ONE team member described this week’s UK-Nigeria meeting as “very thought-provoking”. Well I can certainly concur with that!
The bulk of the session was spent discussing the Knowledge Resource Centre. It was important that the team all shared their vision of what the KRC future might be.
One of the fundamental starting points was for us all to recognise the importance of our own learning journey. This is a “foreign” concept for many, who often see only formal accredited education as having worth or importance.
The group were able to see that the staff at Fantsuam Foundation are in fact incredible role models. All are self-directed learners - each with their own unique and impressive learning journeys. One example is Comfort who attended some initial basic workshops re Microfinance, and has gone on to establish the very successful and sustainable Microfinance programme at Fantsuam in rural Nigeria. She is now regarded as a true expert in this field, able to offer valuable insight and training for others both locally and globally.
Another example of a skill learned on a team member’s journey was that of Chollom who, once introduced to Twitter, went away and mastered the skillls he needed to become the Dadamac Twitter Ambassador. He now successfully Tweets regularly from rural Nigeria and will pass on his largely self-taught skills to others.
Other news from Fantsuam included:
An email contribution from John Dada which informed the team that - in reaction to the recent spate of ill health and road traffic accidents among FF staff - plans are in hand to implement a pension and health insurance scheme once the intricacies can be worked out.
This will put FF among the first few civil society organisations in Nigeria to roll out such a welfare package for its staff. The intention is that it will also be offered to FF’s microfinance clients.
It was a Muslim Festival this week and we were told that Sallah wrappers were given to the 14 Muslim grandmothers in their Kakas programme. In all, the Kakas programme supports over 80 grandmothers who are caring for their orphaned grandchildren.
In further news, we were excited to learn that the roof on the new Sickle Cell/diagnostic Laboratory is in the process of being put in place.