Future forums are taking place in Leeds on 21st March, Sunderland on 10th April, Cardiff on 24th April, Edinburgh on 7th May, Manchester on 28th May, Norwich on 5th June, London on 20th June and Birmingham on 8th July. If you would like to attend, please contact Victoria Edge-Baron on 0116 257 6615 for more details.

THE EARTH SUMMIT   top
The 2002 Earth Summit (known officially as the World Summit for Sustainable Development) is taking place in Johannesburg in August and September. National leaders (Tony Blair has pledged to go), local authorities and civil society representatives will be coming together to talk about how to achieve sustainable development at the global level.

Skillshare International will be attending with representatives from the UK and six countries in southern Africa. We’ll be using the opportunity to raise awareness amongst northern and southern governments of the issues that are most important for our partner organisations in building sustainable development.

Skillshare International is also planning activities and events in Leicester to recognise and celebrate the Earth Summit. We are working with the City Council, Oxfam and Environ to demonstrate how Leicester’s citizens can support sustainable development at the global level. Events between now and December will focus on HIV/AIDS, renewable energy, trade and fair trade.

For more information, please contact David Weatherall on 0116 257 6606 or e-mail earth.summit@skillshare.org

Placements   top
During the last few months, Skillshare International has experienced a number of changes in the placements of development workers and health trainers.

Botswana
Priscilla Gathiga finished as a Development and Marketing Advisor in Gaborone in November and moved to LOIC in Lesotho as a Business Advisor in January. Christopher Paul's placement as a Financial Administrator at the Kuru Development Trust in Shakawe ended in December. Alison White began her placement as a Cultural Trail Management Advisor at the Trust for Okavango Culture and Development Initiative (TOCADI) in Shakawe in February.

Lesotho
Sam Faleye's placement with the Department for Rural Roads in Maseru ended in December. In January, Paul Smith and Simon Waters both finished working at the Appropriate Technology Section in Maseru and Alan Moore finished his placement as the Technical and Institutional Development Advisor at Thaba-Tseka. John Earl returned to the UK in January having spent six years working as a woodwork and metalwork teacher at the Assumption High School in TY.

Mozambique
John Lansley finished his placement as a Fishing Technician Coordinator at IDPPE in Maputo in February.

Namibia
Kerry Nelson finished her placement as a Database Developer/IT Trainer at NAPWU in December. Sandra Whyles began her placement as a Counselling/Home Base Care Trainer of Trainers for the AIDS Care Trust in Windhoek.

Tanzania
In January, Cecile Cantraine took up her post as a School Tutor at the Occupational Training School in Moshi. Carolyn Batch began her placement in Simanjiro as a Community Health Trainer in March.

Uganda
After four years, Samantha Shann finished her placement as the Field Work Coordinator at the OT Training School in March. Julie Somerville's placement as a School Tutor at the OT Training School also ended in March. Carolyn Atkinson began her placement as an OT District Support Worker in Kampala in January.

THE END OF AN ERA - CAMBRIDGE OFFICE MOVES TO LEICESTER   top
Sarah Spall

Action Health was founded in 1984 by a group of health professionals from Britain, India and Africa who had been working overseas with marginalised or isolated communities.

Concerned about the inadequate provision of primary health care and the lack of appropriate training opportunities this group set up the charity Action Health - an organisation dedicated to enabling communities to establish and strengthen their own health programmes.

In the early years, Action Health ran a well subscribed programme for medical electives, offered annual travel fellowships to the UK for health professionals from the developing world and was very active in raising awareness in Britain of primary health issues.

In the mid 1980s, Action Health sent about 30 “volunteers” away each year. Most of these were UK based health professionals who went mainly to India to work for an average of six months. The early emphasis was on sending GPs, nurses and dentists to do hands-on clinical work in hospitals or health institutions.

By the end of the 1990s, the focus of Action Health’s work had changed, with much more emphasis on the health trainer/partner relationship and the transfer of skills. The role of the health trainer shifted from hands-on work to teaching local people the skills needed to improve the health of the community.

Health trainers started making a real and sustainable difference by sharing their skills with people who could train others so the skills and knowledge would be passed down through future generations. The health trainers also became instrumental in increasing the capacity of partner organisations.

A few months ago, Aarohi, an NGO in North India, contacted the Action Health Programme to ask for a partnership and a health trainer programme. Aarohi had seen the lasting value of the health trainers' input at a mother and child health programme with a partner called CHIRAG which ran from 1988 to 1996. Even though the last health trainer left CHIRAG six years ago, the programme remains very strong and Aarohi were seeking something similar for themselves.

Action Health has sent over 400 health trainers overseas to train local staff in primary health care, mother and child health and community based rehabilitation.

