The Case of Cuso International Volunteers in Peruvian Centros De Jóvenes Y Empleo
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Volunteerism for capacity building: The case of Cuso International volunteers in Peruvian Centros de jóvenes y empleo Submitted by Rachel Ginsberg Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honours B.A. International Development Studies (Co-op) Specialist Presented to Professor Ken MacDonald and Professor Ryan Isakson University of Toronto at Scarborough April 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Ryan Isakson, as well as Professor Ken MacDonald for guiding me through the thesis process. Also deserving of thanks are my friends and family for keeping my spirits up this year and always. A special mention goes to my fellow IDS Co-op fifth years for being such an amazing source of support throughout the placement and thesis-writing process. I would also like to thank the IDS Co-op Coordinators, Katie, Monica, and Finbar, for all of their help before, during, and after my placement in Peru. A very special thank you goes to all of the staff and volunteers at Asociación Kallpa and Cuso International for their participation in this research project. Also, a great big thank you to all those who assisted with this project in other ways. This project would not have been possible without your support—thank you! ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ............................................................................................................. v I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research problem ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Objectives and sub-questions .............................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Context ................................................................................................................................................ 5 1.4 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 6 1.5 Significance of the study ..................................................................................................................... 7 1.6 Outline................................................................................................................................................. 8 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Volunteer impact as positive, neutral, or unknown ........................................................................... 10 2.2 Capacity building as having the potential to reinforce existing power dynamics ............................. 16 2.3 Conventional monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems as a hindrance to effective capacity building ................................................................................................................................................... 20 2.4 Capacity building as an essential tool for achieving the MDGs and volunteers as a means of delivering capacity building .................................................................................................................... 22 2.5 Capacity building as a component of neoliberal governance ............................................................ 24 2.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 25 III. CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................................ 28 3. 1 Peru .................................................................................................................................................. 28 3.2 Cuso International ............................................................................................................................. 33 3.3 Asociación Kallpa ............................................................................................................................. 36 3.4 Lima and Cusco ................................................................................................................................ 37 3.5 Centros de jóvenes y empleo ............................................................................................................ 38 IV. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Research for Cuso International ........................................................................................................ 41 4.2 Current Research ............................................................................................................................... 47 4.3 Limitations of the Methodology ....................................................................................................... 49 V. DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................ 51 5.1 Objective 1: To determine if skills-sharing does actually occur in CJEs between international volunteers and local employees and volunteers ...................................................................................... 51 5.2 Objective 2: To determine what role training plays in the effective use of international volunteers 57 iii 5.3 Objective 3: To determine if the use of international volunteers encourages dependency and displaces employees ................................................................................................................................ 61 5.4 Critical perspectives on volunteering: Kallpa’s relationship with Cuso ........................................... 67 5.5 Discussion ......................................................................................................................................... 71 VI. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 75 6.1 Objective 1: To determine if skills-sharing does actually occur in CJEs between international volunteers and local employees and volunteers ...................................................................................... 75 6.2 Objective 2: To determine what role training plays in the effective use of international volunteers 77 6.3 Objective 3: To determine if the use of international volunteers encourages dependency and displaces local employees ....................................................................................................................... 78 6.4 Research question: How can international volunteers be utilized as effective agents of development without displacing local volunteers or paid employees? ......................................................................... 80 6.5 Final thoughts and recommendations ............................................................................................... 81 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 84 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................ 90 Appendix I: Interview Questions for Cuso Research Project ................................................................. 90 Appendix II: Interview Questions for Thesis Research Only ................................................................. 92 Appendix III: San Juan de Miraflores CJE Brochure (Centro de jóvenes y empleo – Lima, n.d.) ......... 93 Appendix IV: Cusco CJE Brochure (Centro de jóvenes y empleo – Cusco, n.d.) .................................. 93 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Benefits accrued to volunteers through international experiences ............................................. 26 Table 3.1 The principles of the Paris Declaration ...................................................................................... 31 Table 3.2 The principles of the National Policy (my own translation from Spanish) ................................ 31 Table 3.3 The areas and themes of the National Policy (my own translation from Spanish) .................... 32 Table 3.4 Kallpa’s Mission Statement (with my own translation from Spanish) (Asociación Kallpa, n.d.- d, Misión section)........................................................................................................................................ 36 v I. INTRODUCTION From September 2012 to April 2013, I worked as a volunteer researcher for Cuso International (Cuso), based in the organization’s Program Office in Lima, Peru. The goal of my research was to determine which factors made a volunteer placement in Peru with Cuso successful or unsuccessful. The study I carried out culminated in a final report with a number of recommendations, which was shared with Cuso staff and volunteers as well as Cuso’s local partner organizations. Through the course of this research project, I became interested in the ways in which one of Cuso’s