From Harambee Wiki

Contents 1 Review of the Planning Stage Interview 2 Questions for Reviewing the Activity 2.1 Question1: Situation 2.2 Question 2: Outcomes 2.3 Question 3: Actions

Review of the Planning Stage Interview

The previous interview conducted at the initial start of the project concerning the diagnosis of the situation, the expected outcomes, the actions to be undertaken and their relevance to the realisation of the expected outcomes was revisited for the new interview purposes.

Situation

• Need for research in New ICTs with respect to African development and written in African languages
• Need for coordinated and synergised effort in identifying the priority areas of actions in this research endeavour
• Development partners of Africa should recognise and support research networks in their quest to acquire self-sustaining capacities.
• The little research carried out in Africa is not shared yet it should be

Outcomes

• On-line publication of the network newsletter and specialised journal to stimulate and sustain a team spirit and collective research.
• Members share knowledge and information on their experiences and practices.
• Research is further encouraged on ICTs development in different sectors particularly in the area of education in African languages.
• ICTs content development is based on African achievements and genuine knowledge.

Actions

• Permanent animation of network through information sharing.
• Promotion of research in ICTs development within the network.
• Dissemination of research findings through appropriate channels
• Training of personnel member institutions in specific priority areas of ICT development
• ICTs content development takes into account African problems and research endeavours.
• Partnership with specialised institutions or companies for the development of keyboards in minority African languages.

Questions for Reviewing the Activity

Interview conducted with Blasius on January 16, 2007 during the Harambee End of Phase I & Phase II Planning Workshops

Question1: Situation

a. In what way were you mistaken about the situation?

We think that we were not mistaken by the situation. Instead, we really appreciated the situation because the diagnosis we did is still valid.

b. Which of my assumptions about the situation misled you?

Finances came later than was expected. This hampered the execution of the plan. This evaluation process is actually too close to the arrival of funds.

c. What have you learned? What different conclusions would you reach about similar situations in the future?

The Harambee project, itself, is at its initial stage and is also learning from its relationship with its projects. As for the future, if we are faced with similar situations, we would understand that these are constraints attached to the launching of new projects and that these temporal issues that could be addressed with time.

Question 2: Outcomes

a. In what ways were you mistaken about the desirability of the pursued outcomes?

We have no regrets as to our desires vis-à-vis this project given that pursued outcomes were graded in the short, mid and long-terms. This means naturally that we could not have been expecting to have all the outcomes realised at the same time.

b. Which of your reasons for favouring those outcomes misled you?

Communication with other networks was hard to come through. We took for granted that member networks would react promptly.

c. What have you learned? What outcomes will you try to pursue when next in such situation in the future?

We have learnt to exercise patience but also pressure on network members to bring them on board. In a network, patience is vital because it gives us time to understand the other members. But on the other hand, pressure is also necessary to bring those who are active to deliver the best they can at the right time.

Question 3: Actions

a. Did you succeed in carrying out the planned actions? If not, what prevented or discouraged you? What have you learnt about yourself, your skills, your attitudes, etc?

In the short-term planned actions the first issue of the newsletter has been realised and articles for the specialised journal are being assembled. We have learnt that sometimes, our enthusiasm makes us to overestimate the ability of members to promptly make input into the project.

b. If you did carry out the actions, in what ways were you mistaken about the effects they would have? Which of your assumptions about the actions misled you?

We expected member networks to react and to cooperate in contributing to the newsletter and the specialised journal in due time but things turned out differently.

c. What have you learnt? What actions would you try next time you are pursuing similar actions in similar situations?

We have learnt that it is important to take time to prepare actions plans and to limit them to specific funding duration exigencies. Also, we have learnt that funding agencies have authority in determining the nature and duration of project execution. Sometimes, this is contrary to the willingness and vision of the executing agency.

d. When will be your next opportunity to make use of the new insights? What will you do to make use of them?

We are now undertaking a project funded by ECA and the Government of Finland in putting computer information system based in Cameroon local languages in two primary schools. We shall use these rural electronic schools project as a real opportunity for the concrete application of ICTs. This will be done with the dynamic cooperation of the community as a whole.

Benefits from the Harambee project as working together strategy will be used for the success of this project.