Partnership agreement between Yebhe Chikomesye, Rusoli, Tanzania and International Village Cooperation (International Landsby Samarbejde (ILS)), Skørping, Denmark
1. Introduction
1.1 Background of the Partnership During the summer of 2009 a group of people from Skørping ventured on a cultural exchange trip to Tanzania. A part of the trip consisted in a work camp in Rusoli. The Rusoli community and ILS cooperated on a playground project at Rusoli primary school. The playground consisted of a soccer field, swings, seesaw and a music instrument. In return the villagers arranged a celebration of our meeting with traditional music and dance. Since this visit the local NGO Yebhe Chikomesye and ILS Skørping has kept in touch with each other to establish more long term relations for the benefit of Rusoli. The Partnership Agreement is a vital part of this co-operation.
2. Description of the Tanzanian cooperation partner organisation: Yebhe Chikomemsye
2.1 Vision Yebhe Chikomesye is a non-profit organization located in Bukima ward of Musoma rural District, Mara Region, Tanzania, formally registered as a NGO in 1994. Yebhe has a long history as an informal local self help organisation. Yebhe envisions becoming a leading credible and strong local organizations operating as catalyst to promote/facilitate development initiatives among community members, with a special focus of realizing a better life for the women, children, young people and the elderly in the Rusoli community.
2.2 Mission Yebhe Chikomesye main mission is to build capacities for the vulnerable community groups (women, children and youth) and encourage them to participate in social and economic development activities. The organisation has actively been working with community development, heath, education, HIV/AIDS and utilizing cheap source of energy.
2.3 Contact information: Yebhe Chikomesye office is located at Rusoli village. Contact Person is Majura Bryson Maingu (Coordinator), P.O. Box 450-Musoma, Mara –TANZANIA, Email: [email protected] or [email protected],Mob: +255 754755509,+255715755509.
1 2.4 History and organisation of Yebhe The leadership of Yebhe is based on its membership. The leaders have been elected in an open and democratic manner. So far the leaders are capable of carrying out their functions, but more capacity is needed especially in understanding their roles in guiding the members and beneficiaries toward its vision, gaining better understanding of their roles/mandate, and soliciting for resources. Yebhe seeks to improve its leadership through further exposure to training and learning from others.
Yebhe has been operating on ad-hoc and short-lived projects/ activities. Activities like the biogas, irrigation and credit scheme projects were demand driven in nature, but they lacked connectivity with the broader objectives of YEBHE CHIKOMESYE. That is why most of them have not been able to continue beyond the project timeframe. The organization also lacked skills to manage and implement the project activities.
2.5 Previous activities organised by Yebhe The major projects which Yebhe chikomesye group has been carried out in the past six years are as follows: a) Constructing cheap source of energy (Bio-gas plant) in 6 villages involving six women groups; the project was funded by Lolwe Foundation, Denmark. b) Irrigation pumps commonly known as “Money maker pumps” for gardening c) Milling machine operated by Yebhe providing the only milling services to Rusoli village. d) Construction of a joint village office and health clinic e) In collaboration with another local NGO known as VIFAFI, Yebhe has raised funds from different stakeholders and build a joint village office and health clinic including a water reserve tank with the capacity of 15,000 litres f) started the construction of a Secondary school where several class rooms are ready for use g) By help from the water department made the necessary survey and identified water near the new secondary school. h) Drilling for water with the support from a Swedish NGO
3. Description of Rusoli village
3.1 History and location The Majita Peninsula is located in Bukima Division, Musoma Rural District, situated some 70 km south of Musoma Town in Mara Region, Tanzania. It is a hilly area, 22,4 km long and 12,8 km at its greatest with, an area of about 70 square miles. The area enjoys slightly more rainfall than the Musoma, the regional capital. The temperature is between 13-29C. The distribution settlement of the population prior to the villagization in the 1970s was scattered on small farms based more on access to water supply than the condition of the soil. During the post independence villagelization the families was forced to abandon their farms and move to villages where schools and health service were provided.
2 3.2 Infrastructure and living condition. Living at the lake shore the people are fishermen and get their food as well as cash money from the fishing. The main agricultural crops grown in the area are Cassava, Rice, sweet potatoes, sorghum, millet and maize. Those that can afford it keep cattle and goats as their ‘bank account’.
4. Description of the Danish cooperation partner International Village Cooperation (ILS) Skørping.
4.1. Background and history. ILS Skørping was founded in 1989 and through the years ILS has cooperated with Marigat Village in Kenya. In 2010 ILS Skørping has expanded its vision to include Awate Community in Ghana and Rusoli community in Tanzania. The chairman is Hans Gullestrup email: [email protected]
4.2 Vision The purpose of ILS Skørping is to make an effort in developing countries for mutual benefit and development and to establish cultural promotion and exchange between communities.
4.3 Mission Through visits and dialogue with individuals and groups in the communities ILS has identified where and how to assist Yebhes effort to make everyday life easier for people in the communities.
4.4 Projects so far Marigat Youth Polytech: Financial and other resources combined with sponsorships for the young people, who study to become carpenter or tailor at the school. Women’s groups: Financial and other resources to support initiatives where the women become more self-reliant. Primary Schools: Materials for school buildings, school books in Marigat. Playground at the primary school in Rusoli. Cattle dip, Water tank in Marigat (Ndambul water project).
5 Partnership agreement between Yebhe Chikomesye and ILS Skørping
3 5.1 Vision The common vision for Yebhe Chikomesye and ILS Skørping is to promote a self-reliant society arising through sustainable development efforts in Rusoli Community. The partnership will benefit the communities in both countries, through the cultural exchange. The main focus will be on increasing the general living standard of the inhabitants of the Rusoli area. We will strive for our projects to benefit all parts of the society not neglecting anyone due to age, profession, gender etc.
5.2 Mission The common mission for the two counterparts is to facilitate development in Rusoli Community, , by mobilization of resources, mutual exchange of organizational capacity development and by encouraging the villagers to improve their social and health services. The beneficiaries will be involved on an equal footing with the promoter in both the development of projects and in the execution of projects. To ensure a general knowledge of how to maintain technology, structures and materials that might be a part of projects, local resources will be mobilized through Yebhe Chikomesye.
5.3 Specific objectives of the partnership agreement of Yebhe Chikomesye and ILS Skørping.
The specific objectives are:
To improve the living standards of Rusoli community by providing safe accessible water and appropriate sanitation facilities at the local primary and secondary schools.
To strengthen the organizational capacity of Yebhe Chikomesye by sharing the rich democratic traditions of rural Danish NGO.
To assist the new Rusoli health clinic with recycled medical equipment, collected from professional health care clinics in Denmark
5.4 The Obligation of the Partners (Roles and Responsibilities) Both Yebhe Chikomesye and ILS Skørping will have the following obligations to observe and practice i) Facilitating an effective two way communication mechanism to inform own members about current projects and activities, and to have an effective dialogue between the two organizations to maximize our potential. ii) Mobilize local resources, to ensure effective, responsible and price right projects iii) Organize local forum (where feasible) to enable people to engage in development debates iv) Promote the organization to allow more people, from both communities, to volunteer to work on the different projects. v) Engage in partnership activities
4 5.5 Management and Accountability a) Communication Primarily the communication will go through E-mail, and by visiting one another we will maintain a personal relationship between the organizations. Other communication forms may be used when suitable, like phone, fax, Skype, texting etc. b) Reporting on progress
5