by Carolyn Kodear, Bangladesh
1 September 2005

The report had to be wrong. With millions of people still needing help, it seemed unthinkable that the Community Development Project (CDP) was losing some of its funding. We increased our prayers and our efforts to publicize the need, but gifts to the project continued to drop. SIM's financial basis is "as the Lord provides," so we couldn't borrow money, and we wouldn't manipulate donors. Finally we had to close part of the project and reduce the size of the staff. That hurt!

Deep and searching discussions helped us identify ways to use our resources more strategically. While we still don't understand the cutbacks, we're moving forward in three crucial areas: agriculture, literacy and economic development, and health.

Mentoring is the Strategy

One of the highest priorities for SIM worldwide and for SIM Bangladesh is helping others grow and learn. "Timothy" began his work with CDP as an agricultural worker. He already had his master's degree when the project hired him. Jewel, the CDP Program Coordinator, trained him in agricultural development for more than five years and more recently in other areas of development. Now Timothy has been promoted to Area Supervisor, and Jewel continues to mentor and disciple him. Timothy, like the other two Area Supervisors, leads and mentors a staff of seven field workers. The field workers in turn pursue the same strategy: mentoring, transferring skills, and empowering others.

Agriculture

Bangladesh is the world's most densely populated agricultural nation. Some of our partner farmers own only narrow strips of land surrounding their homes—useless land if it's infertile or too wet or if the owner lacks access to good seeds or the knowledge to grow crops. All of that changes when he joins CDP. The Agricultural Field Worker will help him to discover the best way to turn his land into a productive garden, perhaps by filling low land, adding compost, selecting the right seeds, and spacing plants properly. Each field worker helps 120-150 partner farmers. As the partner farmers' yield increases, they might earn enough to rent additional land. It is fantastic to watch their joy as they proudly show off a fruitful garden on land that once produced little or nothing.

Literacy and Cooperative Savings

"Ruby," a Cooperative Field Worker, facilitates the program that empowers village women (and some men) to launch small business enterprises. For six months, she teaches them in groups of 25 to read, write and do simple mathematics, integrating practical and spiritual lessons in each session. Then they form a Cooperative Savings Group, elect officers and continue to meet weekly. Each member deposits several coins (taka) in the savings box at each meeting. When the fund reaches 100 taka (about $1.50 US), the members select one person to receive the first loan to start a small enterprise (maybe to cook a bit of food at the roadside to sell to passersby). Meanwhile, the Savings Group collects more taka for the next entrepreneur, and as soon as the first has earned enough, she will repay her loan. Later the group may vote to help her expand her business further with a larger loan.

After three years of coaching, the group graduates and continues to meet on their own. One by one, each member has the opportunity to achieve the dignity and satisfaction of earning money to help feed her family. Thousands of women and hundreds of men have graduated from this training and are participating in Savings Groups.

Health

The village health project is an integral part of the Cooperative Savings Groups. A health representative is one of their elected officers. Representatives attend an initial ten-day training class at the CDP field office, followed by review classes three times a year. They study what they will later teach to their groups, and they also learn to administer health check-ups. After the training they receive a "health box" which contains a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, scales, hemoglobin measuring equipment, height and arm measures plus basic first aid medicines. They sell the medicines and use the income to keep the box stocked. Under the supervision of the Health Field Worker, they teach a health lesson to their Savings Groups once a month, during which they check the health of the members, their children under five, and their teenage daughters.

This holistic development ministry also trains and equips traditional birthing assistants and encourages its Savings Group members to start small kitchen gardens for family use.

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CDP Project # BD 98226

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