On some days, goals you have set for yourself, match perfectly yet mysteriously with those others have set for themselves. There is no better feeding ground for cooperation. Today is a day where the circle is completed, or is a higher power at work?

With the office of Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) in Bamako, I have agreed to explore possible synergies between our activities and those of SNV-Mali. In previous years I have subconsciously avoided Dutch development organizations in Mali. I expect the reason for this was twofold. On the one hand because I wanted our programme to develop and find it’s own way, and on the other because for us at IICD, our local partners are our main focus. I felt it more important, on my trips to Mali, to spend time with local partners. However, now that our programme has matured, I see a growing need to create strategic alliances with development partners who have a higher level of sectoral expertise than we do. In that regard, the longstanding track record of SNV in Mali, and the fact that their methodology lies in line with ours, offers many opportunities.

But the turning point for following up talk with action, is a recently published article in Capacity.org by Elsbeth Lodenstein and others about a health project by SNV and KIT in Mali. Through an action research project in the region of Koulikoro they have developed a methodology which helps the communication between local policy makers and basic health services to improve in previous years. One of the keys for improving communication and understanding turned out to be to make data more transparent and accessible. This allowed policy makers to feed their decision making processes with simple indicators. IICD partners are currently formulating a project proposal for “informatiseren van de data collectie” in the same region. Therefore it is self evident that it would be beneficial to bring the two teams together. With SNV staff I agreed to convene a meeting in six weeks time, during which both trajectories will be presented and discussed by the parties involved. Our partners can probably reap lessons learned from the experiences of SNV staff, and in turn, SNV staff can gain greater insight into the advantages of ICT in a similar process. In this way, both our partners and SNV have a concrete issue around which a first cooperation and collaboration can be formalized. Small scale and concrete, just the way I like it.

In the evening I visited Hugo Verkuijl, an old associate of mine who worked at KIT for many years and who just like me married a Malian. In cooperation with KIT he is now setting up the first biodiesel company in Mali. A very nice project making use of the seed of the Jatropha plant. In this project not only the environmental benefits are gained but also income generated for farmers by selling biodiesel and carbon credits. When we sit down for a drink on the beautiful terrace of hotel Mandé which spans over the Niger river, who do we bump into but a KIT-colleague of Hugo’s. He tells us that he has worked with SNV on a very nice programme in the health sector in the Koulikoro region. And we could read all about it in an article published recently with Elsbeth Lodenstein on Capacity.org….

Below: François Laureys(left) with Mr Joachim Tanoano, Minister for Post and ICT, and Mr Michèl Pepin, Programme Manager for ADEN in Burkina Faso

Often during ICT4D conferences one can witness a modern version of a traditional circus act. I call it ‘The champion parade’. In the desperate battle for Success stories and Best Practices on ICT4D, donors and ICT related NGO’s like to put forward ‘their’ champions during the international conference and boast about how – thanks to their project or programme - these originally underprivileged poor bastards were lifted to new heights and unlimited opportunities. Once discovered and highlighted by a well-known ICT4D institution, the champion in question can be assured of receiving invitations for numerous other conferences – where other organizers on their turn can boast about their discovery.

During the ICT Best Practice Forum in Ouagadougou, there were numerous of these parades and attempts of appropriation of other’s successes. One that particularly struck me was the following one, which occurred during a conversation I had with a UNECA-official. We were talking about Mali, and I mentioned an IICD project partner who works on telemedicine. “Ah”, said the official, “Yes I know him very well - what’s his name… We from UNECA nurtured him!”
Nice nurturing relationship that must have been – hey, what’s your name again?

November 5th 2008, Bamako, Mali, 7 in the morning. A special day had started.

The first day of the long awaited Cross-Country Learning Event (CCLE) on Livelihood Opportunities, the event that IICD organises for project partners by theme once every few years and that in this occasion has fallen under my ‘livelihoods’ range of responsibilities. The bus to Sikasso was waiting in front of the hotel, already loaded with four translators and their technician with his equipment, two ladies introduced to me as ‘hostesses,’ Mady, the cheerful local co-organiser representative, bananas, peanuts and bottles of water and flavoured sodas, a shy boy that never revealed his role but that would smile to our greetings in poor French, and of course, the driver. The bus is to take us to Sikasso, capital city of the southern region with the same name, where many of IICD’s supported livelihoods projects in the country are located. It is my first time in Mali, as well as for 21 other participants coming from 7 different countries. They are expectant. I am expectant. We have invited them to a tri-lingual workshop in rural Mali to exchange experiences about rural content for rural lives: how farmers in the most disadvantaged areas are working with information and communication technologies (ICTs) to create and disseminate local content in ways that are meaningful for them. And in this context we are all first timers.

