The participatory research project in my target country that I chose was from The Society for Participatory Research in Asia. This society focuses on Asia and South Pacific countries and focuses on building, knowledge building, participatory research, citizen-centric development, and policy advocacy. The society works with assisting and collaborating with civil society groups, NGOs, governments, donors, trade unions, private business and academic institutions around the world. The research project I chose was the research project improving quality of elementary education. The objectives of this project were to improve the quality of government education system in Rajasthan. This was targeted to assist the children of that community and migratory families, tribal communities, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and girls who are at risk for hazardous labor. The amount of people enlisted for this research project was from 40 different schools in that district. This first step was similar to the detailed action research model because it diagnosed or identified the problem. The research team analyzed and found that this area needed stronger support to this area of schools to assist the elementary school education.

The next step in the model was for action planning and the research team created key areas or goals to set for the project. The first goal was to increase the involvement of children and the community in educational planning and school management. Next the team wanted to improve the quality of education provided to the children by creating a minimum standard. Then they set to ensure government policies were in accordance and the plan and management were being used effectively. While this step was for action planning the group did not think of alternative solutions for the plan. They made these goals straight forward and worked to implement them. The project combined action planning and taking action into one step and worked directly to make these goals possible. The steps in how they organized the groups or group sessions was not disclosed either; the report was vague in how they organized the group leaders, community leaders, students of the program, or public officials involved. The report didn't disclose any details or reports of what the officials wanted out of the research either, and no roles seemed to be given out to any of the participants.

In the third step of evaluating the goals the research team reported that 40 schools were implementing the program, public disclosure in 25 schools was met, school development plans were assessed back with status reports from both the community and the education system. There were other assessments reported back from both children and the community on the effectiveness of the program. In this evaluation of goals the report of this research project didn't give any quantitative or qualitative values of progress. This made it very difficult if the evaluation of their goals was effective or not. There was no area of reflection that occurred in the report; this deemed it difficult to tell in the research project met its goals so that they could reevaluate them, and they didn't specify any general findings that they observed in the research.

This research project had a very good scope of the community in wanted to research and goals were set to help assist the community. The research team seemed very involved but also had much input from the community and government, though the project didn't specify who played what roles in the project or who was directly involved with the communication process. This project set in motion to help that community and provided a better education system for that community. While it is unclear how successful the project team was at accomplishing their goals set out it does seem that there was an effect on some of the schools used. This project seemed to follow the flow and plan of participatory research projects, and identified with some of the main points from the article by O'Brien and what was discussed by Dr. Delong. The project highlighted the same points of being directly involved with the community as a researcher but also allowing the community and other officials to be highly involved as well.

A participatory research project in Uganda involved the challenged in regards to nurses in caring for individuals with sexual transmitted disease such as AIDS and HIV.  In Uganda, there is a stigma towards nurses and they are placed in a low position of power and authority, even though they are in the medical profession (Fournier, Mill, Kipp, & Walusimbi, p. 2).  Participatory action research projects involve the researchers to work with other individuals in order to make a radical change (Nelson & Prilleltensky, p. 267). What happened in this participatory action research project (PAR) was that nurses were recruited, discussion groups were formed where the nurses discussed the challenges they were facing and how to cope with those thing. It was an environment where the nurses could discuss their experiences and how to improve. A photovoice was implemented and this allowed the nurses to see if they were not doing what was expected of being a nurse (Fournier, Mill, Kipp, & Walusimbi, p. 5).

There are six key principles of action research: reflexive critique, dialectical critique, collaborative resource, risk, plural structure, and practice.

