END-OF-PROJECT—PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION Building Empowerment, Leadership, and Engagement (BELE) & Transition Engagement for Population Support II (TEPS II) Programs EAST TIMOR for U. S. Agency for International Development Office of Transition Initiatives & Development Alternatives, Inc. (AOT-I-01-98-00199-00) performed by John P. Mason, PhD. Consultant with Contributions by John Doyle Joao Noronha Luisa Cardoso Filipe do Costa Margarith Araujo USAID/OTI/DAI January 28, 2002 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECTUIVE SUMMARY iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION A. Introduction 1 B. Purpose 1 C. Background 2 D. Methodology 2 E. Outline of Report 5 CHAPTER 2: FINDINGS A. Introduction 6 B. Agriculture 6 C. Building Renovation 9 D. Income Generation 16 E. Water & Sanitation 20 F. Roads 23 G. Sports Facilities 25 H. Gender Focused Activities 26 I. Role of Implementing Partners in Support of Community Transition 26 CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSIONS, LESSONS LEARNED & RECOMMENDATIONS A. Conclusions 28 B. Lessons Learned & Recommendations 30 C. OTI’s Exit Strategy for BELE and TEPS II: Some Considerations 32 ANNEXES 1. Scope of Work 2. Community Participants and Participating Partner Questionnaires (in English & Tetum) 3. Matrix of Site Selection Criteria and Schedule of Visits iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is a report on USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives’ (OTI) evaluation of its East Timor community stabilization programs undertaken January 5-23, 2002. This was an end￾of–project, participatory field assessment of the design, implementation, and impact of OTI’s Transition Engagement for Population Support (TEPS II) and the follow-on Building Empowerment, Leadership and Engagement (BELE) program. Its purpose was to assess how well grants helped communities to 1) establish priorities in responding to perceived critical needs; 2) participate and mobilize members’ efforts through project completion; 3) contribute to their own durable recovery; and 4) create impact that members perceive as positive. A team of 4 East Timorese and 2 Americans made 25 site visits, 11 TEPS II and 14 BELE activities in 7 Districts and conducted 98 in-depth interviews with members of grant activity groups or community members and implementing partners, including UNTAET officials and local and international NGO partners. TEPS II and BELE small grant activities have generally succeeded in breaking some bottlenecks and filling critical gaps in the functioning of selected communities in a transitioning East Timor society. It is especially those grants in agriculture (including some agro-processing activities), schools, markets, and water and sanitation, that have responded to perceived critical needs and which mobilize people’s efforts. Less obviously responsive and demanding of people’s energies were roads, selected income generation activities, and sports facilities (based however on only 1 site visit). Some key recommendations include: 1)Continued efforts to fill gaps and build community empowerment should be continued, though projected towards more developmental goals 2) Transition grant programs should attempt to build in a local partnership regardless of whether or not there is a local government entity. In a case such as East Timor, more effort should be made to identify and involve local partners. 3) A narrowing down of the number of sectors addressed by grants might be considered as a management option. 4) Program considerations should be given priority over procurement considerations if they result in a more dependable input. 5) Development of economic infrastructure in East Timor will be dependent on strong local democratic government institutions. Therefore, any strategy to address gaps in the economic infrastructure, needs also to support the development of such locally transparent and accountable institutions. For an exit strategy for TEPS II and BELE, this seems a timely juncture to consciously tie economic stability of communities to a process of local government and governance. Such a linkage represents an appropriate approach to empowering the disenfranchised farmer of rural East Timor. USAID/East Timor should design a strategy to support development of a local government capacity that promotes not only electoral democracy and democratic governance, but transparency and accountability of an eventual rural service delivery program. 1 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION A. Introduction This is a report on USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives’ (OTI) evaluation of its East Timor community stabilization programs. Undertaken between January 5-23, 2002, the evaluation was and end-of–project, participatory field assessment of the design, implementation, and impact of OTI’s Transition Engagement for Population Support (TEPS II) and the follow-on Building Empowerment, Leadership and Engagement (BELE) program. The results of this evaluation will contribute to informing OTI’s East Timor exit strategy for TEPS II and BELE, and the OTI-supported International Office of Migration’s second-phase BELE program. A discussion was presented by the evaluation team on January 23 to review findings, lessons learned and recommendations with OTI East Timor staff and invited guests from the donor community. B. Purpose In addition to the above overarching purposes of the evaluation (see Annex 1 for Scope of Work), the assessment will review the process by which TEPS II and BELE helped create the conditions that encourage communities to do the following: 1. Establish priorities in responding to perceived critical needs 2. Participate and mobilize members’ efforts through project completion 3. Contribute to their own durable recovery and 4. Create impact that members perceive as positive. Specifically, concerning the first process (establish priorities in responding to perceived critical needs), the evaluation endeavored to answer questions about the effectiveness of the conceptual model underpinning TEPS II and BELE programs, relevance and responsiveness of individual activities to locally identified and defined needs, projects’ technical appropriateness, and the role of partner organizations in supporting community priorities. For the second (participate and mobilize members’ efforts through project completion), the evaluation attempted to answer questions about the extent and type of community participation in the process of identifying, preparing, organizing, and completing activities, precise form of participation (including in-kind and cash), and leadership and quality of local organization of the activity. As to the third process (contribute to their own durable recovery), questions were posed concerning reduction of organizational vulnerabilities and increase of existing capacities, gender dynamics, conflict management possibilities, definition of roles and responsibilities 2 and community fulfillment of those, transparency and accountability of funds and resources, and financial soundness of activity groupings. Finally, for the fourth process (create impact that members perceive as positive), questions included those pertaining to: --members’ criteria for assessing quality and satisfaction --perceived levels of ownership and satisfaction --impact on individuals, households, and communities (including relations with neighbors and institutions/organizations) --expectations of future benefits --winners/losers/unaffected, and --scale of impact on specific socioeconomic groupings (men/women, youth, elderly, poor, those suffering from military destruction or civil disorder, etc.). C. Background USAID/OTI established a program in East Timor in September 1999 as a response to that region’s devastation by Indonesian troops and local pro-Indonesia militia resulting from the people’s vote for independence in a government sanctioned referendum. One part of that program was rapid, flexible, targeted assistance to community groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Initial support included a Transitional Employment Program (TEP) to help those East Timorese especially affected by the violence, including some several thousand displacees. It included a cash infusion of $3.9 million to fund 469 small projects, reaching over 63,000 people. A second phase of OTI support, in response to an improving humanitarian situation, included a community stabilization program, namely TEPS II and BELE. Implemented over a 15- month period, these programs focused on community participation in identifying, implementing and completing sub-projects based on small grants. A hallmark of these activities was an explicit community contribution to activities, including unskilled labor and/or materials, since wages for such labor, in principle, were not paid. TEPS II funded 61 small projects valued at $644,000, including community building restoration, road repair, irrigation systems, small-scale clean water systems, and in-kind support for income￾producing cooperatives or groupings. BELE’s focus has been to restore and enhance the social and productive asset base of rural men, women and youth and strengthen local governance structures through community engagement. It has funded 88 activities at $2,051,398 between April-December 2001. D. Methodology The methodology was formulated to serve the earlier-stated purposes of the evaluation by answering a series of questions alluded to earlier. On the basis of 61 TEPS II and 88 BELE activities, a sample selection process was established. This process was followed by a series 3 of steps for how to set up site visits. Then, the types of interviews were determined and questionnaires designed to implement them. These three steps are defined below. 1. Sample Selection The sample of site visits was selected based on several criteria. There are two overarching criteria, one being whether the grant activity was primarily income generating or infrastructure improvement. It is important to note that there is considerable overlap between these two types, for example, while market place rehabilitation and irrigation works activities are considered primarily infrastructure improvements, these both clearly have a potential impact on income. For reasons of representativeness we have organized the sample selection of the two major activity types, income generating and infrastructure improvement, into several sub-activities. In addition, roughly proportionate numbers of TEPS II and BELE activities were selected according to the following criteria: · Location of activity—based on District · Level of community need [(i) level of poverty, (ii) destruction, (iii) potential hot spot, (iv) returnees expected, and (v) criticality of agriculture production] · Type of local implementing partner [(i) village, (ii) school. (iii) youth, and (iv) market rehabilitation groups, (v) health committees and (vi) cooperatives] · Implementing partner an NGO or INGO · Type of activity [(i) agricultural, (ii) roads, (iii) water and sanitation, (iv) building renovation, (v), income generation, (vi) sports facilities, and (vii) UNTAET-sponsored ] · Gender focused · In-kind labor included · Examples of activities characterized by USAID/OTI field staff as (i) ‘very effective,’ (ii) ‘effective,’ and (iii) ‘ineffective’ A simple matrix of selected sites is presented below, while a more detailed one that includes some of the above criteria, as well as the schedule of site visits is provided in Annex 3. Site Visits by District, TEPS II, BELE, and Type of Activity District TEPS II BELE Agricul￾ture Roads Water & Sanitation Building Renovation Income/ Credit Sports Facility Gender￾Focused Manatuto 3 2 1 Baucau 1 4 2 1 1 1 Viqueque 3 - 1 1 1 Ainaro 5 1 2 1 1 Manufahi 2 2 1 2 1 1* Bobonaro 1 1 1 1 Liquica 1 2 1 1 1 2* Total 11 14 2 2 4 9 7 1 3* * Double-counted 4 In all, 25 formal site visits were made, 11 to TEPS II sites, 14 to BELE sites. These numbers represent more or less proportionately TEPS II activities, with a total of 61 grants, and BELE, with a total of 89 grants, as well as the sectors addressed by these grants, and the seven districts of East Timor in which the grants were implemented. The team visited the following Districts: Manatuto, Baucau, Viqueque, Ainaro, Manufahi, Bobonaro, and Liquica. 2. Site Visits The team made site visits based on the above criteria over a two week period, roughly half of which covered eastern and southern districts of East Timor and half in western districts. These included initial observation of the general surroundings of the site and the physical manifestation of the activity to date, whatever the status of the activity. Since each assisted activity characteristically resulted in something physically observable, such as a roofed school, wood products of a carpentry shop, a market place structure, improved irrigation systems, among others, it was possible to observe the USAID/OTI inputs and often to note progress or completion of the activity. While this evaluation did not intend to assess the technical quality of the completed activity in any detail, the relative quality was relevant to the question of how effective the community effort was. A few team members with a background in infrastructure were able to make approximate assessments of an activity’s technical quality. 