Global Buzz 2020 12 01

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Global Buzz Report: December 2020

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NEPAL:

1. Opening ceremony of office of Residential and Environment-Tourism
Development Committee for Dwarfs

Prof. Dr. Tatwa Pd. Timsina, along with Mr. Sharada Singh Bhandari, attended the opening ceremony of the Residential and Environment-Tourism Development Committee office of Dwarfs. ICA Nepal is looking forward to building a residential block and a training center for the little people of Nepal. They are generalized to be a symbol of entertainment worldwide. As a result, they have comparatively lower economic and educational opportunities. ICA Nepal envisions to change that perception and believes that people with short stature are as competitive as any tall person.

2. Community Development Update from Sindhupalchowk project

2.1 Closing ceremony of sewing and cutting training

ICA Nepal project team bid adieu to the participants of advance sewing and cutting training of 60 days by felicitating them with certificates. Ms. Miyuki Tsjuii handed-over the certificates. Ms. Ishu Subba encouraged the participants to continue practicing so that they can become a government-certified professional tailor. All the participants have adopted farming as a family occupation. Now they also want to pursue a tailoring business and earn extra income for their family. They can sew traditional and modern clothes for women and babies, and school uniforms now. Mr. Aatma Ram Timsina, on behalf of ICA Nepal, has committed to support them in every possible way even after the completion of the training. The project is funded by the Embassy of Japan and is supported by ICA Japan.

Ms. Miyuki Tsujii, Country Director of ICA Japan distributed school uniforms to the community children in the closing ceremony of the sewing and cutting training, which was sewn by our participants. Children were delighted to receive a uniform and expressed their gratitude to the trainees. Teachers acknowledged the project team and stated that they are also looking forward to other supports such as libraries. “Without the effort of our trainer and the project team, we could not have been able to brighten up the smiles of these children," said a trainee by thanking ICA Nepal.

Twenty-one youth participants aged between 18 and 45 are receiving the 60-days plumbing training. This training expects to raise the earning of plumbing participants and their families. The demand for plumbers has been rising because of the expansion of cities and construction activities. These trainees will get certification from the government body (Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training CTEVT). Once certified, they may work independently and can also become a trainer. They have already learned to connect water taps with the water resource and geyser. Participants also have recreational sessions in between training every day, which makes the training fun, and participants say they have felt strong bonding with each other and the ICA family. Few ladies have also actively participated in the training in plumbing, which usually is refrained by many citing it as a man’s occupation. We can say that gender perception towards many professions are shifting gradually.

Besides these projects, the construction of the irrigation tank is completed, and the villagers will soon reap the benefit of uninterrupted water supply in their farms.

ICA Nepal, with the funding from Seikyo COOP, continued to raise awareness on Menstrual Hygiene Management throughout the month of November. The beneficiaries of the

awareness campaigns are schoolgirls, teachers, their parents, and community women. By the end of these sessions, participants realized the importance of maintaining reproductive health and hygiene. Students and community women promised to care for their feminine hygiene during their periods. Parents and teachers ensured to facilitate them. Besides, participants also shared how devastated they felt when they could not participate in festivals which they were fond of and could not cook food for themselves even after being ravenous. Community-women and parents promised that they would not cling to these old and irrational beliefs from now on.

Ms. Enusha Khadka from IIQA, which is a sister-organization of ICA Nepal handed-over books to support inmates of Kapilbastu prison, with the initiation of ICA Nepal. Prison office authority coordinated the process on behalf of the prison and received books. He expressed his gratitude to ICA Nepal and stated that books are very crucial for prisoners who want to immerse themselves in the learning process and start a new life. UN agencies state that book beyond bars serves to rehabilitate and reintegrate inmates into society once released. Books are vital in shaping a person, and thus ICA Nepal strongly believes prisoners should in no way be excluded.

IIQA, sister organization of ICA Nepal organized a three-day Internal Auditing Training for fifteen participants of cooperative. Mr. Tatwa Pd. Timsina and other International trainers, who are experts in the field provided the training. Training module was designed specifically for cooperatives. Participants were enthusiastic as well as interactive. The trainees felt glad to learn about international standards relevant for cooperatives.

Nepal Coronavirus Update
The government stopped free testing of coronavirus, except for symptomatic patients. Health facilities are in fragile condition at the moment. Thus, many poor people with ill health conditions have been left stranded and are vulnerable to the pandemic even more. We can assume that Nepal might suffer a deadly disaster in the coming months if health facilities do not become accessible for all.

NIGERIA:

NOVEMBER 2020 REPORT OF ACTIVITIES

Below are the major activities that EPDI was involved in during the month of November:

AFRICA ToP NETWORK

The network’s monthly meeting held on November 18, 2020 with five persons from different countries in attendance.
Some of the issues discussed include:

-           The purpose of the Network: includes sharing what we do and learning from one another; strengthen ICA and ToP in Africa through sharing reports, having such forums and remaining connected/together; bring back some people into the network; develop, promote and improve the quality of ToP methods in Africa; support each other in our work, among others.

