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Report of FMA-NDF 8th Annual meet 2011

Date 11–15 November, 2011

Venue : Mornese, Yercaud, Chennai.

Host : Chennai Province

Organizer : NDF

Resource person : Fr. Joe Xavier, S J

Participants : 37 ( Sisters & Lay staff) from six provinces

FMA-NDF Annual Meet is the coming together of FMAs engaged in Development sector

in South Asia. It is always a joyous occasion where there are lots of sharing and learning takes

place. This year the FMA-NDF 8th Annual Meet 2011 was held at Mornese, Yercaud, Tamilnadu

from 11 to 15 November 2011. The FMAs of South Asian provinces and their lay staff, all

together 37 members, participated in it. The participants were given a warm welcome with

garland and sandal paste. The inaugural prayer led by Sr. Azarias Arokia Mary Selvi and her

team made everyone feel at home and enter into the event joyously. Each participant was

given an Ahal (lamp) and asked to light it from the main Kuthuvilakku (Lamp) and to place it

around the colourful iconogram symbolizing the whole universe and the children of God.

Children of Tiruppur Marialaya staged a wonderful prayer dance and also offered cultural

extravaganza. The joyous multi-coloured dances depicting the cultural ethos of different states

of India were vibrant reminding each one of us of the different religious and cultural

communities among whom the apostolic mission is carried out by the FMAs today.

Sr. Mary Dora, NDFC welcomed the gathering and said that Annual meet is an occasion

in which we, the FMAs working in the social development sector come together to share our

best practices, successes, failures and challenges so that we learn from one another and grow

as one body of FMA South Asia. Sr. Alphonsa Yettukuri, the Vice Provincial, INM gave the

inaugural address and conveyed to the participants the blessings of Sr. Magnificat, the

Provincial of INM. She kindled the hearts of the participants with her words “We have an energy

that comes from God to reach development to the vulnerable people and liberate them”. The

keynote address by Mr. Ganesh Raj from IL&FS highlighted the various possibilities where

FMAs can network with and give training for the underprivileged. Ms. Maithe` Beels on behalf

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of VIA DON BOSCO appreciated the sisters and encouraged FMAs to work together for greater

achievements.

After the inauguration, Fr. Joe Xavier, the NDF consultant explained the purpose and

dynamics of the Annual Meet. He said that FMA-NDF is gaining ground among the people and

in the congregation and in the recent years there is palpable growth in the development

sector, organizationally and programmatically. He highlighted the role of the SDCs in the

development process of the Provinces and insisted that together FMAs can make the

difference. He also commented that annual meet is not a workshop or seminar or conference.

It is a coming together to share and learn from one another and so each person is a resource

person in this annual meet. He continued to explain the purpose of the meet as follows:

To Share with one another the best practices, lessons learnt, struggles and pains

undergone and the joy of working in social ministry.

To identify the challenges faced individually and collectively in the context of emerging

developmental issues, problems and approaches.

To discuss current developmental issues, emerging concepts in development

discourses, new development approaches and strategies.

To celebrate successes and achievements and the recognition and the awards received

for our services.

To plan for the future based on previous experiences, challenges and current

development discourses.

In the following session Sr. Anna T, SDC Bangalore and Sr. Annie, SDC, Guwahati

Province presented their Annual reports and the session was chaired by Sr. Juliana Rosario of

Kolkata province. The participants highly appreciated Bangalore and Guwahati teams for their

well prepared report as per the format. Soon after the session, the assembly congratulated Sr.

Anna. T for having received two awards namely “Excellence Award for National Social

Activity” from Global Achievers Foundation, Delhi, and “INDIA GOLD STAR-2010 for individual

contribution for social economic growth” from Intellectual People and Economic Growth

Association, Delhi. Sr. Alphonsa, the vice Provincial, INM honored her with a shawl. And Ms.

Maithe and Fr. Joe, SDCs and the all the participants congratulated her with flowers. The post

lunch session was chaired by Sr. Agnes Fernandez from Bangalore Province where Mumbai,

Shillong, Kolkata and Chennai SDCs presented their annual reports. The annual reports of the

SDCs were comprehensive as per the new format and brought out the one year hard labour of

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the SDCs and their teams. The annual report covered not only of Master Plan 2011 activities

but the whole gamut of works done by the SDOs at different levels. All the SDCs and their

teams were appreciated by participants for their hard work throughout the year.

