AfricanCommunities.org

Email training and report writing

Here is the presentation about email and report writing given by Donatian Marusu at the 27 January 2007 network meeting.

 

 Key Points of Presentation

* Internet use is key to future of every group. Grantmakers abroad more and more want to communicate by email. Some want you to apply for grants by email.

* If network uses Internet, we can share information better.

* Network has two problems in use of Internet.

* One is that members know how to use Internet but are not currently doing it regularly. We plan to solve this in 2007 by encouraging you to spend 1,000 shillings every week to check email.

* The other problem is that some groups do not know how to use email. We plan to solve this in 2007 by giving training to all groups that are not using email now.

* Many groups are worried that you can use the Internet only if you speak English. This is not true. There are plenty of materials available in Kiswahili.

 

Some Ways That Email Can Help You

* Ask for advice or help from to other groups

* Arrange meetings with other groups

* Make appointments to see officers or coordinator

* Make complaints or ask questions to Tim in London

* Contact donors abroad and ask how to apply for funding

 

Interesting Things You Can Find On the Network Web Site

Every week, we add new material to the web site that we hope will be interesting and helpful for you. Here are some things that you can find on the web site today:

* The 2007 plans of three groups in the network

* A news story about plants being grown near Arusha to make antimalarial medicine

* The minutes of the 30 December meeting

* A photocopy of the network’s registration certificate (which people wanted to see last month)

* The full text of the network constitution

* The full text of the training given to officers last month

* Information about the Swahili clock

* News about the police investigation of Proyolipa.

 

We encourage you to check the web site each time you visit an Internet café. We have some material there in Kiswahili, and if more people contribute material in Kiswahili then there will be more to read for people who do not speak English.

 

 

Email Use Funding Program

* Once you know how to use email, you can go to an Internet café each week and claim up to TZS1,000 for each visit at the end of the month when you come to the network meeting. To claim your money you must contribute a message to our Google Group each time you go to the Internet café. The address of the group is MVCDarCBO@googlegroups.com. Note that you must be subscribed to the list to do this. If you receive a reply in English saying that you are not a subscriber, then send an email to Tim and he will put you on the list.

* Your message can give some news about what is happening in your group.

* Your message can ask a question to some other members of the network.

* Your message can be a reply to someone else’s message.

* Your message can be joky, but the important thing is that it should contain something that will be valuable to other members of the network.

* To claim your funding, please send an email the week before the network meeting to Donatian to say how many times you checked your email.

 

Email Training Program

Donatian will offer email training, and priority will be given to groups who are not using email now. The training plan will be:

* Come to meet Donatian at Internet café at agreed date and time

* Donatian will work with Tim to arrange Google mail address for you before you attend

* When you arrive at first training, Donatian will give you Swahili translation of common English words used in Google mail

* Donatian will also give you checklist of 12 skills needed to master email

* At the end of the session, you will record which skills you have made progress on

* You will meet again each week three more times, for a total of four visits

* At the end of the fourth week, you will aim to use email yourself independently

* You will be paid your travel expenses for attending training.

* Donatian will be paid a fee of TZS2,500 per hour for training you, and he will receive an achievement fee of TZS5,000 for each group that succeeds in becoming a regular email user, shown by contributing a message to the Google Groups list for six weeks after the end of the teaching.

* Others can contact Tim to ask to work as trainers also. They must be regular users of Gmail to qualify.

 

Report Writing Program

Some members of the network have produced excellent reports describing what they did in 2006, and their plans for 2007. Other network members do not have the capacity to do this and so they have to pay outside consultants at high prices to do the work for them. We are launching a program in which members of the network will help each other to write reports during the month of February. Here are the key features of the program:

* Groups who would like to publish a report on 2006 and a plan for 2007 will be able to claim the cost for one of their leaders to travel on public transport to a helper who works with them to prepare their report.

* Helpers will be paid a flat fee of TZS5,000 after the report has been completed and approved.

* Reports can be in Kiswahili, or in both English and Kiswahili. English alone is not recommended because many network members cannot understand English fully.

* If you want to take part in this program, then talk to one of the helpers during lunch or after the network meeting. Arrange a time and date to meet. Agree what materials and information you must bring with you so the report can be written.

* You should expect it to take about two hours to prepare a report.

* When you and your helper have prepared the report, the helper will email it to tim@africancommunities.org, and will also print a copy so that you can show it to other people in your group. Your group members will want to check if it is correct and maybe submit changes.

