Right now I just want to post the project description from the first USAID grant and the project narratives from the Peace Corps Partnerships program I am currently applying for. Bear in mind that the two excerps stand alone without their entourage of budgets, work plans, monitoring and evaluation plans, community involvement plans, calendars, contracts, or any of the nuts and bolts related items. Peace Corps Partnerships is a program through which a link is posted online on the Peace Corps website and all who view it are able (and encouraged) to donate. The only reason I am posting the full bit here, is because at peacecorps.gov, they only post the 250 word overall description and that can´t do justice to the necessity in the community for this project. The post immediately before this one (Ñamono´o) begins to describe the situation, and I truly hope that the following excerpts will help to clarify the situation in Tavapy II and the worthiness of the project. Beginning with the SPA project description:
Proyecto de Reconstrucción de una Barbacua para la fabricación de Yerba Mate y el mejoramiento de la Cooperativa Multiactiva Tavapy II
Tavapy II is a community of approximately 400 houses located in the district of Santa Rosa
The fire was a major blow for the cooperative which sold its last
Community impact has the potential to be far reaching, immediate, and substantial. The cooperative has demonstrated its concern for women and children through its pursuit of female members and its interest in providing recreational and educational activities for the children.
The cooperative is very egalitarian and is constantly searching for ways to help, but is unfortunately often thwarted by the lack of access to capital. The requested funds would provide the cooperative with the `jump start´ it would need to be in a position to create its own capital and break the cycle of dependency while pursuing a diversified battery of projects geared towards local development be it income generating, educational, or environmental.
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that was for the original Small Projects Assistance grant that I wrote, although above it is in its translated form, as it was originally written in Spanish. I post that, as evidence of the ability of the community to manage large sums of money. The socios of my cooperative are putting the money to good use in an efficient, expedient, transparent, and most importantly, community oriented manner, for that I can vouch. The following will hopefully give an idea of why this project should happen, and how it will be executed:
1. Please write a 250 word summary of the proposed project. This allows potential donors to better understand the project. Describe the project objectives. Explain the community contribution for this project and briefly outline your request for the Partnership Program. Note: This summary will be posted directly on the Peace Corps Website.
In 1984, Tavapy II was constructed as three parallel dirt tracks spaced two kilometers apart. During a three year struggle against the Stroessner regime, the original occupants eventually succeeded in attaining title to their land on May 20th, 1987. Under Stroessner, Paraguayans could not meet in groups larger than three. This, along with a lack of town planning, led to a fractured community in Tavapy II. There is no town center for social gathering or commercial activity. This decentralization is exacerbated by the flight abroad of the town’s second generation. The children are left without a space to play, teenagers without an area to learn, and the town without a sense of shared pride.
This project will provide a rural Paraguayan colony with an integrated cultural, social, and educational community center geared specifically towards the children and young adults. The center will consist of a computer room, library, and general purpose room. Activities offered will range from art class to a youth soccer league. Reference resources will strive to provide general knowledge and also specific vocational skills. The general purpose room will serve as a meeting area for local committees and visiting NGOs. The computers will be utilized to teach computation and to reach relatives more affordably through the launch of a VOIP program.
The community contribution will be denominated in labor and expertise regarding construction. Oñondive, ñande ikatu ñamopu´ãporã : Together, we can make it better.
2. Please provide a 1-2 paragraph description of your community and the community members involved with the proposed project.
Tavapy II is a community of roughly 400 households located
3. Please explain, in 1-2 paragraphs, the merit of this project, and why it is a priority in the community. What happens if the project is not implemented?
Tavapy II, when founded in 1984, was constructed as 3 parallel dirt tracks spaced
The center could provide for this need in a physical sense, but more importantly in a social and educational one. Classes, activities, and events will all be geared towards strengthening community pride while also broadening intellectual horizons and augmenting vocational skills. What happens if the project is not implemented? Nothing. A few people would be disappointed that a project fell through, but for all intents and purposes the failure of this project to initiate would not be catastrophic, rather it would return the community to the same road it has already trodden. Things would remain the same and the community would continue to atrophy abroad. Whereas, should the project come to fruition, the center could induce people to stay in their home community while empowering them sufficiently such that going to work as a farmhand in Argentina or a maid in Madrid no longer makes economic sense given the marketable job skills they could wield.
