1. Development in the Field Sarah Lewis, B.A. Economics. September 24, 2010 for INDEV University of Waterloo

2. After surviving the travel to your destination, organizing accommodations, testing the local cuisine and meeting a few people, it is your first day at work. Why are you here?

3. Reasons for being in Ghana (2007) To be a catalyst for human development To experience a new culture To learn how to best contribute to human development throughout my career One thing is certain, your understanding of the world is about to change

4. Presentation Outline Introduction Living and learning Field work Conclusions Traditional ceremony at home in Tongo, UER

5. Geography of my Experience Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario University of Waterloo Undergraduate Studies Nipigon, Ontario Canada Economic Development Officer Cameroon, Central Africa PHAST Water and Sanitation Ghana, West Africa Agriculture As A Business

6. Living and Working in the Developing World Your profile as a foreigner impacts community trust & learning Where you live How you dress How you act Use common sense Culture shock Water & sanitation Personal safety Traffic Health care Reverse culture shock Enjoy yourself! Charity in the courtyard in Tongo, UER Ghana

7. Accelerated Learning Information is found in the people Active listening, Careful questioning, Experiential learning, transect walk, mapping Crosschecking for accuracy “the important information is likely to be that which one does not know that one does not know.” – Eric Dudley (1993)

8. Village Stay: Experiencial Learning Stirring TuoZafi with Justa’s family

9. Mapping – Nipigon example We map what we think is significant. For example, this map centers around roadways, work and home sites. In a mapping exercise, a group develops a map collaboratively and identify sites that are significant to the community.

10. Field Work... Excited?! “The successful field worker who is capable of stimulating and supporting well-rounded, community-based integrated rural development has to be a kind of renaissance generalist. Over stretched and under-resourced, the field worker must juggle the issues and strike pragmatic compromises between policies which tend to come to the field in the form of contradictory messages. “ - Eric Dudley, The Critical Villager

11. Cameroon: Water and Sanitation Partner: Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB) and Projet intégré pour la promotion de l'auto-développement (PIPAD) a local organisation in Cameroon 2004 Objective: Reduction of waterborne disease, improved sanitation conditions, construction and community management of latrines Funding: Association of Italian Churches, Medical donations from Italy, Engineers Without Borders, CIDA, FAO Activities: Participatory Health and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) program implementation, Project planning and fundraising workshops for community leaders, Evaluation of latrine building project Results: Partnership terminated

12. Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) Approach Behaviour change to improve health and reduce waterborne disease

13. PHAST Approach Developed by the World Health Organization, for more info, follow the link: World Health Organization_PHAST Participatory Health and Sanitation Transformation has three main objectives: The promotion of improved hygiene behaviour. The promotion of improvements in sanitation. Community management of water and sanitation facilities. It does this by: Demonstrating the relationship between sanitation and health status. Increasing the self esteem of community members. Empowering the community to plan environmental improvements and to own and operate water and sanitation facilities.

14. Project Challenges Organizational management in PIPAD & continuity between EWB volunteers Politics of latrine location and access Identifying barriers to hygiene/sanitation Germ theory of disease

15. Ghana: Agricultural Development Partner: EWB Canada and the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture 2007-2008 Objective: Food security, Dissemination of technology, Disaster relief Project: Agriculture as a Business Activities: Development of the Agriculture As a Business program with farmer groups and AEAs, Evaluation of profitability of small scale vegetable farmers, Drought and flood impact report Results: (EWB report)

16. Moving to a new equilibrium state Developed the Agriculture as a Business Program If the stages of farming development are like snakes and ladders... We create ladders

17. Engineers Without Borders Annual Report 2009

18. Project Challenges Competing demands on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as an implementing agency Identifying barriers to agricultural development History of financial incentives from past donors

19. Field Work: Who is Poor? “I know that a family is poor when I see the boy carrying a goat to the market to sell every week in the dry season when the prices are low. It means that they are selling stock for food in desperation.” Introduction to a Household’s balance sheet

20. Field WorkWho are “target beneficiaries”? Do we know how to identify these groups, what their interests are, and what approach will be understandable?

21. Field WorkCompetingto implement development International institutions Foreign governments National & local government International charities International development org. Local not for profit org. ... field workers

22. How change may not happen Development workers aim to create positive change, to move from to Right : When our work is not aligned with the interest of the intended beneficiary, the project outputs/targets may be “achieved”, ie. Goats were distributed in a ‘goat giving program’, but the situation has not actually shifted to a more positive state Left: When our work is aligned with the interest of the intended beneficiary, the achievement of the project objectives will more likely have lead to a positive change

23. After living and working in the developing world for 8 months, it is your first day back in Canada. What has been achieved? Did you have fun?