INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE HELP PROJECT CURRICULUM Fighting Poverty, Empowering People

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE HELP PROJECT CURRICULUM

Fighting Poverty, Empowering People

What is “International Development”?“What so complicates the study of international development…

is that the most commonly adopted meanings (and thus explanations and strategies) do not simply differ; from diagnosis to prescription, they are almost diametric opposites. Development is a standard borne by those who would promote the interests of the affluent and powerful as well as by those who would serve the unaffluent and the unpowerful; by those who would expand the reach of the most-industrialized states and those who would shield the least-modernized from nefarious influences…”

HELP International -- 2

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What is Development?

…..by those who would stress the virtues of entrepreneurship and individualism and those who would nurture community and collective concerns; by those who would pursue strategies of top-down initiative and decision-making and those who advocate a bottom-up, or grass-roots, approach; and finally, by those who would exploit and maim Mother Nature for the benefit of either business or labor in today’s world, as well as by those who concern themselves with a bountiful and livable environment for future generations.”

Jan Black, 1991


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HELP International’s Development Model

“Fight poverty, empower people”….but how?

1) Understand your purpose2) Understand your context3) Understand your resources4) Act wisely


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1) Understand your Purpose

DEVELOPMENT = REALIZING ASSETSQ: WHAT IS AN ASSET?

A: An asset by definition pays dividends in the future.

Q: Great. But really. What is an asset?A: Lots of things can be assets. Consider:

- Who owns it? Who owns the benefits from it?

- Is it tangible or intangible?- Is it big or small?- Is it permanent, or temporary?- HOW does it create Dividends?


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1) Understand your Purpose

DEVELOPMENT = REALIZING ASSETSQ: WHY “REALIZING”?

A: Verb reflects an active process; A: It also reflects our relationship with our partners—we don’t “donate”, “give”, “create” or “produce” assets, we catalyze the community to capitalize on raw materials to make the asset “real”

BUT WAIT….don’t we bring something new to the table?YES! Your skills and resources are unique, and your presence can create change, but that is not enough. You need the community to make your contribution valuable.


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1) Understand your purpose

INPUTS ASSETS DIVIDENDSYour job is to make this process work. It takes

creativity, dedication, and passion. And it is not easy.

Some things to remember (we’ll talk more about this later)

First, do no harm.Second, Efficiency.Third, sustainability.


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2) Understand Your Context

YOU… YOUR COMMUNITY…

How does them being them and you being you change the way you understand each other?


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3) Understand your resources

What types of resources do you have?Physical Capital: Money, machines, tools, ropes, mud, sticks, livestock, etc.Human Capital: Labor, knowledge, skills, power & influence, team dynamics, etc. Intangibles: Time, social cohesion, norms and expectations, etc.


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3) Understand your resources

Organize your resources to be most effective1. Don’t overestimate your resources—don’t

commit to more than you can manage2. Make your team modular—

1. There should be clearly assigned responsibilities

2. Team members should communicate and collaborate to train one another.

3. Don’t be dependent on one person—what happens when they leave?


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4) Act wisely—the HELP model

This is where HELP comes in……How do we do act wisely?

KEY COMPONENTS OF THE HELP MODEL1. Needs assessment—What needs to be done?

2. Project design—How should we do it?

3. Project implementation—DO IT!

4. Project monitoring—How is it going? Does it need altering? Can it be done better!

5. Completion and evaluation—Did it work?


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1)Needs Assessment

4)Monitoring

2)Project Planning

3)Project Implementation

5)Project Completion

Process is *** Non-Linear, Non-Sequential,&

Iterative

Understand the Problem

Propose the Solutions

After Action Review

Plan the project execution

Watch carefully/ test

Pivot or Scale

up

* Community Mobilization info taken from “How to Mobilize Communities for Health & Social Change”

The HELP Project Cycle

Step 1: Needs Assessment

GOALS: Understand the context you will be working in Understand what people expect, want, and need Learn information that will help you succeed Make information accessible to you and others Help your team acclimate & learn skills that make

or break development organizations Word of warning…


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TOOLS:Gathering information

SurveysParticipant observationRAP AssessmentFAMA Method (participatory research)

Organizing informationProblem TreesFAMA (Facts, Associations, Meaning, Action)

Using information


TIMEFRAME: First 1-2 weeks HELP Participants arrive in country: This

should be a team’s/wave’s MAJOR OCCUPATION right after they arrive

Thereafter: Keep it on your mind. Never stop asking questions. If you get an idea about something you may have missed in the initial assessment, start the process again, investigating your new issue.