-           How to get more people into the Network: Involve anyone who’s interested in ToP, Promote ToP methods through other networks, Develop sessions in English, French and other languages – and promote the sessions as multi-lingual to encourage others; Finding other ToP practitioners around the continent and drawing them in to the network, Contact those who’ve been in previous ToP sessions and invite them

-           Other issues discussed include resource mobilization, Online Facilitation and doing a survey to review experiences of participants in the first round of Exploring Facilitation sessions.
-           Meetings hold on every third Wednesday of each month. Next meeting is scheduled for January 20, 2021

ACTION PLANNING WORKSHOP FOR ASSOCIATION OF SUSTAINABLE SEED PRODUCERS OF OYO, NIGERIA (ASSPON) ORGANISED BY IITA BASICS-II PROJECT

The meeting/workshop between IITA BASICS-II Project and Association of Sustainable Seed Producers of Oyo, Nigeria (ASSPON), with the theme: Sustaining Commercial Seed Enterprises in Oyo State, held at Agriserve Training room, IITA Ibadan on Tuesday November 23, 2020.

The objectives of the program were:
*          To conduct an appraisal of the association with a view to identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the association.
*          To co-create an action plan using the Technology of Participation for cassava seed production in 2021.
*          Sensitize members of the association on the new names for cassava varieties.
*          Link the association to other key actors including IITA GoSeed and the National Agricultural Seed Council.

Using the Action Planning Process, one of the Technology of Participation (ToP) methods, Hannah guided the
group to develop a one-year action plan for a strong, vibrant and sustained Association.

Five taskforces were set up at the end to implement the activities to enable them achieve the following:
-           Ensuring law-abiding members
-           Maximum Productivity
-           Awareness of ASSPON by everyone in Oyo state
-           Unity in the Association
-           Financial Stability for the Association

The program had participants from Oyo (5), Ibadan (8) as well as staff of JDPC Ibadan, and JDPM Oyo, and
staff of IITA, Ibadan.

The workshop left the participants with a change of mindset as members willingly and thoughtfully identified many positive actions they would take to better coordinate themselves towards having a more successful association. The participants also expressed belief that the one-year plan will contribute to making cassava seed business a more profitable venture.

The facilitator ended her session with a Tao – The Ripple Effect, encouraging them to work together to achieve their goal; while the closing remarks were given by Godwin Atser, Outreach, Advocacy and Promotion Lead and Prof. Lateef Sanni, Project Manager, BASICS -II Project.

UNITED STATES:

Fifty global participants produced three documents - The Planetary Context, The Research Agenda and The Operation Design - found at the bottom of the page of https://icaglobalarchives.org/social-research-center-events/november-2020-psu/ ). One practical suggestion from the PSU is to launch a 2021 global calendar of events to encourage the sharing of facilitation and training events, study, conversations and reflections globally.

ICA colleagues in Denver, Colorado have had a vision of facilitating Climate Action Forums in all of Denver’s neighborhoods. Nine forums have been held to date. With the challenges of the COVID virus, the Forum is now offered online. Fifty people from Boulder, Colorado participated in the first online forum. With speakers throughout, participants spent five hours focusing on their vision for climate action in the morning and action planning in the afternoon. The enthusiasm occasioned by the action planning was the highlight of the day. The City of Boulder has committed to funding three Boulder neighborhoods to do Climate Action Forums in early 2021. To see a recording of the event, go to City of Boulder, CO website: https://bouldercolorado.gov/climate/anca.

Training, Inc. is a national job placement program, launched in 1975, providing training and jobs to more than 35,000 graduates in Boston, Chicago, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Newark, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. Over the years the program has had high graduation, job placement, and job retention rates (see https://icaglobalarchives.org/collections/imaginal-education/demonstrations1/applications/job-training/ for documentation). Twenty-five people who have staffed the program over the years celebrated the past work of Training, Inc. and continued online training in Newark, New Jersey and Boston, Massachusetts.

OF INTEREST:

Thought you might enjoy the paperback of my latest book which is now available. It includes five ICA talks: 1994, Lonavala; 1995, Seattle; 2010, Chicago; 2012, Kathmandu; and 2019, Chicago. There are also UN, Building Creative Communities Conference, and other talks. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578780038

THE CRITICAL DECADE: Calls for Ecological, Compassionate Leadership: Work, Robertson: 9780578780030: Amazon.com: Books

THE CRITICAL DECADE: Calls for Ecological, Compassionate Leadership [Work, Robertson] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. THE CRITICAL DECADE: Calls for Ecological, Compassionate Leadership