Fortunately, most of the participants had arrived on time to Bamako the night before, and the two Zambians that missed their flight (for those mysterious excuses given by airlines) would be arriving later in the day. With the help and mobile phone of my IICD colleague Bénédicte Marcilly, the connoisseur of the local logistics and my partner for the event, we were getting a transport for the two we were leaving behind to catch up with us in Sikasso. We were promised they would be picked up upon arrival. Yes of course we would pay all the extra expenses. So we departed, Sikasso: there we go.

But the day had not started here. From early hours many participants, myself, and about half of the world had been watching the results of the 2008 United States Presidential Elections. “Yes we can” had replaced the greeting “Good morning” that day. The Mirabeau Hotel TVs seemed to be all connected, tuned in the same channel that showed a large picture of Barak Obama in the background, with journalists discussing in French the implications of this election for us all. We had had breakfast smiling, watching the screen. Excitement was in the air, and for me, a white Latin-American woman, receiving this news surrounded by African colleagues made those mixed feelings for history, race, humanity and development come together in a very moving awakening. This was a historical moment, and we were living in it.

The 5 hour road trip on the air conditioned bus went so smoothly that left us pleasantly surprised. No incidents, neither caws nor goats blockades, they would just run away from the loud bus horn. In Sikasso, the Hotel Kaaki Palace’s receptionist was ready for us, with all the room keys spread on the counter: Pick your room! Great. Someone handed me key 306, a room which I later discovered had no working TV, no mosquito net, and was too far from internet reach (afterwards we learned only 4 rooms in the ground floor could get signal). That was ok, I somehow had the feeling that we would not have time anyway to watch TV or worry about mosquitoes. And for the internet, that was to be solved by quietly camping outside those four ‘connected’ rooms around midnight.

Despite all the bananas and peanuts provided during the trip by the hostesses, we were hungry. So all on to the bus again through the Sikasso market to arrive at the facilities of IER (National Institute for Agricultural Research), where the 3-day workshop was to be held. The group of ‘transformatices’, women that work in the transformation of products like mangos, coconut and potatoes, received us with music and dancing, playing drums with such a skill that even surprised local Malian men participants. This would only be a first introduction to what we would later experience of Sikasso’s music richness. We were then kindly served salad, chicken, couscous, fruit. Welcoming remarks by our hosts filled the atmosphere, which together with those women that were cooking, dancing and chanting for us, made us quickly leave behind all the trip exhaustion, doubts and challenges since deciding to plan this event in Sikasso months ago.

And the activities began, only two hours later than planned, that afternoon. Introductory remarks, ice breakers, story telling. Everybody participated actively, and people had this extra energy that we organisers recognized as reflection of the excitement and power of coming together. (see picture)

We finished that day with a visit to the IICD supported Sene Kulafoni Bulon project. We toured the facilities, the computers, looked at the produce display window and got introduced to this concrete example of close collaboration between three large farmers' organisations in Sikasso (the Union of Mango producers, the Federation of Potato producers and the Federation of women Mango Transformers) and the regional branch of Mali’s IER that focuses on the transformation chain of products. What particularly struck me was the lecture of a poem in Bambara, written by a member of the project, and using the IICD acronym as inspiration (see picture). We soon had become part of the Sene Kulafoni Bulon’s fanclub, wearing their t-shirt and taking pictures with each of their team members. And as it could not get any better, the left behind Zambian participants arrived right on time to get to sit at the dinner table.

“As you can see here, computers are no longer a taboo for farmers” were the words of Dede Togola Konde, a very charismatic and energetic women and one of the project directors, when thanking us for the visit. As everybody clapped and smiled, and started digging into their chicken plates, I wondered how many things were no longer taboos, starting today, for all of us sitting at that table and for the world. That was a very special day, from dawn to dusk. I am sure it will certainly stay with many of us for years to come.

When visiting the Sahel desert during a road trip from Ouagadougou, Burkina faso, I noticed that the Sahel is looking greener than I had imagined. Even at the end of the dry period in May, trees carried green leaves and some bushes even flowered. I wondered what the Sahel would look like in three months time, after the rain season.

I was travelling with a group of Burkina NTIC, the national network for advocacy, lobbying, knowledge sharing and awareness raising on the use of ICT for development that is supported by IICD. My IICD colleague Miep, who is supporting the network, and I were invited by the network to come along on a Road Trip to Bokin in the North Central of Burkina Faso. In Bokin the network was planning to visit several communities to explain and show how beneficiary the use of ICT can be.

