Donor dependency & lessons in event planning

The REDES Project held its first regional TOT (Training of Trainers) conferences on April 20-23, in 5 locations throughout Mozambique. My friend Megan (also the REDES Curriculum Director) and I were in charge of the Gaza TOT in Macia. Overall, everything went well although the process of planning and executing a 3-day event for 19 Mozambican facilitators and 6 PCV's is not an easy task.

I should give you a brief explanation here. In past years, REDES conferences were always held in super nice resorts with fancy buffet meals, and the participants received absurdly high per diems.
This year, with the challenge of introducing this big event into our currently existing budget and the concept of sustainability in mind, we voted to cut down on event costs in a variety of ways.

First, we booked internatos (school dorms)instead of ritzy hotels. Second, we cut down significantly on the per diem amounts. (At an event in which food and lodging is all provided, the participants really don't need to receive large sums of cash.) Third, we opted to create our own menu instead of using the venues'. This meant we had to find our own cooks and buy all of the food materials in advance.

From a efficiency and cost-cutting standpoint, all of these changes make sense, right?
But from the viewpoint of a Mozambican who has participated in REDES conferences and other I-NGO sponsored events in the past, this was outrageous!!!!

We heard our first complaints almost immediately. "This is nothing like Barra Lodge," A participant complained to another, making reference to last year's beach-side resort venue.

At snack time, one of the older REDES facilitator called me over. "I don't drink tea," she said. "Well, have some coffee," I replied. She said she only drank juice or soda. I responded that each participant was already receiving one soda for lunch and one soda for dinner, and did she really need three sodas a day? She sniffed at my suggestion that she drink some water. Another woman handed me back a package of crackers and asked for a different kind. Megan and I felt like everyone's personal empregadas, to the point that one day we ate alone in the kitchen so we could get some peace.

The biggest uproar came when meal time arrived the second day. "Matapa for lunch?" Some participants griped (Matapa is a standard Mozambican dish, made with greens and coconut milk.) Reading between the lines, this meant: WHERE'S OUR MEAT??? Apparently, it is preposterous to withhold protein (chicken, beef, fish, etc.) at a conference, despite the fact that the dishes we were serving are ones they eat every single day at home. The announcement of beans and rice for dinner was met with indignation. One woman tried to rally up a group to leave and get dinner elsewhere, although their plan was foiled by lack of transport.

The complaints got so bad that at the end of the second day, we had to confront the problem head-on. Megan explained to the group that REDES is currently at the end of the fiscal year and under budget constraints, and asked the participants to be understanding of what we can offer them. Afterwards, we didn't hear that as many complaints- although the participants probably just switched to bitching in Changana. Even so, five out of six of the feedback forms brought up housing, food, per diem, or all three.

You'd think that the opportunity to learn and grow as a facilitator would be enough motivation to be at a conference. But who am I kidding? How does KNOWLEDGE compare to continental buffets and a wallet full of change?

Years and years of outside funding has created a sense of entitlement and donor dependency. How can we ever expect to turn over our programs to host country nationals one day if things don't change?

----

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2010.02607.x/full (Related reading about per diem dependency)