* Once the report has been submitted to Tim, the officers will be authorized to pay the helper a fee of TZS5,000 and the group’s travel expenses.

* Qualified helpers who can take part in this program now are Hatibu Kunga, Eileen Mavura, Theudas Msangi, Shabani Madega, Darius Mhawi, Theobald Mtema, Pascal Maziku, and Donatian Marusu. (All these people have sent reports that have been read by Tim Jackson.)

* If you are a member of the network who knows how to write reports and you would like to take part, then please send an acceptable report on your group by email on Monday to tim@africancommunities.org. Tim will reply to confirm if you can be paid for teaching others. You can make arrangements today to meet people after Thursday, but you can only be paid for training if you have received confirmation from Tim.

* Remember that reports should be submitted by the end of February.

 

 

Google Translation Program

One of the difficulties of using email is that most email programs are not available in Swahili. Google, however, is encouraging Internet users around the world to help produce a Swahili version of Google Mail. The work is broken down into one sentence at a time, so thousands of people can do just five minutes’ work at a time, and the job will be done.

 

We are keen to encourage this to happen, and so we are willing to pay network members a modest fee for their time if they can help with this translation work. To qualify, you must already be a proficient user of Google Mail or Gmail. Please give your name to Donatian and also send an email to tim@africancommunities.org if you want to take part.

 

 

Shared Project Microgrant Program

Because two of the 30 groups are not getting a grant in 2007, we have $2,000 from the budget to spend in other ways. We are in discussions with a training company to provide some special training to network members, and this would cost around $1,500. This leaves a budget of $500 which we would like to use for a special new kind of grant.

 

The purpose of our network is to encourage the many groups that are helping orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV in Dar es Salaam to work more closely together. So the new grant will be a ‘shared project grant’ – a grant specifically to make it possible for several groups to do something together that they cannot do separately.

 

One example of a shared project might be if one group has a particular expertise in something, it could help two or three other groups start to copy it. For instance, if a group has a good way of creating income-generating activities that will make money to help pay for the support of orphans and vulnerable children, it could help other groups to launch these activities.

 

Or a group with knowledge of, for example helping children to get birth certificates or death certificates for parents, or helping them get pension money from the government, or helping people getting access to ARVs, could offer to help two or three other groups in the network to do this.

 

Or a group that knows how to do outreach in the community, to sensitize people about issues of HIV/AIDS or children’s rights by music or dance or paintings could use its expertise to work with some other groups in the network.

 

If you think your group could come up with a good idea for a shared project grant, then please talk to two or three other groups and ask them if they will work together with you. If you can agree, then the leader group can put together a one-page proposal for the grant. . The grant would cover the cost of the project from $100 to $500.

 

Ideas should be sent by email to Tim by Thursday 22 February. Earlier is better.

 

We hope that the proposals can be presented at the meeting on Saturday 24th February. Each team that makes a proposal can have 10 minutes to explain it and 5 minutes to answer questions from other group members. We will then ask members at the meeting to give a score for each presentation that they hear. These scores will be collected by Donatian and reported to London, and the Argentarius Foundation will make the final decision about which project receives the grant.

 

Because we do not know what ideas there are, the Foundation in London cannot promise that the grant will definitely be given. The $500 may be given as one grant or several smaller grants. This is a new idea, and we will have to see what happens.

 

If you have any questions, or you want to discuss an idea, please contact Tim in London by email.

To submit a proposal for a shared project:

Download shared_project_microgrant_proposal_form.doc

Shared Grant Project Proposal Form

 

Which group is the leader of this idea?

Please give name, email and phone of contact person who can answer questions on this grant

Name the other groups that will take part (minimum 2)

One officer from each of the groups should sign and write mobile number to confirm agreement to take part

What is the activity that will be done together?

How will this activity help orphans and vulnerable children?

 

When will the project start and end, and how much time will it take?

 

 

How will the work of implementing it be shared?

 

 

How will you monitor whether it has succeeded?

 

 

Please give a breakdown of what the project will cost (maximum $500)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Officer performance report: January 2007

Introduction

* Violet Yimbo has been asked to give this report because she is the member of the executive committee who received the highest number of votes in the election.

* Our questionnaire on last year’s program revealed that members did not rate the officers very highly for being helpful and organized.

* We hope to improve this rating significantly during 2007.

