Saturday we had a 3 hour workshop for the Otse Disability Support Group. We reviewed their vision and mission statements, checked in on their short term and long term goals, and then talked about fundraising and accountability for funds. I think it went well. One of the members, is a young fellow of about 26 who works at Motse wa Badiri and is disabled. He was my translator. He graduated from high school and really has a lot going for him in terms of smarts and can be very motivational with others, especially younger people. His physical disability would be considered relatively minor in the States, but here he has probably had to fight for everything he has every gotten and it will be hard for him to get much further than he has right now, unless he is given some opportunities, which I am trying to work on a bit, but that is another story. At any rate, he and I were both quite pleased afterwards because he wasn’t sure he would be able to translate the whole time, and he did a terrific job.
The group appreciated the training, but there are some challenges in terms of their understanding that they must operate as a group and not individually in their actions. This makes sense to all of them, but the reality is, when there is any pot of money (madi), it is easy for people as poor as they are to feel it is okay to “borrow” some of it. Always with the intention of paying the group back, of course.
So they are learning how to put the mission and vision and the work of the group above their own personal immediate needs, and to save money to use to further the short and long term goals of their group, not any immediate needs of an individual. It is a hard thing and goes against the mostly helpful cultural mandate of, “if you have money, you use it to help others and yourself now.”
We talked about receipts and accounting and the fact that they will never get big money or grants if they don’t appear trustworthy and if they are unable to prove to donors where the money went. I am hoping this is a cautionary tale and that no one has actually “borrowed” money, but it is hard for me to know. I am giving the group the tools to deal with it themselves, and set up systems to address and prevent this, but then I am going to back out and let them do what they need to, if they need to do anything to “clean house.”
Right now they don’t have any big money, but before I lead them on potential fundraising events and efforts that could be successful, they need to make sure they have these ducks in a row. And before we pursue any grants, the ducks better be marching a goose step.
I told them there are some universals for nonprofits – namely that we all need money and never have enough – and that the most successful nonprofits build real relationships with their donors and stay true to their mission, no matter what money is floated in front of them. I tried to give them an example of mission driving their fundraising decisions and got the point across, but I didn’t come up with the best example, culturally speaking. It worked out, but here it is.
“There is a grantor who wants to give you a million Pula (pula= Botswana’s money. Pula is also the word for rain, which is worth a heck of a lot here too.) to fix all the dogs in the community, due to overpopulation of dogs. You refuse the grant. Why?”
Okay, so MY answer was: because it doesn’t fit the vision and mission of the organization. Easy right? Mission is to teach people with disabilities skills to make a living and find employment, and unless we are going to employ them all in the sterilizing of these dogs, it wouldn’t meet the mission. No brainer.
Culturally speaking however, they said “No, we won’t take the money because it wouldn’t be good to sterilize the dogs. Old dogs die and we need to replace them. It wouldn’t be a good thing to sterilize all the dogs, because we need dogs.” Very pragmatic.
They also did get the point that they shouldn’t take the money because it didn’t fit the mission, and I learned a bit more about why dogs won’t be sterilized in Otse village any time soon.
The other universal is that people want to be recognized for giving. HOW they want to be recognized may differ from culture to culture and even from person to person within each culture. But they now understand that people who have given us even one Pula (less than 15 cents), need to be thanked and recognized if we want them to give us another Pula.
We role played asking someone to help with a hands on project (no money involved) and asking local shop owners for donations of drinks and cookies for an upcoming project then sent a few members on their way with letters in hand to the local shops to see how it goes. I made sure they understood that people will say “no” and it is okay. That some people will say, “no, but…” and there is sometimes room to negotiate to something they can afford to give. We are taking baby steps.
Meanwhile the contractor started work on the renovation of the office building today. They are fixing broken windows, putting in better doors and locks, building wheelchair ramps, and adding burglar bars and electrical outlets and lights to the building. We are hoping to get the water and electricity hooked up while we still have the grant money to pay for it. I have cautioned the group that once they have these things, they are going to have to have money to pay the bills, so this may end up being a case of “be careful what you ask for.”
But this is how we learn, right?
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