Report

I spent my time in Kyrgyzstan working with Mercy Corps in the Global Food for Education Program.  This is a USDA funded program that supplies rice, vegetable oil, and flour to every kindergarten and boarding school in the country.  Mercy Corps is able to monetize some of the vegetable oil and wheat flour and use the proceeds to offer grants to educational institutions.  The grants are used to do one of four things: make infrastructure repairs, improve water and sanitation, increase food security, or purchase school equipment and supplies.  My job entailed working with Mercy Corps community development workers, or mobilizers.  The mobilizers work within communities throughout the country, implementing the Mercy Corps projects and educating community members in project design and implementation.

I began by working with Food Security Projects.  A simple and comprehensive accounting system was created that enabled community members to effectively run their projects.  I worked with the mobilizers to train people in basic accounting and sustainable business plans.  I also assessed the Food Security Project and other projects by conducting field interviews, attending community meetings, and observing projects in progress.

In addition, I facilitated several group training sessions on proposal writing, sustainability and participatory decision-making, and business plan development.  We worked to develop a six-month plan for the mobilization program.  This included criteria for community selection, what communities needed to contribute to their projects, and what would be expected of them.  We also created a training manual for the pilot communities.  The manual describes mobilization and the components of sustainable community development.  The pilot communities will be able to use this manual to learn and to educate others.

Working with the community development workers was a very positive experience for me.  Watching them work with the various communities was very inspiring.  Mercy Corps projects offer direct benefits such as food, water, bathrooms, and improved infrastructure.  However, I think it was the indirect benefits, such as increased autonomy, equality, and skills in decision-making, that made the most difference.

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