AUSTRALIA:

Report: We received the Network Exchange. Wow. What a gift.

Invitations were sent out for the ICA and ToP meeting in Melbourne in January.

The earth kept on course around the sun and the horizon bowed and the birds did sing. It's sprintime downunder.

Ray Richmond

CANADA:

1.The YFL project north of Toronto has recruited a new partner youth organization and plans are under way to hold a community forum to invite local residents to participate on the steering committee that will oversee this community project.

2.This week, a weekly video based discussion group held the second of 4 sessions. Each session has been well attended and plans are now in development for a 2007 series. The title of the series is OUR PLACE IN THE COSMOS.

3.We are now just a week away from the Toronto Marathon event organized by the Listen to the Drumming team to raise funds for 6 African ICAs.

Fred Simons

ICA ASSOCIATES INC. (Canada)

Report: Last week I was training school principals and leaders for the Regina, Saskatchewan School district in our Meetings that Work course.  The participants took a simple conversation on facilitative leadership and explored the topic in depth, talking about the real life experience of holding the tension between leading and facilitating in a school, and creating a brainstorm of values for a participatory culture.  I can see that 3 years of work to create a participatory culture with this group is taking solid root.

Jo Nelson

MENA Middle East and North Africa (Egypt):

Report: Highlight of the week was a visit to the ICA MENA branch office in Fayoum and a site visit to one of our local partner village Community  Development Associations, CDA. More than 100  community leaders and volunteers were busy and engaged in a diverse range of activities. The CDA is one of ten village communities where a two year program for sustainable development is implemented. Communities are engaged in finalizing PRAs and Strategic plans. Main components of the project are Institutional strengthening,  Gender, Environment and Economic capacity.

Follow up on the local alliance for the Millenium Goals with UNDP.

Follow up with IIE and local partners in preperation for a Women in technology project.

Invitation for ICA MENA to join a consortium for a waste management program in three regions in Egypt.

Skype conversation with ICA Japan on the progress of the 2008 conference preparations and brochure.

Internal meetings for program development and monitoring Support Cairo Branch in reviewing budgets and work plan.

Hosted EF selection committee to interview candidates for Urbanization scholarships in 2007.

Hala Elkholy

INDIA:

Report: ICA participated in and facilitated Ford Forest Caucus workshop In Talegaon ICA Environmental Education Centre, near Pune, India, with 15 delegates from India, Russia, Australia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana, Prague and other countries. Lambert, Shankar, John have done a Strategic Plan and Action plan with the Caucus.

Aziz

NEPAL:

Location: Sub continent ICA Pune India

Report: Although it was the greatest festival called Dashain for Hindus, we continue to exchange ideas, experiences, skill and knowledge among ICAs of Nepal, Pune, Bangladesh and Australia. It is organised every year but in different places with the aim to consolidate the relationship among ICAs in the region and accelerate the number of trained manpower especially in the area of training and facilitation. Mr. Prakash Timsina and Raju Dahal attended the training and meeting and actively shared the knowledge and experiences on the ocassion. ICA Dhaka has been established in the active coordination of ICA Nepal and now ICA Dhaka is able to develop proposals and organise training and facilitation programmes in order to make its organisation financially sustainable.

Hemant Pokhrel

PERU:

Report: Julio Aguirre joined our team this week, and Gloria Urbano also stepped up to the challenge of recruiting 10 mining companies for the first 6 week AVANZA PERU formation program, which is really a test run for the 100 Valleys project.  A first draft of the curriculum was presented by Gloria Santos and Jesusa Aburto, and Pedro Aburto commited to come back full time to be part of the staff.  The team is purring like a top now.

Ken Hamje

SPAIN:

Report: Promotional activities and courses for senior citizen volunteers. Courses on self esteem for teachers

Franco Voli

EHIO Tajikistan:

Report: Warm greetings from Khujand, Tajikistan. We would like to share with you our news of the last week. ICA EHIO with Mercy Corps Khujand participated in partnership medical surveys on revealing breast-feeding mothers with children under 2 years in rural communities of Sugd region as potential beneficiaries for MC new Project.

Also series of trainings was conducted for local NGO in Khujand upon their order on subjects, Advocacy, Community Mobilization, Bases of Management and others.

Besides, we continued work on a project, approved by the Canadian Embassy in Kazakhstan within the framework of Local Initiatives Program, on education of local governments in rural area on Technology of Participation. ICA EHIO is facilitating focus groups of agricultural farms with the aim of their education and development in the framework of Facilitating Agricultural Reform and Marketing in Sugd Project financed by CECI Canadian Center for International Studies and Cooperation.  We love our job!

If you need more details feel free to contact us ica_ehio@yahoo.ca

Marina Safarova

UNITED KINGDOM:

Report: Martin, Ghee and Julie delivered a GFM in Belfast this week. With Julie based there we hope to see more courses going on in Northern Ireland, either delivered by us or through a licensee.

Jonathan was discussing a visioning day with a local school and finding out more about potential funding for the African HIVAIDS initiative.

Jonathan Dudding

UNITED STATES:

Report: Reviewed with Pam Bergdall her trip to ICA Zambia to help make sense and create new directions for a Misereor Audit.

Submitted a new 2007 request to AJWS for Africa HIVAIDS work and prepared 2006 report.

Celebrated Elise and George Packard leaving the ICA staff to become ICA consultants.

Kemper Building locates another 100,000 dollars from the City to do improvements.

Prepare for weekend Board meeting to do organizational assessment towards restructuring ICA.

Richard Alton (Chicago)

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Report: The locally prestigious Denver Foundation announced the award of a US5,000 grant for ICA today. It will support our new office, Sunny Walker's salary, our Neighborhood Academy leadership training program and future program development. Volunteers Catherine Welch, Ruth Reames, Carl Larsen, Eric Smith, Shirley Snelling and others take this as a strong affirmation of the persistent networking and new partnerships that allow us to work with immigrant and refugee communities.

Our friend, Abdul Salem with HELPO Foundation in Pune, India is visiting us this week.

David Dunn (Denver)

ICAI SECRETARIAT:

Report: Yom Kippur on Monday.

Continued work on Business Plan Narrative.

Developed one page Save the Date draft document for 2008 Conference.

Discussions with Wayne Ellsworth re revising conference title.

Concluded negotiations and signed lease on behalf of ICAI for Montreal apartment.

Fundraising planning with John Patterson and Nelson Stover.

Miscellaneous clerical, including updating ICAI mail and email database and sending donor acknowledgement letters.

Sarah Miller