As
one of my lasts projects during my service in Benin, I helped my host structure
organize a workshop for a community program for handicapped persons. The program
is supported by a Belgium NGO that works with several social promotions centers
throughout Benin. Volunteers identify and work with handicapped people in the
community by connecting them to services they need such as wheelchairs, canes,
or doctor’s visits, doing exercises with them, and encouraging them to be as
independent as possible. Since the beginning of the program in 1999, they have
never held a comprehensive training session for the committee members and local
volunteers. It was clearly time to have a workshop and revitalize the program!
Unlike other projects that I initiated with the help of local work partners,
this one was 100% planned and presented by the community.
Since this kind of project is not
part of the Peace Corps framework in Benin, my only option was to raise the
funds myself using the Peace Corps Project Partnership (PCPP). I wrote the grant, and once approved it was
posted online for people to donate to. Thankfully the budget was relatively
small. It took less than one month to fully fund the project thanks to friends
and family in the States. Thank you very much to everyone who donated!
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| Participants at the Social Promotion Center |
Once the money arrived, the social
center director, one of the committee members of the program, and I sat down
and planned the sessions. I gave them full responsibility to purchase the
materials, order the food for the participants, and coordinate the speakers and
sessions. It felt so good to not be overseeing every step of the planning and
let them handle the details.
The workshop comprised of three days
of sessions in the social center’s conference hall. There were sessions that
explained the history of the program in Benin including the evolvement of the
rights of handicapped persons, the roles and responsibilities of committee members
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| Home visit practice in a local village |
To evaluate the workshop, we quizzed
participants based on the information presented in the sessions and they all scored
well. Everyone congratulated the organizers and seemed motivated to get to work
in the community. The physical therapist expressed interest in collaborating with
the committee by providing his advice and expertise about patients when needed.
He also agreed to improve the forms volunteers use to track patients progress. This
will help with accountability on the volunteers’ part and make it easier to see
if improvements are being made. I was satisfied with results of the workshop
and hope it sends the program in the right direction.
