Fr. John Skinnader C.S.Sp
Spiritan
South Omo and Gamo Gofa zone, Ethiopia
As Spiritans in Ethiopia, we generally work with the most
isolated and disadvantaged communities, where there are no other
NGOs or government services available in the area. I manage a
large-scale sustainable livelihoods project in some of the most
remote and isolated areas of Southern Ethiopia. We also train and
develop the capacity of local staff and associated personnel to
manage the existing programmes.
Our goal has been to move away from service-oriented development to
a more community based concept - meaning that our staff who are
qualified in water, health, education and gender, are expected to go
and live in these rural areas, integrate with the new community and
learn the local language of the people. Many of our staff find this
difficult and challenging to do. Presently, we work with families
living in nine rural communities and one urban district. The ICDP is
committed to gender equity, and equality itself is a cross-cutting
priority of the ICDP. To further advance the ICDP’s commitment to
gender issues, two gender specialists were recruited in 2007.
Furthermore,
as a result of the community involvement and contribution towards
the construction of schools in the ICDP areas, including the
extension of Goloberendo school funded by misean cara, the numbers
wishing to enrol and the attitude among students has improved
significantly. As a result of the ICDP’s extensive work in the area
of water and sanitation, the incidences of water-borne diseases has
dramatically reduced, according to statistics at the local health
units. In terms of challenges and learning, one of the difficulties
faced by the ICDP is retaining staff, due to the harsh environment
that we generally work in.
Also, we have staff who are highly qualified in their respective
subjects, like water or health but many have had no formal training
in community based development, which creates a tension in them when
they wish just to get a thing done rather than work at the pace of
the community. In response, the ICDP is developing organisational
development plans which will guide us in managing and retaining
staff into the future, so consolidating the project’s long-term
presence among the community.