3. Interviews Each of the four East Timorese field researchers interviewed one of the following types of people associated with each grant activity: (a) group activity leader or organizer, (b) activity group member (one or two), (c) a community member, and (d) an implementing partner (if one). Thus, ideally, for example, for a school, the principal, a teacher, student, and parent would be interviewed. Typical interview situations: for a clinic, the clinic head, a nurse, patient (a mother, if possible), and community member; in the case of a youth market rehabilitation group, the youth leader, a vendor, buyer (community member), and where relevant, an NGO/INGO partner or perhaps an UNTAET District Administrator; and for an irrigation activity, the group leader (often the village or sub-village chief), one or two activity group members, and one or two community members, most often a woman Since many of the working groups were male-based, a serious effort was made to include women, as a working group member, a relative of such a member, or a community member. During the interview process, the OTI program officer and the US consultant co-coordinated the field evaluation, provided detailed oversight and support of the interviewers, and, where use of English permitted, conducted interviews. A total of 93 in-depth interviews were held with members of grant activity groups or community members. Five interviews were held with implementing partners, including UNTAET officials and local and international NGO partners. Activity group members and nearby community members were for the most part readily available or were tracked down relatively easy. In a few cases the grantee, say a village 5 chief, was absent, though there was usually someone in the working group, such as the coordinator, who knew the history of the grant. One drawback is that most of the UNTAET District Officers associated with these activities had moved on and were, therefore, difficult to locate. Two questionnaires were developed for use during field site visits, one for community participants and another for implementing partners. (See Annex 2 for English and Tetum versions of the community participation questionnaire and the English version of the partner questionnaire.) Because of time constraints, these questionnaires were not pre-tested. Their use, however, was adapted in the field in the early phases of the research. E. Outline of Report Chapter 2 presents detailed findings on the grants evaluated, included under the headings of agriculture, building renovation, income generation, water and sanitation, roads, sports facilities, gender focused, and partner-related activities. Each of these is reviewed in terms of the four major grant purposes, found earlier in section B. The third chapter includes lessons learned, recommendations, and considerations for an exit strategy for TEPS II and BELE. Annexes include the Scope of Work, questionnaires, and site selection/visit matrix. 6 Chapter 2 FINDINGS A. Introduction OTI’s use of TEPS II and BELE small grants is intended to promote community stability in East Timor. Their use is typical of OTI’s approach to communities in transition. Such small grants are often used in the process of “breaking bottlenecks,” namely creating opportunities for communities to use local initiative to provide tangible benefits. Integral to this process is the role of the community in identifying, designing, and implementing activities collaboratively. Small grants such as TEPS II and BELE are intended to jump start community activities following civilian and/or military turmoil and the usual attendant economic stagnation. Furthermore, these grants are targeted to fill the gap where government or other service providers (e.g., NGOs) are either absent, incapable, or unwilling to provide the usual services to its citizenry, such as water and sanitation, roads, agricultural extension services, among others. Thus, they serve to provide visible evidence of what would normally be available to citizens living in conditions of civil society. In this sense, the grants are supposed to contribute to a civil society process that supports both the citizenry and the emerging government of East Timor. Each individual grant activity has its own history and background. We attempt to capture the universe of BELE and TEPS II grants through the sample of selected sites, but for reasons of clarity and brevity will summarize groupings by sector (according to the matrix in Chapter 1) and according to overall program purposes and sub-purposes. Grant activities sometimes overlap, as in agriculture infrastructure and agro-processing income generating activities. For example, an agriculture infrastructure improvement grant activity, such as upgrading an irrigation system, may also have implications for improving income. Improving a women’s NGO building may equally have income-generating results. We turn to a review of grants according to the defined sector sub-divisions, and evaluate them for how well they meet the purposes and sub-purposes presented in Chapter 1. B. Agriculture 1. Purpose 1: Community Group Capacity to Establish Priorities A variety of approaches was used locally to identify perceived critical needs and establish priorities eligible for funding under BELE or TEPS II. Some initiatives were “home grown,” that is, developed by a community and delivered to some authority or organization, such as UNTAET or NGOs and INGOs, which then brought it to the attention of USAID/OTI. Sometimes a community representative brought a proposal directly to OTI in Dili. In others, 7 UNTAET represented a need identified jointly by the community and UNTAET, the latter of which sometimes became the grantee on behalf of the community. Regardless of how the proposal was presented, the problem it addressed was quite basic, as depicted by a typical rice farmer: “Before we spent much of our time repairing the channel because all it took was a big rain to destroy it. Now we do not lose so much time and can do more work cultivating and transplanting our rice fields.” a. Effectiveness of the Process for Selecting Grant Activities The team visited two agriculture infrastructure improvement grants, both in the Baucau District. BELE-supported, these were small-scale irrigation activities aimed at providing steady water supplies to rice paddies to permit two-three harvests per year, in contrast to only annual production from the rain-fed source. Farmers interviewed during these visits said that the typical way of identifying irrigation needs was done through a community leader, usually a village chief or sub-village chief. A local leader would poll, then organize villages, most of whom are dependent on rice farming as their major source of living. He would then discuss with them village priorities, lead them through a process of obtaining a consensus, then seek out some middle person (e.g., an UNTAET District Administrator) to help locate a source for a grant or locate that source directly. Occasionally, a chief was knowledgeable enough about grant sources that he would go directly to USAID/OTI—Dili to request a grant. Interviewees gave the distinct impression that the process of identifying a grant activity was participatory, expressing little if any disagreement about the way in which the activity was selected. This included opinions expressed by female activity group or community members. Our field visits found farmers working in their paddies (this being a highly labor intensive enterprise), sharing the irrigated water supply amicably, and proudly showing the evaluation team the rehabilitated irrigation works. Most of this work was fairly simple, employing stone reinforcement gabion boxes to reinforce canal embankments, retrenching of canals, and in more sophisticated cases, concrete covered canals to protect a river from washing out the canal. What was required, our interviewees indicated, was only a small amount of materials, such as cement and wire for gabion boxes, otherwise unaffordable by activity group members, and unskilled labor to perform the work. More critical for irrigation rehabilitation labor is organization. During a visit to the rice paddies of Maubu’u in Baucau District, the team learned that 120 or more men, women and children participated in bringing cement and other materials down a considerable mountainside to the canal, itself several kilometers long. Once built by the Indonesian extension service, the canal had fallen into disrepair a few years earlier. The gabion boxes and cement canal work required at least 20-30 farmers to complete. That work was led by the village sub-chief (the grantee), a working group coordinator, and members of the working group. Organizationally it represented a complex effort, perhaps more complex than any other observed by the team. In Maubu’u, the group leader, also the sub-village chief, took pains to work with his group as the group coordinator, organizing and monitoring their work. He said that the group 8 members “learned that they could repair the irrigation without expertise and provide themselves with a steady source of water.” b. Relevance and Responsiveness of Activities Agriculture infrastructure improvement activities funded under BELE were largely relevant and responsive to locally identified and defined needs. Above-cited irrigation activities, responded to rice farmers having been cut off from regular, dependable supplies of water, forcing them to depend on one-season rain fed harvests versus two-three seasons under the irrigation scheme. As one farmer indicated, “There had not been many development activities on the Liabala area since Indonesian times. We have rice fields but in the past there was not enough water to irrigate our fields.” While grant inputs to irrigation activities take time to support an eventual two-season harvest, farmers interviewed seemed to have a good sense of the planning timeframe. c. Technical Appropriateness Support for irrigation activities was technically appropriate to the task of rebuilding and reinforcing canals. It matched both the physical requirements necessary to channel water once again into the rice paddies and the unskilled labor capacity of working group members. In Bahamori village in Baucau District the need was much less extensive than that of Maubu’u, also in the same District. In Bahamori, canal rechanneling and reinforcement work, including the number of gabion boxes, cement-solidified stone barriers, meters of re￾trenching, was considerably less extensive than for Maubu’u. It took far fewer workers, stones, and bags of cement there than in Maubu’u to complete the work. Nevertheless, the proportions of each were appropriate to the task. In Maubu’u, both the technical know-how to plan, organize and implement the extensive, somewhat sophisticated work in the absence of any formal technical assistance was a refreshing surprise to the evaluation team. That one of the worker’s sons had an engineering background and helped with design matters contributed to understanding how the working group had succeeded in accomplishing this work. Also, some of the farmers have had previous in building irrigation channels. Now that the farmers have a reliable system for irrigating their crops they are thinking ahead to other improvements. Several group members interviewed said that as a next step they would like to have hand tractors to cultivate with. In that way they wouldn’t have to depend on so many water buffalo to churn their paddies. 2. Purpose 2: Community Participation and Mobilization Irrigation activities involved perhaps the most sophisticated level and type of community participation of all the BELE and TEPS II activities observed during the evaluation. Much of it was based on unpaid labor of as many as 30 laborers and their families. Furthermore, it involved strong leadership, a division of labor, a high level of individual and group effort, and a timeframe of several months to complete the work. Perhaps because the potential 9 benefits are so significant, namely an extra season or maybe two of rice production, community members were able to develop the organizational capacity necessary to complete these complex, often difficult irrigation works. Leaders of irrigation activities were often a village chief or sub-chief, someone already deemed as qualified by the community to lead. Field coordination of working groups was performed by either the chief or sub-chief or a self-selected member of a working group. Actual design of the work was usually a group effort, though led by a farmer with intimate knowledge of the irrigation works. In Maubu’u, the working group has continued after completion of the work for the purpose of maintaining the system, namely performing tasks of cleaning the input point where the river first enters the covered canal and checking canal embankments to make sure they are holding up. 3. Purpose 3: Community Contribution to a Durable Recovery Irrigation activities seemed to help rice farmers not only get back on their feet, but perhaps even to gain a step forward in the gradual process of getting beyond survival. By increasing the number of annual harvests, the farmer is in a position to care for an important portion of a family’s primary food needs. While not clear at this point, in time it may be possible for him or her to create a surplus, and thus further enhance the family’s life possibilities. Furthermore, the organizational capacity demonstrated in planning, repairing, and maintaining irrigation works represents a potential mechanism that could be applied to other aspects of the transition to development. This evaluation did not address such larger questions as recurrent costs of irrigation systems or equity and access to irrigated land. For development programming purposes, these issues would have to be addressed. 