More: who said what about me

I know Shayamal Saha very well for many years. In fact he was my student when I was teaching at the Global Partnership in Dhaka. I found him a very intelligent, hard working, studious, conceptually very good and an excellent person to work with. Shayamal is also a very good trainer. I wish him all success in life.” February 23, 2011.

Salehuddin Ahmed, Chief Technical Advisor, International Poverty Reduction Centre in China (IPRCC) Beijing

“Shaymal Saha has demonstrated precious experience in conducting participatory trainings, developing the concepts for capacity building programmes of all kinds, and has shown evidence of profound knowledge in the whole field of social and economic development. Besides that he always was loyal to the principles of our organisation, its strategies and codes of conduct. I can recommend him strongly for many tasks that require a profound level of knowledge and endurance.” February 15, 2011

Claude Ribaux, Ex Head of Division, Swiss Red Cross

Politics of Positve in Community Empowrment- CKS used Appreciative Inquiry in CMDRR: A Case Sory

Politics of Positive in Community Empowerment

A Story of Appreciative Story Telling in CMDRR Project of Caritas Sibolga

Dr. Shayamal K. Saha

January, 2010

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Sisobambowo, a desa (village) of Nias Island of Indonesia frequently exposed with flood; is one the many communities of Caritas Keuskupan Sibolga (CKS) (http://caritas-sibolga.blogspot.com/) covered by its Disaster Risk Reduction Project. In building disaster resilient community, CKS facilitates a community –managed disaster risk reduction (CMDRR) process in which communities are facilitated to form their organization, assess disaster risk, plan, implement and evaluate actions. This goes as continuous cycle. This participatory process of DRR is applied within the concept of problem solving, thus “what is the problem?” commonly becomes a central questions of dialogue and discussions. The facilitator of CKS-CMDRR team began to facilitate the Sisobambowo community since July 2007. Eventually in October 30 2007, a community DRR organization came into being in participation with 21 members in which Kepala Desa and customary leader of the community included. The First community DRR action plan of 2008 was successfully implemented by the community organization (CO). At the beginning of the year 2009 while developing the 2nd yearly action plan the CO of Sisobambowo included one of its activities is to constructed a small bridge in the village ; based on the need expressed by the community members. Economically poor community of Sisobambowo did not see their ability to provide financial resource needed for the construction of the bridge thus expectation to CKS. CKS fell into a dilemma; debate and discussions moved across the organization about whether CKS should provide direct financial support to the community organization to implement such a bridge construction project. CKS management could not make a firm policy decisions and provide resource support to the community for bridge construction. This circumstance generated frustration among the community and their organization. Since February 2009 dialogue between the CKS facilitators and the CO narrowed down to the only issue of Bridge Construction; when CO demanded support to construct bridge and CKS facilitator explained “they are not in a position to provide financial support. The CO began to feel “we cannot perform our role effectively to address community demand - so why should we continue this organization". On the other side CKS team began to feel “it’s so sad that the community and their organization showing negative attitude to them”. Eventually, the movement of Sisobambowo CO towards DRR collapsed; communication between CKS team and the community stagnated. I was reported by the CKS team that it is impossible to work with Sisobambowo CO until CKS provide financial support for bridge construction. This situation put across serious challenge to CKS management by posing an assumed threatening question “if after sometimes if a CO being failed to get one support stop their movement than how to facilitate self-sustainability of community organization in long run?”

December 2009, as a consultant of CKS-CMDRR project conducted the training on Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation to the CKS-CMDRR team. Without having any other alternative, for conducting field practicum part of this training we decided to go Sisobambowo and work with them. Thought this decision was made, but I could observe gloomy face of staff full of anxiety with uneasy feelings of not receiving any cordial response from the Sisobambowo CO. Anyway, we (all training participants plus me) went Sisobambowo on November 27, 2009. We had meeting, including the Kepala Desa ( Elected head of the village) and Customary Leader altogether 6 CO members kindly came to the meeting. Meeting started and soon the expression of frustration of not being able to construct the bridge became the centre – the discourse of deficit and frustration went for an hour gradually moved to a silence and then feeling of hopeless. At that stage, I made an effort to shift the discussions and dialogue from the failure to success. I asked the CO members to:

• tell a story about “being a member of the CO you felt proud of your organization doing good work for the community”

• tell a story about “you did something as CO members which made you happy”

• Tell a story about “as CO members you did something for the community and community members gave admiration to you?