* One of the key ways to do that is to be very clear about what jobs each officer is supposed to do, and to keep records of how the officers perform in doing these jobs.

* In December, we agreed a list of officers’ responsibilities. This has been published on the network’s web site.

* Starting from January, we began to keep records on individual tasks carried out by the officers and how promptly they were done.

* Each time an officer has a task to do, we set a ‘deadline’ – a date by which it should be done, usually one week away if the job takes less than one hour. If it is not done, the officer gets a ‘chase’ – a reminder by phone or email or text message to do the job. If the officer does not do the job after one more week, the officer gets a second ‘chase’. If the officer does not do the job after two more weeks, then the job is recorded as ‘given up’.

* Each month from today onwards, there will be a report on how the officers are performing. The report will be read out at the network meeting.

* We shall also publish on the web site each month the full list of all officers’ jobs and when they were done. At the moment, this information is available only in English, but we are happy if any member wants to translate it into Kiswahili.

* This report should help members to understand where are the weaknesses in the network and how to fix them.

* We hope that this report will not be used to criticise any individual officer or cause a personal argument.

* However, the key point is that the officers of the network were elected by the members and their job is to run the network effectively, fairly, openly and economically.

* It is the job of members to make sure that the officers do this. Members should always feel free to ask questions about how the officers are working.

 

Summary of Work Done

* December and January are the hardest-working months for the officers and coordinator, because they have to collect and send to London information on how the money was spent in 2006, and also put in place new processes for 2007.

* We estimate that the total number of hours’ work needed to ‘close out’ 2006 was over 100 – mostly done by Donatian, who visited every group. We estimated that the hours’ work needed to set up new arrangements for 2007 was nearly 20, while the hours needed simply to do the regular maintenance of the network for January was only just over 11.

* These hours of work are shared between the officers. The time estimates are made by Tim, and they are updated and corrected when the officers finish a job and report if it took longer than expected.

 

Successes and failures

* The greatest achievement was the site visiting. This was done very thoroughly by Donatian, and he collected a lot of information and had it ready to send to London early in January.

* The greatest weakness was that we were not able to pay grants to groups early in January so that children could start school. We could have had grants ready for payment by 12 January, but we were more than two weeks late because both Tim and officers were not effectively organized.

 

Lessons from the New System

* We have already learned some lessons from the new system:

* Officers are making promises to do tasks by certain dates, but then not doing them. Furaha had 20 tasks taking 5.45 hours, but completed none on time. Pascal had 11 tasks taking 3.05 hours, but completed only one on time. Yovita had 20 tasks taking 6.35 hours, but completed only four on time. Donatian had the biggest task – site visits. So of his 13 tasks taking 87 hours, he completed 3 on time but did 82 hours of work on time.

* Tim is spending a lot of time reminding officers to do things that they already promised to do. For instance, during January he gave 9 reminders to Donatian, 22 to Pascal, 25 to Yovita and 25 to Furaha. A good target would be 2 or 3 reminders for each person.

* Overall, many jobs are not getting done. Out of a total of 61 tasks to be done by officers, 5 are still in progress, 8 were done on time, 14 were done late, 13 are overdue and 21 have been marked as given up because they are still not done after two or three reminders.

* We can see that these things can be harmful for the network. For instance, Furaha agreed to produce a list of ideas for training for three meetings ahead, to contact people in the network who could give training, and to make sure those people come up with good training materials. At this meeting today, we have only one training arranged – Winston Emanuel on volunteers – and no plans in place for February, March or April.

 

Recommended Actions for Officers

* Officers should be sure that when they make a commitment they should stick to it.

* In normal life in Dar es Salaam, there are often uncertainties – for example electricity outages, rain on the roads, health problems of family members and other emergencies. To get their jobs done on time, officers need to plan ahead much more effectively, so that they will be on time even if one of the many possible emergencies happens.

* The new system is designed to make it clear who is responsible for doing a job. If an officer does not understand clearly what his or her responsbility is, he should communicate with other officers and with Tim.

* If an officer is particularly busy, then it is still his or her responsibility to get jobs done. If the officer asks someoone else to do them, then the officer has to make sure that the substitute does the job.

* Good planning is very important. For instance, the officers have been trying during January to change the bank account so that cheques can be signed by Furaha instead of Beatrice Samuel. If this project had been well planned, then it could have been done with one visit to the bank – but in fact, many visits were made, so the officers spent a lot of time on it.