4. Purpose 4: Impact of TEPS II and BELE: Perceptions and Estimations Irrigation works were one of grant activities most positively perceived by both activity working groups and the communities of which they were a part. They were defined usually with some degree of modesty, since the farmers had not yet witnessed that additional annual rice harvest, and therefore could not say with certainty that the exercise was a full success. Farmers took great satisfaction in talking about the group effort, their ownership of their effort, and the potential for improvement of the conditions of their families, including spouses, children, and their villages. C. Building Renovation 1. Purpose 1: Community Group Capacity to Establish Priorities Building rehabilitation performed under TEPS II included roofing of schools, market restructuring, and refurbishing of other community buildings. Most of the schools across East Timor had been destroyed in the aftermath of the referendum, some damaged badly by 10 fire. Visits to two secondary school sites in Manatutu and Baucau Districts, where grants were developed to replace roofing, as well as rehabilitate buildings, were in the process of or had completed putting on new roofs. In one case, Vemasse, refurbishing of three schoolrooms was also underway. School officials, including administrators and teachers, were unanimous in pointing to the grant activity as a cooperative effort between parents, teachers, and students both in identifying the need and in supporting the preparation of the grant proposal. Often an intermediary, such as UNTAET, would inform the school community of the availability of grants for roofing from USAID/OTI, and would help expedite the proposal process. The markets that the team visited in the villages of Laclubar, in Manatutu District, Hatubuilico, in Ainaro District, and Same in Manufahi District were high priorities in these villages and town. Their prioritization by community groupings was in response to the need to regularize market activities. Interviews indicated that without roofing and a solid structure, rains on market days made their use impractical if not impossible. This is not to say that markets only operate when the weather is good. However, as one member of the working group in Hatubuilico said, “There was no market and people came to trade under the trees. There was no market during the wet season and no income for the local people. Now we do business whether it rains or not.” The same member noted that the market is also useful because “we now have shade to protect us on very hot sunny days.” Refurbishing of women’s centers of the Organisao Mulheres do Timorense (OMT) in Same, in Manufahi District, and Liquica Town, in Liquica District, was a direct result of a women’s association desiring to improve the lot of women in their areas. In Same, while there was only one interview (with the UNTAET senior advisor to the District Administrator) due to a logistics constraint, the initiative of the OMT leader, considered to be a highly regarded woman in her community, was critical to the grant. Need for a space to conduct activities that would help OMT members as well as women in the surrounding area was the underlying need, resulting in identifying an appropriate building. In Liquica Town, where the team came unannounced upon an adult learning group in session at the OMT center, the incentive came from OMT’s local leader and a small group of members. There, the need was for a newly constructed space, since there were no available buildings or at least one that fit their purpose. One incentive for the space was so women could obtain literacy skills and use their existing skills to create saleable products, to learn skills from each other, and at the same time earn a little cash. A community hall in Hatu Udo in Ainaro District, refurbished for the purpose of conducting village business, was essentially provided in response to the village chief and community members. The decision to refurbish the hall was made at a village council meeting. While the grant was arranged through the UNTAET sub-district office, the sub-district officer indicated that she had kept a distance from the process by which the village chief developed a consensus for requesting a grant. Often the sub-district chief had to conduct village business in his home, which was inconvenient for his family as well as sometimes compromising, since delicate business was often conducted. To avoid using his home, at other times, the 11 sub-chief noted, “We have to use the UNTAET office. Now we have our own meeting hall and can better serve the community.” a. Effectiveness of the Process for Selecting Grant Activities Roofing of schools was not only a USAID/OTI activity, but also of UNICEF. The imperative of getting schools back into operation after their wholesale destruction during the war, was clear. Usually a principal or vice-principal, teachers, parents and older students were instrumental in requesting a local UNTAET officer or coming directly to USAID/OTI to request a grant. The process had a community-wide appeal because everyone was unanimous in wanting to get their children back to school. For markets, the stimulus usually came from a community group or an UNTAET officer based on an overall consensus to make the market a more regular, dependable event, on the one hand, and on the other, to help stimulate the area economy. In Hatubuilico, one member told us that it was village chiefs from the region, vendors, youth and women who identified the problem. Subsequently, a market committee made up of representative members of the town and surrounding area was formed. One constraint in the case of the Laclubar market was that initially local groupings were not always willing to volunteer their labor, but as often they came to appreciate the idea that the entire community and surrounding area would benefit, and then agreed to work without pay. As one of the youth members of the market committee said, “I tried to inspire the other members to think of this as a community problem, one we could solve together.” For the two OMT centers visited, one, Same’s OMT group, went through UNTAET. A self￾described “conscious hands-off orientation” by UNTAET “intended to place the initiative fully in the OMT group,” in fact resulted in a very slow start and uncertain implementation of the grant activity. Liquica’s OMT was expeditious in expressing its priority and the grant was signed and undertaken in a timely manner. The concept for Hato Udo’s community hall was relatively simple, and the process of identifying it and applying for a grant equally easy. However, its completion is another story: while the building shell has been refurbished, volunteer labor has recently been pulled away by paid labor on another donor project. Nevertheless, the UNTAET district field officer suggested that she “has total faith that the hall will be used.” b. Relevance and Responsiveness of Activities School rehabilitation was seen as a very high priority by communities visited. Getting children back to school was highly important to parents, school administrators and to students. As the senior teacher in Manatutu school told us, “There was a problem of teaching too many students in too small a space. We couldn’t teach students under those conditions and needed to spend a lot of time just controlling them.” USAID/OTI’s school roofing program intentionally did not include windows, doors or furniture, as other, multilateral donor programs were online to complete rehabilitation of re-roofed buildings. In the school 12 in Manatuto Town, one building was not being used because neither the Catholic school administration nor the community had yet been able to acquire the furnishings. Vemasse town’s rehabilitation of its secondary school was a response to crowded conditions. A student told us that, “Junior high school students learned in the same classrooms with primary school students. Lessons were mixed up and there was a lot of disorder. We could not concentrate on learning, as the classrooms were crowded and noisy. We are glad these problems were addressed through the rebuilding because now we only learn high school subjects.” A third school visited, an emergency facility in Welolo/Luca, Viqueque District, was not in use. It had reportedly been flooded and, additionally, a bridge on the road just before the school had been destroyed in floods. A team member interviewed the headmistress, but the interview shed little light on the issue of community participation. The head of the activity group was not immediately available. Little more could be uncovered on this yet to be implemented activity. Markets were described by activity group members, vendors and the community members in the most positive terms. In Laclubar and Hatubuilico people interviewed were all in agreement that regularizing the market “rain or shine” was a constant refrain. The UNTAET field officer in Laclubar, who had served as an advisor to the grant activity group, said that there had been no regular market (there in fact was no market space at all) and people “had to go as far away as Cribas, hours away by foot, to buy and sell.” A vendor in Laclubar reported, “The market was especially helpful to older vegetable and fruit vendors on very hot days, both for protecting themselves from the sun, but also their produce.” An UNTAET police officer in Hatubuilico, while not directly involved in the market roofing activity, reported that “Since it rains all the time here, the roof has been exceptionally helpful. People were always dispersed by the rain. Now they can come and go regardless of the rain.” In Same, an UNTAET finance administrator reported that there was such demand that it was not clear whether there was sufficient space for all vendors. OMT centers, one a new building, the other refurbished, seem to have struck a positive chord with women members. While the center in Liquica Town had progressed in creating some revenue generating activities and has generated modest incomes for some of the members, the one in Same had not yet reached that stage. It is important to note, however, that these OMT centers, as we understand their purpose, were not envisioned primarily as revenue generating operations. Nevertheless, as one group member said, “the center is a place where I can earn additional income and our members can teach new skills to other women in the community.” Another stressed the literacy training in which she was participating. The village hall in Hato Udo itself was relevant and responsive to the concept of self￾governance in this village. Community responsiveness in completing the hall has waned a bit in the final stage of construction. However, as the sub-village chief noted, “We can now have a good collaboration between the community and the leader and can use the meeting hall for training and civic education.” Another activity group member said that now all 13 official documents can be safely filed in the new hall. It will also serve as a place to conduct local dispute resolution of villagers’ problems, and will also double as a guest house for visitors, according to yet another group member. c. Technical Appropriateness School roofing activities had about the right level of technical standard to allow the community to participate in the activity, usually with the help of two paid carpenters per school. For the markets, working groups were able on their own to do the concrete foundation and roofing work without much technical assistance. Group members in Hatubuilico noted that “as unskilled worker we learned a lot working alongside skilled laborers.” For OMT centers, working groups did not do the physical labor in either building anew or refurbishing the existing building, and putting the buildings to effective use has worked in one case and presented a challenge in the other. The community hall in Hato Udo was well within the capability of the local community to refurbish. Labor was in-kind except for a few skilled workers. The capability of the community was tested, however, with the introduction of paid labor in a nearby donor project. 2. Purpose 2: Community Participation and Mobilization Communities were provided the major impetus for school roofing activities. While it may seem obvious that school administrators, teachers, parents, and students might have a common interest in getting a school up and running, the process was not that easy. Following the strife, many community members were in the process of reestablishing their own economic lives, and had precious little time and physical effort to give to broader community activities in the absence of compensation. Nevertheless, they did rise to the cause and labored, some with pay, some not, to ready schools to continue to educate their children. A student in Manatutu reported that he had contributed labor to the rebuilding effort. Markets represented a strong rallying point for host towns and surrounding villages. The youth group in Laclubar gets credit for bringing together members of several communities to support the market construction activity. In Laclubar, 20 different people from the town and surrounding villages were reported by the UNTAET district field officer to have provided labor every day for the length of the activity. The youth group itself went on to another activity, this one with income earning potential, namely a concrete block factory sponsored by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. In Same, a market management committee is supposed to be formed for such tasks as collecting vendor usage fees and garbage collection. OMT centers represent a narrower sphere of interest, specifically the national women’s organization. Women were mobilized to support the refurbishing or new construction of these centers by their concern for both their own and non-member women’s determined need to participate in the rebuilding of their country. Since their participation in the actual building or rebuilding was not feasible, the “proof” of their role is in creating productive use 14 of the new space. In the case of Liquica, the initial evidence is in: they are busy helping non￾members through an outreach program to become economically productive; they are producing mattresses and pillows and several different crafts; and they are helping to educate their members in becoming literate. Another benefit, expressed by a group member of the Liquica OMT, was that “It offers a place to release stress. My husband is unemployed and home all the time. Being able to meet my friends outside the home, discuss our lives as women, and work and train together is an improvement in my life.” The process of developing Hato Udo’s community hall was community-based, rooted in a pattern of village leadership and solidarity. It was participatory, with the UNTAET sub￾district officer staying in the wings. This officer indicated that it was better for the chief to have his own meeting place, rather than using the sub-district office. Her reasoning was that the chief will continue to play a role in governing, and that this distinction will become especially important since his voluntary position should not be confused with the present paid officials in the sub-district. 