Bokin, a place about 100 kilometres up north of Ouagadougou in the Sahel, is the administrative seat of the department of Bokin, an area covering about 50 square kilometres with over 50,000 people. Life expectancies are low and facilities are scarce. Most people are living completely isolated, struggling to produce enough food to feed their own families. In dry season temperature rises up to 45 degrees Celsius which makes life even more unbearable. Red dust is covering everything.

In this area resides Sahel Solidarité, partner of IICD and member of Burkina NTIC, which is working in the area of water sanitation and hygiene. An important part of their work is informing local communities about how they can prevent diseases and illnesses by taking care of their personal hygiene (e.g. washing hands before dinner) and organised places for washing and cooking. In their work they make use of multi-media to show good and bad examples of hygiene.

Together with them we visited several communities in the department of Bokin. One of the stops was in Bokin itself where we met health care prevention workers and local officials. Sahel Solidarité showed them how ICT could help to make people more aware of dangerous health situations by using digital cameras to register ‘good and ‘bad’ hygienic situations which were shown on a large screen in the evenings in different communities. How effective using multi-media is for their work we could see with our own eyes later that evening. Just a few kilometres outside of Bokin Sahel Solidarité had set up a film screen made out of two poles and a white sheet on which they projected images. People living in villages nearby were invited to attend this presentation. It was pitch black and for me it would have been impossible to find my way, but around 8 pm we saw lights glowing up in the dark, coming closer and closer, announcing the arrival of many a person on bike. From far and near they had come. They were impressed with what they saw. Perhaps it was just the magic of a ‘son et lumière’ show outdoors, but the pictures showed them what simple measures they could take to avoid risks of infection. Amazing how a simple presentation of pictures can make a difference, especially for people in areas like Bokin, who have difficulties with reading and writing.

More striking though was our visit to the community of Pourra where a local entrepreneur had started to broadcast news and information on water hygiene, vaccination programmes and other relevant activities in the area. He had been inspired by the work of Sahel Solidarité to start using radio to improve the information to and communication with local people. People could even call during the programme to ask questions or announce something. The radio station resided in his shop, but in the midst of the dust, dryness and immense heat that what was done in that small building made all the difference to the people. Having access to information and being able to communicate, to ask questions about how and when, gave people the opportunity to change something for their own good.

For the first time I witnessed what information and communication can do to people living in isolated areas like the Sahel. Like the first green leaf on the emergence of spring, it gave them hope. Hope and trust in the fact that something would change, that they could do something. The Sahel is getting greener day by day. 

Monday morning 7.30: while I am finishing my breakfast, Christoph, member of the Burkina NTIC network and teacher at the Bogodogo College, enters the court yard of the hotel to pick-me up for a visit to his College. Aside of his teaching Christoph is also responsible for the maintenance of the computers and the training of staff and today he is going to show me how his school makes of ICT. A few minutes later we are on our way. It must have been a funny sight: a big man and tall, blond woman on a small motorbike cruising through the streets of Ouagadogou.

School normally starts at 7.30 but as the lessons had ended but a few pupils and teachers are at school to finalise the paper work and waiting for their end results. I am kindly introduced to the head of the school who tells me, before he rushes off to a meeting, that his school has a partnership with a French college. We also stop by at the secretariat where Mme Soulema, a kind, but severe looking lady who is responsible for the administration and registration of the results. Until three years ago all the paperwork was still done by hand. She shows me on the computer how they have organised the student administration. I ask her if she is happy to have a computer to process all the information. It surely must save a lot of time. A little cross she answers that she now has more work to do than before. Before they started using the computers teachers themselves where responsible for filling out the end results of pupils and to double check all the grades. Now she is the one to enter all the data which includes chasing all the teachers to deliver the information on time. What adds up to it, is that she used to share her work with another colleague, but the other colleague has left and the position is still vacant.

Christoph shows me the computer room, a former class room. Next year, he tells me, the computer room will be extended, if all goes to plan. There are 10 computers available in the computer room and one in the library. All have access to the internet which is paid for by the state. It is the College who pays for the hardware. Christoph wants me to show the website of the school, but there is very little connectivity today, a problem which occurs more often. Not only at the College, but in the entire city of Ouagadougou. Especially after heavy rainfall it takes time for the internet is up and running again. All teachers and pupils have access to the computers and know how to use them, though the pupils can only use the computers under supervision of a teacher.

I talked to one of the pupils at the College, Clotaire Minounga. He is happy with the computer facilities at school, though he wishes he could make more use of them. As there are but a few computers available for a little less than 1,000 pupils most pupils spend no more than an hour a week behind the computer to do research on the internet for one of their subjects. Outside school he often visits telecentres: places that offer services like photo copying, fax, phone, but also internet access. While he uses the computer at school only to do homework, at the telecentres he spends all his time to email with friends.

