As usual the weekly news from Fantsuam Foundation this week was impressive - especially as it was all condensed into an hour during the online skype meeting.
John chaired the meeting initially, but needed to leave slightly early as he was required to attend to the VSO visitors. VSO was visiting John and the team for the joint annual review of their programmes with FF. We look forward to hearing how this went next week.
However, before John left he was able to give us an excellent update and feedback about the partners meeting of the Network for Water and Sanitation in Nigeria. He attended this meeting last week in Kaduna. John shared with us that the WASH programme is to be developed at FF. John explained that WASH stood for “Water and Sanitation Hygiene” and he plans to work with the Community Health Committees to promote WASH. He also told us that Typhoid and other water borne diseases are sadly on the increase. John said that he really needs dedicated staff to develop FF’s vision into a cohesive programme. John explained that there is a National Water Resource Institute in Kaduna, that is expected to drive the process. There is also a Civil society which has an umbrella body, called NEWSAN, (Network for Water and Sanitation in Nigeria) of which FF is member of the Steering Committee. WaterAid is the technical adviser to NEWSAN.
John went on to explain that water scarcity is hitting farming communities hard and queried if this was due to climate change. He said that rain harvesting is not widely known but remains one sure source of water for these rural communities. John explained that FF as part of this network are looking to apply for suitable grants.
It was reported that there is renewed hope that the French Embassy grant will be finally approved, so that FF can resume water and habitat management work at Attachab.
Pam explained that the Coalition of the Willing are also interested in this issue and John went on to say “ It certainly is an important issue, and it will be good to make contacts with research institutions/ universities to undertake collaborative research into WASH ….[snip]
matching up with people with interest in water and sanitation in developing economies will be useful”
John then went onto explain that he had 12 staff attending various training events this week:
4 in Abuja for the International Volunteers Day
4 in Zaria for the ESSPIN workshop
4 attending ICAP training on Home based care in Kafanchan
This led John to comment that at some stage FF will need a Human Resource Manager to coordinate the various trainings etc. This is because John says that FF gets invited to so many events and he is not sure how best to streamline them to ensure FF’s work does not suffer while so many staff attend them.
Pam went on to say that she thought that John "pays" his staff with training /information as well as money .
Help is on the way for John though, as Kelechi told him that he hopes that the new HR Software Moshood has designed will help FF keep track of the numerous staff movements.
Knowledge Resource Centre: Kelechi told us about the newest activities planned for the KRC namely the Kids Club and Learning about Living (LAL)
Kelechi told us that the LAL programme will be resuming in May when the funding comes through. The children will be between the ages of 12 - 17 years. FF told us that will be training additional instructors for this project.John said that: We see the LAL as part of helping reduce stigma for children living with AIDS