The PAR project in Uganda, was very good at documenting, especially with the use of the photovoice. They also had questionnaires where the nurses rated the help of the discussion group. The documentation fulfills the first principle of reflexive critique.  The nurses that were chosen had to fulfill a requirement in being bilingual, both in English and had to speak native Ugandan, fulfilling the dialectical critique. Of course, throughout the PAR project there was a lot of collaboration with the researchers and the nurses in order to try to eradicate the stigma towards nurses in treating HIV. Especially when communication was an important factor, such as being able to effectively communicate with the patients and understanding the precautions that go along with the risks.  There were several perspectives from the different nurses in the varying environments. By collaborating from the researcher and the nurses, the nurses started to feel empowered and comfortable with the tasks they were given.

The major changes that occurred with this PAR project was that nurses discovered areas that they were uncomfortable in treating because they were unfamiliar or unknowledgeable. The nurses began proposals to provide research and discussion groups in order to educate the nurses. The learning was not one directional, the researchers also learned about the Uganda culture and the different challenges faced by the medical providers. 

References

Fournier, B., Mill, J., Kipp, W., & Walusimbi, M. (2007). Discovering voice: A participatory action research study with nurses in Uganda. International Journal of Qualitative Methods , 6 (2), 1-14.

Nelson, G., & Prilleltensky, I. (2010). Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and well being (Vol. New York). (2010, Ed.) New York, Nelson, Geoffrey; Prilleltensky, Isaac: Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and well being.

O'Brien, R. (2001). Um exame da abordagem metodológica da pesquisa ação [An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research]. In  Roberto Richardson (Ed.), Teoria e Prática da Pesquisa Ação [Theory and Practice of Action Research]. João Pessoa, Brazil: Universidade Federal da Paraíba. (English version) Available: http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html 

    A participatory research project in Djibouti was involving the water scarcity in the arid parts of Africa. This water scarcity is a threat to many people who live in rural areas. On way to approach this issue is to use northern technologies in the area of water management. What this project is doing is creating an in-depth study about the efficacy of the water managgment system. This project will look into whether or not the traditional methods of water management in their county is appropriate. Oll the work for this project was done by non-governmental organizations otherwise known as (NGO). The NGO's will study and improve the water management systems. Knowledge gained reguarding the traditional water management will we extracted from interviews and meetings with experts in that local area. This project will involve bringing togeather organized meetings with innovators and experts alike to put together new technologies and ideas to make a difference. Their ideas can then be pushed out to the public with community meetings. This participation action research is going to help inprove the living situations with the rural people with water problems!  

                                                        REFERENCES

Regallet, Gabriel. http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-83041-201_001989-1-IDRC_ADM_INFO.html. TWMA, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2012. 

O'Brien, R. (2001). Um exame da abordagem metodológica da pesquisa ação [An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research]. In  Roberto Richardson (Ed.), Teoria e Prática da Pesquisa Ação [Theory and Practice of Action Research]. João Pessoa, Brazil: Universidade Federal da Paraíba. (English version) Available: http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html 

Algeria is one of the North African countries at the forefront in tackling land degradation and drought in North Africa.  Inadequate awareness and insufficient coordination among the policymakers in Algeria have been major stumbling blocks or barriers from the prevention of land degradation as well as the over climate changes that have occurred from global warming.  In 2011, Algeria was named as a pilot country to combat desertification by the UNCCD or UN Convention to Combat Desertification and was selected to align a national action plan accordingly.  In July, a workshop was hosted in Algeria to tackle these problems and the groups were organized into section for integrating the NAP into sectoral policies, technology transfer and adaptation to climate change, human and financial resources, and coordination between the various stakeholders.  According to the steps in program evaluation using a PAR approach, this meeting organized the stakeholder group and clarified roles, identified the purpose of the evaluation, gathered information, and analyzed the information.  The findings and recommendations were then issued in September 2011 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. 

Algeria is also involved in another project called the Capacity Development for Policy Makers to Address Climate Change in conjunction with the "Bali Road Map" project.  These groups are collaborating together to raise awareness about the Bali Road Map and implications for national policies.  The Investment and Financial Flows project is addressing the issue of making these countries understand the magnitude and intensity of national efforts needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.  Major contributors to this project are the UNDP Environment and Energy group who have launched seven million dollars towards the project.  The GEF also funds activities to elaborate the National Climate change Strategy and action plan for countries in North Africa like Algeria. 

