Aid in Action

Watershed Management Training Completed

ESP Field Assistants Scale Up Program Impact

 | Monday, November 27, 2006

On September 17 the ESP Watershed Management Training of Trainers (ESP WSM TOT) completed the training of 38 Field Assistants and Partners from across Indonesia. The eleven week program comprised five main elements:  (1) facilitation skills, (2) the Sustainable Livelihood Assessment Process, (3) thematic and technical topics addressing watershed management, agroforestry, and water and sanitation, (4) supporting topics such as gender, community media, documentation, and management, and (5) the set-up and implementation of Field Schools. The TOT graduates are now back at work, representing ESP’s frontline for mobilizing 400-500 communities over the next year.

A ‘Field Day’ for the TOT was held on September 12, 2006 in Bukit Gompong village, West Sumatra. Here, each of six community Field School groups showcased their activities. New ESP fieldworkers highlighted the results of their facilitation efforts, clearly demonstrating their abilities to mobilize local communities to create and implement sound action plans through a participatory process.  The main stars of the event were clearly the community members, and their enthusiasm and new knowledge were strongly evident as they presented their programs to other groups and to the assembled guests.

The action plans generated and carried-out by communities include: 

• Maintaining and restoring water sources
• Rehabilitating critical lands
• Building community  tree nurseries
• Solid waste processing and composting
• Improvement of local water facilities
• Promoting hand washing with soap in primary schools

As they return to the field stations, ESP’s new Field Assistants are ready to become facilitators and change agents embedded within local communities. As a group, they are expected to facilitate between 400-500 field schools impacting 10,000-12,500 community leaders.  Through these Field Schools, inter-community networks will be generated to support integrated watershed management plans comprising land rehabilitation, agro-forestry, community tree nurseries, community-based water supply, solid waste management, sanitation and hygiene.