3. Purpose 3: Community Contribution to a Durable Economy Without question, newly roofed schools are contributing to an important aspect of a recovering East Timor society and economy. Since the future development of the society will be dependent on an educated population, this activity cannot help but be useful. In destroying schools, the opposing militia knew exactly how to hit at the heart of East Timorese society, which is why the team saw barely a village, many of them in remote rural areas, where the school had not been destroyed. Grant benefits were aptly described by a student in Manatutu, saying, There were only two classrooms available to accommodate many students, as many as 60 per classroom. The learning environment then was not good. Classrooms were very warm and crowded. The condition is different now. Now more students are going back to school. I think our school has about 20 new students. We have more classrooms and only about 30 students in each classroom. I think it’s something better.” New or rebuilt markets, we were told repeatedly, allow for markets to function, regardless of weather conditions. Since in some areas of East Timor it rains all the time, covered markets are important to promoting commerce. This is especially so in rural areas, where farmers and vendors need regular channels for selling their products. Rehabilitated or new structures that permit normal commerce to occur unimpeded by weather support economic activity. A slightly negative effect of the market in Laclubar, according to one vendor whose shop is right next to the marketplace, is that “it sometimes takes business away form me, and I make more profit on non-market days.” Building rehabilitation is a little more difficult than schools and markets in predicting its contribution s to a durable recovery. Nevertheless, since the rehabilitation done under TEPS II contributes to East Timorese women’s part in supporting their new country’s national development, that alone makes the effort worth while. Any benefits, such as income generation would be considered extra. Nevertheless, the activities a women’s association 15 chooses to do can make a difference in terms of how much they contribute to their growth and empowerment. There was no apparent economic benefit in the Hato Udo community hall. Specifically, the hall will support the local government function of the chief, who will continue, we were led to understand, to provide his service voluntarily. 4. Purpose 4: Impact of TEPS II & BELE: Perceptions and Estimations Upgraded schools meet the criteria of community ownership of a critical piece of the communal fabric. Working with local authorities, school administrators, and others community members is important to the process of developing leadership capacities and local empowerment. Community members, including the principal and teachers, cited many concrete benefits from the improvement: --for parents, they don’t need to send their children long distances to school, saving expenses and leaving children more time for their homework --for a few fathers, a brief income from providing a carpentry services for the roofing --for teachers and principals, creating more space for smaller classes and an improved learning environment and --for the community at large, a sense of accomplishment in the face of once devastating destruction of an important part of their lifeline. Markets have a clear benefit to communities, everybody who is a buyer or seller of goods, especially those buying and selling farm goods at rural markets. Regular markets that can operate despite weather conditions are beneficial to all. As the UNTAET local development officer in Laclubar suggested, “in the past, with no established, covered market place, a woman would come 12 hours by foot from a distant village, her head loaded with farm produce, only to have it rain. The rain would spoil her chances of selling her products that day.” The youth group that sponsored the market activity gained a pride in its accomplishment and took on an additional, revenue producing, activity that can only be useful given the high level of unemployed youth. A non-material benefit of the new market is what people interviewed referred to as “a place to make announcements, organize community and cross-community activities, and serve as a communications center in a place where there are no telephones.” Only one of the OMT centers can be said to directly benefit members’ lives. The center in Liquica town provided enough evidence to show that its members were benefiting. Benefits included a place to meet other women who wish to help their community, to support non￾member women, and provide the possibility for some income. They exhibited a pride in owning their organization, in its potential to help larger numbers of women, and ultimately contributing to both the social and economic well being of the community. The community hall in Hato Udo will contribute to the local governance of the village. It could become a critical meeting place for villagers and their chief as they begin to integrate 16 into the new, evolving society and economy. The final effort to complete the building must be made, however, for this hall to play its intended role. D. Income Generation Income generation activities seem obvious as targets of opportunity for many rural East Timorese. The efficacy of addressing rural poverty through such activities, however, is uncertain at this early point. Nevertheless, targeting selected organized community groupings, such as carpenters or rice farmers, where there was an identified need and a perceived market, have a potential viability and may contribute to a particular village’s recuperation. The team visited income generating activities including carpentry shops, rice milling operations, a hand-tractor activity, a brick making factory, and a coffee production cooperative. Carpentry shops were funded under TEPS II, while rice milling, hand tractors, brick making, and coffee production were BELE grants. 1. Purpose 1: Community Group Capacity to Establish Priorities The team visited carpentry shop grantees in Cribas town, Manatuto District and in Viqueque town in Viqueque District. In each case, carpenters had belonged to preexisting groups. In the case of Cribas, the INGO Action Contre le Faim supported the Cribas proposal, along with the support of the village chief who became the activity group leader, while in Viqueque, local carpenters had formed the group on their own. One of the identified constraints, a carpenter offered, was that “we have many carpenters here in Cribas, but few materials and tools to work with.” These carpenters determined that with the destruction of public buildings, especially schools, a market was present for their product, namely building repair and furniture. In fact, grant agreements stipulated that the carpenters provide a certain amount of school furniture free of charge. Other markets include people rebuilding destroyed homes and buyers of religious artifacts, such as elaborate replicas of church altars. Rice milling operations, in Waigae sub-village in Baucau District and Besusu sub-village in Manufahi District, were well-organized groups with clear purposes. These were defined as improving rice production and eventually turning a modest profit from sales of an improved surplus and of the milling service to other producers. A hand tractor grantee in Maliana town, Bobonaro District was a highly organized group of rice farmers. This group was clear in its purpose and in prioritizing its need for a hand tractor. The grantee group defined greater efficiencies in preparing rice fields as the major need. It also expected an eventual profit from the operation, though this was expressed as a secondary purpose. One particular constraint to efficient rice production cited by the wife of an activity member was, “Before we just used buffalo to till the fields, causing much delay. Now with the hand tractor we can complete a hectare in one half day while it took three days with the buffalo.” 17 A youth group-sponsored brick making operation in Maubisi town, Ainaro District, was in full production during the team visit. This grant was a partial response to heavy youth unemployment in the town, as well as the potential for youth to become troublesome. It was a joint grant between USAID/OTI, which provided a warehouse and materials, while the INGO Concern gave the brick making machine. The women-based coffee producing group in Maubaralisa sub-village, Liquica District, was a response to the need to improve the efficiency and quality of coffee production, and thus raise their incomes. USAID/OTI provided a grant for a coffee grinder, while the INGO Peace Winds Japan in cooperation with a local NGO, Yayasan Raimaran, gave a coffee huller. a. Effectiveness of the Process for Selecting Grant Activities Carpentry groups were made up of individual carpenters, each trying to eke out a living in a recovering economy that generates very little disposable income. None of them possessed the full array of tools that would allow them to perform all carpentry functions. Thus, a grant that provided a full toolkit that would be shared among several carpenters seemed to fit the expressed need. That there is a market to sustain such a small business remains an unanswered question. Given the importance of rice production in the country, grants for rice milling machines seemed to make good sense as a tool supporting the transition. These machines, when working efficiently, create efficiencies and quality control of the product. Whether they can generate income for the group members is yet to be seen. Agro-processing activities are not so labor intensive nor as organizationally complex as irrigation works. Nevertheless, rice milling working groups need to have a plan of action for how they will use the machine on a cooperative basis. They need a schedule of use, how to divide earnings if any for grinding rice (and we learned these seem to be miniscule, based on a very small fee from non￾members, mainly the cost of the gasoline), and how to “market” the service so that it is sustainable. The hand tractor grant activity in Maliana also creates efficiencies, but at the cultivation stage rather than the processing stage. This particular working group was very well organized, seemingly predisposed to the grant activity. Brick making in Maubisi has responded to a demand for bricks, which the youth group managing this activity sell on the open market. Eight workers are paid monthly wages. At the present rate of production and sales, the group might have the potential to expand its business and thereby become profitable. The group grew out of what one member said was a situation of “high youth unemployment and, at the same time, a demand for building materials in Maubise to rebuild their homes and schools.” The grant for the coffee grinder was activated on the premise that the activity would lead to more efficient production and an expanded market for the product. Membership of the 18 group, which is structured similarly to a cooperative though it is technically not one, has grown. Profits will be shared when there is enough in the fund to disburse. b. Relevance and Responsiveness of Activities The carpentry shops were relevant to the income generating objective, but so far have not demonstrated their responsiveness to presumed market demand. Machine tools have helped because as a carpentry group member in Viqueque offered, “We only had manual tools and this meant spending much more time than we do now.” Similarly with rice milling machines. They meet the demand for improved rice production, though it is not clear that they will result in enough profit to justify their commercialization among rice producers generally. Farmers interviewed for the agro-processing activity viewed the effects of the rice milling machine and polisher as beneficial, especially from the point of view of reducing the labor of husking usually performed by women and children. This is of clear benefit to the women. For those who use the machines for a small fee, the same benefit occurs, that of reducing drudgery and making their produce potentially more marketable. For rice farmers, one in Besusu captured the time and money savings benefits of the mill, saying “There was no rice milling machine in this village, so we had to mill our rice traditionally or take it over 15 kilometers for milling, which requires expense for transport and the milling service.” The hand tractor activity, where it is used in a highly organized manner, is an efficient, labor￾saving tool which we were told allows its users to divert energies into other productive activities. In Waigae, the treasurer of the activity group suggested that “While we have may rice fields and produce lots of rice, to mill it we have to go to Vemasse. It takes about five hours to go back and forth just to mill 25 kilos of rice.” Brick making is a productive activity, though it is difficult to judge its sustainability at this point since it may be too dependent on a donor driven market. So, too, with coffee, the activity is a worthy one, especially for women producers, though not enough time has elapsed for the group to witness a profit. Women’s oriented coffee production group had been grinding its beans in the traditional manner, resulting in a small amount of saleable ground coffee. The concept behind the group was to utilize a locally productive source of coffee for market production for sale in towns such as Dili. The local NGO was contracted to distribute the product for the group. c. Technical Appropriateness Logistic and technical constraints have affected four of the income generating activities. For carpentry, some of the important tools, namely the saber saw and lathe, are dependent on electricity. The fact that electricity is limited to evening hours means machines can’t be used during daylight hours and when using the machines during the evening, neighbors were said 19 to complain about the noise. For rice milling, the machine did not come with a built-in polisher, so separate polishing machines arrived only later. The polisher recommended by the program specialist was not purchased, and the one that was delivered is not working properly. The coffee grinder being used by the women’s group has malfunctioned, and the group has been waiting for two months for a new part to arrive from Indonesia, which the INGO Peace Wind Japan ordered for them. 2. Purpose 2: Community Participation and Mobilization While all of the income groups have participated actively in promoting their respective activities, some have worked better than others. In Viqueque, the carpentry group found, according to the group leader, that “before we were just working individually, without all the proper tools and materials—now we are organized and have all the right things to practice our trade.” One spin-off for the rice milling group in Wagae described by the treasurer of that group was “When a villager dies, we now use the group’s surplus of milled rice to provide a generous amount for the funeral. This is due to the fact that there is such a group as ours.” In Besusu, a family and some of its neighbors form the rice milling activity group, which manages the activity. The hand tractor group had the most effective organization of all the groups, in part because it was organized around an extended family structure, and because it defined a division of labor and rotational work system that provided equity of work and allowed members to attend to other productive matters. It also required a $20 contribution from each member, 20 in all, for a supplies, maintenance, and repair fund. This group also has a rice machine, which gives it a double edge. According to one member, “Now, we can plough one hectare a day and thresh two tons of rice a day. We also rent out the tractor for daily use. The brick making enterprise in Maubise formed by eight youths is a well knit organization, with individualized work schedules and a division of labor for making the organization work effectively. Clearly the leadership and initiative of one of the youth is critical to this group’s success, at least to date. The women’s coffee production group, made up of 12 women and three men, has a male coordinator (chosen by the group for his business management skills). The local NGO provides technical assistance in organizing the work and in managing financial and administrative matters. Importantly, it also helps to select the different grades of coffee, critical for efficient marketing. A woman member reported that, “Since NCBA only buys fresh beans from us, we need to have another market for the unsold beans.” Brick makers seemed to be well organized in terms of generating work and paying laborers. One rice milling group was effectively organized and mobilized to act, though it was still awaiting a solution to the polishing machine. 