On May 12th and 13th I supported a workshop in Parakou, Bénin.  This time it was Cees Oosterhuis, from Woord en Daad, who explained the theory of Free Actors in Networks (the FAN Approach) and put the participants to work.  He did it well.

 

The Dutch NGOs Woord en Daad and Red een Kind are forming an alliance, and the FAN approach is being used to feed the process: first with the Dutch staff, then with partners in Latin America, Africa and Asia.  MDF (Management for Development Foundation) is overseeing the process, and I am consulting on the FAN approach.

 

Bengamin manager

 

On May 12th and 13th I supported a workshop in Parakou, Bénin.  This time it was Cees Oosterhuis, from Woord en Daad, who explained the theory of Free Actors in Networks (the FAN Approach) and put the participants to work.  He did it well.

 

The Dutch NGOs Woord en Daad and Red een Kind are forming an alliance, and the FAN approach is being used to feed the process: first with the Dutch staff, then with partners in Latin America, Africa and Asia.  MDF (Management for Development Foundation) is overseeing the process, and I am consulting on the FAN approach.

 

The first workshop took place in Nicaragua, and while I was in Bénin, another one was happening in Burundi. Partners from four West African countries came together for the workshop in Bénin: Burkina Faso, Chad, Sierra Leone and Bénin. The working languages were French and English, with excellent interpreters doing simultaneous translation. (The tool worksheets have now been translated into French and Spanish, for these sessions in Bénin and Nicaragua.)

 

With 45 participants, including the Dutch staff, it was a big group in Bénin. Divided into subgroups, the tools were applied straight away for the challenges they were facing regarding various programme themes: education, food security, health and agriculture. There were also subgroups for monitoring and evaluation, and the directors of the partner organisations.

 

Bengamin manager

 

It appeared that the different subgroups were in different stages: some were meeting for the first time, while others had already gone through quite a lot together. It had been a good decision to divide them up.

 

We used an ongoing Timeline to monitor the progress of the workshop. It showed that the approach to networks was appreciated, although some tools were more difficult to digest than others. This is normal in a two day workshop. Learning a new language is one thing, but learning how to use it is another, and it takes time to reflect on real life situations. There were many positive and flash moments, and only a few negative ones.

 

For me it was a special experience to be on the sidelines as a coach, only jumping in for additional explanation when needed. I observed a lot of things I don’t notice anymore when I’m at work with a group myself. Usually I proceed intuitively, often unaware of the fact that others might like some kind of checklists to work with, to remember the essential elements. These observations helped me to add new descriptions and improve the FAN tools worksheets.

 

After so many years of using French language very little, I was happily surprised to find that I could still communicate quite well. This was probably helped by my early arrival in Bénin the week before, when I made a ‘tour nostalgique’ with my wife Barabara, to visit the places where we lived thirty years ago.

 

benjamin circle

 

Also interesting was the Christian character of this audience. A ‘devotion’ (a kind of sermon) was held at the start and end of every working day. Energisers were easy: when the group needed a pick-me-up, a gospel made everybody sing and swing again. I was impressed by the dedication of these people. It was beautiful to feel it this way. It gave me a wave of inspiration on the journey home, during which I wrote them a letter, trying to place my scientific approach to networks in their Christian context.

 

benjamin durms

 

Traveling back from Parakou to Cotonou in a public bus for seven hours in the tropical heat was also a special experience.