy teacher Hawa Touré, and in Abené and Albadar by EFL teacher Christina Ballard. The project will benefit 100 adults, including 60 women. The pilot will run for 6 months from January to June 2010.


Programme implementation

Programme co-ordination
We propose for Christina Ballard to co-ordinate the programme of educational projects, local committees and the planning and running of local sustainable funding mechanisms.

Tuition in the local language
To enable effective communication with local people involved in the programme we propose for the provision of language tuition in Mandinka for the two project facilitators from the UK.


Timetable:

October 2009 – June 2010

Oct – Dec:
Tuition in local language – Hawa Touré & Christina Ballard
Teacher training in adult literacy (Hawa Touré) – Christina Ballard
Evaluate feasibility of other project proposals in collaboration with Programme Management Committee with a view to making plans for implementation

Oct – Jun:
Programme co-ordination including planning of sustainable funding mechanisms (community businesses) with a view to businesses starting trading in March
English for Children project – Hawa Touré & Christina Ballard

Jan – Jun:
Adult Literacy/English pilot project – Hawa Touré & Christina Ballard

May – Jun:
Project evaluation to be led by Programme Management Committee in collaboration with Programme Co-ordinator

October 2010 – June 2011

Oct – Dec:
Evaluation of feasibility of sustainable funding mechanisms (community businesses) and plan to
reduce funding from the charity.
Continue English for Children and Adult Literacy/English projects based on results of evaluation carried out in June.

Management

Project Committees
Each individual project - such as the After-School Study Group project for example - will have a committee. Those committees will be responsible for running the projects including monitoring, evaluation and budgeting.

Village Committees
Each village will have a committee which oversees all of the projects in their village. Those committees will be formed of two representatives from each of the Project Committees within their village. The village committees will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating funding streams including village businesses.

Programme Management Committee
One committee will oversee the projects in all three villages. Three members of the Management Committee will be named account holders for the Programme bank account. The Management Committee will be responsible for Programme expenditure, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluation of the Programme and funding streams including community businesses.