Silence began to disappear; one after another, the CO members started to tell their experiential stories of success and being appreciated by the community. This positive/success story telling soon discovered that against one failure of bridge building the CO has made following nine successes:

1. Feeling happy because now they have an organization

2. They were able to do mahogany seedling

3. Got many education meetings with Caritas

4. Could organize regular saving money in their organization

5. Became a resource person to others in term of developing community organization, somebody asked & discussed on how to develop an organization (Fasa’aro – vice

1. secretary of CDRO)

6. People in the village come to the CO committee to discuss about their daily life problem

7. They collected some amount of money for earthquake survivors in Padang

8. The CDRO committee got respect from the people due to their position as community organization leaders. (Vina: in communal meeting like party, social celebration, they got simbi - a part of pork/pig body as a symbol of respect in Nias culture, because they are the members of DRR TF).

9. Sisobambowo got a project from health government office from Jakarta because they fitted with the important condition of the office: they had CO. Other villages didn’t get the project because they don’t have CO, so the existence of CO is a plus point for Sisobambowo.

Telling, sharing and identification of these success stories brought life in the dialogue by generating a sense of appreciation and proud among the members of community organization. Soon they realized that their organization made many success and they should not be frustrated of not being able to do only one - the construction of the bridge- for which they can continue their effort. They could also realize every day we do many good works for our family but it is not possible to meet all demand of all family members at a time. But not being fulfill one demand of a family member should not coz leaving of the guardian of the family. Unanimously all members in the meeting added “we will try to build the bridge but not being able to do so should not stop our other work”. They decided to have next meeting in the first week of December in which they will revise the yearly action plan and move. While coming back from Sisobambowo, on the way I had a small reflection meeting with the staff members of CKS-CMDRR team; I could clearly see the difference in their eyes and face from yesterday. Yesterday they came with feeling of regret and hostility; afraid and anxiety but today with sense of appreciation and enthusiasm. Months of stagnation and frustration transformed into power of moving forward when the TF members were facilitated to share their success stories –that gives life instead of doing postmortem of failure.

I did not know that the staff memebrs of CMDRR project of Caritas Sibolga liked it very much and they would jump on using appreciative story telling so quickly until I went though their annual reflection report 2009 which stated:

“At the end of 2009 in 13 new communities year end reflection meetings were held by using an appreciative approach (guiding questions of appreciative discussion,. Since in the past the process of analysis, awareness, mobilization and community organizing were performed by problem solving approach, in the year end reflection project team deliberately used another new approach (project team adopted this method from Appreciative Inquiry approach). The approach focuses on appreciative discourse that explores the positive side & the potential of community which aims to raise the pride and confidence of the community, so that through internal reflection they do, they find that they have their own power to do self help actions. Many activities came out from community initiatives actually already started to be done by the people since the CMDRR project started in their villages, even before the CO was formed. The experience of CMDRR team to perform appreciative approach in Sisobambowo and 13 communities in the year end appreciative reflection meeting has built the belief among the team members that the appreciative methods is very productive to motivate people to look at the future optimistically and confidently to develop themselves. “Appreciative approach” refer to an effort of facilitating a discourse, telling & sharing stories by exploring the positive & potential side of the community instead of focus on negative/deficit side that tend to raise frustration, hopeless & feeling of not confidence, something the team learned from “Appreciative Inquiry” approach. So CMDRR team will strengthen this approach in facilitating the further CMDRR process.”

