This is an archive of the Dadamac.net website, as it was in 2015, it is no longer being updated.

Frances's Blog

Age Demands Action in Kafanchan

Submitted by Frances on 14 April 2014 - 1:51pm
World Health Day celebrations Fantsuam celebrated World Health Day by inviting some of the Kakas, the elderly grandparents whom it supports, to a discussion on health matters over lunch. Mercy, Fantsuam’s communications officer, was fully occupied in making all the logistical arrangements including providing transport and lunch to make the day a success. The theme for this year’s World Health day was vector borne diseases and the Kakas learned about two diseases which were particularly relevant to their community - malaria and river blindness. The Government needs to be aware of the needs of the elderly when considering measures to...

The daily internet challenge at Fantsuam

Submitted by Frances on 28 March 2014 - 2:47pm
What a difference a place makes. When John was in the UK some time ago, he told me that he had managed to write about seven proposals in a few weeks. In contrast the work would take weeks or months if he was working in Fantsuam in Nigeria. It is easy to take for granted, in places where there is more or less uninterrupted electricity supply and internet access, how great is the challenge to get even the simplest things done. In Kafanchan there is rarely electricity and it is of low or fluctuating voltage which damages equipment. In addition,...

Community Radio Update

Submitted by Frances on 24 March 2014 - 8:36pm
Chequered history Since 2003 Fantsuam Foundation has been involved in various advocacy efforts for the establishment of Community Radio in Nigeria. Efforts to get more traction into the advocacy efforts have been quite challenging, with a chequered history and sometimes it is not too clear what progress has been made. However the need for this ‘Voice of the People’ continues to grow within development and civil society circles. Fantsuam Foundation felt so optimistic about the Nigerian Government’s future approval of community radio licences that it began human capacity building and equipment mobilization in 2008. The increasing development challenges in Nigeria...

Fantsuam sets up a Health Management Team

Submitted by Frances on 23 March 2014 - 9:05pm
Mercy Dogary provided this information about the development of Fantsuam's health services. Fantsuam rural health service Fantsuam Foundation HIV/AIDS services have witnessed remarkable growth through the sustained support of the Centre for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP) and the Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN). It serves two support groups for people living with Aids (PLWA) and people affected by Aids (PABA) totalling 400 people, provides baseline laboratory tests for 229 vulnerable children and gives support to 363 children to attend school, providing fees, books, uniforms, and school sandals. It works with a 20-member Child Protection Committee and a 13-member...

Money on the move

Submitted by Frances on 5 March 2014 - 7:04pm
Mercy has sent this blog from Fantsuam in Nigeria Fantsuam going into mobile money Although the Nigerian Central Bank has been encouraging the reduction of cash transactions through the introduction of debit cards, eMoney and transfers, financial transactions in rural communities continue to be largely by cash. When the ‘Growing Businesses Foundation’ asked if Fantsuam would be its partner in introducing a pilot Mobile Money scheme to rural women, it was an appealing idea. Fantsuam’s experience of cash transactions in its microfinance service shows that cash has serious security lapses. In contrast, Fantsuam is aware of the easy uptake of...

Fantsuam takes on the water and sanitation challenge with her host community

Submitted by Frances on 19 February 2014 - 5:24pm
Mercy describes the latest challenge taken on by Fantsuam Foundation Introducing communal stategies close to home Fantsuam Foundation is the North West Zonal HQ for the Water and Sanitation Network of Nigeria, NEWSAN. Supported by UNICEF we have been involved in promoting communal hygiene in the states of Bauchi and Jigawa so we decided it was time we introduced some of the communal hygiene strategies to our host community, BayanLoco in Kafanchan. What do we do about open sewers and defecation? BayanLoco is an unplanned peri-urban slum of about 50,000 people with poor roads and no planned drainage. How do...

Dadamac Internet Access Challenges

Submitted by Frances on 12 February 2014 - 10:21am
Mercy from Fantsuam Foundation in Nigeria describes the challenges of internet access in Nigeria. A regular Dadamac meeting The Dadamac meeting is scheduled for 9am (GMT) every Tuesday with Pamela and Frances in the UK and the Fantsuam team in Kafanchan, via Skype. A recent meeting is an example of what it takes to stay connected across the digital divide. The power pack on John’s laptop packed up suddenly and the ZittNet team could not fix it, not even by cannibalizing old or disused power packs. They suspected it was caused by the erratic voltage fluctuation. Fantsuam’s 5-Year free internet...

Fantsuam at the 2013 MIFOS Summit in Jaipur, India

Submitted by Frances on 7 November 2013 - 10:04pm
Microfinance Open Source Comfort Kazanka talks about attending a conference in Jaipur, India Microfinance Open Source, MIFOS, an initiative of the Grameen Foundation, is the financial software produced for the microfinance industry. The software provides key functionality for financial inclusion providers, client management, portfolio management, loan repayment tracking, fee and savings transactions, accounting, internal control, and reporting. Fantsuam Foundation was the first community-based organization in northern Nigeria to develop and deploy an integrated development model with microfinance as its core service. Sharing our experience of implementing MIFOS, with the assistance of VSO Gayl Kennedy, was awarded the August Star in...

Age Demands Action in Kafanchan

Submitted by Frances on 26 October 2013 - 4:31pm
A message to His Excellency the Governor of Kaduna State, through the elders in Kafanchan: Age Demands Action (ADA) fights for the rights of older people On October 03 rd , 2013, elders in Kafanchan celebrated the International Day of Older Persons as part of the Age Demands Action, ADA program. Age Demands Action (ADA) was launched in 2007 in 27 countries and it has rapidly grown in 62 countries where it helps to challenge age discrimination and fight for the rights of older people. Older people are at the heart of ADA since they are best suited to become...

Hoping for good news about the Fantsuam rural health centre

Submitted by Frances on 10 October 2013 - 9:17pm
John writes from Nigeria: Outstanding volunteers Fantsuam Foundation has hosted over 50 international volunteers but there are two in recent memory whose continued commitment and friendship has been outstanding. Laurie Ellis and Dori Villa are two volunteers Fantsuam will not forget in a long, long time. It was Laurie that took Fantsuam through the organizational development process that led to the development of its 2009-2014 Strategic Plan and a robust internal structure. That structure was put to a severe test in the aftermath of the violent post election crisis in 2011. It is a testament to the relevance and cohesion...

Pages