20 Purpose 3: Community Contribution to a Durable Economy The grants have helped all the income activity groups in some way to do better what they were already doing before the grant. A carpenter in Cribas, for example, said that “the carpentry activity has earned me just enough money to clothe my children so they can now go to school.” In Besusu, the head of a rice milling group, which, importantly, also has a hand tractor, reported, “Before, we worked with the traditional system, which caused much delay. It took five months to plant, harvest and mill six hectares of rice. Now, in two weeks time we can do two hectares.” Such an economy of scale contributes to freeing up of both men’s and women’s labor for other potentially productive work, including child rearing. The verdict on these groups’ chances of contributing to the recovery is still out. Beyond the economic purpose of these particular grants is their organizational capacity building purpose. Group members are now organized in a way different from the way they were before the grant. Whether they can apply this capacity to generate and sustain the intended results remains to be seen. 4. Purpose 4: Impact of TEPS II & BELE: Perceptions and Estimations None of the income activity groups questioned by the team can be said to be generating significant income. For some activities, such as the hand tractor, coffee producing and brick making, surpluses were noted. For the tractor groups the surplus was placed in a maintenance and spare parts fund, for the coffee producers it was for spare parts and future income distribution, and for the brick makers the surplus was paid out in wages. At this point in the development of the grant activities, however, there are insufficient data to permit a financial analysis of present and projected income. On another level, social-organizational, as noted in # 3, above, there has been progress. Not only was a newfound pride found in words, smiles, and enthusiasm with which members were observed (unknown to them upon the arrival of the team) working. This was more so in the agricultural and brick making areas than carpentry or coffee production, though this may be an artifact of the timing of the team’s visit. In any case, group leadership, participation, and organizational capacity were explicit in most the team’s field visits to income groups. E. Water & Sanitation 1. Purpose 1: Community Group Capacity to Establish Priorities Water and sanitation grants were reviewed for the village of Ossu in Viqueque District (TEPS II), Maubisi village in Ainaro District, (BELE), Datina sub-village in Manufahi District (BELE), and Daro Lara village in Liquica District (BELE). Water systems were not destroyed during the conflict, but fell into disuse due to lack of proper maintenance. Some, not all, water systems developed under the grants were accompanied by a certain level of technical assistance in maintenance and repair. Issues of maintenance would have to he accounted for systematically in any post-transition water and sanitation activity. 21 In Ossu, the improvement included the addition of a pipe from a nearby water main to the village’s clinic. It was identified by the clinic staff, including a former director, a nurse and several mothers who use the clinic. It was based on the need for clean water in the clinic, in order to improve sanitary conditions. In Maubisi, the improvement included tapping into a source several kilometers distant, piping that to community water point, and a sizeable enclosed reservoir. In Datina, a piped water system was rehabilitated for this sub-village. a. Effectiveness of the Process for Selecting Grant Activities In the case of Ossu, identification of the activity was mainly in the hands of the health clinic. It had been without piped water for years, relying on water carried from the main village source. This group had been aware of the problem of poor sanitary conditions in the clinic, especially in surgical areas. Mothers using the clinic with their children were also instrumental in supporting the selection of piped water. In Maubisi, leadership of the effort to bring water to a neighborhood was a local female employee of UNTAET. She led her neighborhood in the quest for a local supply of water. In Datina, the INGO, Action Contre le Faim, tapped into the OTI-supported system to provide water to school latrines in the same sub-village. It included in-kind labor from the community. In Daru Lara there was in-kind and some paid labor. b. Relevance and Responsiveness of Activities These water activities are typical of the need all across rural East Timor, and even in some of the larger towns. The prioritization of water as a top need by rural communities is no surprise. In the case of Ossu, the link of water and sanitation to the clinic had the effect of placing the needs of the larger community above that of smaller neighborhoods. Clinic offices were described as dirty, staff could not wash their hands nor sterilize surgical implements, and the toilet was not functioning. Neighborhood water in Maubisi was a result of a strong local leader and a willing group of neighbors. In Datina, residents had to obtain unsafe water from a river about two kilometers away, so their activity responded to reducing labor and acquiring potable water. So, too, in Daru Lara, residents of this and several surrounding villages were able to get water delivered to their yards and thus no longer had to rely on an outmoded, unsanitary method using bamboo poles cut in half and used as an open pipe. c. Technical Appropriateness Water and sanitation grants were appropriate to the needs of the involved communities. In Ossu, the clinic staff, their relatives and some community members were able to put the pipe in themselves. In Maubisi, the task was a bit more complicated, requiring two paid technicians, but with help from the community group in carrying pipes up a steep four kilometers to the source. For Datina, the activity technician questioned the quality of the B￾type pipes and union sockets used in constructing the system. Action Contre le Faim 22 established a water users association in the village, which includes a maintenance fund for repairs. 2. Purpose 2: Community Participation and Mobilization The working groups involved in these water activities required significant community involvement. In-kind labor for much of the required work made these activities appealing for grants. For Ossu, the labor was all in-kind, while in Maubisi it was part in-kind, but with a significant monetary contribution from the local neighborhood leader and some money from the community, as well. The group coordinator in Maubisi noted that “The community thinks that the water belongs to them, so if something breaks the neighborhood itself will find a way to fix it.” In Datina, the sub-village chief led the effort, which was based on in-kind labor and development through an INGO of a water users association and technical assistance from a Water Supply and Sanitation officer. 3. Purpose 3: Community Contribution to a Durable Economy The contribution of safe water to a stable community environment, especially when seen in the context of improved sanitation and health conditions, is highly important. When linked directly to the sanitation of a health clinic, the improvement is critical. For a community to have a steady source of water, within a relatively short distance of the home, is also not unimportant for community improvement. The role of the community in consciously trying to reduce the risk factors is evident in water activities, as well as its effort to increase its existing capacities to fend for itself. Handling by communities of grant and local funds involved in these water projects in an accountable manner is part of the picture. In Daru Lara village, one activity group member specifically mentioned the importance of the new water source for starting up banana and mango trees and vegetable gardens located in his yard. 4. Purpose 4: Impact of TEPS II & BELE: Perceptions and Estimations While we cannot make any statement of direct impact of water on these communities, over time there should be improvements in health conditions of residents. In Maubisi, while the immediate neighbors paid for the service, they permit surrounding neighbors to share the use of the water. Just the savings in time spent in walking about eight kilometers to bring water home is significant, especially for women, young girls, and boys tasked with hauling water. The neighborhood leader noted that women are especially helped by water activities, since “the water problem makes life much more difficult for women than men.” All interviews pointed to clear satisfaction with the water systems, as well as a sense of accomplishment in carrying out the activities to completion. Neighbors with access to new water sources also expressed appreciation of accessible water. At least in the two communities with new sources, women said that they and their daughters and even their sons have been spared the drudgery of hauling water long, long distances. For the clinic the benefit is for patients, both the sick and the well. In Daru Lara, at least two people interviewed underscored the role of clean water in sanitation practices, namely being able to bathe twice now rather than just once a day. A young woman secondary school student 23 reported that, “Now, I can get to school on time, since I don’t need to go out in the morning to get water any more.” F. Roads 1. Purpose 1: Community Group Capacity to Establish Priorities The team visited two roads activities, including a bridge. In the village of Baguia in Baucau District, where a bridge rehabilitation activity (BELE) was granted, it was unclear exactly who had initially identified the need as a potential grant activity. The village chief was unavailable during the team visit, so it could not be determined if it had been he or, according to a village resident interviewed, the local priest who had identified the partially washed-out bridge as a grant activity. The second field visit was to a road rehabilitation activity between the villages of Lepo and Lour in rural Bobonaro District (TEPS II). There, culverts were reinforced and drainage placed at four points along an approximately ten kilometer stretch. UNTAET district office supported the grant for this. Identification of that activity was complicated by the fact that two villages were involved, one at the beginning of the road, the other at the end. a. Effectiveness of the Process for Selecting Grant Activities The evaluation team got a confused picture of the selection process for both roads activities. In the Baguia case, a bridge on the major route to that village was destroyed in a rainstorm. A temporary solution was provided through a priest, who was on his way to a village up the road beyond Baguia. He reportedly requested that the residents take two big logs to extend across the partially washed out bridge, which allowed some vehicle passage over the river at least until the grant activity replaced the missing parts. The village chief also purportedly became involved in the grant activity. Residents interviewed seemed to be either unclear as to who did what on the bridge or were reluctant to discuss the matter in the absence of the village chief. The Lepo-Lour road visited by the team presented an equally puzzling situation. In the end, the team could not get to Lour on the rehabilitated road since it was not traversable in the wet season. In lieu of traveling there, we interviewed residents living near the beginning of the road. Some of those residents were members of the activity group, so they knew at least something about the activity. The request was apparently made by the residents of Lour, the village at the road’s end, in order to give them rainy season vehicular access in and out for purposes of trade and commerce. b. Relevance and Responsiveness of Activities Since the team did not get a full picture of the situation for either case of the roads (a road and a bridge) activity, the information is not fully coherent. Nevertheless, the bridge did get fixed and since it is on a major route, it was a priority to the nearby village and to villages further along the route. For the Lepo-Lour road, the overwhelming fact is that it was 24 impassable for the team vehicles, so interviews with a full sampling of the working group could not be done. The rainy season, to which the rehabilitation work was supposed to be a response, continued to do its damage. c. Technical Appropriateness The Baguia bridge was technically appropriate. It was not clear how effective the working group worked, since some members of that group were reluctant to speak in the absence of the village chief. The Lepo-Lour road was probably not technically appropriate, since it required a much more robust solution to rehabilitate it and make it usable year round. What may have been missing was a trained maintenance team that could deal with small road problems prior to their growing out of proportion. 