The first step in an action research model is diagnosing, discovering what the problem is and defining it. This action research model revolves around Lake Chad that is surrounded by Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon.  Lake Chad is a prime source of water to humans, livestock, and the wildlife and plant life ecosystems surrounding and in the lake. There are three activities that helps sustain the economy for those living in the Lake Chad Basin region: fishing, farming, and herding. Fishing is the major source of revenue and that fishing is capable of establishing the social classes in terms of gear, boats, and so forth. Those that are rich are able to gain more due to better equipment in contrast to those who do not in these rural communities (Neiland, 68). 

This is social and economic side of these rural communities, however there are also environmental dilemmas that have been occurring. The climate in Lake Chad fluctuates between droughts and floods, in turn effecting the population of fish and other wildlife creatures in the surrounding area (Odada, Obeyed, and Oguntola, 1). Since this is a group of communities that are effected socially when the weather is good, this means that when fish are low in numbers, it is the poor that suffer the most. 

Finally, there is a dilemma politically in how these communities are to be governed and interact with neighboring communities. There is competition and fights over the land and water, and there has yet to be a successful show of establishing peaceful and harmonizing relationships (Odada, Obeyed, and Oguntola, 2). Due to political turmoil and the distance of these communities between larger, and urban communities has created a great deficit in information on economic activities. Due to the lack of information do other international groups and powers have a difficulty establishing policies that will fit with the current state of these communities. 

 To consider alternative courses of action, you need to first explore the full range of the problem. If there is a deficit in information, how do you regain the information lost? To do so the researches sent out a survey that asked for their socio-economic information. Through gaining this information can they analyze the Chad's economic activities, focusing mostly on the fishing. They surveyed sixty-four random communities around Lake Chad Basin that asked what their socio-economic status, how many individuals in their household, income, etc. 

 What they discovered that the change of seasons does effect fishing activity but also the activity in each household. These communities rely on this source of water to fulfill the needs to survive, and the daily activities that they participate as a community is effected during these floods and droughts. In households that are impoverished, they rely on fishing more than those that are of a wealthy status. In other words, they contribute more time and labor into the fishing industry in order to sustain their family. However, they receive low income despite all the labor put in. Another dilemma is that in some communities the poor do not even have access to the lake, only those capable of paying feels are able to reap the rewards the lake can provide. In turn this makes fishing seeing as a last resort to those who are poor. 

What needs to be taken from this is that "fishing is...a central element of wealth differentiation. But, at the same time fishing is also strongly determined by wealth" (Neiland, 75).  There is a high discrepancy on who can gain profit and the system makes it so the poor do not, which follows a bit of a libertarian philosophy. Those that are wealthy are involved in trading and bear greater equipment to fish than those who do not due to the presence of money. How it is currently run is that the wealthiest residents receive significant benefits, and in turn this burdens the least advantaged residents. The poor is greater in population and thus, the burdens on the poor is far greater than the benefits of the rich overall. Now to shift these philosophy is to change the structure and introduce policies that follow a contractarianism light that follows that justice is what is beneficial to minimize the pain for those who are impoverished by maximizing the civil liberties of all despite status. 

Works Cited:

Neiland, Bene. "Contribution of Inland Fisheries to Rual Livelihoods in Africa: An Overview From the Lake Chad Basin Areas." Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on the Management of Large Rivers for Fisheries. Ed. T. Petr and Ed. Robin Welcomme. Cambodia: RAP Publication, 2004. 67-76. Print.

 Odada, Eric, Lekan Oyebande, and et al. "Lake Chad: Experiences and Lessons Learned Brief." ilec.orgp. N.p., 27 Feb 2006. Web. 12 Feb 2012. <http://www.ilec.or.jp/eg/lbmi/pdf/06_Lake_Chad_27February2006.pdf>.