* Donatian is becoming very expert on the groups, on email, on spreadsheets and on many other skills that are important for the network. Officers should make use of him by calling to ask Donatian for help and advice.

 

Overall Conclusions

* We need to accept that some of the difficulties are cultural: in Tanzania, people expect everything to take lots of time, and expect other people to be unreliable. However, our network’s job is to care for vulnerable children. This is a great task, and it is up to us to try to make the best use of the money and the talents that we have.

* If the officers can learn to run the network effectively, this will be a great achievement in building capacity in Dar es Salaam. It is much better for decisions to be taken locally than in London. For instance, it would be easy to hire an outside company to carry out all our training, but then we would not be building any training capacity inside our own network.

* We should all recognize that the success of a network like ours depends on hundreds of very small jobs. Even though each job may not seem significant, they are in fact very important when they are put together.

* We should remember that in building this network, we are doing something new that nobody has done before. Most grantmakers do not give grants to small organizations. Most small organizations have no chance to get training and do exchanges.

* It may be tempting to think that we need to have officers who are full time and paid. But the list of tasks and the estimated time they require shows that if our officers can work effectively, it is easily possible for the jobs to be done by part time officers who have other jobs.

* Finally, we should thank the officers and Donatian. This has been the busiest month of the year for them, and like everyone else the officers have other commitments and family and friends that they are responsible for.

 

Download officer_performance_report_january_2007.doc

 

 

 

 

 

Grantee questionnaire 2006 results

2006 Grantee Questionnaire Report

Presented by Yovita Makoko at Network Meeting on 27 January 2007

Download grantee_questionnaire_2006_summary_current_version.xls

During the site visits carried out in December 2006 by Donatian Marusu, groups were given a list of 10 questions about the network’s activities. We have not yet received all the questionnaires back, but this is a report compiled from the 24 responses that are already in.

 

The detailed results are in a table which has been published on the network web site. Generally speaking, members were positive about the network. If you score 1 for strongly disagree and 5 for strongly agree, the average adjusted score on the questions was 4.08.

 

Here is a summary of the key conclusions:

 

Good news

* The statement that groups agreed with most strongly was that the exchange visits were useful. (Zoezi la kutembeleana katika vikundi lilikuwa lenye manufaa).

* Next strongest feeling was that the network helped you to increase your groups’ capacity. (Uanachama wetu katika Mtandao umesaidia kuongeza uwezo wa kikundi chetu mwaka huu)

* Interestingly, it seems that you made more changes in your groups because of what you learned at the meetings than from what you learned on exchange visits.

 

Areas for Improvement

* Members were not very enthusiastic about the grant forms and CCAT questionnaires. The statement that they were easy to understand and quick to fill out (Fomu za Ruzuku na za CCAT zilikuwa rahisi kueleweka na rahisi kujaza) was only the sixth most popular statement out of ten.

o Action point: The Foundation in London would like your advice and help on how to make the forms easier to understand and fill in. Please send an email to Tim, or talk to Donatian and ask him to report your views to London.

* Members were less enthusiastic about the planning behind the monthly meetings. The statement that meetings were well organized and well planned (Mikutano ya kila mwezi ilikuwa yenye manufaa na iliyopangwa vizuri) was number seven in popularity.

o Action point: The responsibilities of officers have now been defined more clearly, and a document listing who is responsible for what has been published on the web site in a message called ‘Current forms for you to download’ and under the category ‘Useful forms for members’. Furaha is now responsible for making sure that the training itself is well organized and carried out.

* Members were least enthusiastic of all about how helpful the officers were. The statement that network officers were helpful to them and well organized (Viongozi wa Mtandao walikuwa wenye msaada kwetu na wenye utaratibu mzuri) received the lowest score of any in the questionnaire except for two statements about corruption, where it would be bad news if too many people agreed.

o Action point: We have started a new system in January in which the officers and Tim keep track of what jobs need to be done, and we intend to report to you every month on how well each officer is doing. But members can help with this too. If you feel that there is a better way to organize something that the officers are doing, please tell the officers and Donatian, and please also tell Tim in London. And we will do our best to improve.