2. Purpose 2: Community Participation and Mobilization Participation was difficult to gauge for these two activities given our comments in 1 a., b. and c. above. Little more can be added. 3. Purpose 3: Community Contribution to a Durable Economy The Baguia bridge served to reconstitute the link of upland markets and commerce with the coast. This is an important link in the trade system between rural villages and coastal towns. Not much more can be said about the bridge’s contribution to the economy. The Lepo-Lour road has basically failed in doing what it was supposed to do and thus, while it may have made an initial contribution to trade and commerce, it has not sustained that beyond that early period following the repairs. However, the road repair work did have a benefit, according to a student, who told us, “The laborers got paid at the time most people had no jobs and life was so hard.” (This was part of an early TEPS II grant, when some unskilled laborers were still being paid.) 4. Purpose 4: Impact of TEPS II & BELE: Perceptions and Estimations The Baguia bridge activity helped return the road to Baucau to good health. It thereby has contributed to a restoration of vehicle movement between the coast and the mountain areas. In addition, one skilled laborer in the activity group mentioned that “The bridge was repaired before the election of the Constituent Assembly, so it helped organizations provide civic education to remote people.” The Lepo-Lour road has, in a sense, had a negative impact on the commercial lives of the people of Lour. They are unable easily to move their produce, namely pecans, out to a broader trade area. We can not speak of any demonstrable growth in organizational capacity in either of these activities, which are for the most part an exception to the large share of activities evaluated. 25 G. Sports Facilities 1. Purpose 1: Community Group Capacity to Establish Priorities An admitted shortcoming of this evaluation is that only one sports activity was evaluated. A visit to a basketball court in Soibada, Manatuto District was cancelled at the last minute due to information that the road there was impassable. That left only one sports activity that we could travel to on the remaining route. It was the basketball court in Maubisi town, Ainaro District, located on Church property. A youth group activity, it was funded under a BELE grant. This activity initially posed problems for the interviewers, since it was discovered midway that the court was not finished. Interviews were postponed to the next morning to try to understand why the activity had ceased more or less midpoint. This activity seemed to be a priority of the youth group, but it faltered initially due to a misjudgment by the group on the amount of required materials, followed by a cessation of work. a. Effectiveness of the Process for Selecting Grant Activities The youth group in Maubisi, many of whom are unemployed, had been looking for an activity. It decided on a basketball court. The youth group leader was the stimulus behind the activity. It was difficult to gauge the extent of support and level of organization mobilized to carry out the activity, since even after a shortfall of materials was corrected, the activity remained stalled. The labor coordinator for the group indicated he thought the work would be completed in the next few months. b. Relevance and Responsiveness of Activities It is unclear how relevant or responsive this activity is. Comments by at least two interviewees indicated that the “real reason” the activity had stalled was because of “political differences.” They reported that group members went there separate ways to support different political candidates for the constituent assembly. That finding might lead one to believe the court was neither relevant nor responsive, though its completion and possible use remain before we can make that judgment. Furthermore, if based on popular opinion, it could not be determined why basketball was selected over, say, football. c. Technical Appropriateness The technical specifications for the basketball court were not complex. The activity broke down for other reasons. However, a materials shortfall, due to reasons beyond the control of the youth group, cannot be overlooked as one justification for the activity stalling. 2. Purpose 2: Community Participation and Mobilization This activity is a good case of how participation and mobilization break down because of social divisions. If the version we heard of political factions is accurate, then two thoughts occur. One is, it is all well and good that the youth are taking an interest in electoral politics 26 in their new nation; the other is, too bad they couldn’t rally for the good of the entire youth population of their own and surrounding communities. 3. Purpose 3: Community Contribution to a Durable Economy This activity is a “stretch” for the durable economy argument. However, if a sign of a healthy community is that youth are working together for the betterment of their community, then a basketball court could be considered to contribute to a healthy society. 4. Purpose 4: Impact of TEPS II & BELE: Perceptions and Estimations This activity, for reasons already stated, has so far had limited impact. If anything, it may have been a trigger for social conflict. On the other hand, if and when the court is completed then the argument is that an activity of this sort might be useful in actually helping to overcome social division. H. Gender-Focused Activities For every set of four interviews conducted the team attempted to include at least one woman, either as a working group member or, if not that, a community member. As noted already, three of the activities evaluated have already been covered under the headings of building renovations and coffee production. These activities have been variably successful, the OMT women’s center in Liquica being exemplary, coffee production, also in Liquica, moderately successful so far but still open to later assessment, and the OMT center in Same having had conceptual and implementation issues, but still open to debate. The OMT center activities are a “hybrid,” a cross between building renovation, women’s empowerment, and income generation. For that reason, they are difficult to evaluate as such. If they serve the purpose of supporting women’s role in contributing to national development, they will have served their purpose. To load on income activities adds a challenge that may be hard to meet. But, then, there’s the question of how to sustain these centers in the absence of some ostensible source of income. This issue is not possible to resolve here, nor were the grants, it seems, intended to resolve it. I. Role of Implementing Partners in Support of Community Transition Implementing partners are those entities that have supported local communities in developing grant ideas or acted as an intermediary in bringing the grant idea to the attention of USAID/OTI (in this sense USAID/OTI is not considered a partner). Often UNTAET district offices served in these roles, though more often acting as an intermediary. In a very few cases a UNTAET officer took a particular interest in a community and helped directly in developing grant ideas. This was the case, for example, for the Laclubar youth group sponsorship of the market. Certain INGOs and NGOs also served in these capacities, as in the role played by Action Contre le Faim support of the Cribas carpenter shop through 27 training in carpentry, generator repair, taking and organizing work orders, and general business practices. One local NGO in particular, working with Peace Wing Japan in the coffee production enterprise, has been instrumental in providing ongoing technical assistance to that enterprise. Rarely did partners play a role in supporting organizational capacity of grantees. This was seen as grantees’ own prerogative. Partners interviewed seemed to be fully aware of and in agreement with priorities identified by local community groupings. They were also able to cite improvements resulting from grants that they helped expedite or were familiar with. Many of these improvements were the same as those reported by local activity groups. Important to note is the role of village chiefs and sub-village chiefs as “partners.” While in many cases they were officially defined as the “grantee,” they were also instrumental in either initiating or moving forward grant ideas. In this sense they are the “rightful” partners of community activity groups. This assumes that their role in promoting a particular activity is transparent and one for which they are accountable. What has been missing from this equation of partnership is an “officially designated authority” to serve as a representative of community interests. This is because there has been no official locally based authority to do so. Earlier governments made sure that a strong, legitimate system of local government did not emerge. For the future, such a local government system must be promoted and nurtured, for the good of communities such as those the team visited, and the many it didn’t. 28 Chapter 3 CONCLUSIONS, LESSONS LEARNED & RECOMMENDATIONS D. Conclusions TEPS II and BELE small grant activities have generally succeeded in breaking some bottlenecks and filling critical gaps in the functioning of selected communities in a transitioning East Timor society. These have served a number of communities in helping them return to a more “normal” life and have provided important lessons to a number of selected communities, as well as, we trust, to the donor community. These lessons are about the process of beginning to help communities to become responsible for their own destinies, about a community mobilizing its own human resources, and about their proving to themselves that they can in fact bring improvements to their own lives, without depending wholly on someone else’s bounty. Let’s briefly recall the grant objectives: 1. Establish priorities in responding to perceived critical needs 2. Participate and mobilize members’ efforts through project completion 3. Contribute to their own durable recovery and 4. Create impact that members perceive as positive. It is especially those grants in agriculture (including some agro-processing activities), schools, markets, and water and sanitation, that have responded to perceived critical needs (#1) and which mobilize people’s efforts (#2). Less obviously responsive and demanding of people’s energies were roads, selected income generation activities, and sports facilities (based on our paltry sample of one). Agricultural irrigation activities seemed to strike a responsive chord. This is in part because the result is so visible, that is, the infrastructure is in place and water is flowing unimpeded by torrential rains. Furthermore, it is convincing because of our data on the complexity of organization and cooperation required to complete these. Larger issues of maintenance requirements, recurrent costs, or equitable access to irrigated land relevant to irrigation systems generally, were not addressed by this evaluation. The hand tractor grant also produced a readily visible result, observed namely in a rice field with one man behind a tractor instead of two or more men driving a herd of buffalo. And, the self-evident time saving this machine represents, as well as the complexity of organizing the tractor’s use (and potential profitability), seem to bode well for that particular type of grant activity. The rice mill, too, not so much as an income generating activity, but as a time and labor saving device, especially for women and girls, and an improvement in the quality of a key Timorese food staple, seemed a wise choice (mechanical breakdowns notwithstanding). 29 Market construction or rebuilding succeeded in satisfying seemingly large numbers of people. It is not just the obvious case of the availability of reliable, regular markets, but of helping to keep one of the main lifelines of Timorese society and economy open. Since everyone seems to want to send their children to school, the school roofing activity could probably not go wrong. While the school officials and teachers, as well as in some cases, UNTAET, were prime movers, the community usually had an obligation to participate with a certain level of in-kind labor. That some recently roofed schools are unused because there is no furniture should be viewed in the context of a World Bank program to provide school furniture. We must not forget the failed school in Viqueque District, however, where there was an apparent lack of community will to complete it. (We didn’t obtain the full story on that case.) Water and sanitation grants worked well, again since the result is so obviously visible, but also because of the certifiable assumption that clean water leads to improved health. Labor and time savings for women and children are another clear benefit. As we well know from around the world, water use can provide a way of mobilizing people. Here it also seems to follow the pattern. At least one of the women’s centers was highly successful and even had a potentially profitable cost center. More importantly, such centers are important for that 50% of the population who will decide how meaningfully to contribute to the nation’s socioeconomic recovery. That they need to show a profit may be debatable, though there always lurks the question of "who will pay the bill to continue operating these centers?" The coffee production enterprise is probably a good bet, though depressed world coffee prices are not helping its profits. It appears that this quasi-cooperative may succeed, though it is not clear if it can spread its benefits wider to more producers. From the women participants’ standpoint, it represents a laudable income earning opportunity. Assistance from a local NGO is not unimportant to its relative success. For the rest of the grant activities, that is, roads, selected income generation activities, and sports facilities, they do not seem to make the grade. This is not to say they are not potentially useful activities, but based on our rather limited sample, they didn’t seem to command the energies of their original sponsors. Roads are difficult under any circumstances where there is essentially no or inadequate government service to build or maintain them. This applies especially to some of the more isolated rural by-ways that the team had to or on occasion tried unsuccessfully to cross. Agro-processing as an income generating activity may be viable, though our evaluation could not corroborate that. What seems equally important, however, is what such mechanisms as hand tractors or rice mills do to improve the quality of life, as well as, importantly, food security. Food security is important to the rural population particularly during the long, dry season when food shortages have occurred. Certain past experience has shown that emergency food relief has not always arrived in time, thus necessitating the use of surplus food for such occasions. 