The participatory action research project I picked for my designated country is called PABRA (Pan-African Bean Research Alliance).  What began as a CIAT project, PABRA now is a collection of 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa consisting of national agricultural research systems.  This collaborative approach helps share the knowledge of multiple components in agriculture.  Such as "the exchange of germplasm plant breeding, farmer participatory research, seed dissemination, agro enterprise development, and integrated pest and disease management (PABRA)."  These are the problems that have been diagnosed, and that need to be fixed.

PABRA's course of action is by first making the bean crops resilient to disease while still retaining their nutritional value.  And then by introducing the farmers to different markets so they can begin to increase their income.

After evaluation, the results found that up to 80% of households who had adopted at least one type of disease resistant bush, lead to improved food security.  This lead the general findings to conclude that breeding plants to make them disease resistant and to provide better/more nutrients was able to help combat the problem of food security and also helped combat the growing problem of malnutrition. The action research process then repeats itself for the other problems in agriculture, in hopes of finding an answer that could be spread to the rest of the alliance.

Works Cited:

PABRA. 2010. 12 February 2012 <http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/work/Africa/Pages/PABRA.aspx>.

My area of study, Equatorial Guinea is a small, relatively poor country in central Africa. It has a population of about 500,000. There is an exceptional ongoing participatory action research project in the bush meat trade in Equatorial Guinea. The project was started by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in 2002. The countries' economic overall situation has improved in recent years because of findings of offshore oil. There is great desire to ensure continued development without adversely affecting the environment. The ZSL is studying the effects of the bush meat trade and its impact on households, hunters, and wildlife populations. "Alternative livestock production, fish development, alternative income exploration, forest management, and regulation of meat trade are all components of the participatory action research project" (ZSL 2002).

In 2009, a new project was started by the ZSL which studied local communities and methods of evaluating, testing, and assisting in implementing meat management options. Community leadership is a vital part in this project. They aid in assuring proper care of the environment and communicating with financial donors. This in turn aids in widening the scope of influence and involving a larger number of participants.

This project fits right in with the positive aspects of a good participatory action research project. It includes practical concerns and methods and outcome measurements. All aspects of observation, reflection, planning and action are part of this project. The ZSL will continue to provide a positive influence on the countries' people and its environment for years to come.

Works Cited:

"Bushmeat Alternatives in Equatorial Guinea". The Zoological Society of London. <http://www.zsl.org/conservation/regions/africa/equatorial-guinea/>.

The participatory research project in Burkina Faso is the pilot research project. This research project is a community based poverty monitoring system (PMS) that is trying to figure out appropriate indicators of poverty. In every country there are people living in poverty, yet the developing countries such as Latin America, Africa, and some parts of Asia have the most amount of people living in poverty. Many international institutes and agencies are promoting poverty awareness trying to improve living conditions in countries where poverty is severe. "In Burkina Faso, despite significant economic and social progress, the people are still extremely poor, as demonstrated in  the two priority surveys conducted by the government in 1994 and 1998.  Using current values for the poverty line (CFAF 72,690 in 1998 vs. 41,099 in 1994), the proportion of poor people has risen slightly, from 44.5 percent in 1994 to 45.3 percent in 1998"(experimental research).

The second phase of PMS is trying to follow the national antipoverty strategy. "The objective of decentralization is to foster representative and participatory local structures for planning and managing development: the PMS will serve as a springboard, providing communities with the tools to evaluate their poverty situation and trends and thereby target their development efforts more effectively"(experimental research).

In the intervention strategy of phase two is to make the PMS tool assessable to everyone in the community. By doing so they will need to begin to work with participatory research-action program involving the local community. This research action program will need to find indicators of poverty and compare them over a few communities. The ultimate goal is to develop a community based poverty system that can be implemented throughout all the villages in the countries. There are many aspects that need to be fulfilled to allow this to happen. Such as training the local people on how to monitor and regulate the poverty levels along with providing project administration and management.