(see timeline handout & why evaluate handout)

Step 2: Project Planning

GOALS

1) Make a hypothesis about what will work in context.2) Narrow potential project ideas based on what you learned in

your assessment 3) Set the scope and focus the work you can do to make sure it

really addresses needs4) Outline the entire delivery process5) Articulate your plans and try to prevent fatal errors!


TOOLS PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM: We write up a project proposal

for every project. This is how you will track what is going on, get budgets approved, and hold your team accountable for their plans.

Logic Model: Tool that helps visualize the progression from needs project structure completion

Everything should logically link together, hence the name. Outside resources: Handbooks. Manuals. The internet. Other

NGO’s best practices, etc.

Project Proposal Process

1) Write proposal

2) Submit proposal to CDs

3) Present proposal to entire team

4) CDs submit

project to HQ

Utilize suggestions and

revise projectProject

Approved&

Funds Allocated

* Only if project exceeds $200


TIMEFRAME: Write proposal The budget Thus, your planning will go in phases—

community input, team negotiation, writing, rewriting, refining. That’s good!

Just remember…YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE.

Step 3: Project Implementation

GOALS:1. Realize assets.2. Do it well, with as little waste as possible.3. Have fun!


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Tools:This is more open—your project could be anything,

so your tools will be whatever you need!


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Timeframe: After initiation and planning. Your first attempts at a particular project type will

run in to all sorts of unexpected issues. Planning helps minimize them, but you aren’t perfect.

Solution: Start small—Do one thing to test your hypothesis. If it works, scale up. If it doesn’t work, pivot—change your plan and your process.


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Step 4: Monitoring

GOALS:

Stick to the PLAN

What’s going well/not well

Stakeholders’ response?


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Step 4: Monitoring

TOOLS:Participant observationFAMA/community based evaluationWeekly reports (MANDATORY)Record logs—Who? What? When? Where? How?

You want to have information for next years crew on EXACTLY how to find and assess your projects.


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Step 4: Monitoring

TIMEFRAME: During implementation. Implementation and monitoring are a feedback

loop--Every time to take a step back to evaluate within your team, your partners, or the recipients, you have an opportunity to change course and improve implementation.


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Step 5: Completion

GOALS:COMPLETION: make sure your projects have a

natural conclusion when you leave (this doesn’t mean that ongoing systems you create stop happening, it means that you have unambiguously ended your role in the process)

EVALUATION: Understand the short term impacts of what you have done. This is different from monitoring because you are interested in the impact, not the intervention.


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Step 5: Completion

TOOLS Project proposals/Plans should have an exit

strategy. Surveys for recipients, partners, and your team. Gift giving to major partners can be used as an

excuse to interview them. After Action Review Year end report


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Step 5: Completion

TIMEFRAME Mostly, this happens at the end of the summer as

you are signing out. But, projects will die out over the course of the

summer. As you complete them, review and evaluate with your partners while the memories are fresh.


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Working Together: HELP Team/Community Team

Select project leader, team members and other resources

Commit to the project requirements

Develop team ground rules

Determine meeting guidelines/times

Create a “Parking Lot” & “Issues List”

The implications of Temporary Morphing Project Teams

Timeline and Exit Strategy

What is the purpose of making our project time-bound?

Avoiding DEPENDENCY

How might your timeline be effected by local conditions and culture?

How might your timeline be effected by wave changes?

Sustainability A stable asset that repays its owner!

A Few Resources Community Tool Box http://ctb.ku.edu/en/

“How to Mobilize Communities for Health and Social Change” A Field Guide by Lisa Howard-Grabman and Gail Snetro.

A pdf version that you can download for free and print out is at http://www.hcpartnership.org/Publications/Field_Guides/Mobilize/pdf/ An interactive website with free downloadable worksheets and other

planning tools is available at: http://www.hcpartnership.org/Publications/comm_mob/htmlDocs/cac.

htm

Tools and Resources for Assessing Social Impant http://trasi.foundationcenter.org/

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/

http://www.hcpartnership.org/Publications/Field_Guides/Mobilize/pdf/

http://www.hcpartnership.org/Publications/comm_mob/htmlDocs/cac.htm

http://www.hcpartnership.org/Publications/comm_mob/htmlDocs/cac.htm

http://trasi.foundationcenter.org/

Documents

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE HELP PROJECT CURRICULUM Fighting Poverty, Empowering People