Action Health has also made a key contribution to the establishment of occupational therapy (OT) as a profession in Uganda and Tanzania. Before Action Health started working with governments and national institutions, there were only two OTs in Uganda. Now there are over 40 qualified OTs in Uganda all of whom have been taught by Action Health trainers. Last year the first Tanzanian OTs qualified, having been trained and supported mainly through the Action Health Programme.

The health trainers in Uganda and Tanzania have also facilitated the establishment of national OT professional bodies which are linked into regional and world OT networks. As a result Action Health has been able to have a positive influence on national policies.

Throughout Action Health's life-time, it has remained a very special organisation. Its relationship with individuals, in whatever capacity, is its most important resource. This is reflected in the number of health trainers who have continued to be involved with the charity for many years after their work overseas.

The charity has been based at offices on Gwydir Street in Cambridge since its inception. However, following the merger between Skillshare Africa and Action Health in July 2000, it was no longer necessary for there to be two Skillshare International offices in the UK. As a result, over the last 18 months, the activities of the Cambridge office have been slowly integrated and transferred to Leicester. The Cambridge office officially closes on 31st March.

The Cambridge office has been a hub of activity for the last 18 years and will be fondly remembered by everyone. Despite being small, there was always a warm smile and friendly welcome from the team based in Cambridge. Whilst it is the end of an era, the important work of Action Health continues under the auspices of Skillshare International's Action Health Programme.

On behalf of all connected with Action Health, I would like to thank everyone who has helped make Action Health special and for all their support over the years.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the work of all the Cambridge staff and especially Robin Greenwood, the Director, for all his hard work in successfully managing the integration process.

EC GRANT FOR HEALTH PROGRAMMES IN INDIA   top
Skillshare International has been awarded over £200,000 by the European Commission to fund our Action Health Programme in India. The funds will provide resources and support to local health trainers in five states of India and will mean an extra 100,000 Indians in rural communities will benefit from better health care.

The Action Health Programme in India will provide a total of six health trainers each year, over three years to work with local organisations in Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.

Some of the health trainers will be locally recruited community physicians while others will be qualified health professionals recruited in the UK. They will work with volunteers in the community, usually subsistence farmers, who are interested in learning about preventable diseases.

The training will include basic primary health care as well as community health and development techniques. The village health trainers will learn about the health and hygiene problems that commonly affect their communities, how to treat common problems and educate and advise on health matters.

The community health workers will also train voluntary health guides who will form the “front line” of their own communities’ fight against preventable ill health.

Village-based health auxiliaries and hospital-based outreach workers will be given group-based and individual on-the-job training, and health co-ordinators will be taught to plan and manage health programmes.

Millions of people in developing countries suffer and die each year from poor health and preventable illnesses. Malnutrition, diarrhoea, polio and HIV/AIDS are some of the threats people face on a daily basis.

Last year, a total of 25 health workers were involved with one of the Action Health Programmes working with tribal people in Tamil Nadu. As a result, malnutrition among under-fives dropped from 40 per cent to 10 per cent in one year.

Robin Greenwood, Director of the Action Health Programme, explains: "The problems of poverty, underdevelopment and ill health are interrelated and complex. They cannot be regarded as someone else's problem. The rich and poor countries of the world are interdependent and health is an international issue with global implications."

"The grant covers 75% of the total costs of the project. It is part of the conditions of the grant that Skillshare International meets the other 25% out of other funds. Some of this is already in place, but we still need to raise more money for the project."

COMIC RELIEF FOR BASARWA SAN PASTORALISTS   top
Comic Relief has approved a five-year project proposal, worth £164,000, for the social and economic empowerment of the Basarwa San pastoralists living in and around Kang in Botswana. The project is due to start in April 2002.

Basarwa San people are considered one of Africa's oldest indigenous peoples and are among the last of the world's hunter-gatherers. Once called the "Lords of the Desert", they are now homeless, landless and live in abject poverty in government established settlements or as squatters in townships. They are the poorest, most marginalised and disadvantaged people in Botswana.

The funds will provide resources and support to the Basarwa San pastoralists. This will include advocacy training, resources for income generation and micro-credit, vocational and small business training, pre-school teaching and strengthening local community based organisations.

The project will also provide training in business management skills for income generating activities identified by the Basarwa San people, such as garment production, tannery, tie dye, carpentry and handicrafts.

Elaine Stevenson, Skillshare International's Programme Funding Officer, explains: "This project gives a unique opportunity for a local community group of indigenous people to organise themselves, decide their own development and control the planning and implementation with support from NGOs."

"The project empowers the Basarwa San people. It gives them a voice which will enable them to access appropriate services and influence local government practices and policies."