References:

experimental research project on the poverty monitoring system (pms) phase i. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pep-net.org/fileadmin/medias/pdf/CBMS_country_proj_profiles/References-archive/povertyMonitoringSystem.pdf

The area that I am researching is Benin. It is in West Africa and is mostly dependent on agriculture for survival.  It is a very tropical area so naturally bugs come to the areao.  This makes malaria an issue.  The precipitory research project that I chose to talk about is The Sustaining Malaria Prevention in Benin: Local Production of Bednets. This project is trying to get more people of their country to buy bednets to protect themselves from Malaria.  In this project they make their own bednets and sell them at any government function.  The group the sells them is comprised of several women that actually make them by hand.  They put out surveys to see who actually uses bed nets and try to target women and children to buy them becuase these are the people that are more prone to getting malaria.  The study has researched what types of bed nets are more usefull in preventing mesquitos from getting onto the skin.  

The study also does research and then analyzes their findings and then go back to see what needs to be changed.  Their example of this is they find out that they need to import material from Canada because the supplies that they have are not doing as good of a job as they need them to.  This is a study of preventing malaria and also to see if they can make a profit off of these bednets. 

References:

Sustaining malaria prevention in Benin: local

production of bednets

S RASHED,12 H JOHNSON,3 P DONGIER,4 C C GBAGUIDI,5 S LALEYE,6 S TCHOBO,5

T W GYORKOS,7 J D MACLEAN2 AND R MOREAU1,5

Correspondence: Dr Selim Rashed, Departement de Pediatrie, Hopital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, 5415 boul. de l'Assomption, Montreal, Quebec, Canada HIT 2M4

One organization that is creating better quality of education for people in Kenya and other parts of Eastern Africa is East Africa Quality in Early Learning. The research in action is coming up with new materials and new resources to help young children with reading and comprehension skills at the elementary level. Teachers interact with the children directly and put together programs that help the children along in their reading skills in order to help educate them at higher level than this area of the world is currently used to.

This program also helps by tying in the community and bringing the community together. The teachers in this program are always trying to come up with ways of recruiting children in order to teach them to read and better themselves at a young age.

Another implementation of this program was getting books for community libraries so that the children will always have books and other materials at their disposal in order to further their progress in education. The libraries are also bringing together the community and in many places there are public readings and other events that go on to promote reading and education for young Kenyan children and other Eastern African children. 

A participatory research project in my
target country that I found is called Save the Children. This particular
project has ties to Child protection, education/child development,
health/nutrition and HIV/AIDS. This organization has been in Liberia since 1991
and at first prioritized children's safety and removing them from their risky environments. Over time, the organization has been slowly but surely successful and now prioritizes assisting children in establishing rights and their education. The organizations, specifically in Liberia, have established and provide healthcare facilities.These facilities are not only provided actual healthcare, but also create a shelter where children can escape from sexual exploitation and abuse. Another
aspect I found interesting about this organization is that in the healthcare
facilities they also provide education for the children.

According to our text there are six main points to asses a participatory research project. The first that I will discuss is reflexive critique. This basically assesses the cause and effect of what the project is accomplishing.  This organization
was very clear in providing details of their successes. Just to name a few,
newborn rates of survival were raised; more cases of effective practices being
used vs. traditional practices and the incorporation of art into educational
services are being used. I thought this was particularly interesting as it was
extremely easy to see the results of their projects.  The next point is called dialectical critique. This concerns the issue of basic disagreement and how they approach differing opinions. Seeing as this organization has active projects in 28
countries, I feel that they most definitely handle differing views and opinions
well and proactively.  In Liberia, their vision paints a picture in which they are very passionate when it comes to protecting children. Dealing with adversity seems to be swept under the carpet, but not in a way where they're not dealing with the issues, they just choose to not to broadcast the information in an extremely accessible way. The next point is collaborative resource, meaning who the organization partners with in order to seek results. This organization partners with InterAction and the Better Business Bureau. The organization also has a large number of Foundations and Trusts that they are heavily involved with.  The next
point is risk. Placing any person in at risk environments promotes risk. In
terms of placing people in Liberia, the risk varies. However, when involving
children into the mix, the risk increases greatly. Plural structure in terms of
community in this organization seems to be accurate. I believe that Save the
Children has a strong concern for children, but will absolutely help adults in
the process. Therefore,  I believe they follow a pluralistic view. Last but not least, as I've covered above, they go into villages in Liberia and create facilities where children are not only able to be safe, but they receive medical care and education.