 

Corruption and Dishonesty

Question 4 asked if you agreed that there was corruption or dishonesty among the officers/coordinator (Kulikuwa na rushwa au udanganyifu miongoni mwa viongozi/mratibu). Six groups were ‘not sure’ about this, and two groups agreed with this statement. Question 6 asked if you agreed that other members of the network were corrupt or dishonest (Wanachama wengine wa mtandao walikuwa wala rushwa na wadanganyifu). Nine groups were not sure about this, and one group strongly agreed with this. These results were disappointing.

 

We take the transparency of the network very seriously, and we think that transparency is the best way to remove any suspicion of corruption. Here are the steps we have taken to increase transparency:

 

At the group level

* We are contacting privately the groups that expressed concerns so that they can discuss them confidentially.

* To evaluate more closely the groups’ activities, Donatian Marusu asked more detailed questions during the site visits in December 2006 than the year before, and we redesigned the process to make it more informative.

* If you believe that another group in the network has misused grant money, we encourage you to talk confidentially to an officer or to contact Tim directly. However, we also feel it is important to increase trust between groups, and it is healthy to ask questions directly to other groups when you make an exchange visit.

* As you know, one group, Proyolipa, seems to have been fraudulent. We have asked Commissioner Manumba of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Dar es Salaam police to investigate. We encourage all network members to help us recover the money so it can be spent on the vulnerable children we are trying to help. If we discover any other cases of fraud, we will pursue them strongly.

 

At the network level

* We are contacting privately the groups that expressed concerns about the officers so that they can discuss them confidentially.

* Last year we published the network’s budget on our web site. This year, to show that network officers are making good use of the network’s funds, we have already started to publish on the web site the personal expenses that the officers and the coordinator claim. We encourage all groups to look at the expense claims (unfortunately they are only in English) and to ask questions if there is anything you do not understand. You are also welcome to contact Tim directly in London by email if you wish. Any member is also welcome to inspect the handwritten account books of the network at any meeting, and Yovita will bring the books each month.

How to get volunteers from other countries to help your group

Richard Mwendilemo prepared a presentation for the January network meeting about work camps -- a program in which volunteers from other countries come to Tanzania and help groups like Good Samaritan.

Here is the text of his presentation:

Address: P.O.Box 79048  Dar es Salaam Tabata Opposite  Madonna Hospital Tel: 0713 454376, 0756 461475. E-mail: gsamaritan2000@yahoo.com

BACKGROUND OF THE WORK CAMP MOVEMENTS:

Work camps started in the 1920s in

France

. The work camp movement started out of the need to reconcile and reconstruction of

Europe

after the world wars. Later camps spread in

USA

and

India

in 1930s before finally spreading to

Africa

in 1950s.

 

Although in

Europe

, work camps stated as a result of wars, as part of voluntary form of activity, work camps have since been formed out of other natural and artificial situations like earthquakes, floods, famine, environment abuse etc.

 

To day more and more work camps are organized to address several human problems like;

• Sharing exchanges and learns cultural differences.

• Advocate and lobby for social justice i.e. human rights, gender, child rights, peace, etc.

• Infrastructure development i.e. construction of social amenities,

• Agricultural development.

 

NB:

It should be noted that voluntary service activities in

Africa

did not come with the invention of work camps.

 

African culture has had its own voluntary form of activity where people worked and still work together to better their lives in, e.g. building a house, gardening, road digging or even at times of hardships like hunger, deaths, sickness, etc.

 

WHAT IS A WORK CAMP?

A work camp is a group of 8-20 international and local volunteers from four or more countries who come together to assist a local community with a project. Volunteers are 18 or older and are prepared to live and work in a communal environment. They prepare meals, work, and relax together and with the local community. Volunteers usually work 30 hours per week. Living conditions are often simple and work can be strenuous but fun and rewarding. Work camps are a great way to make new friends, complete a meaningful project and increase international understanding.

 

A work camp has three partners, the host community, the volunteers and the organizers. Therefore a camp is in a form of a get together of people with a common interest to address a social problem.

What are the types of work camps?

 

• Local work camps: Are usually carried out within the vicinity of the project by volunteers from the locality.

• National work camps: Are composed of volunteers from different localities in a country.

• International work camps: Are composed of volunteers from different countries on different continents.

 

Why do volunteers go to work camps?

We can say that one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Therefore the reasons for each volunteer he/she can give why he/she goes for a work camp tend to vary. Different volunteers why they go for work camp, but quite a majority share the following reasons have given a number of interests.

• To travel and visit other areas in the world.

• To have a holiday.

• To meet other people.

