Thursday, December 11, 2008

As per the project agreement, we are required to hold a biannual Central Level Advisory Committee meeting. This committe is to be made up of Government representatives from each of:

  • Social Welfare Council; Raju Jose
  • Ministry of Agriculture; S.K. Adikhari
  • Min of Local Development; Nara Hari Baral
  • National Planning Commission; T.P. Panthi
  • Min of Women, Children & Social Welfare; Nirma Karkhi
  • AHTCS Representative; Dr. Resham Acharya
  • VIVA Nepal Representative; Ciarán Göbl

Now trying to find all of these people and their phone numbers was not an easy task, especially when you speak a poor version of the Nepali language and suffer from hours of power cuts, but I managed it and the meeting was organized for friday last, Dec 5th.

I wasn't sure what to expect and I must admit I thought it was a beureaucratic exercise and a break to lovely Pokhara for them. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the constructive criticisms and active input from each member. They left with a very good image of VIVA Nepal and we came away with some very useful contacts!

Monday, December 8, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, our 15 field staff (VAHWs & Facilitators in the photo to the right) undertook the "Training of Trainers" course, ToT. Previously, our project coordinators and 2 assistants carried out most of the group trainings. This course aimed to give our field staff the necessary skills needed to facilitate the training on their own at village level.
The training lasted 7 days and the content consisted of, for example; use of training material and different formats available- dicussion, mini lecture, brainstorming, practicals etc. They also got the chance to prepare a small lecture and present it to the group. We video recorded all the individuals and had a great feedback session afterwards when we reviewed all of them. The power cuts created havock however!!!
We have seen immediate results, with the facilitators already getting involved in group trainings! To the right is Pabitra Goddar demonstrating to her own group, Himchuli in Thumki.