CSIR: Rural Research Project

Ivan Andersen picked up this link:

CSIR in project to enable rural research - 'The CSIR is participating in an international research consortium aimed at enabling people in rural areas to take part in research and the development of technology that could effect them.

'Researchers from the CSIR Built Environment and the Meraka Institute, a national research centre managed by the CSIR, are involved in the project, which is funded by the European Union's (EU) Framework Programme 6 (FP6).

'The Collaboration@Rural: a Collaborative Platform for Working and Living in Rural Areas project, or C@R for short, will last three years and provides a platform for research and technology development institutions to collaborate with rural communities in developing effective methodologies implementing rural living labs in rural economies.'

FLOOD Up vs. Trickle Down

Trevor writes:

Was wondering what would happen if 100% of donor funds started in the hands of the target beneficiary... instead of trickling down through any number of project managers, consultants and admin cost structures to hardly benefit the target beneficiary at all... how would that change the Social Entrepreneurial game? Is it counter-intuitive?

Here are some links to aid further thought around this off-the-wall idea:

1. Flood Up, Not Trickle Down! - some extracts:
Extensive research has shown that increasing wages actually benefits the economy and helps businesses. The idea harkens back to economist John Maynard Keynes who first wrote about the downward spiral known as “the paradox of thrift.”

Keynes and others understood the “the circular flow of money” or “multiplier effect” of new money in an economy: If workers are paid more money, they will spend it. The business that a worker spends it with will spend it with someone else who will spend it with someone else, and so on. This expansion continues until it comes back several-fold not only to the original person but to the whole economy.

2. Binary Economicsin a Nutshell

3. Social Business Entrepreneurs Are the Solution - Muhammad Yunus - Grameen Bank

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - http://www.innercircleforum.com/
trevor@innercircleforum.com

Financial Diaries Studies - EXCELLENT

Trevor writes:

See www.financialdiaries.com :

The government and financial industry in South Africa are increasingly aware of the need to provide financial services to poor households, but a lack of understanding of the financial needs of the poor makes this task a difficult one. The Financial Diaries study addresses this knowledge gap by examining financial management in rural and urban households in South Africa.

The Financial Diaries project is a year-long household survey that examines financial management in poor households. Fortnightly interviews were conducted in three different areas in South Africa: Langa in Cape Town, Diepsloot in Johannesburg and Lugangeni, a rural village in the Eastern Cape.

Please see our Focus Notes on the Key Findings page, which address a number of topics such as indebtedness, medical spending and savings. Detailed individual household profiles can be found on the Household Profiles page. The search function allows the viewer to segment households by area, dwelling type, income and net worth.

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - http://www.innercircleforum.com/
trevor@innercircleforum.com

It's Back To The SOCIAL Work

Trevor writes:

After the sadness of Vuyo's passing, it's back to the SOCIAL work for this blog... I particularly like the first impression given by the online collateral of the Triple Trust Organisation... don't know too much about them but if WE can add Governance and Accountability to this kind of presentation... who, as a donor, would fail to be impressed?

1. The Triple Trust Organisation (TTO) is a South African not-for-profit organisation committed to the alleviation of poverty in South Africa through making markets work for the poor.

TTO acts as a market development facilitator, and designs and manages projects that will enable poor communities to meaningfully participate in markets.

Also see South African Institute for Entrepreneurship

2. PDF - Excellent production of a Triple Trust Annual Report - 2004/2005

3. PDF - SEEP Network Market Assessment - www.seepnetwork.org/ - document makes this statement:

Box 2. Focus Group Discussions in the Retail Grocery Market —

Triple Trust Organisation in South Africa Triple Trust Organisation (TTO) carried out market research to design a project targeting spaza shops—tiny, home-based grocery stores — and their customers in poor urban areas of Cape Town, South Africa. As part of the research, TTO conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) with spaza shop owners to better understand issues related to stock, supply chain links, and business service use and future interest. TTO also conducted FGDs with customers of spaza shops to learn what spaza shops could do to capture a greater share of their grocery budgets. The information helped TTO design interventions to facilitate links among market players and improve the supply chain in the spaza shop market.

4. UCT low-cost housing concept wins award - A low-cost housing concept developed by UCT's Department of Civil Engineering and a partner, Triple Trust, won an award for the most innovative product at the recent Design for Living Exhibition in Cape Town.

5. Strategy & Tactics - Locally, the Cape Town office assessed spaza shop market potential for the Triple Trust Organisation; worked on a recovery strategy for the EU-funded Microproject Trust Programme in the Eastern Cape; assessed citizen satisfaction in the Departments of Education, Health, Housing and Social Development for the Public Services Commission; and also completed several studies for the Department of Labour.