Highlights and observations

Struggles and difficulties were taken as challenges.

Sharing of success stories added impact on the presentation.

Widening of networks enhanced skill development programmes.

Collaboration of the laity was highly appreciated

Accessing Government funds is praiseworthy

It was indeed a great moment for everyone to see the second issue of “FMA-NDF Voices”

on the theme “Reaching education to drop-outs and non literates” being released by Sr.

Alphonsa, the Vice Provincial, INM province. She appreciated Sr. Mary Dora and her team for

their achievements in short duration. This was followed yet another historical event, namely

the launching of FMA-NDF website www.fmandf.org. Ms. Maithé Beels, the representative of

VIA DON BOSCO launched the website. Mr. Andrew Michael, the NDF programme coordinator

briefly explained to the floor on how to access the website. Fr. Joe Xavier pointed out that the

SDCs are responsible to update their pages and make it reader friendly.

Feedback by Fr. Joe Xavier

• Inaugural function was creative, meaningful and provided a good start.

• The maiden initiative in bringing a resource person from a corporate sector in line with

our works served our purpose.

• He appreciated the hard work put up by the sisters of Chennai province and the

planning done by NDFO and expressed that the inaugural function created positive

vibrations among the participants.

• A lot of hard work was involved in preparing the annual report and all the SDCs

adhered to new reporting format. The reports were of high quality, easy to follow and

systematic covering all areas. He also pointed out that how while adhering to the

format one could be creative as done by Shillong Province.

• Each province has got its own way of reaching out to people with contextualised

strategies. Overall, growth of the sector is conspicuous and visible though levels are

different.

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• The richness is the variety of intervention strategies deployed in development sector

like non-formal and technical education, health works, employment, organisation and

mobilisation, rights based training on HR, RTI, RTE and training of trainers.

• Linkage with government programmes like NHRM, CAPART and NABARD and expansion

of skill based training through MoRD have helped the FMAs to reach out to many.

The entire day was well moderated by Sr. Isabella of INM with occasional humourous games.

SECOND DAY

The second day started with the review of the previous day presented by Bangalore

Province. The floor appreciated the detailed report.

Technical meet (TM)

Ms. Maithé Beels from VIA DON BOSCO introduced the Technical Meet which is going

to be held in Mumbai in the first week of February 2012. She discussed on two levels namely

Exit/Phase out and/or Continuation.

WHY Technical Meet?

• Background: VIA Don Bosco is going to reduce the number of countries to 10 from 25

• Starting preparations for phase out/exit strategy for countries not selected

• Starting formulation of new programme for selected countries (2014-2016)

She said that the selection of countries will be based on a thorough evaluation process which

is being carried out already. The final decision will be made by the board of directors of VIA

DON BOSCO and will be communicated to the partners in the last week of December 2011 or

at the latest by the first week of January 2012. The decision will have an impact on the specific

programme for the Technical Meet.

If India is not selected: exit/phase out through a capacity building programme,

If India is selected: continuation through combined strategy for national networks

(DBAI + NDF) and a selected/limited number of provinces. Team India (Mr. Danny, Mr. Marc

and Ms. Maud) will fine tune the specific/details of the programme for the TM in the coming

months.

Exit phase-out:

Technical Meet will serve as kick off moment to start up the planning and formulation

of a Capacity Building programme - formulation in 2012 and implementation in 2013. The TM

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will then be used, among other things to give information and tools on how to analyse the

capacity building needs and include information on funding opportunities.

Tentative timeline

• February 2012: 1st Technical Meet

• Feb- April 2012: CB self analysis by the networks + core team

• June-Sept 2012: Formulation of CB programme and OP

• Oct 2012: Fine tuning during the 2nd Technical Meet

• January 2013: Implementation CB programme

Continuation:

TM will serve as kick off moment to start the planning and formulation of a new programme

2014-2016 for the national networks (NDF + DBAI) and selected provinces. The TM will then

give tools and information on the strategic framework, internal and external context analysis

etc. to help in the formulation of a programme through a combined strategy – one programme

at 2 levels.

