11:26 AM
Evelyn Namara
After spending many days in a classroom setting, it was time for us to go for a field trip, again I think CEDPA needs to be commended for a job well done in putting together one of the most interesting sessions I have been to.
We visited Nassarawa state which is a two and a half hour drive from Abuja. It was refreshing seeing the country side of Nigeria and the realities of people in the deep rural setting away from the city.
We visited three projects with the idea of studying their business models, how they started, what programs they have?, if they have any social aspects related to their kind of work, where they get funding, what impact they have? etc.
FAHCI
Our first project was FAHCI, which stands for Family Health Care Foundation which was started in 2002 by a lady, Mary Noktilik Ashenanye. Her background is in Public Health care, and she used this asset to start up this Family Health care foundation - remember what talked about assets?
This initiative is funded by USAID and is doing a great job in the great community of Nassarawa state, they have programs on reproductive health, Female Genital Mutilation, HIV/AIDs awareness, Micro-Credit programs, - to mention a few.
Listening to Mary speak about this project also helped us realize that she is a great Social entrepreneur, she saw a need in her society which was basically health facilities and awareness and she used her skills and assets to impact her society through FAHCI.
Mrs.Mary Noktilik Ashenanye, sharing with us about FAHCI programs
We learned a lot from this NGO at the end of the day.
WOMEN'S CASSAVA PROCESSING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY
We visited another project the Women's Cassava processing co-operative society and we also learned a lot from their experiences, especially in terms of how they source for market for their cassava products, how they deal with competition, what machinery they use in the different processing, what they have learned throughout the years.
GWIM55 participants visiting the cassava processing plant
Cassava packed in sacks, at the Cassava processing plant
RICE PROCESSING
The last project we visited was the rice processing, similar questions were asked in each of these projects and we got a broader understanding of these three projects.
It was fun to get out of class and check out the other part of Nigeria, the rural part.
Rice in the big pot, before it is processed
0 comments:
Post a Comment