 Reference materials:

"Results." Annual Report-Save the Children. Save the Children Federation, 2 Feb.
2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. http://results.savethechildren.org.

The participatory research project I chose was PIIP (Promotion of
Farmers' Initiatives and Innovations). This project focused on the farmers
adopting a multidisciplinary, holistic approach to their work and also apply it
to the implementation of agricultural research and development programs.(Yayé,
2011) From the beginning of the project, it focused on community based designs
and village analysis of how to effectively implement their research to better their
agricultural situation. All farmers in the community, as well as many outside
sources, helped each other through trial and error to achieve this goal.

The approach is based on two pillars, partnership and experimentation. In partnership, everyone involved must have some knowledge and be complementary to the development of rural innovations. This knowledge will strengthen the reflection and actions of everyone involved. As for experimentation, it is a way of testing all of the farmers ideas in order to evaluate the quality of the idea. In this method, they can continue to adapt to various situations that come their way and mold the new model accordingly. (Yayé, 2011)

Not only did this participatory research model help with improving
their situation and resources, but it helped engage a whole community by achieving a common goal. The village interpersonal relationships grew because of this. Also the project spread to three neighboring villages and helped with their
situations as well.

This project fits perfectly within the realms of participatory research model. A collective group of people identified a problem, created a model to solve it, saw how successful it was and then remolded the model to work better if needed. Also the people who were involved in the project, turned into the researches as well. (O'Brien,2001)

References:

O'Brien, R. (2001). Um exame da
abordagem metodológica da pesquisa ação [An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research]. In Roberto Richardson
(Ed.), Teoria e Prática da Pesquisa Ação [Theory and Practice of Action
Research]. João Pessoa, Brazil: Universidade Federal da Paraíba.         <http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html>

Yayé. D. A. June, 2011 <http://knowledge.cta.int/en/Blogs/What-has-been-gained-from-participatory-approaches-in-ARD-Quels-sont-les-acquis-de-la-recherche-participative/The-Niger-Aguie-PAIIP-PPILDA-Participatory-approach>

The Republic of South Sudan (also called South Sudan) is a very new country, which became an official country in July 2011. Back in 2005 South Sudan was ending a civil war that cost the country a great deal in resources and is in the need of assistance to recover from the devastating losses that occurred in the recent years. The participatory research that I found regarding my target country surrounds the rebuilding of a country from the support of many countries that have come together and raised funds which have been put into a Multi-Donor Trust Fund, MDTF. Through this MDTF the hopes are that progress can be made towards developmental outcomes.

In order to develop this MDTF the needs of South Sudan were assessed over a 6 year period after there was a signed peace accord between Sudan and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement. The result of this assessment was a "Framework for Sustained Peace, Development, and Poverty Eradication" (cited from web article). This is the start of the participatory action process; reflexive critique, dialectical critique, and collaborative research - all of these are taken into consideration during the 6 year period where needs were being established with the assistance of the government so that problems could begin to be solved. Following these three parts of participatory research is the principal of risk which is necessary for researchers to understand that by changing any part of a given society, risk will be involved. This is a necessary part in order for change to occur which is the major purpose of action research. Risk is definitely occurring in the case of funding this major project to transform a nation that is basically nothing due to its newness. The last two principals, plural structure and theory, practice, and transformation are still in progress for the country of South Sudan with the hopes of a positive outcome that will result in a community that has peace, little poverty, and continually grows and develops.