2010 the Year of Challenge, Year of Hope: Reflection Notes on Implementation of 2nd Phase CMDRR, Caritas Sibolga, First Year, 2009

This case story put across few lessons for community empowerment facilitators:

· Language and vocabularies is not just a tool for reporting something or sharing ideas but language is the most powerful agent of changing, constructing and reconstructing realities; the way we speak, we form us and our reality.

· Instead of facilitating dialogues and discussions on deficit, community participation and community, management gets better momentum if they are facilitated to be engaged in dialogues and discussions through their success story telling.

· Success story telling not only center interaction processes of community but also generate great sense of appreciation among the community and the community facilitator thus enthusiasm to participate.

· Although it is better to apply 4D cycle[1] of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) without mixing it with Problem Solving approach but if an organization or project is not in position to make radical shift of its approach from PS to AI rapidly then it is also possible to apply ‘appreciative story telling/reflection’ that not only create better effects but also brings lessons and encouragement to the practitioners to learn more and practice AI .

Ample research findings and literature telling ‘starting with problem’ “ makes people / community dependent on outsiders while starting and moving with what the community have is contributory to genuine empowerment. CKS-CMDRR team has made a deliberate attempt of “shifting vocabularies of deficit into vocabularies of hope and strengths” in CMDRR- showing its positive contributions to develop self-reliant community organization. Be it DRR or Livelihood promotion or health & development, if we conceptualize community empowerment is not jut individualistic construction but collective wellbeing then it requires: a shift in focus from building individual capacity to what we can do together; genuine people’s participation and interaction; space for multiplicity - for local creativity and for different ways of learning; a learning culture that encourages community and change agents/ workers to be co-learners and co-constructors, and; working towards opening-up new possibilities. Facilitating success story telling and sharing contributes a lot. However, I would like to request CKS-CMDRR team to remain aware that AI is not just about shifting vocabularies but bringing multiple interaction processes as both unit of analysis and locus of change. I hope gradually the team would learn how to link concepts and approaches of relational/social construction of development and social change in AI cycle application; essential for social transformation.

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[1] 4D refers Discovery, Dream, Design, Destiny

Profile of works - 2010

March 2010: Nommensen University Indonesia: Design and conduct Evaluation of Capacity Building for Community Empowerment Towards Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development for The Center for Disaster Risk Management and Community Development Studies (CDRM&CDS) a department of HKBP Nommensen University, Indonesia.

June 2010: Cordaid Indonesia: Design and conduct training for its local Partner NGO PUSAKA Indonesia on Community Mobilization and Organization Development
in Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction


July 2010: Caritas Asia: working in Ind1a together with a German Consultant to review and strengthen training manuals on family and community level emeregency disaster response preparedness.

October 2010: GTZ India & Government of West Bengal India: Visit Sundarbans and conduct a consultation with community and other stakeholders to assess climate change vulnerability and determine measures and suggested strategies for climate change adaptation. Develop a innovative conceptual and processual project framework as basis to design a pilot project proposal . Design and write a pilot project plan based on the framework. I prepared an innovation framework for climate change adaptation entitled: Participatory Local Innovations and Action (PLIA) for Climate Change Adaptation.

November 2010: OXFAM-GB-Bangladesh: Design and conduct final project evaluation on "Building Community Resilience to Floods in Central Region of Bangladesh with the funding support of European Commission Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid – (ECHO) under V- DIPECHO action plan.

December 2010: Caritas Keskeupan Sibolga, Indonesia: Design and facilitate Participatory Mid Term Review (PMTR) of the project " Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction

Profile of Previous Works-November- December 2009

November 15 to December 8, 2009
Mauloboh and Nias , Indonesia.

In Mauloboh I facilitated a seminar " Community Management Promotion" organized by Caritas Switzerland ; participated by project staff and partner organizations of Caritas Switzerland, Indonesia.