• Intercultural exchange

• To do something useful and experiences.

• To exchange ideas and experiences.

• To learn something new.

• To learn which project they are working on.

• To learn more something which is special and different from his/her normal life.

 

What purpose is a work camp?

• Strive to fulfill certain ideas

• Working practically for peace

• Doing something socially useful,

• Raising awareness of what is happening in society.

 

Take note:

Voluntary work is not a life style through some people end up working for years on a voluntary basis. Voluntary works only and often gives the individual the chance to develop and use his/her capacities more fully.

 

 

The Development concept of a work camp:

What is “Development”?

 

Development can be explained as process or the action of;

• Growing

• Making bigger or larger

• Advancing

• Mature.

The development process is a gradual one and can either be;

• Physical (body)

• Physiological (mind)

• Material/economical

• Social (to mention a few)

 

What is a “ concept”?

 

Can be simply referred to as an idea or a principle, e.g.

“The concept of making laws is to make people leave in harmony”

 

What is “ Volunteering”?

Can be referred to as;

• To offer to do something without being forced (out of own/free will or choice)

• Give or offer something without being forced.

 

Community Participation:

The most work camps give people chances to come together and share their problems and collectively suggest or design remedies/solutions to their problems.

 

 

 

Do work camps contribute to development?

If yes, give examples in the following table on how work camps/ voluntary services have contributed to development in your area and suggest five more points how work camps/ voluntary services can still contribute to development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can use a separate sheet to give more information

 

NO DEVELOPMENT AREA GIVE DETAILS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

 

The answer is, work camps do and will continue to contribute towards socio-economical, cultural and other aspects of development.

 

Awards and prizes in 2007

To encourage members to contribute to the network during 2007, we are launching a set of awards.

The prize for each award will be the famous Swahili clock, which shows the time as spoken in Kiswahili (for instance, when it is 12 noon in English time and the hands are pointing upwards, the number at the top will be 6).

These clocks were made by the Kamusi Project, which publishes on the Internet a convenient dictionary to help you translate between Kiswahili and English.  According to Martin Benjamin, a professor at Yale University who is in charge of the project, this clock is unique because there has never before been a Swahili clock.

Four clocks have been ordered from America and will be shipped to Dorcas Robinson at CARE International so they can be given out as prizes.

If you are the winner of a clock, you should expect that people who visit your group will be very interested. It is impossible to get this clock from anywhere except the Kamusi Project.

The awards will be as follows:

Expense claims by officers

Because we believe it's important for the network and its operations to be fully transparent to members, we have a new policy for 2007 of publishing on our web site the detailed expense claims by officers.

This will allow members of the network to verify that the funds are being properly spent. If you are a network member and you have any concerns or comments on an individual expense claim, please contact either Tim or Donatian Marusu.

The expense claims below are in Microsoft Excel format. If the computer you are now using does not have Excel, you can open the files using a Google account and view them online. If you don't have a Google Mail account but you would like one, then please contact Tim.

Download 070125_donatian_marusu_expenses_for_internet_and_phone_calls.xls
Download 070125_donatian_marusu_stationery_expenses_for_2006.xls
Download 070125_donatian_marusu_expenses_for_refreshment_2006.xls
Download 070125_donatian_marusu_travel_expenses_1_2006.xls

Download 070220_donatian_marusu_expenses_feb_07.xls

Current forms for you to download

Download email_training_progress_sheet.xls
This form is used by email trainers to record progress in learning how to use email.

Download email_use_record_current_version.xls
This form is used by the coordinator to keep track of who is using email so their expenses can be paid.

Download meeting_attendance_sheet_for_member_folders_2007_version.doc
This is the front sheet in members' meeting folders. It includes the dates of all meetings for 2007 and allows you to record which member of your group will represent you.

Download officers_claim_forms_dar_network_current_version.xls
This form is used by officers to claim their expenses. Expense claims will be published to the network on this web site.

Download ccat_kiswahili_with_answer_sheet_sans_explanation_1_dec_06.doc
This is the Community Capacity Assessment Tool -- the multiple-choice questionnaire used on site visits to  evaluate the maturity of community groups that are members of the network.

Download annual_grant_report_form_kiswahili2_dec_06_version.doc
This is the form used by groups to record basic information about income and spending during 2006.

Download responsibilities_of_officers_africancommunities_network_current_version.xls
The list of what individual officers in the network are expected to do. Includes timetable to show by which days of the month specific jobs should be completed.