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/SUDANEXTN/EXTAFRMDTF/0,,contentMDK:20850935~menuPK:2193691~pagePK:64168445~piPK:64168309~theSitePK:2193668,00.html

For the country that I was given, Eritrea, there was a project set up back in 2010 to help increase food security, and the biodiversity of farms that are drought-prone in Eritrea. This project is funded for three years and will focus on the goals that were mentioned above. CARIAD, which is Bangor University's Centre for Advanced Research in International and Agricultural Development in the United Kingdom, will first work with local institutions and farmers themselves to identify any improved variety of crops, and also better growing techniques that will improve the amount of crops. Along with those, seed production and marketing will also be looked at so that it may also improve so that not only will the farmers be able to grow crops, bu they will also be able to make a profit as well. To be more specific though, CARIAD will be working with the National Agricultural Research Institute and the Hamelmalo Agricultural college, both of which will be providing scientific input. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will be able to provide some training to several thousand farmers, which will teach them new techniques for farming. The methods and techniques have already helped many farmers in Ethiopia, and they have produced nearly two hundred tons of seeds!

From the information provided, I feel that is definitely a step in the right direction. This has the makings of greatly helping out a country that is struggling with something as big as hunger. The fact that the institutes that are helping the country of Eritrea have already helped Ethiopia to produce over two hundred tons of seeds is definitely a great start. The country of Eritrea is in great need of food and what CARIAD is offering to help them with will more than likely boost the rate of production of food. The only thing that I think that may be flawed about this is that this is only one little aspect that the institute is looking at. The project is funded for three years and this had started back in 2010, which would leave the institute with just about a year left to accomplish any of the said goals. I am not sure if three years is enough time to get these goals done. One concern I would have is that, a year after the institute leaves, what if Eritrea begins to go into a drought again and they have no resources to help them salvage any of their work? If Bangor were to fund another project, it may take years to raise just enough money to conduct more research and by the time they have all of the money needed, it may be too late as the crops may be unable to save. The main concern would be the farms and that if they could sustain a reasonable amount of time for a university to raise enough money to do more research.

A participatory research project in Gabon was the Forest Tenure in Gabon. Forest tenure is a tricky issue to deal with because it does not only decide who the responsible parties are for maintenance of the forests, but it also decides who is allowed to handle and access resources from the forest. It is estimated that anywhere between 60-80% of the nations surface area is covered by forest. This is a particularly significant issue for hunter-gatherers in this country like the "pygmies" who's livelihood is dependent on access to resources provided by Gabon's forests. In 2001, Forest Tenure was researched so that forest codes were up to date in a manner that most benefited Gabon.

Much of Gabon's national income focuses heavily on commercial logging of timber, which the 2001 forest code addresses. Much of the logging business in Gabon is dominated by foreign industries, and these new codes are designed to benefit Gabonese nationals involved in the business. However, it is not possible at this time to obtain a map that entirely shows the Gabonese forest estate. As it stands now, these forests are currently in possession of the Management of Water and Forests, in regards to their information. Their primary objective in this case is to support the local logging industry.

References

Heegde, M. T. (n.d.). Stocktaking: status of legal tenure recognition of rights and role community territorial mapping in central and west africa.

Participatory research project (PAR) is defined in the book as a grassroots approach to research that emphasizes the participation of disadvantaged people in all phases of the research, which is aiming at the goal of social change. The participatory research project for my target country of Togo is an improved method for storing maize, Togo's main cereal crop.  Maize which is a grain is the main cereal grown in Togo.  The problem is that there is nowhere to properly store the maize. Small-scale farmers grow it and suffer losses of the product because of the mildew and insects. The maize is kept in a thatched structure called a granary.

