Posts filed under ‘Events’
FST’s Partners workshop in May
FST conducted a 3 day workshop for all our Partners on the 19th, 20th and 21st May 2010 at the DBI in Kharguli. 31 partners from 7 states attended and spent quality time together, as they learnt, laughed and built links and networks that cut across work and geography.
Our collaboration with Resource Alliance for this workshop enabled Dr Sudeep Gadok, an international health and development expert and Gayatri Buragohain of Feminist Approach to Technology to come as key resource persons.
The June 09 Workshop for Partners
Nisha explaining the Elevator Speech
During a Session
Simulating Equality and Equal Opportunity
Group Photo
Foundation for Social Transformation: enabling north east India (FST) and North East Network ( NEN) together organised a 3 day Partners’ Workshop on Organisational Development from the 5th to the 7th June 2009 at the Rural Research Training Centre (RRTC), Umran, Meghalaya. The objective was to provide
q inputs from top quality resource persons with proven training experience on need based topics[1]
q opportunity for meeting, networking, learning and sharing each others’ experiences and building alliances and solidarity in the partners’ programmes
q exposure to good practices in rural development work from the model plots and farms for agriculture, horticulture, livestock, poultry etc at RRTC Umran
q time and space for relaxation and introspection about potential for social transformation through ongoing and new projects and programmes.
A total of 34 persons including grantees, individual fellows and partners of FST and NEN and their staff members attended the workshop and participated enthusiastically and actively in the workshop, as evident from the intense discussions during the sessions, voluntary involvement in the logistics and arrangements, encouraging and honest feedback given by them at the end of the workshop. (Ref Annexure). The most popular were Jennifer Liang’s afternoon session on the continuum of NGO strategies , Mr. Anil Baranwal’s tips on FCRA and Income Tax and Nisha Purushottaman’s training on communication and documentation.
Late evening screenings of topical documentary films, slide shows and presentations of Individual Fellows were an additional attraction. Many heard Robes Nongbri, assisted by Mary describe his work on traditional medicines and plants in Mawphlang, see Ratumoni Das’ art work and listen to Babul Gogoi speak on potential for citizens’ journalism using common ICT devices like mobile phones etc.
A pre dinner recreation programme on the 6th evening was a hit, with young dancers from the Ferrando Centre for Speech and Hearing stealing hearts as they danced and ‘signed’ songs and the melodious singing of the smart college students of Bethany Society inspired Rabiul to play the guitar as Mary, Samhita, Akole sang along to be joined soon by Lamphrang with soulful Khasi love songs and Diana and Mawsdawngliani’s Mizo version of Ave Maria. A fitting finale was the Assamese contingent’s Bihu dance to music from Babul Gogoi’s computer.
New friends were made, addresses, emails and invitations exchanged. Ideas for marathons and fundraising contemplated !
CDs were collectively burned till late night on the last day ensuring that everyone returned with a copy of all the presentations, photographs and information shared during the workshop.
[1] Rights based approach by Jennifer Liang and colleagues from IDeA-the ant , Bongaigaon
Accounting and Financial Management by Anil Baranwal from Account Aid, New Delhi
Communication and Documentation by Nisha Purushottaman from Institute of Fundraising and Philanthropy, Bangalore.
Partners Workshop on Documentation and Communication
FST’s mission is to invest in and promote the region’s abundant human, natural, cultural and creative resources; enable communities to be owners of the development processes; encourage rights based approaches and gender equality; channel youth energies for constructive social transformation in north east India. We do this through grant making and fellowship programmes to support creative approaches for solutions to critical issues of the region. Parallel efforts are made towards building capacities and knowledge through training and networking.
Past demonstration grant making (whilst being incubated by North East Network) saw FST extending support to 12 organisations and 12 individuals in 2007. FST charted its own course in 2008 and has extended its support to another 10 organisations and 6 individuals working across various thematic areas in March 2009. Yet another 8 organisations and 12 individuals have been selected for support in the October 2009.
FST appreciates the importance and significance of work of its partners and is confident of the potential of their individual and combined efforts in social transformation of the NE region. CPD Mizoram, ROSS Tangla, BRO-ICARD Assam, will train and sensitize Mizo, Bodo and Mising youth to be change makers in their communities; Research studies by Prodigals Home, Dimapur and Kripa Foundation, Guwahati will help to create evidence and raise public awareness about child rights violations and substance abuse in Nagaland and Assam; SATRA Sipajhar will empower communities in Darrang, Baksa and Odalguri to assert themselves and fight for transparent governance; sSTEP Guwahati will use community risk management tools to study the social security needs of the poor in poverty pockets across Guwahati, Morigaon, Jorhat and Sohra; RWUS Churachandpur will help to organise and strengthen local farmers to fight for food security and related issues; Babul Gogoi will promote and train people on citizen’s journalism across small towns of Assam; new livelihood opportunities in mushroom cultivation will be created in Makum, Nirjuli and Mendipathar by MDF, Guwahati; Robes Nongbri will sensitise local communities on the value and need for conservation of traditional medicines, plants and herbs in villages around Umtyrnuit; Peter Adang will teach screen printing to survivors of substance abuse in Nagaland; Ratumoni Das will learn multimedia skills to improve his prospects as an artist and teach others; Lalthanzami and Lalbiakthuami will have improved skills in working for the cause of minority women who are victims of violence in Mizoram; VHAT Tripura will sensitise local communities in Mohanpur block of Tripura to shun gender based violence and ensure legal redressal to victims of violence.
Recent grant making in October 2009 will include training and economic empowerment of young adults with disability in Guwahati and semi literate indigenous girls in Tripura; orienting youth groups in Manipur to use theatre and street plays to raise awareness about social issues; documenting vanishing musical motifs in Tripura; raising awareness about rights of indigenous people; supporting a group of gun widows in Manipur; building bridges and empathy for the NE in Bangalore; raising awareness on health and hygiene in remote villages of Dhemaji and strengthening a village school in Chirang district; replicating successful children’s groups and leadership programmes in East Khasi Hills; empowering women victims of domestic and gender based violence to fight for legal redressal and justice in Assam and Nagaland; building alliances among local community based organisations to campaign against illegal and environmentally harmful mining practice in Meghalaya; spreading awareness about
right to food and work in villages and impact of climate change, as well as improving skills in documenting stories of local achievers in Nagaland; widening training on medicinal plants and herbs among women in districts of Assam.
As FST moves into the next phase of reviewing and monitoring work done by partners, we find that while some amazing stories of change and transformation have in fact taken place on the ground, these are often not documented adequately or shared publicly. These stories of efforts, the successes and failures need to be noted and narrated so that others may know and learn and be inspired from this.
FST appreciates that writing long detailed reports is not easy. Some of us find it easier to do the work than write about it. However simple creative ways of documenting work and change can be used effectively. It may often be easier to just record conversations, take short video footage and photographs that animate our work and tell our story in different and innovative ways. All these will help partners to present and communicate their work better.
Based on the above and feedback from most of the partners to a questionnaire on training needs, FST has chosen the theme of Documentation and Communication for the Partners’ Workshop. The intention is to stress on the importance of documentation and also cover different aspects of documentation such as using photography, bogging, seeking out stories of change etc. FST also plans to link these ideas with its existing reporting formats and thereby facilitate compliance. It is hoped that a mix of theoretical and practical hands-on sessions will help FST and its partners to build and hone their skills in documentation and effective communication and this will no doubt help in sustaining ongoing programmes.
