NEF (Near East Foundation) -- 2007 Annual Report -- Country Report; Swaziland

The fisticuffs were dramatized, but the questions clearly could arouse passions--and understanding. Take poverty as a case in point: How do you define poverty? How has poverty impacted your community? What evidence do you have that it is poverty? What are the causes of poverty? What can be done to curb poverty in your community? Possible solutions?

Or the HIV/AIDS situation in this country with the highest HIV infection rate in the world: What do you think HIV/AIDS is? How do you think you get HIV/AIDS? If you want more information about HIV, where do you think you could go? Does HIV/AIDS impact on your life? How? How do you think the situation could be improved?

There were other possible questions for discussion about governance and leadership, the new Swazi constitution and decentralization, development and access to services, and gender issues.

COMMUNITY DIALOGUES

For the past seven years, Swaziland's Coordinating Assembly of NGOs (CANGO) has supported community dialogues in the four regions of Swaziland, largely about poverty-related issues and what communities can do to break out of the cycle of poverty. As a result many communities have been able to develop a "picture of the future" underpinned by quality of life, participation in decision making, and self determination for that community. This was seen as a milestone for Swaziland since so many initiatives were built around the issues that arose during these dialogues.

That's why Vusumnotfo (Swazi for "uplifting the economy") is involved. NEF's food distribution during the 1991/92 drought led traditional leaders of 18 Swazi communities to form Vusumnotfo, a true community-based organization helping local people achieve self-sufficiency. Over the past year, 431 people participated in our poverty dialogues at various locations.

We brought together a diverse group of people to consider issues of interest and the future they want to see for their community. The people who participated in our dialogues live in the same community or work together. They shared what they thought and felt, and listened to the thoughts and feelings of others. Differences of opinion were respected. The goal of the conversation was not to reconcile differences, but to accept and acknowledge them, looking for areas of common ground. The dialogues also provided a chance to examine government policies and, by so doing, be in a better position to influence them from the grassroots level.

GROUNDRULES

Community dialogues are conducted by trained facilitators like me. We invite participants who have diverse views, as well as participants who represent diverse groups within their community. These individuals are likely to be people who affect each other's lives, but rarely, if ever, meet. Interestingly enough, most are likely to discover common ground when they do meet and have an opportunity to listen and learn from each other, guided by the following ground rules.

We will acknowledge one another as equals in the dialogue. (Our equality comes from our being human.)
We will try to stay open to the perspectives of others. (We will remind ourselves that everyone has something to teach us.)
We recognize that we need each other's help to become better listeners. (We will listen as best we can, and invite others to help us listen better.)
We will not criticize the ideas of another, but will offer our own ideas that might be different. (In a dialogue process we do not want to criticize or judge what others might think, but instead take an opportunity to offer our own perspective.)
We will slow down so we have time to think and reflect. (We will use a round robin approach so that each person has the opportunity to speak thoughtfully.)
We will remember dialogue is a way to think together and we expect it to be messy at times. (The ideas that the group shares will be diverse and likely won't connect, especially at the beginning. This can be frustrating to some members, but if we suppress the messiness at the beginning, it will surface later and likely be disruptive.)
We will use language understood by all. (This is for ease of communication during the conversation.)

When this conversation functions as well as it can, the community makes valuable gains. They discover common hopes and concerns; gain understanding of key issues enhancing or inhibiting development; realize the potential that exists for shared action; cultivate the conditions for change in their community; rediscover a sense of unity with other community members; create collective wisdom about what "works" and what will "not work" in the future; and engage policy and decision makers on serious concerns.

VUSUMNOTFO'S 3 EMPHASES

In addition to social and civil society programming, Vusumnotfo also addressed early childhood development and business training over the past year.

Our in-service training of pre-school teachers was well on track, continuing to provide training and motivational support to 61 rural pre-schools, where we carried out 141 visits aimed at monitoring applied knowledge and securing assistance for infrastructure improvements. Teachers work under difficult circumstances with little reimbursement and these monthly meetings help maintain motivation, upgrade skills and provide an opportunity for peer sharing and addressing life issues. In addition to these monthly sessions, 171 teachers attended our in-service workshops for pre-school teachers held throughout 2006-07.

Using our manual, "Growing Children Straight and Strong," Vusumnotfo conducted a large training for community leaders in March attended by 36 people--with a subsequent marked increase in pre-school applications. Our working committee on early childhood care and development maintained a 78 percent attendance during a total of 15 days of activities--impressive, given that every member has full time duties elsewhere.

And I was invited to participate in the 7th World Forum organized by the World Foundation on Early Care and Education, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Over 700 professionals from over 70 countries gathered in May, and I was part of a pre-conference group discussing early childhood education's relationship to HIV infection. My main point: early childhood education helps prevent the spread of this disease by equipping young people to move beyond dependency; identify and take advantage of opportunities; and resist peer pressure.

CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR CIVIL SOCIETY

Vusumnotfo collected data from 671 homesteads making up one chiefdom--100 percent participation. It was computerized and will provide basic information needed for community planning and management and for domestic water usage. Data also was collected on 28 water sources--67 percent--with an additional 14 previously-unknown water sources identified.

Income generating training started in December, continuing with six more sessions from January through March, with almost all participants who started finishing their training. Participants generated a combined profit of $751, with one sustaining a loss of $87.

Since problem solving is a critical skill in business, our training and monitoring sessions always include peer review and discussion. We actively encourage participants to share their challenges and mistakes and use them as learning experiences. This is not standard operating procedure in Swaziland, so seeing it start to take place, even within a small group setting, is encouraging.

To further develop this peer sharing part of our business training, we brought together representatives of savings and credit clubs for that purpose in June. Such clubs have not been formally introduced here, but have started to take root through personal interaction with people from South Africa where the clubs are common.

In response to community requests, group formation training took place in four areas for a total of 36 training days with 134 participants.