30 Finally, sports facilities. Our judgment is still out on that, because we only saw one. Perhaps the critical question for the one we saw, the basketball court, was what was driving the “demand” for that particular sport except that the debilitated court was already there? It never came clear from our interviews. And we even returned to the site a second time to try to clarify that question. In any case, the concept is to encourage youth to participate in pro￾social activities. Regarding purposes # 3 and # 4, recovery and impact, these are more elusive than the first two. While the team was able to elicit responses on how an activity may have contributed to someone’s “durable recovery” and to create “impact” on their lives, it is somewhat more difficult to make much ado of that. Perhaps some activity group members’ lives have been made a bit easier, even better, though most of these grants in fact in some ways generate more “work” of their own for the group. If we try to dissect “cumulative impact” of these grants across a District, Regions or the Nation (yet to come), then we are really in trouble, since that strikes us as futile. #s 3 and 4 are more linked to the development cycle towards which these transition grants are supposed to be leading communities. Nevertheless, if these grants do not show any signs of moving people in that direction, then they must be reconsidered. This is clearly not the case with the large majority of the grants evaluated. They do, indeed, seem to nudge community groups in the direction of more responsibility and ownership of their lives, in short, empowering them to grow and develop from within. . E. Lessons Learned & Recommendations We will present some lessons learned, each followed by a specific, related recommendation. While these are not intended to be inclusive, they are supposed to reflect the more salient findings and conclusions. 1. Lesson Learned Small grants programs such as TEPS II and BELE can serve very appropriately to support a society in transition, in filling critical socioeconomic gaps and in building local empowerment. Recommendation Continued efforts to fill gaps and build community empowerment should be continued, though projected towards more developmental goals. ******** 2. Lesson Learned A community transition program that does not consciously build on a partnership with some local supportive organization or institution (including local government, which wasn’t present per se, UNTAET, NGOs or INGOs) may be difficult to sustain. Admittedly, TEPS II and BELE programs found such local partners to be few and far between. Recommendation Transition grant programs should attempt to build in a local partnership regardless of whether or not there is a local government entity. For development 31 programs that follow in a case such as East Timor, more effort will need to be made in identifying or “developing” local partners. ******** 3. Lesson Learned Grant activities that engaged the local village or sub-village chief often had a better chance of success than those that didn’t, even if full transparency and accountability weren’t attached to that position. Recommendation To the extent that local leaders legitimately represent their communities, they should be consciously incorporated into grant activities. This will require a slightly higher level of effort in assessing grant feasibility. ******** 4. Lesson Learned While community generated activities represent a highly appropriate approach to a transition program, it may just be that some community bottlenecks or gaps are more critical than others. Recommendation A narrowing down of the number of sectors addressed by grants might be considered as a management option. ******** 5. Lesson Learned While breaking dependency may be a long term goal of development programs, there may be ways to consciously attack that problem sooner as part of the transition process. Recommendation Identification of local partners, at this point probably local NGOs, who can work with local communities not only on technical features of a grant but through community empowerment training should be considered. ******** 6. Lesson Learned When procurement considerations begin to drive a grant, they may result in inferior inputs, thereby jeopardizing grant results, as seemed to be the case with the rice mills. Recommendation Program considerations should be given priority over procurement considerations if they result in a more dependable input. ******** 7. Lesson Learned Income generation grants are not proven as a tool in transitions, yet results achieved through these grants may nevertheless be useful, even if they do not contribute directly to income (e.g., some of the agro-processing grants were productive in non-income ways). Recommendation Continued use in transition programs of such grants as agro-processing activities should be considered if they contribute to improved production, quality of life and food security. ******** 8. Lesson Learned While evaluations such as this one can and should have real value to transition program designers, they often don’t have the luxury to penetrate very far beneath the surface of a grant activity. 32 Recommendation Design mini-case study research that goes into more depth on one or two grant activities than an evaluation survey design permits (e.g., the Maubu’u irrigation infrastructure or the women’s coffee production enterprise). ******** 9. Lesson Learned In the absence of a partnership with local government institutions, programs designed to fill gaps in East Timor’s economic infrastructure may be unsustainable. Such programs cannot be sustained because there is no formal, accountable structure to support and maintain them. Recommendation Development of economic infrastructure in East Timor will be dependent on strong local democratic government institutions. Therefore, any future strategy to address gaps in the economic infrastructure, needs also to support the development of such locally transparent and accountable institutions. F. OTI’s Exit Strategy for BELE and TEPS II: Some Considerations TEPS II & BELE programs are supposed to lead towards an exit strategy, one that continues “to engage communities in targeting locally identified gaps in the social and economic infrastructure until those gaps are filled.” In addition, the exit strategy should directly address the enhancement of democratic processes. This seems a timely juncture to consciously tie economic stability of communities to a process of local government and governance. USAID/OTI has operationalized an approach implemented through what it calls Political Transition Grants (PTGs). In addition to addressing critical bottlenecks and gaps, such grants are intended to trigger a civil society process. USAID/East Timor should adapt that approach to designing a strategy to support development of a local government capacity that promotes not only electoral democracy and democratic governance, but transparency and accountability of an eventual rural service delivery program. At this stage it is unclear how this program would articulate with the “replacement” for UNTAET’s administration or with local village and sub-village levels of chiefs. The evolving East Timorese version of the District Administration and its approach to incorporating village authority and community empowerment must be formally assessed and configured into a local government strategy. Such an assessment should address questions of how best to reduce the rural propensity to “create and claim certain entitlements,” how to empower local community leadership, and eventually how to decentralize authority and resources to local communities. 33 Annex 1: Scope of Work Evaluation of TEPS II and BELE Projects Terms of Reference USAID/OTI/DAI East Timor Duration: 4 weeks Background From January – August 2000, USAID/OTI/DAI implemented the Transitional Employment Program (TEP) as a response to the September 1999 post-referendum violence and forced displacement of several hundred thousand East Timorese. Program objectives included providing short term employment throughout the country, implementing public works rehabilitation projects ahead of larger multilateral initiatives and helping to jump start local economies by injecting cash into communities. Over an 8 month implementation period, TEP funded 469 small projects, provided approximately $3.9 million in funding, and reached more than 63,000 people in all 13 Districts. TEP was largely implemented through the UN’s Transitional District Administrations. The improving humanitarian situation, combined with concerns over wage distortion and sustainability, led to the second phase of community stabilization programming, the TEPS II Program and its successor BELE. The combined implementation period is 15 months. Both programs emphasized community participation in identification and implementation of sub￾projects, and required community contribution to activities (through unskilled labor and/or materials). Wages for unskilled labor under both TEPS II and BELE are not paid, barring very exceptional circumstances. TEPS II was implemented from September 2000 through March 2001, funding 60 small projects worth $775,000 such as community building restoration, road repair, irrigation systems, small scale clean water systems, and in-kind support for income generating cooperatives. The follow-on BELE Program’s implementation period is April – December 2001. As of August 2001, 52 sub-projects have been funded. The objectives of BELE are: 1) to restore and enhance the social and productive asset base of rural men, women, and youth; and 2) to strengthen local governance structures through community engagement. Purpose of Activity The purpose of the activity is to assess the design, execution, and impact of USAID/OTI/DAI’s community stabilization programs (TEPS II and BELE). The results of the evaluation will contribute to the development of OTI East Timor’s exit strategy. In addition, USAID/OTI has funded IOM East Timor to implement a similar BELE community stabilization project. Evaluation results will be used to assist in fine-tuning the second phase of the IOM BELE Program (January – April 2002). 34 Methodology The evaluation should be conducted using a basic interview guide structured around the four thematic headings outlined below, that can be modified for use with different stakeholder groups. Fieldwork should include a combination of interviews with individual households, open and focus group discussions, local leaders, and NGO and District Administration staff. The consultant will have the full-time assistance of the USAID/OTI/DAI Monitoring and Evaluation Officer in carrying out the evaluation. The evaluation will focus on four principal areas of investigation: 1. The priorities of communities and the extent to which TEPS II and BELE responded to them. · A review of the design based on the problem analysis and initial situation assessment: Was the conceptual model underlying TEPS II and BELE sound? How were priorities set? What assumptions were made? · Relevance of sub-projects: were the projects in line with local needs and priorities, have they addressed problems of high priority, particularly as viewed by program beneficiaries? · Community capability in problem identification and prioritization of sub￾projects; mechanism for articulating choice and selecting priorities · Roles and degree of involvement of others in prioritization (i.e. USAID/OTI/DAI staff, UN district staff) · Differing priorities of groups within communities · Technical appropriateness of inputs provided 2. The process and outcomes of community participation and mobilization efforts throughout the project cycle. · Degree and manner in which community members have participated in different phases of sub-projects (preparation, execution, supervision, management) · Type of participation (passive, information exchange, consultation, interactive, material incentive) · Form of participation (in-kind, cash, etc.) and perceptions of rationale · Level of satisfaction with participation required · Who participated, who did not, and why? · Local level organization and capacity, leadership capabilities 3. In responding to immediate needs, the extent to which work was undertaken in ways that support durable recovery (sustainability or ‘connectedness’ with longer term issues). 