4. Describe, in 2-3 paragraphs, how the community is the driving force behind the project. Please discuss who in the community first proposed the project as well as how the beneficiaries are involved in the project’s planning and implementation. What are the roles and responsibilities of the community members?
It is self-evident for anyone who has spent time in Tavapy II, that the residents are proud of what they have and have done. Yet rarely do they have the opportunity to express this pride. The response to the community center idea was overwhelming, and for this reason, the volunteer chose the Cooperative to manage the project simply because it already has management structures in place. As for planning and implementation, the community members involved have already participated and settled on basic function, size, and basic layout. As for roles and responsibilities, the principal actors will be members of the cooperative. They will conduct community outreach while also managing funds and construction. The cooperative has not yet formed this committee for the sole reason that the volunteer believes it best to wait for project approval in order to give non-members a chance to join the cooperative and the center committee.
5. Please describe, in 1-2 paragraphs, the community contribution to this project. Contributions can include the costs of manual labor and transportation as well as contributions of cash or raw materials. Community contribution must total at least 25% of the total project cost.
Primarily, the community contribution will be labor related. A carpenter will make chairs and tables, the electrician will wire the building, and so on. Additionally, the unskilled labor, cement mixers, brick layers, etc, will be provided by the community. Transportation of materials will also come from the community contribution.
Most importantly, members of the community will provide for most of the recurring operational necessities of the center such as cleaning services, running the classes, and monitoring the various rooms.
6. Please present and discuss, in 3-4 paragraphs, the plan for implementing this project. Describe the phases of the project. Define specific tasks involved with the project, the order in which they will occur, and who will accomplish each task.
The project can be roughly divided into three main phases, pre-construction, construction, and post-construction. In the first phase, of paramount importance is gathering community input, as the success of the center is dependent on its relevance to the people it will serve. Secondly, the Cooperative will need to have, in place and ready to work, a system for managing the money that will arrive and the tasks that will need to be completed. This will be accomplished through the formation of a committee from within the cooperative, dedicated entirely to the construction and management of the center. Lastly, the donations themselves need to be corralled. The volunteer has been in contact with various networks of acquaintances from the
The second phase, construction, will be contingent upon the input received from the community in terms of basic layout. As for execution, there is sufficient expertise within the cooperative to provide for architectural, electrical, and aesthetic needs. Also within the cooperative is a socio with a truck to facilitate the movement of materials to and from the construction site. The last phase of construction, which could also be considered the first phase of post-construction is the launch of the center. The volunteer believes that how the finished product is introduced to the community will have considerable effects on how it will be used. Because of this we have two alternate launch targets to afford flexibility should any problems arise. The first, 7 months from now during the Christmas/New Year´s holiday season, and the second a full year from now to commemorate the liberation of the land of Tavapy II on May 20th 1987. The launch will be a chance to celebrate the completion, to usher in a new addition to the community, and to exhibit the various functions of the center.
The post-construction phase is primarily concerned with operation, but also, should the preceding operations run smoothly, with the center´s expansion, both in scale and variety of services. As for labor, the center will require a monitor, a janitor, and teachers and coaches for the various classes and activities that will be offered. Operational costs will include electricity, internet, and replacement of depreciated items and will be covered by a small fee charged for internet use.
7. Please indicate, in 3-4 paragraphs, the skills and knowledge that will be acquired by the community through the implementation of this project. How will the project increase the capacity of individuals and support the community in meeting its long-term goals? Does the community have the resources to sustain the project in the long term?