Skillshare International's office in Botswana is working with the Basarwa San people through its partnership with the Kang Brigade Development Trust and the community based organisation Tquii Xu Yani.

LAUNCH OF THE COMMUNITY FUND'S NEW INTERNATIONAL GRANTS PROGRAMME top
The Community Fund has just announced that its new International Grants Programme will open in mid July 2002.

The aim of the programme is to fund effective approaches to tackling poverty, deprivation and their causes, which use strategic ways to maximise impact and bring about long term positive difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged people.

The programme will focus on work that contributes towards improved primary education; improved health through community-based care; improved allocation of natural resources; and/or improved human rights for the most disadvantaged members of local communities.

Applicants will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of why certain groups or individuals do not have access to resources such as health or education which may be as a result of their gender, ethnicity or age for example, and how change can be brought about.

All projects need to show how beneficiaries and partners have participated or will participate in identifying the need for the project, and developing and managing it over its lifetime.

In addition there must be evidence showing how the most disadvantaged people can be empowered to take control of their lives and maintain the benefits brought about by projects.

Under this programme, the Community Fund aims to fund development projects which address the causes of poverty and inequality and make a significant improvement to the quality of life of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

The Community Fund supports projects run by voluntary organisations based in the UK, working in partnership with organisations abroad.

Applications packs will be available from mid July and can be submitted on a continuous basis throughout the year. For more information, please visit the Community Fund's website www.community-fund.org.uk

OBITUARY   top
After retiring from the electrical company Philips in 1974, Barbara Cohen went to Botswana as an IVS Volunteer. She worked in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Gaborone until 1976 and then she spent three years as the Coordinator of Lobatse Youth Training Centre. On returning to Britain in 1979, Barbara remained active in IVS, participating in international work camps in Eastern Europe through the Overseas Workcamp Exchange Scheme. She was also active locally in Lincoln and worked with the Workers' Educational Association. If her many qualities and abilities can be captured in one word it would perhaps be inspiration. Sadly, Barbara Cohen passed away in November after a short illness.

HIT THE TARGET: JOIN THE 0.7% CAMPAIGN   top
Nearly half the world live on less than US$2 per day. In the last 30 years, the gap between the world's richest 20% and the poorest 20% of people has tripled. 1.2 billion people live in absolute poverty. Rich countries in the North have repeatedly promised to raise their level of aid to 0.7% of GNP. UK aid remains less than half of that.

Skillshare International is supporting BOND's (British Overseas NGOs for Development) campaign to put pressure on the UK Government to meet the UN target for 0.7% of GNP to be spent on development assistance.

This commitment was agreed in 1970 by the United Nations General Assembly, but so far has been met only by The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Luxembourg. The 0.7% campaign will put pressure on the UK to join Portugal and Ireland who have agreed to meet this target over the next few years.

BOND state that at the current rates of increase, it will take forty years for the aid budget to reach the 0.7% target. This is far too late to meet the UN Millennium Development Goal to eliminate poverty by 2015 and its related targets.

For more information on how you can join this campaign please call Victoria Edge-Baron at Skillshare International on 0116 257 6615, or visit BOND’s website on www.bond.org.uk which gives details on how you can get involved.

STAFF COMINGS AND GOINGS   top
In December, Dennis Lane returned to the UK having spent two years working in the regional office in South Africa. In January, Dennis went to Tanzania to take on the temporary role of Country Coordinator following the departure of Moshi Ntabaye in December.

We are delighted to welcome Elijah Adera who has joined us as the new Regional Programme Officer in Pretoria.

Nikki Davies left the organisation in January and Jane Munyoro joined as the temporary administrative officer.

Edwin Takatso Ramakhula left the Lesotho office following the return of 'Me Lerato Kizito who finished her maternity leave in January.

Senelisiwe Ntshangase, known as Sneli, started work as the new Country Coordinator for Swaziland in February.

Poli Shajko went on maternity leave in December and had a baby boy called Lukas on 27th December. Carol Ward has taken on the temporary role of Placement Officer while Poli is on maternity leave.

Francesca Dance has been recruited on a short-term basis to undertake the duties of Administrative Officer.

In February, Claire Plumb joined the Leicester office on a six month fixed term contract as the Strategy Development Coordinator and has been seconded to a project, entitled East Midlands Regional Strategy for the Global Dimension to the Curriculum.

Karunakar Behera started as the Administrative and Finance Officer in the India office at the beginning of March.

Following a change in job titles in the UK, David Harries has become the Head of People and Organisational Development, Jake Bharier is the Head of Corporate Services and Luis Silva is the Head of International Programmes.

top