35 · Degree to which individual, community, organizational vulnerabilities reduced and existing capacities increased · Degree to which positive/negative changes have been created or reinforced in gender dynamics · Degree to which the program has reduced tendency to resolve conflict through violence · Involvement of community members in operations and maintenance · Definition and communication of roles and responsibilities in operations and maintenance · Transparency and accountability of funds and resources · Financial viability of income groups supported 4. The impact of interventions with a focus on beneficiary perceptions of quality and levels of satisfaction. · Community members’ criteria for assessing quality and satisfaction · Sense of ownership · Level of satisfaction with current coverage of services, quality of infrastructure, access and location, management and maintenance · Change/impact of project on individuals, households and communities (positive and negative) · Other catalytic effects (i.e. on neighboring communities, on relations with local government or other development agencies) · Effect on cohesion within community · Expectations of future benefits and opportunities (new expectations created?) · Who gained, who lost out, who was not affected, and how? · Degree of satisfaction with project mode of operations, information, procedures, etc. · Breadth of coverage, how beneficiary groups identified, and differential impact on specific groups (gender, age, location, socio-economic status) Tasks and Outputs 1. Review relevant documentation (project strategy documents, sub-project documentation available in the USAID/OTI grant database, monitoring and final reports, previous related studies, and other relevant reports) 2. Conduct interviews with management and staff 3. Develop a field guide based on the TOR (detailing evaluation themes, application, recording) 4. Prepare a workshop for presentation of evaluation findings 5. Submit a final report presenting qualitative findings disaggregated by gender, region, project type, etc. which also quantifies findings to the extent possible. The final report will be expected to contain the following: (i) executive summary; (ii) introduction that sets out the programs’ background and objectives; (iii) a description 36 of methodology used and its limitations; (iv) findings and lessons learned; and (v) conclusion and recommendations. 37 Annex 2: Questionnaires—Community Participation/Implementing Partners (English and Tetum) Questionnaire for Community Participants in TEPS II & BELE Activities Activity Information Interviewers: Please use project records to identify the specific activity being evaluated, then fill in following eight (8) blanks: a. Name of Site _______________ b. Region/District ______________ c. Project Title _______________________________________ d. TEPS II or BELE (Circle which) Grant # ________________ e. Name of Implementing Entity or Organization (if any) _____________________ f. Sector (& brief description of activity ___________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ g. Objective (very brief description) ______________________________________ h. # Estimated beneficiaries _______ Identification of Interviewee Briefly describe who the person is: sex __/age (approximate) __/ family situation ______ ____________________/ role in community (work, leadership) ___________________/ other ______________________________ Message to Interviewee Since we want to learn from both success and failure, we would appreciate if you would be as open as you can in responding. This is confidential and your name or identity will not be made know to anybody. 38 Questions 1. Did you participate in ___________ (name of) activity? (ascertain the exact activity). Yes/No (circle one) 2. What was the specific problem in your community addressed by the assisted activity? (give hints but don’t answer the q.) 3. How was the problem identified? (through a local council, in some other participatory manner, through a woman’s grouping, in some non-participatory way?) 4. Who in the activity group or in the community identified the problem? 5. How did you become involved in this activity? (chosen, self-selected, official role, has direct impact on her/him, sense of ownership, other) 6. How (in what ways) did you participate in the activity? (leadership, organization, identification, selection, design, implementation, in-kind labor, other? Specify precise way in which participation occurred) 7. Did the activity actually improve life of the members of the activity group? Yes __ No__. 8. If yes, exactly how did it improve life? (some physical improvement, health, income?) 9. If yes, whose lives? 10. If no, why not? 11. How are conditions different now from when the activity first began? 12. Did the activity help your activity group in some non-material way? (probe to see if it helped get people to work together better for the common good) 13. Did the activity improve the conditions of people beyond the working group? 14. If yes, how did it do this? 15. If no, why do you think it didn’t? (probe: wasn’t enough community-wide interest, activity not organized to bring in the community, other?) 16. Has the activity helped you personally to do some things better in your life? If yes, what? 17. If no, why do you think it hasn’t? 18. How did the “implementing partner,” help organize your activity? 19. What would you say is the most important result (effect, impact) of the activity on your life, the activity group, and the larger community? 20. In case we may have missed something, do you have anything else to add about the specific activity you participated in? Yes/No 21. If yes, what is that? 39 Questionnaire for Participating Partners in TEPS II & BELE Activities Activity Information Interviewers: Please use project records to identify the specific activity being evaluated, then fill in following eight (8) blanks: i. Name of Site _______________ j. Region/District ______________ k. Project Title _______________________________________ l. TEPS II or BELE (Circle which) Grant # ________________ m. Name of Implementing Partner Organization (if any) _______________________ n. Sector (& brief description of activity) __________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ o. Objective (very brief description) ______________________________________ p. # Estimated beneficiaries _______ Identification of Interviewee Briefly describe the person: sex __/age (approximate) __/ organizational position ______ ______________________________/ implementing role _________________________/ other ______________________________ Message to Interviewee Since we want to learn from both success and failure, we would appreciate if you would be as open as you can in responding. This is confidential and your name or identity will not be made know to anybody. 40 Questions 7. What community activity did your group or organization assist? (ascertain the exact activity). 8. How did your organization become involved in this particular activity? 9. How (in what ways) did you participate in the activity? (leadership, organization, identification, selection, design, implementation, in-kind labor, other? Specify precise way in which participation occurred) 10. What was the specific problem your organization addressed through the assisted activity? (give hints but don’t answer the q.) 11. How was the problem identified? (through a local council, in some other participatory manner, through a woman’s grouping, in some non-participatory way?) 12. How did your organization support the community to empower it to carry out its role in implementing the activity? (probe: e.g., used a participatory approach, helped develop leadership in the community, etc.) 7. Did the activity actually improve conditions of the members of the activity group? Yes __ No__. 22. If yes, exactly how did it improve conditions? (some physical improvement, health, income?) 23. If yes, the conditions of whom specifically? (get a specific idea of which people) 24. If no, why not? 25. How are conditions different now from when the activity first began? 26. Did the activity help the assisted group in some non-material way? (probe to see if it helped get people to work together better for the common good, or some other activity) 27. Did the activity improve the conditions of people beyond the working group? 28. If yes, how did it do this? 29. If no, why do you think it didn’t? (probe: wasn’t enough community-wide interest, activity not organized to bring in the rest of the community, other?) 30. Has the activity helped your organization to improve its community services? If so, in what ways? 31. If no, why do you think it hasn’t? 32. What do you believe is the community’s impression of your support of their activity? (E.g., Do you still have a good relationship with the community today?) 33. What would you say is the most important result (effect, impact) of the assisted activity on community conditions and organization? 34. In case we may have missed something, do you have anything else to add about the specific activity you participated in? Yes/No 35. If yes, what is that? 41 Kuistionariu ba Partisipasaun Komunidade kona ba Aktividade Programa TEP’s II/BELE (Tetum version of Community Participation Questionnaire) Perguntas: 1. Ita bo’ot sira hola parte/partesipa iha aktividade ida ne’e?____________ (Naran aktividade)? Los/Lae? 2. Problema spesifiku saida maka iha komunidadi nia le’et hetan responde husi aktividade tulun ida ne’e? Esplika ba sira mai be la bele responde husi sira nia parte). 3. Oin sa problema ne’e identifika? (liu husi konselhu lokal, hahalok partisipasaun seluk nian, liu husi grupu feto sira nian, la liu husi partisipasaun. 4. Se’e maka iha grupu aktividade nia laran ka iha komunidadi nia laran halo identifikasaun kona ba problema ida ne’e? 5. Oin sa’a maka ita bot sira bele involve/partisipa iha aktividade ida ne’e? (Ema maka hili, ita hili a’an rasik, tuir regulamentu, ne’e iha efeito (dampak) ba nia (Mane/Feto), tamba iha sente katak ita nian ka seluk tan. English Translation: 6. Oin sa’a e (halo nusa’a) ita bot partisipa/hola parte iha aktividade ida ne’e? (lideransa, organizasaun, identifikasaun, selesaun, planu, implementasaun, ema nebe servisu voluntariu, seluk-seluk. Esplika kona ba “oin sa’a lolos” participasaun ne’e halao). English Translation: 7. Tuir imi nia hanoin ka hare’e katak aktividade ne’e bele hadia duni imi nia moris? Los/Lae. English Translation: 8. Karik los duni, oin sa imi nia moris hetan diak liu tan? (Iha buat diak ruma maka bele hare’e, isin diak / saude, hatama osan / inkam?). 42 English Translation: 9. Se nia moris maka hetan diak liu tan? English Translation: 10. Karik lae, tamba sa’a? English Translation: 11. Diferensa/perbedaan saida maka ita bele hare’e bainhira aktividadi ne’e seidauk halao ho halao tiha ona? English Translation: 12. La os hare’e deit husi sasan nebe fo tulun ba imi, karik imi sente hetan tulun ruma husi parte nebe la os hanesan sasan? 43 English Translation: 13. Karik aktividadi ida ne’e bele hadia kondisaun ba eme sira ne’e be serbisu iha grupu/komunidade? English Translation: 14. Karik los duni, oin sa bele halo/hadia imi nian kondisaun? English Translation: 15. Lae karik, tamba saida maka aktividadi ne’e la bele hadia imi nia kondisaun? (la’os ema barak ninian interese, aktividade ida ne’e la organiza didiak iha komunidadi nia laran, seluk tan?). English Translation: 16. Aktividadi ne’e fo tulun ruma ona ba ita bot nia an rasik atu halo sasan ruma diak liu tan iha ita bot nia moris? Karik los duni, oin sa los? English Translation: 44 17. Lae karik, tamba saida? English Translation: 18. Oin nusa “parte nebe halao aktividadi” fo tulun ka ajuda organiza ita bot nia aktividade? English Translation: 19. Tuir ita bot nia hare’e saida maka rezultadu importante liu (efeitu) husi aktividade ne’e ba ita bot nia moris, grupu nebe halao aktividade, ho komunidade tomak? English Translation: 20. Dala ruma ami haluha buat ruma karik, iha buat ruma maka ita bot bele aumenta tan kona aktividade spesifiku nebe maka ita hola parte ba? Los ka lae? English Translation: 21. Los karik, saida los? English Translation: Annex 3: Matrix of Site Visits and Schedule Nam e of Site Date Who respo nsible Dist rict TEPS II BELE Level of Need * Local Impl. Partner ** Coop￾erative NGO/ INGO Other Impltg. Entity *** Agricul￾ture Roads Water & Sanit. Build￾ings Income Sports Facil. Gende r￾Focus ed In￾kind Labor ++ + - Manat uto Town TUE 8/01/02 Morning Filipe MTT St. Antonio School D School Commit tee No X Crib as TUE 8/01/02 Lunch Filipe MTT Carpent ry work shop Pv X X Yes X Laclub ar TUE 8/01/02 Afternoon Filipe MTT Market D/Pv Youth Group X No X Wai gae WED 9/01/02 Morning Filipe BCU Agro￾Processin g CAP Farmer s group X Yes X Vemas se WED 9/01/02 Lunch Filipe BCU Second ary School D School Commit tee X No X Bagu ia WED 9/01/02 Afternoon Filipe BCU Bridge rehabili tation D/HS Village Commit tee X Yes X Neo Ho’o THU 10/01/02 Morning Filipe BCU Irigatio n CAP Farmer ’s group X Yes X Liab ala THU 10/01/02 Lunch Filipe BCU Irigatio n CAP Farmer s group X Yes X Ossu FRI 11/01/02 Morning Joao VQ Q Water D/Pv Health Commit tee X Yes X Luca FRI 11/01/02 Lunch Joao VQ Q School PV/Hot. Spot School Commit tee X Yes X VQQ Town FRI 11/01/02 Afternoon Joao VQ Q Carpent ry shop Pv/Hot spot X X Yes X Hatu buili co TUE 15/01/02 Morning Luis a Aina ro Market project D/Pv Market committ ee X Yes X 1 Mau bisi TUE 15/01/02 After non Luis a Aina ro Brick Makin g Pv/HS X Youth X Yes X Mau bisi TUE 15/01/02 Afternoon Luis a Aina ro Sports D/Hs Youth X Mau bisi WED 16/01/02 Morning Luis a Aina ro Water Project Pv Village Commit tee X Yes X Sam e WED 16/01/02 Lunch Luis a Man ufahi OMT Buildin g D/Pv Wome ns group X X Yes X Hola rua WED 16/01/02 Lunch Luis a Man ufahi Water project D/Pv Water committ ee X Yes X Sam e WED 16/01/02 Afternoon Luis a Man ufahi Agro￾process Rice mill CAP X Farmer s group X X Yes X Sam e THU 16/01/02 Morning Luis a/JM Man ufahi Market D/Pv Market Commit tee X No X Hatu udo THU 17/01/02 Morning Luis a Aina ro Meetin g hall D/Pv Village committ ee X Yes X Lepo THU 17/01/02 Lunch Mar garet h Bob onar o Roads D/Pv UNTA ET x No X Mali ana THU 17/01/02 Afternoon Mar garet h Bob onar o Agro￾process ing Handtr actor CAP X Farmer s group X X Yes X Darl ara FRI 18/01/02 Morning Mar garet h Liqu ica Water project Pv Water committ ee X Yes X Liqu ica FRI 18/01/02 Lunch Mar garet h Liqu ica Coffee grinder D X X X X Yes X Liqu ica FRI 18/01/02 After lunch Mar garet h Liqu ica OMT Buildin g D/Pv Wome ns group X X No X * Level of Reinsertion/Destruction/Poverty/ Potential Hot Spot/Returnees Expected/Criticality of Agriculture Prod. ** Village Committee, School Committee, Market Rehabilitation Committee, Health Committee. *** Youth Group, Women’s Group, Farmers’ Group, UNTAET.