monitoring and evaluation

i've just submitted the term of reference of the monitoring and evaluation of ongoing project of FORNIHA. I've just interviewed them as well in order to compile our monitoring and evaluation first report. i hope i could complete this next week as other jobs; term of reference of reviewing LPAM strategic planning and reports, are awaited. I know, it's little hustle but i have to do that. Otherwise, it will keep on my mind and disturbing.

im going home tomorrow. it's been so long i dont go home. many times i plan but perhaps tomorrow the day i could come home. i want to stay there for one night. so, by monday, i'll be back here again. :)

be back from Poncan Gadang two days ago. The phone network was bad as heavy rain lasted for the last 2 days.

So now, it’s clear where FORNIHA is heading for the next 5 years. The strategic issues varied though from advocacy local government budget to the food security issue by utilizing the local foods.

Frans of Satunama facilitated the whole meeting pretty good. I learned a lot the way we completed the plan. The methodology to resulting matrix plan was more simple and friendly to apply.

I am now pretty much busy for the next meeting of LPAM for review of its strategic plan and of course the transition of LPAM leadership. I am pretty busy to complete the ToR of the meeting, the reports and things. Other things were to complete all the the requirements for the grad school. Anyway, things are just great. :)

I like taking pictures as usual and here are the pics that i took there.
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Before leaving to Poncan, in Sibolga, I met this fisherman. He was collecting his crabs from the net and then we had a chat. He then told me then by those crabs, he sent his daughter to university. Now his daughter got a job in government city as a civil servant. He was proud of his job. I could see by the way he talked to me.

poncan n strategic planning

we are in poncan gadang island right now talking about strategic plan of forniha. it's been already two days and things are seems just okay. but this place is just cool..

Poncan Island

Indonesia Independence

Rebecca said through fb, "Happy Hari Merdeka Indonesia!" hehe.., for me that sounds unique.. So, 64 years already since Indonesia independent from the colonialization. And there are a lot things to complaint. I read a lot comments abt that. It could be true. But it doesn't finishe there. This nation should have a clear vision where to go. Otherwise, we keep moving on the vicious cycle.

thanks to August

4 years ago, August 2005, there was a huge thing happened in my life. I joined APLP (Asia Pacific Leadership Program) of EWC (East West Center). My study at EWC was so wonderful. Unforgetable million thanks to Pak Terry Bigalke. And this August again, huge things happen in my life. I am just so enthusiastic and found my spirit again. First of all, I’m just so excited to facilitate trainings conducted by FORNIHA. FORNIHA is a forum of local NGOs here in Nias. We established this forum in 2007. I am so excited as the training (i would prefer to say it sharing meetings) was challenging. It took me so long to find environment that allow me to have discussions and freely do exploration of things especially our work with community. I like discussion very much. It’s freshing mind, thinking and brain. I also found that the collegues were just so enthusiastic to attend the 5-day meetings. I am energized by their energy.

I think, these trainings also affirms that I am actually very much interested in planning. I think I’m a sort of a planner and I might say that I’m good in that. We discussed very much about how to plan project and in a wider range, strategic planning for the organization. So, we discussed the tools for project plan such as LFA and things. But what made the meetings were the exploration of the spirit of project plan itself. Rather than limited exploring the application of the tools and how to make a good plan, we very much discussed about the ‘idealism of a project’. And I feel that we pretty much fed up with so many projects that disconnected with the communities. Changing people life we believe very much depends on how to plan a good and meaningful project.

In broader plan, such as strategic plan, I am enthusiastic with them as they challenged my ideas. It was kind of ‘uji materi’. I’m not sure what precisely the phrase in English. But the meaning pretty much like when you know or believe in something and then you apply it, you do kind of testing. ‘Uji-uji materi’ is very known in movement theory if you could say so. ‘Uji materi’ or ‘uji material’ is also popular here recently for testing a law.

Anyways, I was challenged by their critique. After we did SWOT anlysis, we came to defining strategic issue, strategy to result strategic goals. The way to go to the strategic goals then things happened. Albert kept on what he know from previous training that after SWOT we could go directly to the strategic goals with the diagram of quadrants. Meanwhile, I prefer to map what the strategic issues out of the lists of SWOT we have already drawn. So, I let him to do his theory. Somehow he was stuck when found that there were a lot strategic things in which made no longer as strategic. Even if so, he kept on his way of thinking that, even if we found a lot strategic things, we could still do selection and after that we could come to the action plan. But somehow it was hard to explain how to state strategic goals. We very much disccussed on this until they agree that i came on my way; mapping first what strategic; important, urgent and might happen in 2 or 3 years ahead that should be addressed, creating strategic issue by questions, the answer would be strategic goals. On the process of answering the strategic goals, there were already identified the action plan. So, the point was i offered them step by step ways rather than jumping from SWOT to directly to strategic goals. After all we agreed in the way step by step and when it was tested with the quadrants diagram, it worked.

