Field Notes for April and May, 2015.
Cambodia
In April, as part of the final stage of the pre-project development process, Lien AID held a series of meetings with the respective local commune councils and village leaders from each of the identified communes. These communes were selected from our previous needs assessment and situational analysis process and we wanted their reaffirmation of commitment to the projects. We took the opportunity to explain in further detail the ownership and management approach of our Community Water Enterprise programme in Cambodia and respond to their questions and concerns.
Subsequently, the agreements for 11 new projects that will be delivered under our Community Water Enterprise programme in Cambodia (2015), was officially signed in May. Among these, 2 each are in the Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Chhnang and Pursat provinces, with the remaining 5 communes (projects) in Takeo province.
CWE project kick off in Takeo province, Cambodia.
China
Among the 35 water project proposals received for the 7th intake of our Student Village Officer training workshop conducted in March, we went on to assess on-site situations for 12 of those in April, with another 17 completed in May. Together with the Student Village Officers and village officials for each of the respective projects, we assessed village conditions and water situations through observations and interviews with the villagers.
Over a span of 10 days in April, we covered 7 villages in the counties of Malipo, Shidian and Lianghe in Yunnan Province as well as 5 villages in Chishui county, Guizhou. Our local partners and stakeholders – Guizhou-Chishui Council for the Promotion of Construction in the Old Revolutionary Areas; Yunnan-Malipo Foreign Aid Office; Yunnan-Shidian Poverty Relief Office; Yunnan-Lianghe County Government were also involved, facilitating meetings and discussions.
In May, we had a much tougher schedule, travelling to the counties of Wushan and Wuxi of Chongqing Municipality, the counties of Meitan and Luoyang in Guizhou, Sangzhi county of Hunan, and surveying 17 villages in 22 days. Our local partners involved in these projects are the Chongqing Poverty Relief Office; Guizhou-Zunyi Council for the Promotion of Construction in the Old Revolutionary Areas; Hunan-Sangzhi Poverty Relief Office.
Such on-site assessments are critical to our programmes as they enable us to better evaluate the suitability of the proposals through a first-hand understanding of the situation and sentiments on ground, while acting as a data validation exercise as well.
Project inpection in Jiexi village, China.
Needs assessment in Tieguang Village, China.
Singapore
Our Digital Strategist Jeremiah Rogers gave a lunchtime presentation about marketing for A River’s Tail at the United Nations in Bangkok. You can read his writeup here and also find a link to the full presentation.
