To co-create, distribute facilitation & connect

[Rituu B. Nanda]

In May 2023, Global Fund for Children partners came together to share and learn, most of them had never met each other. The theme of the event was Community ownership and participatory MEL. Out of the 5 NGOs, four NGOs have used  SALT and CLCP and participatory MEL. The event was hosted by NGO Avani in Kolhapur. 

Who facilitates? who creates the space?

I have facilitated several knowledge fairs and participated in both national and international learning festivals. I did not want to facilitate the whole event on my own. It was time to redistribute the power as a facilitator. 

Invitations- The invitation did not go from GFC, the Avani Smile team as the host sent out the invites. 

Setting the agenda-Before the Knowledge fair, I had multiple calls with about 15 participants. They gave plenty of ideas, and most were incorporated, one participant said that she wanted a discussion on the challenges of community ownership, and another wanted an interesting way to have introductions. Participants came forward  to facilitate some sessions. The participants found these conversations very helpful. Many of them said that they were slightly apprehensive about what will happen, but thinking through the process before the event gave them a good understanding and made them take ownership. I invited other GFC staff to share their ideas and also take on facilitation roles. I learned that one or two people have to hold the space. My colleague Kulsoom virtually worked with me and took the lead in bringing all the ideas together to develop a process note. 

Theme of the event  & who participated Participatory MEL,  community ownership and outcomes of the project. The event ended with a cultural evening. Day two communities, youth and children joined us, we were 108 people from 6 states and three countries.

Reflections and takeaways

• Facilitation in events was new for some facilitators but it was a good start. Facilitating a deep learning conversation means a lot of practice.
• The second day we had 108 participants including 55 community members- men, women, health workers, children, and adolescents from 4 villages, they brought a lot of depth. The presence of about 20 SALT facilitators in the room enabled deep conversations. Avani Smile team had oriented some of their staff on SALT who also supported in facilitation. I learned that knowledge fair works well when those with lived experience share and exchange and outsiders listen with a SALT mindset and not as experts or solution providers. 

• The second day with community presence, it was time for me to step back and let the local smile Avani team facilitate.  when the co-facilitators are ready, they step in!
• SALT visits before the KF had ignited the community, and they came with a lot of energy; SALT visits should be an essential part of KF
• We. had multiple languages, and I think by day two we figured out a way to manage this skilfully. Having people allocated to translate saves time and makes possible deeper conversations. Worth the investment!.
• Safeguarding was an essential part of our event. 
• International and national experiences of sharing community-led experiences by outsiders encouraged the communities and the participants. 
• We got participants external to the project like Brijesh who has used SALT with a survivor collective and Dr Balaram who recently went through SALT training and works with Pathfinder International. The aim was to connect different movements, organizations, and communities. Connection is key!
• We used Arts-based methods in facilitation, but we could have done more. 
• We had AERs on day one and two - which were facilitated by participants. These help to adapt for the following day.
• Cultural performances introduce us to the culture of the participants 
• Post the event, we had three AER with multiple groups of people who co-facilitated the process.
• Multiple people facilitate, but we need someone to anchor it.

I have far to go as a facilitator in terms of coordinating different members facilitating. However, there is a sense of satisfaction as all the NGO staff took turns in facilitation, There was no one who went back not having facilitated or presented something. 

Gratitude to the participants for debating, reflecting, drawing, and singing together. For the communities who came to encourage us and generously share with us. A big thank you to the GFC team mates- Corey, Indrani, Nawaz and Sam for the GFC AAR.