In Nias, I worked for Caritas Keuskupan Sibolga. The first part of the work was to conduct a training to the staff on Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation and second part was Facilitating a workshop on Use of Performing Arts in Community Education and Awareness Creation".

On December 9/09 I am back Philippines. Have to prepare a new consultancy proposal by next two days . By December 2009 and January 2010 I wish to prepare some concept note too.

Testimonial by Anat Prag, Cordaid Liaison Office, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Shayamal Saha is an innovator; he leads those that he works with in reflection, analysis and development so that we are stronger, more focused, and better able analyze our actions to learn.

Shayamal has provided technical assistance to CRS (whom I worked for until July 2008) and CRS’ partners in Aceh, Nias and Jakarta since 2007 in the implementation of a series of Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction projects which aim to strengthen capacity of Caritas agencies in Indonesia to develop an environment of safety and resilience at all levels.

Shayamal’s technical assistance has contributed to supporting local partners facilitate and apply DRR through their work in communities and parishes, developing CMDRR Training and Tools, and consolidating learning to strengthen the work of the partners as they prepare to mainstream the approach.

Shayamal has become deeply involved in supporting local partners develop their institutional capacity through establishment of 14 CMDRR Learning projects in local communities in Aceh, Nias and North Sumatra. Shayamal has equipped local Caritas DRR Teams with the concepts, methods and tools of facilitating the CMDRR process with community organizations.

Through these projects, Shayamal has provided technical assistance through direct field based activities with the partners and in the communities they serve, and electronic back-stopping to the partners. He rapidly immerses himself in the projects, partners’ perspective and local context so that within days of his first technical support he is able to understand and support partners in their learning and reflection, and understand the needs, priorities and challenges as faced by the communities. His skills in engaging partners in self reflection and analysis have provided space and opportunity for a deep learning experience on the part of the local partners. His confidence in Community Organizing and CMDRR application and analysis in the Indonesian context has contributed significantly to strategic developments in the work of the Caritas agencies in Indonesia, with contribution to CMDRR being mainstreamed with the establishment of a platform for capacity building and training network resource team.

It has been a pleasure and honor working with professional as dedicated and skilled as Shayamal, through his approaches he has brought new learning to work of the Indonesia partners and deep insights that has strengthened and developed our shared work.

Anat Prag

Cordaid Liaison Office Yogyakarta

Indonesia

January 2009

Testimonial by Barbara Dettori. Delegate, Caritas Italy to Indonesia

Caritas Keuskupan Sibolga

Kotak Pos 44, GUNUNG SITOLI 22800 NIAS

Tel: +62 (0639) 7000 348

Email: caritas@keuskupan-sibolga.org

Website: caritas.keuskupan-sibolga.org

When I first met Shayamal it was on a Sunday, on his first visit in Nias island. He came with his colleague from IIRR to start a capacity building project for Caritas Sibolga, the organisation I had been accompanying for a long time.

I have to confess that my first impression was not very positive. Probably because I had already sacrificed too many Sunday afternoons to work, and I had hoped that the meeting would not take long, or because it was my first time to hear someone speaking English with a Bangladeshi accent, anyway I briefly concluded that “this man talks too much and it is not even clear what he says”. The next time I listened to him was over a lunch, when he was talking about something about the self. I remember I got lost in his argument on whether “is yourself really yourself?” or something like that. I even got to think that he must have been a bit crazy.

Not long after that I started to realise how far my fast and superficial judgement was from reality. What I had in front of me was not only a real expert of development work, but a truly passionate innovator. As soon as I gave up the hasty impatience, typical of western people, that often brings us not to really listen to the people we have in front of us; as soon as I tried to go beyond my prejudice and really concentrate in his words, I entered a new world, like that secret garden hiding behind a small door which opens up to fantastic colours and adventures. “This man is a genius” was my next thought!

After studying so much development theory for my master’s degree, for the first time I had in front of me a person joining his theoretical knowledge with his many years’ experience in the field and – what is more – for the first time it was not the usual arrogant German consultant wanting to teach everybody, but someone who started all from his village, from his childhood, someone who made of development work not only a theory but a belief, a realistic way to change our world to be a better place.

