(SENEGAL) Last month, with my colleagues Jatu and Ndeye and my daughter Djessou, I visited a potential new partner organization in Salemata in Eastern Senegal. Since the 1990s, World Renew has worked through partner organizations in most areas where we are present, with the exception of those places where that is not (yet) feasible. Examples of exceptions are South-Sudan and other (post-)conflict situations.
Since the 1990s, World Renew has worked through partner organizations in most areas where we are present, with the exception of those places where that is not (yet) feasible. Examples of exceptions are South-Sudan and other (post-)conflict situations.
A partner organization is a local organization that works together locally in their own neighborhoods in community development with World Renew. World Renew offers the partner advice and training, and often World Renew finances one or more of the partner’s programs.
World Renew often collaborates with a partner at the very beginning of its development, going through the highs and lows of its own development together while the partner builds up its capacity for ministry. World Renew is involved in training the board and staff, designs reports, plans with the partner, and visits communities where the partner is working, meaning that we “consult with” our partners. This is the reason our staff titles often involve the words “country consultant.” Slowly, our partners become able to accept programming money from other larger donors, like governments, who are usually a whole lot less forgiving when goals are not reached on time or reports are disorganized or late. If a partner’s programs outgrow our budget, and they receive practically all their funding from others, we continue to evolve our consulting relationship and learn from each other.
Because a partnership is normally a long-term relationship for World Renew, we take some time to get to know each other. Last week when Jatu, Ndeye, Djessou, and I went to Salemata, close to Kedougou where I had travelled in January, we went to research potential new partners in the poorest region of Senegal. We visited only one village because the road to the other nearby villages was blocked by rain. We talked with the leaders of the local churches and other organizations, and the government officials in Salemata and peppered them with questions: What is going on? How do people earn a living here? What has changed in your community in the last few years? What does your church do for its members and the wider community?
Many Senegalese people have experienced the work of other NGOs, and no matter how we phrase our the questions, they tend to reply with wish lists of “projects” that they have heard of and would like to have in their community—clinics, wells, plows, and other things. To explain more specifically World Renew’s approach to community development, which aims at community transformation rather than “projects,” we held a workshop that involved using a variety of tools like stories, sketches, and group-work to ask people about their communities and show that development is more durable when a community sets its own clear goals and plays a large role in achieving them.
We learned about successful and unsuccessful projects with other organizations in the past and about various groups that are active in the community now. Hopefully, we will be able to continue on this path of mutual learning towards a fruitful partnership.
Joys
- Jatu, Ndeye and Esther made a safe and informative trip to Salemata.
- Wheaton student Kirsten will be learning with SLDS in Dakar for the coming six months.
Challenges
- After six CECS adolescent health groups finished their learning program with a community advocacy event, we are looking how we can support their continued involvement with their communities.
- World Renew in Senegal has applied for financial support for two potential internships with DFATD. This concerns one intern who would work on the adolescent health curriculum and one who would work on monitoring and evaluation.
Blessings,
Esther Kuhn