A hard lesson to learn

Enthusiasm, being a self-starter, able of working both independently and within a team, good communicator, knowledgeable and a score of other attributes are all qualities possessed by most volunteers, and many other folk for that matter. It would not be wrong to say that I possess a couple of these characters, otherwise VSO wouldn’t have selected me and I would not have had the confidence to be here in Nepal. These essential personal attributes can, however, get in the way of progress. Being a ‘self-starter’ for instance can at times come perilously close to ‘wanting to get things done too quickly’, which definitely can work against progress here in Nepal.

There are many VSO placements, in fact the vast majority, which work within the confines of an established programme. This framework guides and assists the volunteer in his daily work. I on the other hand am working with Partners who have not experienced volunteers before, and my programme is very much a pilot for a bigger programme that could follow if this successful.



A collective with 20 cows



A large herd of 16 cows.




A proud farmer shows off one of his four cows.

FOUR DIFFERENT SITUATIONS BUT SIMILAR PROBLEMS
OF WATER, FEED AND FORAGE QUALITY.
SAME ISSUES FOR DAIRY FARMERS WORLDWIDE. 

The core theme of my working is using the existing structures such as Government Agencies, Farmers Co-operatives, and Processors as conduits for knowledge flow down to farmers. Many farmers are women and live in marginalised communities both of which core themes of VSO's work. Sustainability will come through increasing the capacity, or knowledge of the governments District Livestock Service Office fieldsman, 'Champion Farmers' who are willing to demonstrate new techniques, and milk processor staff who advise farmers. This is another of VSO's themes. That’s the theory and over the next couple of years or so we will discover what the outcomes are like in practice.

When you’ve been working within an industry for a long time, as most volunteers have, identifying problems and finding solutions can come quite easily. Having attended a course on coaching run by the Olympic Gold Medallist, Dr. David Hemery, where one of the essential themes of successful coaching is 'ownership', I should have noticed the yawning trap that was opening up ready to swallow the unwary traveller in this world of volunteering.

Since arriving in Lamjung I have had some spare time whilst my working relationships with Partners became established. However, with one Partner ,Kisan Dairy, a collectively owned milk processor I have had their 'Needs' identified, written a fact finding schedule, had it agreed  and made a good start. I’ve visited milk producing farmer members and been warmly welcomed. There seems to be a common problem related to availability of drinking water and purchased feed quality which can dramatically affect one of the 'needs' they had identified. The need to produce more milk.  I’ve even formulated a few theories as to the root causes of these issues and visited other non-member milk producers to test out these theories. All ok I hear you saying but whilst I was busy working away on theories that trap I referred to earlier was starting to open up. 



Raj Kumar of Kisan Dairy identifies their Needs.

 

Whilst doing these investigations I had ‘cold called’ another milk producing collective and discovered they too had water and feed issues. So I organised a small workshop which was well attended by both employees and owners. I even refrained from offering solutions waiting patiently for the next workshop I’d organised. This second workshop proved to be something of a flop despite being only a few days later, at a mutually agreed time. Numbers  were low, and some drifted away as proceedings progressed, one of which was the farmer acting as interpreter. So as the show wobbled to a  premature conclusion without any real positive outcomes I reflected on what had gone wrong.



Checking feed quantities at the first workshop



Checking levels of understanding.

 

It all boiled down to ‘ownership’. Those farmers had not really identified a ‘Need’, and so they had not owned the solutions. I had done the identifying of the problems. I had created the solutions and whilst my intentions were entirely honourable, the achievements were minimal. On the long walk home from the training I reflected upon what I could have done better. Taken things a little more slowly and asked what their needs were and how I might help. At some point we almost certainly would have come around to the issues I had previously identified. Things may take a little more time but the outcomes will be longer lasting.


The story has a slightly happier ending in that one of the key members of that collective has approached me again and wants to meet to address some of their issues. Luckily, I seem to be getting a second chance. Fortunately, the  two year placement allows for a slower passage along the road of sustainable change. It has also given me the opportunity to scrabble back out of that trap into which I had plunged. Give others the 'ownership', don't keep if for yourself.