After that, every time he came I regretted that because of my work, I did not have time to attend his workshops for Caritas Sibolga staff. But I really enjoyed all the meetings and dinners spent together, where each and every of his words were like water in the desert, or, to be precise, like hearing the right things to do in an island where most organisations unfortunately did the wrong thing. I could never forget his tales on how he started to promote gender equality in his village, by teaching girls to ride a bicycle, or his challenge to the studies on the causes of poverty: why not study the causes of richness instead? Not to mention his experiments towards alternative methodologies rather than the classic problem-based approach, that everybody still takes for granted in my country. Why only ask the people: what are your problems? You depress them! Ask them “what are your resources” and build on them.

Shayamal immediately understood the incredible potential that there is in Nias people. The same people who are often judged as lazy and stubborn by NGOs he saw as the agents of change: the project he accompanied was successful also because it aimed at injecting self confidence in the people: you can do it! And the miracle was done. The lazy and stubborn became self-managed and open-minded.

In short, Shayamal represents for me the true passion for a development work that is in constant adaptation to new contexts, innovation and research, and is alimented by a true passion for this work. Although I am much younger and my experience is not even comparable to him, sometimes I get discouraged by the cynical attitudes of the practitioners in this field. Donors-led projects, projects looking well on paper but not in the field, pages of lessons learnt ignored by the next project planning, in spite of the cult of the project cycle. But Shayamal is different: he goes to the heart of the methodology and he challenges you by asking you, but on the field, did you really do it? Because I have done it, and I can tell you the story…

Barbara Dettori.

Delegate, Caritas Italy to Indonesia

Professional Biography

For more about my present job and organization visit
http://www.apcononline.com
For more photographs of my professional activities visit
http://picasaweb.google.com/shayamalsaha

I have more than 20 years of experience in both grassroots and international development. I worked with national - international NGOs and donor agencies including 7 years with International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), Philippines as Training Specialist, Program Specialist for Organizational Learning, Leadership and Development. Presently I am working as Independent International Trainer and Consultant . I founded Voluntary Organization for Rural Development; a national NGO and extensively contributed in developing DASCOH; a Swiss Red Cross mandated technical organization in Bangladesh. I have worked as a consultant in South and South East Asia for NGOs, bilateral, multilateral and international agencies and institute include IIRR-Philippines, NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation (NGOF-DWSS), Plan International, EDM, ICDDRB, Japanese & German Red Cross, SDC, World Bank, UNDP, GTZ-Philippines, WaterAid- , Bangladesh Ministry of Environment, and Local Government and Rural Development, , PROLINNOVA-Cambodia , CRS and several Caritas Family organizations in Indonesia and Trocaire in Timor Leste. I have pioneered a number of innovative approach and tools include Community Identified Significant Change (CISC) , Promotion of Self-help through Appreciative Inquiry, Functional Health Literacy, Community Managed Livelihood Promotion Towards Disaster Risk Reduction . I have also been a leading contributor in facilitating participatory consultation process in preparation of the National Environment Management Action Plan (MEMAP) in Bangladesh and in Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia and Timor Leste . I hold a Master of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Rajshshai , Bangladesh; a Master of Intercultural and International Management from the School for International Training (SIT), U. S. A., a diploma in NGO Leadership and Management from the Global Partnership program and a Diploma on Environmental Education form the Nehru Foundation – India. Besides working as adjunct faculty with the SIT-USA, I am pursuing a PhD in Social Science focusing on the application of Relational Construction Processes and Appreciative Inquiry in social and organizational change under Tilburg University of the Netherlands in collaboration with TAOS institute of USA. As part of my professional exposure I have designed and conducted international training courses workshops and seminars in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan , Laos, Nepal, Netherlands, Philippines , Thailand, Timor Leste , Senegal , and USA.