• National level: Strengthening the networks and capacity building initiatives towards the

provinces but no activities aimed directly at the beneficiaries

• Province level : activities aimed at the final beneficiaries in selected provinces

Since the budget is limited VIA Don Bosco cannot take up all provinces and the selection

process of the provinces will depend on three dimensions:

• Will be based on the answers to the questionnaire

• In light of the priorities of VIA Don Bosco

• Priority list of possible intervention regions based on HDI and other development

indicators

Tentative timeline

• February: 1st TM

• Feb-March: external context analysis and CB needs analysis

• June/July: formulation workshop

• Sept: internal context analysis

• Oct: 2nd Technical Meet

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At the end Fr. Joe made a point that whichever province is expecting change of SDCs it

would be better that the new SDCs attend the Mumbai Technical Meet so that the process is

taken to its logical end.

Impact of the Master Plan 2011

In the second session of the day Bangalore, Shillong and Mumbai provinces presented

their reports on the impact of the Master Plan 2011 and the session of the day was chaired by

Mr. Andrew Michael. Sr. Gemima Pohrmen chaired the post lunch session in which Guwahati,

Kolkata and Chennai presented their reports. After every presentation, the participants made

their clarification and appreciated the works of the respective SDCs and her team. At the end

Sr. Mary Dora Stanislaus, NDFC presented the NDF Annual Report 2010-11. The session was

chaired by Mr. Sahayam, Programme coordinator, INM Chennai province. She presented a

detailed activity report of NDF. The participants appreciated Sr. Dora and her team for the

achievements and bringing more visibility to FMA-NDF through brochure, newsletters and

website.

Based on the reports Fr. Joe raised a question for further reflection by the floor. He said

that we are preparing youth with different types of employability skills and they are being

placed in corporate companies. How do we ensure that those who are placed are not

exploited for cheap labour and their due rights are protected? He asked the group to share

their successes, failures and challenges and some of the practices which are helpful in this

regard. The following points emerged from the floor.

• It is good to have Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with companies clearly

stating our conditions.

• Follow up of the people who are placed in companies is a must.

• We could promote direct campus interviews and at that time we could ensure that the

companies are reliable and they respect the rights of the workers.

• Maithe` shared on the growing importance given to ethics in business. She said that in

any agreements made or networking by FMAs there cannot be any compromise on the

non-negotiables like core principles and values.

Personal sharing

In the last session of the day, Fr. Joe divided the participants into five groups and asked

them to make a personal sharing on “My Joys and struggles in social ministry and how I

overcome difficulties when faced”. When the group sharing got over, one or two persons from

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each group shared in the house both joys and struggles without naming anybody. At the end

Fr. Joe shared on the emerging scenarios in most congregations with regard to social ministry.

• The priority for every congregation is to maintain and run all its institutions despite the

decline in vocations. We are not able to prioritize our ministries and give up the works

which have low priorities. So there are less people sent for social ministry and there are

also less volunteers for this sector.

• Those in social ministry must be both credible and with good capacities as this ministry

is with a number of external challenges over which we do not have much control.

• It is ironic that many who join social ministry after retirement from institutions say that

only after getting into social ministry they feel that they are living their true religious

life. But still among the young there is a mad rush for institutions.

• The world of the religious and lay collaborators is totally different and both have to

take efforts to build a team. The religious have to be sensitive to the problems and

needs of the lay collaborators and the lay collaborators have to work in a responsible

manner.

Feedback by Fr. Joe Xavier

• While appreciating the accompaniment of VIA DON BOSCO, we have to understand

their strengths and limitations. Funding is difficult today. VIA DON BOSCO understands

our needs but their choices are limited because of the restrictions of the Belgian

government.

• FMAs need to build a team (Core Team) who will proactively engage in the future

processes and making use the capacities built through VIA DON BOSCO programmes.

FMAs need to go beyond VIA DON BOSCO and look for new donors / partners. For

example, if NDFO can generate some funds for staff and programme cost for NCP –

Child rights, Citizenship rights, sensitization of the community will be carried out in a

big way. VIA DON BOSCO will not be able to get into this aspect.