Download payment_procedures_for_dar_network_grants_current_version.doc
The network policies on what groups need to do in order to receive a grant.

Download phone_directory_of_dar_network_landscape_current_merge.doc
The complete list of phone numbers of all network members and their groups.

Pofideso's plans 2007

Poverty Fighters Development Society has published its plans for 2007. Pofideso works with orphans and vulnerable children in Kawe ward of Dar es Salaam.

In addition to carrying out a local needs assessment, which is common among our groups, Pofideso is also beginning its program by finding out what other organizations and groups are helping vulnerable children locally. This way they can avoid duplicating work that is already being done by others.

Once this assessment is complete, Pofideso will supply uniforms, exercise books and pencils to 50 kids, school learning materials and give educational support, and will also form local sports teams. It will then buy two footballs (TZS30,000) and four crates of soft drniks (TZS24,000) and use sports activities as a base for giving counselling and peer education to young people.

Its total budget for this work is $1,000.

The plan is clear and helpful. Download pofideso_project_budget2007.doc

Training materials from 2006

Furaha Dimitrios, the network chairman, has assembled a list of the training that was given during 2006.

Download training_content_list_for_dar_network_2006.xls

Here's the complete list in plainish text:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Date of   Meeting	Presenter's name	Organization Name	Presenter's mobile phone	Title of presentation	Presenter's email address
28/1/2006	YOVITA MAKOKO.	CHIYOWONET	0713-263971	Basic Bookkeeping
28/1/2006	Mr. Pascal Maziku.		0784-416993	Running an organization
25/2/2006	Mr. Ahugu Ramadhani		0755-870644	Group Savings
25/2/2006	Mary Msemwa	HAKI ELIMU		Citizens   engagement in education & Democracy:
25/2/2006	Mr. John Jingu.	UDSM-PSPA	0784-508007	Fund Raising	jingu13@yahoo.com
25/3/2006	Mr. Kelvin Mkulila	Legal Human Right center.		Childrens’ Rights
25/3/2006	Dr. Joseph Mambo	POFIDESO	0784-338588	Child Growth
25/3/2006	Mr. Azaria Mjengwa	CHIMABA SANAA	0755-467568	Child Psychology
30/4/2006	Dr. Nyirabu Kitano	Preventive   Health Care	0784-239900	Caring OVCs infected/affected   with HIV/AIDS
30/4/2006	Dr. Joseph mambo	POFIDESO	0784-338588	Child Health and Nutrition
30/4/2006	Mr. Furaha Dimitrios		0713 40 17 35	Proposal Writing	furahadc@yahoo.com
27/5/2006	Aisha Msofe	TAGET		Girls in Vulnerable Conditions
27/5/2006	Mr.Jumanne Ngayama	CHAKUPAU	0756-500749	Living with HIV/AIDS
27/5/2006	Mr. Murirya Nyaruka	Tanzania Crisis Center		Property Rights & Orphans
7/1/2006	Dr. Steven Kiberiti	CHIYOWONET		Life Skills to OVCs
29/7/2006	Mrs. Senkoro	Matumaini Group	0754-691984	Pre & Post VCT on HIV.
29/7/2006	Mr.Jackson Millengo	CHIYOWONET	0754-806223	Organisations Management
26/8/2006	Verdi Mshema			Impact of HIV/AIDS on Economic   Groups
26/8/2006	Dr. Nyirabu Kitano	Preventive Health Care	0784-239900	Sexually Transmitted Diseases
30/9/2006	Azaria Mjengwa	Chimaba   Sanaa Group	0755-467568	Involvement of Young People   inHIV/AIDS Programmes
30/9/2006	Dr. Kiberiti	CHIYOWONET		Economic Empowerment to OVCs   & Care takers
30/9/2006	Shabani Madega	POFIDESO	0755-339784	Importance of Exchange Visits
4/11/2006	Lucas Haule	PASADA	0754 805111	Psychological Development and Protection of   OVCs Rights	kisacha2003@yahoo.com
30/11/2006	Tim Jackson	Foundation-London	+44 790 415 3378	0fficers' training
12/2/2006	Tim Jackson	Foundation-London		CCATs, Reports
30/12/2006	Winston Churchil	LISA	0713 30 48 26	Human Right approach in dealing   with OCVs.	wchachi@yahoo.com