Funny how some things change...

...while others remain the same...

Have actually had a reasonably successful week of dealing with the local government bureaucracy with regards to the shelters. And believe me, being able to say that with any amount of substance is cause for a minor celebration in itself. After having the ADS (Assistant District Secretary) tell us 2 weeks ago to stop building all shelters, and then at the fortnightly shelter meeting between all the NGOs and the ADS a week ago finding out that another NGO had been given a list of families requiring shelters that had many of the same names that appeared on the lists we had been given, I decided it was time to sort the issue out, sans ADS.

So, contacting the 6 GS's (General Secretaries - there are 6 for the Periya Kallar District) and EHED, the other NGO providing shelters in our area, I arranged for a meeting with all of us in attendance to sort out once and for all who was doing what. I mean, seriously, how hard could it be? There are 817 affected families in the area. That means 817 families who have either totally lost their home, or who have homes that are partially damaged. Either way, they all require shelters, and there is plenty of work to keep two relatively small NGOs very busy.

Anyway, sat the attendees down in front of a white board, listed across the top the 6 GS areas, listed down the side the number of affected families, and then the NGOs who were providing the shelters (there are actually three - LEADS have already provided shelters for 42 families), and then got each of the NGOs to tell me the total numbers for each of their areas, EHED to tell me the total numbers for each area they had been allocated, and lo and behold... yeah, I'm guessing you can see the outcome. After at least 3 weeks, and around half a dozen (at least) changes to both allocated numbers and requirements, we had a final number we can work with. Hallelujah brother!! (Oops, that "C" out of YMCA is getting to me a little...) ;o)

So, Project Management 101 did come in handy after all. And it's actually something that has been glaringly lacking within the NGO we've been working with, ADT (Alliance Development Trust): basic project management principles. The project team leader is working very hard, and doing a great job, however with so much of the information kept in his head, and hardly any task tracking or reporting documentation of any kind, the old theory that any and all projects should be able to run irrespective of any individual is just thrown into the garbage. I try to offer as much help and advice as I can - creating task lists with deliverable dates that can be passed around; documenting decisions, responsibilities and milestones that arise from meetings such as the one mentioned previously; and "suggesting" that a general task and milestone notice board be kept so these dates aren't missed just because someone "forgets" them - however as they say, you can lead a horse to water but... With all the help I'm giving, I'm still simply an external volunteer offering assistance, rather than an official part of the team. Well, will have to make sure the situation isn't quite the same for my next NGO work... ;o)