Blog

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,...

Tony Robert's blog on Death of ICT4D 'Greatly Exaggerated' and the reference he makes to Ken Banks sounding the death knell of ICT4D for several years, prompts me to add my perspective on ICT4D. A non-academic perspective I'm not part of academia, or any other "expenses paying" organisation. This means that if I do go to any ICT4D conferences I have to foot the bills myself and I have to go in my own time, so I don't usually go. December 2010 was an exception. ICTD conferences are held about every 18 months and move from country to country. ICTD2010...

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...

It was a pleasant surpise to read a Dadamac contact form message today that had substance (after a run of spammy adverts). It was from Kris Dev. I connect that name with the name of Peter Burgess and with various posts they have written over the years about transparency, accounting and development. I have copied and pasted the message below, just as it arrived in my inbox, please forgive me if the result therefore includes some odd formatting. Your Message: True Democracy and devolution is a failure the worldover. Authority and autocracy in various names and forms is ruling the...

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...