More from the writeshop in Ethiopia: Maurice's birthday blog
Tuesday 5th December: It is my birthday and I am happy to be in Ethiopia where I won’t be asked what age I am! For the record I am 39 years of age – more or less!
At 8am, when I arrive at Addis airport, I am greeted by Bahhilu, the smiling CRS driver. The weather is overcast and he tells me that the short rains have been long and that it may have something to do with global warning. We discuss the weather and the climate. Baahilu knows that I have been living in Nairobi for the past two years and he asks me about the melting snow cap in neighbouring Tanzania.
We drive to the Bonita Youth Centre in Debrezeit, about 40 km from Addis. The writeshop is being run by IIRR-Africa (International Institute of Rural Reconstruction). They are familiar with the writeshop process - the principal method for producing the handbook - indeed they invented it. The process is flexible and highly participatory, which facilitates the production and simplification of materials in a short period of time. IIRR utilize the diverse skills of participants (field workers, development agents, other resource persons, editors, artists and facilitators) working under the same roof for a period of two weeks. So I am here with rural Ethiopian farmers, staff of large INGOs, university professors, staff of local NGOs working in the Ethiopian rift valley and artists/illustrators.
We discuss the writeshop process, which is new to me, and I have a good feeling about the way that IIRR wants to work. Those of us who have written papers to contribute to chapters will present and others will critique and we will amend. Where a number of us have written on the same chapter we will have to come up with an agreed version and present a second draft for further critique. In between we meet with farmers and look for practical Ethiopian examples to illustrate points being made.
I like the proposed process. I warm to IIRR’s credo of rural reconstruction:
“Go to the people
Live among them
Plan with them
Work with them
Start from what they know
Build on what they have
Teach by showing
Learn by doing
Not a showcase but a pattern
Not odds and ends but a system
Not piecemeal but an integrated approach
Not to conform but to transform
Not relief but release”
So the process looks good. I hope the end product matches it - check tomorrow for news of how we get on.
Maurice McQuillan, Catholic Relief Services Emergency Response Team
At 8am, when I arrive at Addis airport, I am greeted by Bahhilu, the smiling CRS driver. The weather is overcast and he tells me that the short rains have been long and that it may have something to do with global warning. We discuss the weather and the climate. Baahilu knows that I have been living in Nairobi for the past two years and he asks me about the melting snow cap in neighbouring Tanzania.
We drive to the Bonita Youth Centre in Debrezeit, about 40 km from Addis. The writeshop is being run by IIRR-Africa (International Institute of Rural Reconstruction). They are familiar with the writeshop process - the principal method for producing the handbook - indeed they invented it. The process is flexible and highly participatory, which facilitates the production and simplification of materials in a short period of time. IIRR utilize the diverse skills of participants (field workers, development agents, other resource persons, editors, artists and facilitators) working under the same roof for a period of two weeks. So I am here with rural Ethiopian farmers, staff of large INGOs, university professors, staff of local NGOs working in the Ethiopian rift valley and artists/illustrators.
We discuss the writeshop process, which is new to me, and I have a good feeling about the way that IIRR wants to work. Those of us who have written papers to contribute to chapters will present and others will critique and we will amend. Where a number of us have written on the same chapter we will have to come up with an agreed version and present a second draft for further critique. In between we meet with farmers and look for practical Ethiopian examples to illustrate points being made.
I like the proposed process. I warm to IIRR’s credo of rural reconstruction:
“Go to the people
Live among them
Plan with them
Work with them
Start from what they know
Build on what they have
Teach by showing
Learn by doing
Not a showcase but a pattern
Not odds and ends but a system
Not piecemeal but an integrated approach
Not to conform but to transform
Not relief but release”
So the process looks good. I hope the end product matches it - check tomorrow for news of how we get on.
Maurice McQuillan, Catholic Relief Services Emergency Response Team
posted by Emergency Capacity Building Project Team Blog at 11:45 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home