Essay Instructions: I wrote the following progress report"Economic Development Activities
MEDINA is trying to assist the people of Shibam and Zabid to acquire new skills, that improves living conditions in a number of areas. Ideally, these skills would initially assist individuals to produce useful services and household items for their own demand, or once skills have risen, for the demand of their community, and eventually a broader market.
General Idea: Key candidates for such training are women, particularly women in poor households. They cannot work outside their home, have limited access to health services, and often live far from markets. Women living in rural areas cannot easily travel to city markets, and hence must rely on their husbands for information and necessary purchases. Illiteracy also constrains them in their dealings with the outside world, including possible business dealings. Women may also not be able to participate in certain activities, including training, unless permitted by their husbands.
The following represent types of training options, based on similar projects elsewhere in the region. None have yet been verified, in terms of local demand or need. Rather than establishing a broader program up-front, through a formal workshop, it is recommended to establish the Quality of Life Program in small steps. This means that MEDINA will assist small groups of women, based on their informal request for training.
Potential Activities: Possible activities include the following:
• Sewing Courses: Sewing skills are one of the most directly useful, as they permit women to cloth their families (usually children and less so themselves) at reduced cost. This will advance sufficiently to transform this skill into a business,
• Embroidery Courses: It is clear, that traditional dress requires embroidery, and traditional embroidery skills remain in demand.
• Weaving: Weaving of male loincloth remains an active male occupation, and markets remain full with such cloth, apparently all produced locally by hand. This cloth is not exclusively produced by men.
• Computer Literacy Training: There often is a high demand for computer literacy training among both men and women.
• Hairdressing training: recently the skill of hairdressing is increasing exponentally. Women in both cities are demanding the service especially during the wedding season. It is a profitable activity that does not require big investment.
• Wood working and renovation: this is a very important activity that is implemented by the Handicraft association of Shibam. The association has implemented many wood renovations in Shibam and outside Shibam. The association requires more training for new members in order to cope with the increasing demand for the service.
• Silverware training: Two Zabidi associations are specialized in silverware training and production; although they are in the business for a long time, they still need more training especially in product development and production.
• Microfinance projects: Microfinance is often defined as financial services for poor and low-income clients offered by different types of service providers. In practice, the term is often used more narrowly to refer to loans and other services from providers that identify themselves as “microfinance institutions” (MFIs). These institutions commonly tend to use new methods developed over the last 30 years to deliver very small loans to unsalaried borrowers, taking little or no collateral. These methods include group lending and liability, gradually increasing loan sizes. Typical microfinance clients will be the members of the SUQ association in Zabid that do not have access to other formal financial institutions. The members of the association are self-employed, household-based entrepreneurs.
Comment: Most of the activities listed above are likely to appeal to men and women, though at least a few (notably sewing, embroidery, literacy training) would be useful for women as well.
The economic development impact of most of the activities is that it directly improves the quality of life and income in-kind. However, sometimes for some certain activities it will not raise the volume of marketed goods and services. Based on broader measures of income however that include income in-kind there will be an immediate economic development impact.
Second, in the longer term the suggested activities will also raise market income, as at least some young men and women will eventually use their newfound skills to produce goods sold in the market. In addition, computer literacy training will have a pronounced economic development impact, raising young men and women's capacity to participate in economic and social life, while also raising the skills of their children and maybe the people around them.
Approach: In supporting the associations abd their above activities, MEDINA has set several rules. These relate to beneficiary participation, subsidization and ,for certain activities, cost recovery, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Evidence of Demand: Assistance was provided based on evidence of demand for the services offered mostly based on the assessment of the activities and their impact of the previous phase. The best evidence of demand is that associations are willing to contribute to the services. Contributions can come in the form of time, contribution to the materials used during the teaching, provision of facilities and space used during training, and provision of the trainer.
• Cost Recovery: It is recommended that each beneficiary contribute to the training the materials she uses during training. In the case of a sewing course, this is the sewing material including fabrics and thread. If MEDINA purchases sewing machines for use during training, then trainees may be given the option at the end of the course, to purchase the machines (possibly repaying the cost over a period of half a year), or working in the association to utilize the tools and machins and the return of the production is shared with the association in certain percentages they agree on.
• Subsidization of Public Good Component: MEDINA subsidizes, at least for some time, the part of the training that represents a public good, i.e. that is jointly consumed by all participants. This is the salary of the trainer and her travel to the site.
• Scope of Program (Sustainability ): Training activities should be replicable and sustainable. Since total revenues from the training or output products may contribute to the sustainability of the association itself.
• Monitoring: All training activities should be monitored. This includes monitoring of the entry size of each class, participation rates during subsequent classes, graduation rates, and performance. This applies also for the income generating activities where financial transparency should be present between MEDINA and the association.
• Certification: When appropriate, trainees should be given a certificate of successful participation at the end of the course.
Institutional Arrangements: MEDINA team worked with the associations to make sure they are capable of continuing the training programs on their own.
Assessed associations in Shibam:
Assessed projects of Shibam implemented by the 1st phase
1. Sewing project - Hadramout Association:
2. Sandwiches and light meals - Women's Association / ALHOUTA:
3. Internet Cafe - Women's Association / ALHOTA
4. Computer Centre project ??" Alhazm Association:
6. Music and folklore Band Project:
8. Carpentry Workshop Project ??" Craftsmen Association:
9. Carpentry workshop Project (private):
10. Bakery Project - Hadramout Society (Rehabilitation Centre for Women)
The selected “partner” associations:
But my team leader did not like it and send me this message:"Thanks for sending me the documents. The way it is written, it is a proposal rather than a report.
Kindly redesign it in the following way:
Part 1: modify the text in a way that the text represents your strategy. Add your hypothesis and quantify your assumption
Part 2: structure the numbers in a way that it shows the input of the project and results as monitored feed back let's say every 2 months."
I have all supporting docs that i will upload. can you do
There are faxes for this order.