• Master Plan was a maiden attempt towards building FMA-NDF with national visibility.

During the last one year capacity building for the core members (sisters and lay staff)

particularly at NDFO and SDO level was planned and done well.

• With limited budget in the Master Plan the changes made at the grassroots particularly

with children is highly appreciable.

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• Child Rights strengthened through NCPs and we have many success stories. He asked

all the six provinces to document all success stories of NCP so that it could be published

sometime later.

• VTCs have got face lift with MoRD. Further reflection is needed on linkages with

corporate sector and private companies.

• NDFO has become a rallying point for the provinces. Definitely the growth is

praiseworthy.

• Recognition by PCI and other ministry sectors looking up to us social ministry is a good

sign. He asked the SDCs to share their expertise with other sectors and train them as

well.

• We can proudly say that FMA-NDF is a reality today.

With his valuable comments the day was concluded. The day was moderated by Sr. Rona

Kharkongor of Shillong Province.

THIRD DAY

The day began with a prayer specifically remembering children all over the world being

the Children’s Day. The day was moderated by Mr. Mukul Das. First, Kolkata province

presented the review of the previous day. Ms. Maithé made some major clarifications on the

report on technical meet. She once again explained some key elements of the Technical meet

and asked the floor to clarify their doubts if any. After some deliberations the participants

expressed that they have understood the purpose and dynamics of the meet.

In the first session Fr. Joe explained organizational and programmatic development in the

context of social ministry today. He sent the participants into groups and asked them to

discuss on the below things;

Lessons learnt

identifying the Best practices

Challenges (internal and external) faced

The secretaries of the five groups came out with the lessons learnt, best practices and the

challenges faced. Fr. Joe posed some critical questions on the report and asked the groups to

articulate the points in a precise manner. Then all the participants went for early lunch and

proceeded for the exposure visit.

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Exposure Visit

The exposure visit was arranged to Montfort Community School, located at

Kombuthooki, Yercaud about an hour journey from Mornese. Br. George, the present

provincial and pioneer of this school asked Fr. Francis Xavier to facilitate the visit. Fr. Francis

welcomed all and explained their work in depth through a documentary film. It is a true life

story of nearly 10,000 inhabitants who live with no electricity or proper roads. The Montfort

Community School was started in December 2001 to empower the local tribal people and

mainstream them. The tribal children are provided education with all the facilities like food,

clothing, uniform, books, shoes, etc. free of cost. In the initial stage the school had around 200

students but today it has an envious strength of 862 students with 369 girls and 493 boys. The

visionary and missionary principles of Br. George touched everyone.

Achievements of the School

Within a short period of ten years, the community school has achieved great success in

changing the lives of the tribes. It has been successful in changing the mindset of the people

and the overall picture of close by villages of Kombuthooki. The villages with no electricity and

roads are now flourishing with electricity and roads. The children have caught the attention of

the education department by winning a number of prizes in sports and games at the zonal,

district and in the State level. It was heartening to know that the girl students are doing better

than the boys. This year (2010-11) the students achieved six silver medals in state level athletic

competitions held in Nehru indoor stadium, Chennai.

FOURTH DAY

The morning session started at 9.00a.m moderated by Sr. Leelamma of Kolkata

Province. The major lessons learnt, the best practices and major challenges which had been

discussed were consolidated and brought to the floor for discussion by the resource person.

The group unanimously approved the lessons learnt and best practices. Later the resource

person asked the groups to come out with appropriate responses to the internal and external

challenges. Srs. Lavitha and Leelamma volunteered to consolidate the responses to the

challenges. These are the outcome of the discussion

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Lessons Learnt

Collaboration with other FMA India Provinces and partnering with GOs and NGOs

broadened our thinking, deepened our analysis, increased the visibility and helped us to

evolve new strategies.

Realized the importance of systematic documentation while preparing the news items and

annual reports.

The programmes in which the beneficiaries participated in the planning and

implementation had greater and lasting impact.

Formulation of clear vision, mission and objectives helped us to evolve focused strategies

in our interventions.

Preparation of detailed time schedule with clear objectives for each session, preparation of

resource materials in advance and use of participative methodology yielded high quality

outputs when training programmes were conducted.