Then Christoph is suddenly asked to come and help out to sort a problem with the printer of the secretariat. Mrs Soulama, head of the secretariat, is a kind, but severe women. She is responsible for the registration and administration of pupils and their results. The director of the lycee has asked for the results of some of the students which have to be discussed in a meeting with teachers. The printer itself works, but somehow the connection between printer and computer fails. Christoph checks everything: he replaces the cable, re-installs the software of the printer and replaces the ink cartridge. Several teachers, students and other staff drop by, but no one seems to be able to solve the problem. An hour goes by. Then suddenly, the printer ‘decides’ to print exactly those pages that where asked for by the director. Mrs Soulama and Christoph, are relieved. But to make sure everything is in order, Christoph calls one of his cousins, who is a computer engineer, to stop by and check the printer connection.

I decide that it is time to leave. It was a busy morning at the College. The introduction of ICT and computers at the Bogodogo College has surely benefitted both teachers and pupils, but brought along some challenges too.

The project “District computerization Kinondoni” is to bring about good governance in the Kinondoni District (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) by harnessing information for decision-making through the use of ICT. The project has been in implementation for some time now and has been using IICD's Monitoring and Evaluation system since 2003. This time around, a new approach was taken during the Focus Group Meeting.

On the 20th of April, 30 ICT users from various levels and departments of the Kinondoni municipality and four ICT staff members assembled in a Focus Group meeting to discuss the results of the questionnaires that were collected last year among the end users of the project. An important conclusion from the data coming out of these questionnaires was that generally, users viewed quite an impact of the project in their organisation, in terms of empowerment of the users working with ICT and the impact ICT was having on the organisation when it came to productivity and efficient reporting. The results also showed that improvements could be made to improve satisfaction, mainly where training of the users and technical assistance by the ICT staff was concerned.

In order to address the challenges, role play was used to facilitate the dialogue. One group of end users and one group consisting of ICT staff members were both asked to prepare a small play on the issues concerning technical assistance. Each group had to address positive and negative aspects of the technical assistance and in both plays end users and ICT staff members had to be acted out. This motivated the participants to step in each other shoes and to take both points of view into consideration. Two other groups, both consisting of end users, made plays concerning organisational efficiency: Does ICT really make the workplace more efficient?

The plays (in Kiswahili) resulted in a lot of laughter and sounds of approval; many participants recognised the situations in the scenes that for instance showed a member of the ICT staff using very technical language with puzzled-looking users or a secretary without appropriate training, trying to help out her boss who was too busy to deal with the computer.

After all plays, the participants made a list of concrete points of action. Interesting was that this action was expected not only from the ICT staff members, but also from the management and all users. Ideas that came up had to do with lessening the pressure on the ICT staff by on the one hand training and aiding users to better cope with problems themselves. The ICT staff could for instance make notes with very basic trouble shooting issues, so the users do not need to call upon the ICT staff for relatively simple problems. On the other hand, the ICT staff can be trained to better and simpler communicate with their end users. They can also be helped to develop a way that allows the staff to better deal with the limited time that they have: which problems have priority above others and what can users expect from them in terms of promptness of the assistance?

The meeting was enthusiastically reflected upon. As one of the ICT staff members put it: ”It would be really good if we could do this again next time. I feel that people now understand more about the ICT staff, that we are busy too, and that we understand them better. And everybody enjoyed it!”

The circus of large international conferences on ICT for development keeps going on. Since someone first used the words ‘digital divide’ in the late nineties, more than one  thousand gatherings world-wide were organised to discuss this reputed problem. You can ask yourself how many projects could have been set up to bridge the divide with the millions of euros that is spent on these conferences. I agree with the coordinator of our National ICT for Development network, Sylvestre Ouédroago in Burkina Faso, who made the following remark in his book ‘L’ordinateur et le Djembé’ in the chapter ‘The modern griot’: ‘I travelled around attending several conferences and singing the extreme poverty of Africa. With a stern look, neatly dressed in a suit, and carrying my portable computer and my cell phone, I went to every place for which I received an invitation letter. (…) I made so many trips that I hardly worked, and when I did, it was often on the plane or at the airport while waiting for a plane. Have I become a new griot, or a praise singer of modern times? Was I preaching a message of hope or disaster in order to design new juicy projects that would bring benefits only to their designers who are always eager to experiment new salvation approaches? In fact, many heads of State that I criticize have the same approach!” At all these conferences you meet the same people and hear the same stories and in these past ten years very little has changed in the countries concerned.