Project News

Once group activities begin, the Project holds monthly meetings with each group to review together the activities of the previous month and plan activities for the following month.  However, these monthly meetings are not just for evaluating and planning monthly activities, they are also an important opportunity for group members to learn the basics of organizational management skills.  They learn how to hold discussions as a group, how to organize group activities, and how to be fair in their decision-making without getting into arguments. 

Photo 1 shows the first monthly meeting at the Boqueron Arriba community.  We start by having everyone sit in a circle so that they become used to participating in the group discussions. (July 12, 2007.)

Photo 2 is from the monthly meeting at the Salamanquita community.  After holding several monthly meetings, the groups learn to clarify their plan of activities for the next month by making a chart on a large manila paper.  On this particular day, the members that had participated in a study tour shared their experiences with the rest of the group while passing around photos of the study site. (August 1, 2007.)

(Photo 1: left) A monthly meeting at the Boqueron Arriba community.
(Photo 2: right) A monthly meeting at the Salamanquita community.

(Mr. Hiroki KAJIFUSA, Participatory Development / Extension)