Training Workshop on Needs Assessment and Programme Planning for Eastern Africa, 19-25 October 2002, Nairobi, Kenya
In October, we had another regional workshop on needs assessment and programme planning. This time, the workshop was in Nairobi with participants from all over Eastern Africa. As in the past, the training was broadly based on the module developed by Dr. Harinder Sethi, from India (he's often called, Cuckoo - guess why?!), and included a visit to Mukuru Kwan Njenga, a slum community outside Nairobi, to try out some assessment techniques and to develop and present fictitious project proposals. Twelve youth groups from eight countries participated, and Dr. Reychad Abdool, the Regional Demand Reduction Adviser for East Africa, Gautam Babbar, Coordinator of the Global Youth Network Project and I made up the training team. Angaza, one of the founding members of the youth network, played a leading role in helping us to organize the field visit, but more about that later?
What did we do? Well, as usual, we covered various techniques of needs assessment, like role-plays, interviews, focus group discussions, observation, and we practised developing a project proposal and presenting it effectively.
The workshop was made even more interesting because of language barriers. It was just great to see people manage to communicate in a mixture of three or four different languages and, of course, non-verbally, as well. But then, this group of young people (and some not so young youth workers!) were really particularly lively, and despite working for up to 10 hours a day, we did manage to party a bit. Also, our discussions threw in sharp relief the cultural factors that differentiate us and make the world an interesting place. Not surprisingly, this happened especially after the role-plays, like the one on family decision-making and on interactions among communities, NGOs and donors (featuring a particularly combative community).
The field visit was an experience! It had been raining the day we went to Kwan Njenga. The whole community was a river of mud and it was almost impossible to walk around. For a lot of us, the conditions really brought home the fact that when basic facilities like transport and sanitation are an issue, we cannot expect substance abuse to take precedence and that we must adopt a more holistic approach to youth health issues.
As a follow-up to this meeting, we will be asking the participating groups to submit project proposals utilizing their new skills. We will then choose one or two particularly good proposals for a small amount of funding. Some participants also undertook to conduct similar training in their own organizations and share their learning with other people. We are very proud of this!
UNODC, Vienna