Community Driven Development!

Written on March 20th, 2010

Another day another CDDP (the World Banks Community Driven Development Project) meeting that I have to mentally prepare myself for. As we plod through the packet on VDC (Village Development Committee) organization I'm struck by how slowly development goes here. I think it's partially because of culture but another large part of it is a lack of education. This lack of education effects the training in two really important ways.
It means we have to go really slowly to make sure everyone is understanding. This means asking endless clarifying questions ie. when talking about the responsibilities of every position in the VDC.

Me: Who is the chairperson? [Chairperson raises his hand.] What are the responsibilities of your job? [Chairperson lists responsibilities.]
Me: Ok, well here are the things a chairperson is commonly in charge of. [I read off a list of things.] Now, who can tell me the responsibilities of the chairperson?
[Another couple VDC members struggle to regurgitate the information I just gave.]

Also, because CDDP is a World Bank program all the training manuals and information is in English so I present in English and then one of the other people at the meeting (Lamin/Baboucar) has to then translate it into Wolof. Needless to say it is an incredibly slow process. At the end of the day I often don't feel as if I've accomplished anything. So personally I am working on realizing that developments slow pace here can mean months and months of meetings where I don't feel as if anything is being accomplished to build a base for a successful project months down the road. And that project may be as simple as a coos milling machine or a covered well but for this community it's vital. These are all things I should probably start meditating on every morning to ensure my continued sanity and stability.