Global Programs Methodology Updated August 2016 Table of Contents Overview of buildOn Global Programs 4 buildOn Global Logic Model 7 School Building 8 Site Selection 8 Community Meetings 10 Presentation of the Covenant 11 The Covenant 12 Leadership Committee 15 Key Performance Indicators 17 Adult Literacy 19 Curriculum 20 Key Performance Indicators 20 Enroll 21 Sustainable Strategies 21 Empowerment of Women 23 buildOn Team 23 Site Visits and Community Meetings 23 Covenant 24 Leadership Committee 24 Worksite 24 Adult Literacy and Enroll 24 Trek 26 Adult Partners On Trek and Maintaining 27 Trek Methodology/Safety Service Learning and the IPARD Model 28 Key Performance Indicators 33 Health and Safety on Trek 35 Appendix 38 A: buildOn Global Logic Model B: School Building Community Profile C: buildOn Covenant D: School Building KPIs E. Guidelines for Responsible Trek Travel (and Trek Leader guide for supporting adults through these guidelines) F. Emergency Response Plan G. Student and Partner Trek Covenants OVERVIEW OF BUILDON GLOBAL PROGRAMS buildOn methodology has been designed and honed over its 25-year history in order to accomplish its mission of breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education. buildOn does not subscribe to the belief that the world’s most economically poor need the charity and handouts of the world’s economically wealthy. This belief ensures the status quo and prevents the sustainable development of villages, regions, and countries. The very name of the organization buildOn contradicts this traditional approach. Instead, buildOn enters a village to empower the community to build on to the strengths, experience, and wisdom that already exist. In order to break the cycle, buildOn places the community at the center of its development projects and has extremely high expectations for their participation, leadership, and partnership in all buildOn programs. The cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations can only be broken because of our communities, not for them. The cycle is broken only because we are together in solidarity. Additionally, local governments are active partners in all projects and buildOn is not intending to fill a void left by the local government. Instead, buildOn works in partnership with the government to bring development through education. The local governments help to select communities for school construction and prioritize those most in need of school infrastructure. Additionally, the local Ministry of Education provides teachers and support to sustain the schools. In many instances where there is need, the Ministry of Education agrees to add additional grade levels so that children can complete a full cycle of primary school in their own villages. This partnership between buildOn, the community, and local government is consistent through all buildOn programing which includes School Building, Adult Literacy, Enroll, and Trek. Below is a brief overview of the programming. A more comprehensive description of buildOn methodology can be found in the detailed sections. School Building Instead of schools being built for the communities, the community members build their own schools. Local governments play an active role in supporting the schools with teachers, supervision, curriculum, and school materials. The local governments are also responsible for planning/supporting the growth of the schools by adding additional grades and teachers. buildOn is not filling a void left by local governments. Instead, buildOn is partnering with local governments in order to build the infrastructure needed for them and the community to take the lead in bringing adequate education to their villages. Adult Literacy Instead of a group of villagers sitting passively in an adult literacy class, community members actively use literacy skills to implement income-generating and health projects of their choosing. The buildOn adult literacy program utilizes a curriculum of participatory, cooperative learning and education. Through this program, participants are empowered to use their education to alter their lives and communities. The curriculum emphasizes real-world problems and solutions and draws upon the knowledge and experience of the participants. Participants partner with local governments to garner support for their income- generating projects. The local government also helps with the monitoring of the adult literacy programs. Enroll Instead of giving children school supplies and paying the nominal fees for school, the capacity of community leaders is built to allow for those leaders to create and implement solutions to bring children back to school. The local government plays a strong role in sensitizing community members and ensuring that all children are welcomed back to school regardless of gender, ethnic group, caste, or socio- economic status. Trek Instead of simply collecting donor money and sending it overseas for school construction, donors are encouraged to travel to their partner village to live and work in solidarity with the community members to start building a school that will help the villagers break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations. Community members host the Trek groups in their homes and facilitate workshops to teach the visitors about the richness of their culture. buildOn Trek is not a vacation, a poverty tour, or “voluntourism.” Instead, it is an act of solidarity between either buildOn Partners or urban youth participating in buildOn Service Learning programs and the local community. In addition to the solidarity that comes with this intense and intimate experience, it is also provides transparency. Trek goes one giant step beyond transparency. Transparency implies a clear window looking in. buildOn opens the door wide and invites everyone to come in to participate, experience, and work alongside our communities. All Citizens from the buildOn movement immerse in buildOn programs and experience the methodology and outcomes firsthand. BUILDON GLOBAL LOGIC MODEL buildOn partnership is not about making the community members feel they have ownership of a development project. Instead, buildOn methodology ensures that community members actually own the projects. Through preliminary evaluation of programs, buildOn has identified four key outcomes which are largely in alignment with the buildOn US outcomes: Civic Engagement, Academic Engagement, Empowerment, and Poverty Reduction. We are currently in the process of working with an external evaluator to refine and finalize these outcomes which will be incorporated into the methodology when finished. Civic Engagement A sense of social responsibility; willingness and commitment to acting to address needs of one’s community Academic Engagement Increased school enrollment for children and adults, increased promotion rates, increased completion rates from primary school, and increased parental involvement in the education of the child Empowerment Ability for all people regardless of gender or ethnic group to fully participate in personal and community development. Expanded sense of possibility. Sense of control over destiny. Poverty Reduction Increased earnings and improved economic self-sufficiency for community members regardless of gender or ethnic group. PROGRAMS IN DEPTH: SCHOOL BUILDING buildOn’s multi-year investment in a community begins with its school building program. buildOn staff, along with local leadership, mobilize community members to construct a two or three-room school with furniture and gender specific latrines. Site Selection buildOn site selection methodology specifies that communities are identified for partnership where the need is massive and their level of motivation is even greater. In most cases, this means villages are in rural, remote areas with no permanent school infrastructure. buildOn values the partnership of local government through mayor’s offices and the Ministry of Education. These government partners help to identify villages for buildOn school construction and agree to support the schools through supplying teachers, providing supervision, training, and curriculum. Although government partners provide a list of villages for consideration, buildOn staff will make the final decision based on the need and the demonstrated motivation of the community. In some cases, particularly in Haiti where the government does not operate schools in many areas, buildOn can work with a community organization to build a school. This is done infrequently and only when the local community can demonstrate that they are able to sustain the school, particularly the payment of teacher salaries. The Chief Program Officer must approve any non-government schools. Before identifying a site, buildOn staff will collect information for a Community Profile (Appendix B) which is submitted at least two weeks before scheduled ground break. The purpose of the Community Profile is to ensure that the community meets the site selection criteria and to share information with buildOn partners. Site Selection Criteria for New Sites • No permanent school infrastructure exists in the community o If there is already permanent school infrastructure in the community but there is a strong need for additional classrooms, approval from the Chief Program Officer is required. • Existence of a government-supported school with teachers o There are some cases where there is no existing school in a village but the local government has plans to establish a school. Often the lack of proper