Exposure visits to groups which are working on similar concerns helped us to update our

knowledge and learn new strategies.

Regular contact with likeminded NGOs and Govt. offices helped us in getting updated

information on various schemes and opportunities available for the target group.

Best practices

Meetings/trainings/workshops become more methodic, interesting and participative when

the schedule, modules and plans to be sent to the participants well in advance.

Regular monthly planning and evaluation found to be helpful in completing the work on

time and address the gaps.

HR policy in place improves the work culture and promotes team building at the SDO and

NDFO levels.

Monthly schedule and work allotments prepared and displayed in the common office

notice board reduce the communication gaps and helps to improve the working

relationships.

Reporting found to be easier and systematic when comprehensive formats to be

developed.

Quality presence (Preventive System) among the priority communities produces the

desired results.

Having a formal reflection sessions once a month and the gained experiences with the

entire staff strengthen team building.

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Submission of the monthly plans and the activities to the council increases the

accountability of the staff of SDOs.

Maintaining office communications and email separately and not mixing these with

personal communications or email.

Maintaining log or work diary of the office.

Internal & External Challenges

Internal Challenges What needs to be done to address these challenges?

Lack of capacities among the staff particularly to handle multiple tasks

Identify the needs of the staff and prioritize them.

Organize trainings, workshops on selected skills to capacitate the staff

Offer exposure visit to the staff to quality NGOs and GO’s for learning.

Lack of FMA personnel and lay staff

Identify appropriate sisters and

Qualify them through different studies / capacity building programmes.

Identify qualified local staff that could possibly work with us on long commitments and train them with necessary skills.

Strengthening access to govt schemes

Use of Govt. website to understand the various schemes

Information dissemination of various schemes to all centres / communities Invite experts to give training on govt schemes

Developing a mini documentation of books, forms related to various govt Schemes at SDO / NDFO

Strengthening linkages with socially oriented corporate sectors, placement centres and job providers.

Identify and prepare the list of NGOs, corporate sectors who provide training, job placement etc

Identify and prepare the list of training and placement offices / industries

External Challenges What needs to be done to address these challenges?

Religious Fundamentalism

Respect and dialogue with other religions

Take part and promote common religious and cultural celebrations

Engage / involve personnel of all religions

Political interference / threat

Not to favour any political party

Rapport building, involving and recognizing politicians

Ethnic / caste conflicts

Regular home visit and motivate the people

Initiate peace building efforts

Be open to all communities

Learn the local community language

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Later the resource person explained the Mater-plan 2012 and its implications so as to

have a clear idea of what has to be done to implement the activities since all of participants

are the key implementing agencies at the gross root level.

Finally the following things were finalised with the consensus of the group.

FMA-NDF 9th Annual meet 2012 will be hosted by Mumbai province.

Three day National workshop will be hosted by Chennai province.

Inter-province workshops for the Northern provinces will be held in Kolkata.

Inter-province workshops for the Southern provinces will be held in Bangalore

At the end oral and written evaluations were conducted by the NDF team. Moreover, the

participants shared their individual assessment on the annual meet. Some of them said that

the meet was well planned and systematically carried out. And it was the time of joy in sharing

each one’s experiences and learning from others. In the valedictory function, Fr. Joe, NDF

consultant, Ms. Maithe`, the project officer for VIA DON BOSCO, Sr. Mary Dora, NDFC and the

SDCs were thanked. Thanking God for all the blessings He has showered upon us, the five day

FMA-NDF 8th Annual meet 2011 came to an end with concluding prayer by NDF Team.

Conclusion

FMA-NDF 8th Annual Meet 2011 has been a great moment of joy for the FMAs in social

ministry. The five days of family gathering energised everyone. It was an opportunity for all to

discuss and discern in the back drop of the current scenario what FMAs have to do for the

development of the priority groups namely women, children and youth. The shared

experiences and practices enlightened participants and the learnt lessons made everyone

strong to face the future challenges with new strategies. On the whole everyone felt that

Together FMAs can build a better Tomorrow for the poor and the marginalized.

Sr. Mary Dora Stanislaus FMA,

National Development Forum Coordinator, Kodambakkam, Chennai-24.