Applied Community Based
Research Methods
Do you feel that the applied
research training you received during your Pre-Departure Training has
translated into applicable skills in the field? How have you found engaging in
a participatory applied research project in your host country?
I think that I’ve used some of the skills I learned during the
Pre-departure training in the field. For instance, the training we received on facilitating successful workshops was useful for our work here Brazil. For the English classes, we tried to not stick to only the traditional methods of teaching. We tried to
incorporate different activities into each lesson so that the women would constantly be engaged. Most of the women we worked with haven’t been in a classroom setting
in years, some even decades. Hence creativity was a must on our part as teachers as well.
I have found it fairly difficult to engage in a participatory applied research project in Brazil. Fortaleza is a big city in comparison to a small town where it would be easy to identify and isolate the research group I would be working with. At the same time, it would be difficult to get in contact with past participants. A work colleague of mine, Julio, has been doing research for his masters and has ran into many limitations. He has only been able to contact half of the past participants, hence his survey results only paint a partial picture of where past Mulheres Mil participants are. See blog:
- Professora de inglês de dia, pesquisadora a noite
Support Community Leadership
- Professora de inglês de dia, pesquisadora a noite
Support Community Leadership
What has been your experience been thus far in empowering community leadership?
Have you found that you need to work on this skill set or that you already have
well developed skills with respect to supporting local leadership?
In terms of my experience empowering community leadership, I don't think I have had much experience at all. The setting of our program was very limiting. The women leave their neighborhoods to come take classes at the IF, which is some distance away. Hence, we were never in a community setting where we would get the opportunity to work on developing this skill, in respect to supporting local leadership.
Facilitate Groups and Workshops
In your experience thus far how would you evaluate your group facilitation
skills in an overseas setting? How you been able to carry out a workshop? If
so, did you find that you already had the skills necessary to hold a workshop
or it is an area you need improvement in?
I've always been a social person and I have had many presentations to do throughout my university career. However I would say that my group facilitation skills have definitely been strengthened by this overseas experience. At first I was concerned that I won’t be
able to fully facilitate because of my lack of Portuguese language skills. But despite my imperfect Portuguese, the women we worked with were patient and at times taught me
some new Portuguese vocabulary. We had
prepared a syllabus and each class had a laid out plan with time limits set for
each activity. Repetition can be a bore, especially when it comes to learning a
language. Hence, the women knew what we expected from them and how we would be marking them. In fact, Denise, the Quebec intern, had conducted a survey and we'd learned that the women especially enjoyed our class.
Community Economic Development and Empowerment
If you have had the opportunity to engage in empowering community
economic development, what has been your experience?
By simply working for Mulheres Mil, I feel that I was engaged in
empowering community economic development. Many of the women come from
surrounding communities, Brasilia being the main neighbourhood. Mulheres Mil
provides training for the women who haven’t had substantial or even
any experience working in the formal sector and a steady source of income. With the Mulheres Mil
certification on their resume, the women have a increased chance of getting a
position in the hotel and tourism industry, resulting in a fixed formal income.
The ultimate goal of Mulheres Mil is give disadvantaged women the skill sets to gain employment, gaining an income, and ultimately encourage economic development. The principles of Mulheres Mil are perfectly in line with President Dilma's "Brasil sem Miseria" program to eradicate poverty in Brazil.
Participatory and Gendered Community Development
What has been your experience with consensus based
approaches to community development? Have you found that the pre-departure
training you received was an adequate introduction to participatory approach
and gender inclusive planning, if yes, how?
I haven't had any experience during this internship with consensus based approaches to community development. Truthfully, I don’t think the pre-departure training was adequate
enough for participatory and gendered approach. However, I did miss the first
week of training. (My convocation took place during that first week and I had
family fly in from abroad) As a introduction however, there could have been
more examples to work off of. Implementation of participatory and gender approaches
to development is something I needed to look into myself.
Project Management Using RMB and Outcome Mapping
Thus far, what has been your experience engaging with
RBM and OutCome Mapping? How would you rate your competency in using RBM and
OutCome Mapping?
My experience engaging with RBM and Outcome Mapping was alright. For the needs assessment, I was only required to complete stage 1: Intentional Design. I would have liked to have been able to work on the other 2 stages: Outcome & Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Planning. However such stages require long term commitment to monitor the program and my placement was only for 6 months, unfortunately. Truthfully, I would rate my competency using RBM and OM at a low. This experience was only an introduction and I hope to gain more opportunities where I can implement these monitoring and evaluating guidelines.
Networking and Advocacy for Community Development
Reflecting on your experience thus far as a field
worker in international development how have you found networking in cross
cultural environments? How has it been similar or different to the way you
would approach networking in your home country? How have you found building
advocacy for development work in your host country?
My time in Rio was mainly spent networking. See these blogs:
I have found networking in a cross
cultural environment to be quite interesting. Every time that I have met people
working in the development field, they are always interested to know what
exactly I’m doing in Brazil. I’ve had many conversations with people who do
similar work. I had one conversation with a man in Fortaleza
who works for an NGO that provides training for former drug addicts to get jobs
in the computer industry. It is very similar to the way Mulheres Mil works as
an access program for women to work in the hotel and tourism industry.
Poverty is a visible issue in Brazil and many Brazilians are not happy to see it. They always seem surprised that I have come all the way from Canada to do such work. Some have even expressed interest in helping out somehow but they don't know where to go. I often just tell them even volunteering a few hours a week at a local NGO can go a long way. I've directed a few people to try volunteering a few hours at EMAUS. From my personal experience during the IF strike, I found it hard to locate and contact local NGOs. Many have been inactive and unreachable for a few years. Content on their website had not been updated for months, and some even years. Hence, the reason I fell back on volunteering for EMAUS.
Also see response to Global Competency question related to:
