SDIA News
SDIA New Leadership
Welcome Kumari Beck (Canada) who was elected Chair of SDIA at the Annual General Meeting in New Zealand and a big thank you to Sharifin Gardiner (England) who had been the chairman since 2005. Sharifin will continue as Past Chairman and advisor to the Board. We have two new directors, Rasjidah Flores (Mexico), Romina Vianden-Prudent (Germany) and Haris Wolfgang (USA) was re-elected for a second term. Arnaud Delune (France) who continues as Chairman of SD France and Lawrence Leetz (Holland) who was appointed as International Helper are retiring as SDIA directors. Thank you Arnaud and Lawrence for your dedication to SDIA.
In Context!
In Context!
At the recent international Subud Congress in New Zealand, SDIA launched In Context!, a one-time publication in magazine format whose aim is to increase understanding of the current trends and complex forces that shape development processes. All of the articles in the magazine were written by Subud professionals and one purpose of the magazine is to share what we have learned in the field of international development. The first part of the magazine addresses “cross-cutting themes” that affect all development work. There are other themes, but we focus here on human rights, creativity, the process of increasing the impact of a project and education. You can find the first four articles posted on the SDIA blog. The remaining articles will be posted next month. We invite you to give your comments and start a discussion.
Students in the Yodigo Computer Project
A Step Further: A Rights Based Approach to Development: Solen Lees explains the relationship of internationally recognized human rights to envisioning and implementing development projects.
Puppets give youthful refugees a way to reflect on difficult experiences.
Artistic Expression, Creativity and Development: Erica Sapir talks about the importance of staying creative when undergoing any process of development and human changes in attitudes and behaviour.
Sugar Cane workers in Viet Nam
Dreams, Intentions and Realities: Stories from Vietnam and Indonesia - Bardolf Paul compares the process of project ‘scaling up’ from his work in Vietnam and Indonesia.
Students at Inka Samana School, Ecuador.
Education for Development/Developing Education: a challenge for our network: Kumari Beck examines the role of education as a philosophy of human development and the challenge to implement effective education programs in developing countries.
Member News
YUM Cipanas Children’s Village Conversion
The main building at the Cipanas Centre
Since YUM’s decision to convert the project in Cipanas, Java from a residential children’s village or “orphanage” to a community center that supports families, the team at YUM have been busy. Working with the community and the Ministry of Social Affairs they have conducted a social mapping exercise to determine local needs.
The team also conducted a strategic planning session that identified four steps that must be taken next:
- A detailed case assessment of all current Children’s Village children with a view to returning most of them to their families in 2010, including an assessment of the “needs” in their new family setting, e.g. assistance with educational costs and families’ basic needs.
- Draft a Community Center model to be reviewed with community stakeholders.
- Continue to build working relationships with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Save the Children to strengthen YUM’s strategic conversion, secure funding where possible and develop a community information database.
- Once the final Community Center model has been agreed upon by YUM and community stakeholders, an implementation timeline will be created, including dates to return Children’s Village children to their families where possible.
You can read more about the conversion process in the following articles on the website
three Articles on the progress of the conversion project.
- YUM’s Outreach to the Cipanas Communities
- The Children’s Village Conversion to a Community Center
- The Children's Village in Cipanas, West Java (photos)
Reflections from the Children’s Vision Project
A Bolivian girl has her eyes examined.
“Don't fall in love with your projects” is the advice of Isaac Goff from the Children’s Vision Project working in Bolivia. After a few years in operation, Isaac and his team did a follow up and learned that over half the eye-glasses they had provided to poor children through the Children's Vision project were either not being used or were broken. With this new understanding of the realities on the ground, the project has made adjustments to how it operates to address the problems. Isaac recommends that we always need to be willing to review and learn from our project experience…
Read about this project and the article.
Fire at Albadi School, DR Congo
A fire, delibrately set, destroyed a dormatory for children orphaned by AIDS at the Albadi School.
Albert, the founder of the Albadi School in Inkisi writes to SDIA:
I’m very worried with the fire that happened at the Albadi School. During the night of Saturday to Sunday on January 31, at around 4 am, the children’s dormitory was set on fire by a stranger. The child-care worker and the children got out safe and sound. However the damage is huge. There is no bed linens, no clothes, no chairs, no notebooks and many other things were destroyed as well.
If you would like to contribute to an emergency fund to help put this school and residence for children orphaned by AIDS back on its feet, you can contribute through your SD National or the SDIA Donate now page.
Participatory Rural Assessment (PRA) at YTS.
Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta Annual Report
The new 2009 annual Report from Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS) is now available. Read about the impact of the global economic downturn on this important community development project in Central Kalimantan that focuses on sustainable livelihoods and governance. New partnerships are now emerging to support various aspects of their work.
The International Child Development Programme (ICDP)
ICDP conducted several workshops in January at the Subud World Congress in New Zealand: a general presentation about ICDP by Chairman Rukman Hundeide and networking meetings with those who are already working with ICDP and a second workshop led by both Rukman and Lailah Armstrong, who invited people from Peru and Australia to share their insights about the way ICDP has started to develop in these two countries in 2009.
ICDP workshop, “Manab Jamin”
There were also some new people who came because they are interested in developing ICDP in their own communities (India, Japan, Canada, Australia). The latest ICDP Newsletter, which is on their website, has a good summary of all their activities. ICDP International needs our support to continue to promote this groundbreaking method of strengthening the bond between caregivers and children around the world. To support them go to the Donate now page on the SDIA Website or to the ICDP website.
Current Project Needs
The following Susila Dharma projects now have funding requests on the SDIA website. Some requests have already been partially met by various SD National organizations. Visit the link above to learn more about the details of the projects’ needs and which SD Nationals have already pledged to support them in 2010.
From 2009:
- Clear Path International: three projects on Thai/Burma border (USA) $33,719
- Yenge Clinic: building a protection wall (DR Congo) $8770
- YUM (Indonesia): Women’s Microcredit in Kalimantan start-up $4,078
- YUM (Indonesia) Cipanas Children’s Village Conversion Project $30,200
- Quest Center for Integrative Health: healing meal program (USA) $4,760
New in 2010:
- La Obra Madre-Entrelazos (Argentina): special needs arts program $6,325
- Tierraviva: women’s programs in prisons (Argentina) $8,000
- Asociacion Vivir (Ecuador): promoting breast feeding program $8,000
- Mithra Foundation (India): pre-school program $3,538
- Anisha Urban (India): pre-school program $3,193
UN Updates
SDIA January Press Release in Christchurch
Marking the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Susila Dharma International Association (SDIA), an affiliate of the World Subud Association (WSA), currently holding a congress in Christchurch, gave a presentation on children’s rights within its network…
Read the full press release and more about the YUM, Mithra, International Child Development Programme and Fundacion Amanecer which were highlighted at this event
Wonder what is going on with the UN?
Promoting a society for all.
(photo by Karine Savard)
The monthly publication, DESA News is an insider's look at the United Nations in the area of economic and social development policy. It is produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Communications and Information Management Service with feature articles written by DESA staff. You can find upcoming meetings on this site, latest newsletter and access to back issues.
We highly recommend anyone interested in the role of UN take a look at this publication.
Opportunities
Join the Friendship Register!
During the World Congress in Christchurch, several people signed up to the Friendship Register, also known as SD B&B.
The Friendship Register
Why does it have two names? Well, SD Bed & Breakfast was started as an initiative to facilitate members' visiting each others' homes when travelling and as a fundraiser for Susila Dharma. However, progress was slow, with a low uptake rate, and when Monica Bennett from France took over running the venture, she decided to change the focus to Friendship. The idea of this is to make it easier for Subud members to get in touch with members in a town or city when they pass through …just to meet up, have a chat and a cup of coffee, share latihan, and see where it goes from there. People wanting to offer bed and breakfast can of course do so too.
How does it work? You sign up to the register for a fee of 7 euros (or equivalent), by filling in a form. We publish your name, town/region, phone number and email address on a password-secured register which is posted on the Get Involved! blog of the Susila Dharma website. People whom we give a password to may then have access to your details and can get in touch with you when visiting your area.
You can read more, and download and fill in a form on the blog, and pay your registration fee here.
It would be great if all those who signed up at Congress could visit our website and pay the registration fee! Thank you!
A volunteer’s Experience
Eliah in Kalimantan
“In preparation for a volunteer assignment in Kalimantan, plenty of information was given to a humble volunteer from friends and family about what items of survival would be needed. At the top of the things list were the usual paranoid supplements of sunscreen, malaria tablets and constipation pills. A pair of good walking boots, expensive camera, trendy jungle clothes, decent underpants, mosquito net, and a good hat would complete the kit and likely leave your bank account empty…”
Eliah Dean is volunteering in Kalimantan with YTS. You can read his complete article in the latest YUM Newsletter. More from Eliah coming later on the blog.
Learning NGO Management On-Line
Training courses in NGO management are available from the NGO Management School in Switzerland.
Courses are for practitioners and help you to move forward in your job and in your career. You learn about the key concepts of management, different management tools and techniques as well as how to develop appropriate strategies to achieve your organisation's aims. You learn how to apply these in real situations. Our courses focus on real-life examples, group exercises and teamwork, the exchange of good practises and lessons learned and the sharing of experiences and insight. We favour creative and innovative approaches. During each course, we highlight and examine current debates and challenges about the subjects taught. Senior NGO training professionals design our courses. Qualified and experienced trainers conduct the courses.
From the Office
Successful SDIA Members Meetings in New Zealand!
Valli, founder of Anisha in Bangalore, India, with SDIA board member, Lawrence Leetz at the 2010 Subud World Congress
The Subud World Congress is held every four years and is an opportunity to showcase our knowledge and experience specific to social development and humanitarian activities. SDIA coordinated an exciting and rich program which was delivered by members of the SD Network and other resource people. The program included:
- Five meetings of members of the SD network and interested Subud members, including the all day Annual General Meeting.
- Twenty-two workshops related to development in areas such as education, intercultural relationships, auditing, results-based management, fundraising, how to get involved in the UN, team-building, sustainable development, volunteering, and social and economic challenges in specific regions of the world.
- Over fifteen presentations from project leaders about their work and its impact.
A series of smaller meetings on matters of concern to specific projects and organizations, such as creating project partnerships.
We want to thank the many people who through their dedication, leadership and participation made this program a success. A report on the result of these meetings is in preparation.
Subud World Congress 2010: it was fantastic but, in the end, everyone was pretty tired!
(Left to right: Solen Lees, Rasjidah Flores, Rossana Silva, Sabrina Castillo, Solen Lees, Virginia Thomas, Bella Rosario, Josephine Bacikin, Sharifin Gardiner, Virginia Thomas.)
The SDIA Network eNews is published once a month from information sent in to the office.
We welcome news items. Deadline for submissions is the middle of each month.