But again, the process was just so challenging that made me so glad.

Next week, we are going to have strategic plan of FORNIHA in Poncan Island, a small island closed to Sumatra. I heard that only the cottege/resort in the whole island available. We'll be there for 5 days. So, it’s gonna be a wonderful trip i hope.

Next month, we are going to have another meeting, annual meeting of LPAM-Nias, for reviewing of our last strategic plan and to choose a new director. It was supposed to be this month but somehow, these works for FORNIHA is just so intense. So, officially, I will be resigned next month. Gosh, yes, after all, I’ll be free. Maybe for a while but that must be worthy. :) Thanks. Thanks to August as it is always the month of being turning point for me.

thank you

i might not thank god very often.
i might not be as good as i could,
i might not be on the right track often,
i might hurt many people which i didn't intend to do so,
i might not be as a good student, as a good follower as i'm often stubborn on my way,

but let me express my gratitute to god this time.
he/she heard me..



thanks ford

road

road,
empty road,
lead me to go
as for you i depend on
for you i'll follow through

road,
lead me to my destination
to where to go from here
to my blur destination
to destination that i thinking of every time i have
for the destination not sure but only could figure out.

protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism

we've just discussed slightly the protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism. its more like the surface of the topics. exploring the idea of max weber in hours of course not enough. but i see something. the spirit of discussion. and also the discussion of the ethics itself. we found that it's the right time to work together for the fighting of the injustice, to work for the transformation of the community. despite the major critics to each sectors, we found that it's the time to spare this spirit to work together.

we are so lucky because we have different backgrounds and walk of life. it enrich the discussion. we do hope this initiation will continue. otherwise, the working will be dry. this something i dream of and thanks that it happened and spirit could be sustained. again, it's a pretty good for brain feeding.

project planning

It's little bit busy these days. I facilitated a meeting for management project topic. the participants were staffs of local ngos. i prefer to say that the meeting was a sharing meeting rather than positioning speaker-participants meeting. i rather to say that we are equal for the sharing.

project management topic is broad and we chose to discuss focusing on the topic of project planning. Despite of discussing the theory of the tools applied for project planning, we went down into practicing the tools. we think practicing the tools would be more understandable than discussing the theory of the tools itself. so it's very much practical discussion oriented. I experienced in many meetings i attended about the topics, it was very much talk in the air so that it could not be fully grasped. But in the meeting, we chose to go down to earth, if it could be said like that.

the interesting points were the spirit of them to discuss the topic. we completed the 4-day meetings with their fully participation. we chose one the project plans of lbatani, an ngo, to design it. at the end of the meetings, we finalized the materials of project planning; preparation, anylisis and design, work plan, budgetting and proposal.

another topic we much discuss was more about idealism of a project. we explored the idealism of some projects happened in this island. there were a lot projects that were very much not based on the community need but rather than the 'interest' of the project itself. i mean, some projects were designed by 'someone' else 'somewhere on this earth' and then partnering with local ngos with the issue. what happened then is the disconnection with the need of the community and the projects. so, no wonder then when there were a lot complaints from the community abt the projects. the community dont feel that that is our project too. there is no sense of belonging on it. i heard too much complaints expressed by ingos/un agencies as if the communities were no-cooperative or no-thanking of the projects. we found that was an impact when a project is disconnected with the communities. i witness how ingo and other organizations blamed the community. and tha was an easy way for not to admitting that their projects were lack of disconnection. it's sad.

another hot topic was the relation between ngo and its partners (funding, agency or whatever you and they call themselves). this is a sensitive issue. yes, i am fully aware on this. and it is not easy to find the root of this issue. somehow, we found the injustice here. and i wonder how we, ngos, very much talk about injustice and it become the motivation of working in this field, but at the same time we witness the injustice among us. the unequal relations, superior-inferior relations. i do understand when the participants expressed how they were 'systematically' put on the corner so that they (local ngos) had no options. this is most thing that made me myself skeptical on this field. but again if i just could hear the reasons behind it from the funding sides. never heard them exploring the issue though. i dont see often a serious attempt to discuss abt thiss either.

in the middle of meeting, we discussed about the christianity teaching. i was tempted to explore this issue when i found one of the particpants graduated from the theology school. we came how protestanism ethics by max weber supporting the capitalism and how we (those claiming work for social injustice) fight for injustice created by capitalism at the same time and how the theory doesnt completely work on this island (trigering the development) in which more than 80% of its population are protestants. we're going to have small discussion abt it tomorrow again. :) for brain feeding..