The skills and knowledge that could be bestowed by this center are kaleidoscopic. How does one quantify the benefit received by a child who has just completed her first water color painting? Generally speaking, the center will serve as a general knowledge repository, a resource center for the schools, a place to have classes that are for the sake of learning not solely for a grade, and a reception area for various events and activities. The volunteer believes that the center will help the community meet its long term goals narrowly and broadly. In the narrow sense, for example, classes at the center could teach about the relationships between cells in excel and generally how to use a computer. But in the broad sense, and in the opinion of the volunteer the more important aspect of self-improvement, the center could facilitate the process of learning, helping participants to express themselves while learning how to be inquisitive. Additionally, the center could serve as a beacon for all to see of what can be accomplished when the community comes together and works as one.
The volunteer does believe that the community has the resource to make this project sustainable. After all, only the initial capital hurdle is prohibitively expensive. After which, many of the costs can be met through voluntary contributions of time and resources, community efforts, and smart structuring of the center’s assets, for example, having a gaming console for a DVD player and charging a small fee for its use instead of having solely a DVD player. In this sense, the volunteer will help the stewards of the center to run it somewhat like a business with regards to efficiency, cash flows, and managing costs.
so that is verbatim from the application. My officers from Peace Corps have told me that they are in agreement that the project has worth. And here I make our case. The community of Tavapy II is a beautiful place. Speaking for myself, I love it and will never forget it. I admire and respect the habitants and regard nearly everyone I have met as a close friend, a surrogate family member, or an aquaintance that I have unfortunately not yet had the chance to get to know better. They have worked diligently and suffered nobly to be in the position in which they find themselves today. Theirs is a community of tranquility, peace, and sustainability, a beacon in one of the darker corners of the second most corrupt country in the world. Ciudad del Este and the vast expanses of Brazillian and German soy act as sirens to live life for the material. Yet traditional customs endure. And although many have had to answer the call of duty to their families and go abroad to work, where they are frequently treated as sub human, the original spirit endures. However, it is gravely threatened. However bravely these young adults venture out into the world, their absence remains poignant.
Every few months a new parcel of land is bought, the trees are cut, and the one time exemplar of agroforestry is turned into another expanse of biological desert, the sole occupant being genetically modified soy. Slowly and inexorably, these losses have accrued. One of my deepest fears is that someday, the last acre will be sold, and Santa Rosa del Monday, the namesake capital of our department, and the self proclaimed ¨Capital de la Soja,¨will permanently extend her reach. This is a land of abundant fertility. After the jungle ceases to exist. However the nagging problem of tropical soils that offsets their many advantages is their fragility. Ultraviolet rays destroy the soil ecosystems that were once protected, stands of exotic Eucalyptus turn the soil acidic, and the large scale farmers use their John Deere tractors to spray abundant amounts of Monsanto chemicals which are slowly choking the rivers and streams and contaminating the Guarani Aquifer, the largest freshwater resource in the world.
They say that the ancestors of the Guarani indians left their amazonian home in search of paradise. They stopped in Paraguay in the Bosque Atlantica. However, this paradise also offers one of the highest soy yields in the world. And the soy world works as such; a priveleged person has the capital to get the equipment, the soy goes to pressing plants in Brazil and returns as expensive oil or the bean´s residue is shipped to china to feed their growing cattle herd. I do not mean to paint a hopeless picture, just a cautionary tale. Additionally a cultural center will not solve these problems, but increased use of agroforestry practices, introduction of alternative crops and animals, and initiation of value-add projects (like the yerba mate factory) can help them to raise their productivity, provide for more jobs, and afford to stay. I believe the center can help them be proud and happy to stay. For this reason we initiated a project that at face value will have no bearing on their yearly income (although the center will strive to provide job skills and a venue for visiting development workers). Small contributions can make worlds of difference. 20 dollars coveres three books; 100, one thousand bricks; 500 another computer. Although some weeks will pass before we will receive the URL for the donation site, I wanted to write this appeal now, with close proximity to the town´s day of liberation (May 20th, 1987), and with the emotions I felt that day at the event fresh in my heart and mind.
Thank you in advance to anyone who has read to this point or generally to anyone who takes a peak at this blog and maybe shares my feelings for these people and friends.
Graciamante,
Andrew Wilcox
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