Work Group Activities

Carl-Peters-Street in Kiel

The work group supports the again 2006 started initiative to have the Carl-Peters-Street in Kiel renamed. An article was published in "Weltsicht/Weitsicht" (BEI's magazine), several letters were written to the "Kieler Nachrichten" (the local newspaper) and we will take part in the organization of an opinion poll and a meeting in the respective town quarter. More information regarding Carl Peters see e.g. >>

We attended a meeting in that town quarter (8.10.06). Ca. 40 people were present, among them quite number of people living in that street and Pastor Liß-Walther. One lady wanted the name to be kept, led by principal considerations (one has to confess to one's history). The people living in the street were afraid that a change of names would cost their money and would force them to see various town. Mr. Nickel and Mr. Tovar could however assure them, that no cost would arise (identy cards, car licence, register). There was general consensus, that in any case a plaquette should be fixed in the street informing about the role Carl Peters played in German history.

Results of an opinion poll among the residents did not show a majority for renaming the street. Ein auf Initiative der Grünen veranstaltetes Symposium brachte einen Stimmungsumschwung bei den politisch Verantwortlichen. Professor (emerituis) Michael Salewski legte überzeugend seine Gründe für eine Umbennung dar. Mittlerweile (26.4.07) ist die Umbennung beschlossen: Die Straße wird in Zukunft Albert-Schweitzer-Straße heißen. Ein anderer Vorschlag des Ortsbeirats (Nelson-Mandela-Straße) fand keine Mehrheit.

Light up the World

A colleague informed the group on the interesting initiative "Light up the World - LUTW"; WLEDs are used to light up the huts. They consume very little energy, so that only relatively small solar panels and batteries are needed. The group welcomes the initiative and will support it.

 

Work group discussed problem areas of development cooperation

The following problem areas in dvelopment cooperation have been identified by us and the respective solution approaches have been discussed:

	Problem areas	Explanations, questions	Approaches for solutions
1	Responisbility is shifted to the volunteers/development workers, although it should rest with the local partners	Who has the responsibility and how does he/she takes it on?	Have clear responsibilities laid down before project starts
2	Finances, chronic shortage of money: projects are often not comprehensively financed	Who prepares the budget and how is the budget made	Set up clear budgets with the responisble persons before project starts. Projects have to generate own income
3	Partizipation: exchange (projects) often not really wanted only the money which comes with the projects	Who is affected by the project, how to get them involved; who are the promoting who are the hindering persons	Ensure the involvement of all relevant levels and groups in planning and conducting
4	Mismanagement, embezzling	Which kind of controls are there, who controls who	Rechte, Pflichten und Maßregelungen festlegen
5	Arrogance, inability and enrichment of politicians	What influence have politicians, how do they exert it	Clear requirements to the politicians
6	Cultural background, absolute power of the "Old Man"	Which role play women and youth	Get women and youth involved
7	Arrangement of the projects: Structurs, syllabi, trans regional discussions	Who formulates the needs (externals or the affected), how current are these; trans regional exchange of experiences	Establishment of the real needs; make offers fir to the needs; trans regional exchange of experiences
8	Procurement of material
9	Counterparts: when one is good he/she will soon be gone	Is the salary enough to support the living of the project personel	Performance related parts of the salary allowing for drastically increased salaries
10	Small loan schemes: repayments very slowly if not nothing at all	Loans are regarded as gifts	Set up of chambers of crafts and trade

As an interesting concept of vocational training the thesis and practical examples of John Grierson (ILO) were presented, who proposes, to steer away from the conventional training subjects (metalworker, carpenter, mason, tailor) and instead conduct short modular courses, fitting exactly to the requirements, possibly in cooperation with local artisans.

Literature:

• John Grierson: „Where there is no Job - Vocational Training for Self-Employment in Developing Countries", published by SKAT, CAS, SDC, distributed by IT Publications; ISBN 3-908001-70-6;
• John Grierson: „Training for Self-Employment through Vocational Training Institutions", published by ILO; Corso Unità d’Italia 125; I-10127 Turin; ISBN 92-9049-333-0)

Last updated 13.5.07

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