6. See www.zenkaya.com/

7. See http://www.kwikspace.co.za/ - Modular Buildings

8. See Prefabricated Building Solutions

9. http://www.moladi.com/building_system_news.htm

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - http://www.innercircleforum.com/
trevor@innercircleforum.com

In Memory Of VUYO Zwane

Trevor writes:

It's been a particularly trying time in the last 10 days amongst those I am connected to, what with the needless killing of John Broome's elderly mother in an attack in their Boksburg home, the loss of Mirriam & Tito Zwane's son - Vuyo Zwane - in a tragic crash on Saturday morning, and the senseless killing of good friend Gary Joubert's son - Marc Joubert - in a Durban restaurant robbery on Saturday night.

It is so easy to have one's spirit crushed with this huge load of tragedy and pain affecting those so close to one, however yesterday my spirits were lifted sky-high at the incredibly moving memorial service for Vuyo Zwane at the Sacred Heart College in Observatory.

I have such deep admiration and respect for the humility and strength shown by the entire Zwane family at this deeply sad time for their family. My heart, as a father, went out to Tito as he spoke tenderly of arriving at the scene of the accident to witness every parent's nightmare unfolding in front of him.

Both Mirriam and Tito blew me away with their courage and smiling faces of thanks and hugs for everyone attending the refreshments hall at the end of the memorial.

I did not have the pleasure of meeting Vuyo (my being there to essentially to share support for Mirriam), but by the end of the service it was clear that this young man was a hugely influential cog in an incredible circle of family and friends.

I felt massively privileged to be able to share this insight into the amazing quality of people in Vuyo's life, and left thinking that there were people in that hall who could well make a big difference in society in memory of their close friend, son and brother.

I am hugely blessed to know someone like Mirriam Zwane - and to meet Tito Zwane - who are clearly at the influential hub of an amazing social network of family and friends. These are fine, fine people!

Rest in peace, Vuyo, I didn't know you... but you have left a clear and lasting impression in the manner that you lived your short life and so positively affected those around you. God bless you and your family & friends.

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - www.innercircleforum.com
trevor@innercircleforum.com

simplify, Simplify, SIMPLIFY ..1 ..2 ..3

Trevor writes:

From this post - MAD 7. It Only Takes 'HALF-A-DOZEN' Things! (extract below) - I am reminded that it is all to easy to fall into the trap of adding unnecessary complexity to ideas, projects, strategies, et al, that should be as simple as ...1 ..2 ..3

Too many people look to make the simple things in life too complex to understand.

Yes, most often it takes only a few things... 1, 2, or 3 things... just a 'half-a-dozen' things to ensure success in most projects.

I am resolving to simplify every idea, project, strategy I have into a 'simple as ..1 ..2 ..3' graphic presentation.

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - www.innercircleforum.com
trevor@innercircleforum.com

South Africa: A Nation Of GIVERS

Trevor writes:

Thanks to Malcolm Boyd for alerting us to this document:

Everatt, David & Solanki, Geetesh (2005) A Nation of Givers: Social Giving Among South Africans . PDF

A key finding:

As a nationally representative sample, we can extrapolate these findings to the population as a whole. South African citizens mobilise almost R930m in an average month for development and anti-poverty work.

Found these links to support above and/or open interesting contact links:

1. SANGONet - portal of the Southern African NGO Network

2. Strategy & Tactics - To transform the lives of people living in poverty in Africa. Monitoring is an integral part of performance evaluation, establishing in an ongoing manner how projects are being implemented. S&T has been involved in the design and/or implementation of monitoring systems for key government anti-poverty programmes. Our clients include government, NGOs, international donor agencies, private sector companies and others.

3. http://www.theplacementproject.co.za%20/- The Placement Project, a capacity-building initiative by the Foundation for Professional Development, was launched on the January 1st, 2006, in response to a feasibility study demonstrating that the establishment of a non-profit recruitment agency would help fill the sweeping vacancies in the South African public health care sector. The Placement Project was established to reduce the vacancy rates in the public health sector, increase the general health infrastructure capacity and, thereby, improve access to quality health care service for all uninsured patients.

4. [PDF] Corporations, Community, Private-Public Sector Partnerships (PPPs ...

5. THE MICRO FINANCE SECTOR INTERNATIONALLY AND IN SOUTH AFRICA

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - http://www.innercircleforum.com/
trevor@innercircleforum.com