   Dr. Philip J Smith went to the Togo in 1983 to study the structures of the maize storages and to help decrease the losses and help them profit more in this area. This team was able to come up with many ideas to help the Togo farms to become more profitable with a few changes. They gave them tips like; if you are in a humid region then the granaries should be raised of the ground 1.2-1.6 m and fumigated, if they can't be fumigated then they should be 35-50 cm above the ground. They were advised to build the granaries in sunny areas and be cleared of anything around them for 3 meters. They suggested a recommended size for the granaries, and told they who and what the walls should be reinforced with creepers of rope every 5 or 6 rows. They also advised them of how to deal with the insects creating a hostile environment by combining Neem tree leaves and thin layers of ash with fumigation.

 With the few changes that were suggested to the Togo farmers they were able to changes their losses of the maize from 15-50% lose to 9%. These foundlings from the research were good for the Togo farmers because it didn't make any major changes to what they were use to and the cost of the changes was very little.

Reference:

http://www.solutions-site.org/node/117

The participatory action research I chose was for Cameroon. The World Bank has been attempting to implement a system for running water for years, and has succeeded and failed in different countries. Communities in Cameroon are lacking a water system for communities; however, it is essential that all communities actively participate in the attempt to have a successful water system. Failing to work together will only cost the community more money and bring everyone back to where they started. Also, educating each person in the community is important because without the knowledge of the importance for running water, as well as the correct way to manage a water system, the plan and hope for running water would fail. Although it is such a challenging goal, it is imperative that communities have the ability to have clean, running water. Attempts still continue on, and it is important that they do so communities in Cameroon can experience the privilege of running water, hopefully bettering the community in the long-run. 

Reference:

http://srdis.ciesin.org/cases/cross-cultural-001.html

The research project for my target country was the National Rice Development Strategy of Sierra Leone (NRDS). It's a partnership of farmers and a company that helps provide lands and resources to those farmers so that rice can be grown easily and inexpensively. It is a smaller sect of the greater scheme of things, which is called the Coalition for African Rice Development.

            Sierra Leone is a country in which 70% of the population lives below the world poverty line and in which 52% actually live on less than one dollar per day. It also has the largest rice eating population in sub-Saharan Africa, 26% of which live on less than the daily minimum caloric intake. The climate is essentially perfect for crop production, but there are poor government resources and people are unknowledgeable in cultivation.

            The strategy set up by the NRDS is two pronged: "a) increase in area cultivated, mainly in the lowlands where there is much underutilized capacity, and (b) increases in productivity per unit area in all ecosystems," (NRDS, 2009). The goals of the NRDS have over the years, shown great promise with a proposed increase of marketable crop yield going from, 637,983 metric tones of rice in 2009, to 1,495,000 metric tones in 2013.

            The NRDS faces many challenges an obstacles, include problems with government, people who don't adhere to current trends and production needs, problems with warfare and rebels, geographic needs/climate changes, and the fact that only so much can be done in such a small time frame.

Participant action research studies were conducted in regards to children's rights and their ability to vocalize within the community..  Children who have been orphaned due to the spread of HIV in Uganda were both the participants and the researchers in this study to observe children's views and opinions.  Teens who had been observed in previous studies were asked to conduct observations and interviews of the younger children.  Teen researchers were able to utilize the methods of gathering information which had been conducted on them when they were younger and their opinions as well as the opinions of the children were valid and heard.  In this study, the objective was to see the world through the eyes of children who have traditionally been overlooked where opinion is concerned and this is one of the primary focuses of participant action research.  Where typical processes of action research include planning, acting, observing and reflecting, this study remained right on target.  In trying to involve the community members who in this case were children, they were able to work together to identify concerns and attitudes and then come to some conclusions which allowed them to formulate plans towards resolving these concerns.  Having just listened to them, these children were empowered and also more invested in their community because they had a say in it and their voices mattered.  In training the older children to conduct this study, the model for participation action research was adhered to, including the Youth RA Workshops where the teens were able to learn new skills and share what they had learned.  In this way the community leaders in the form of teens were being trained to become independently knowledgeable and the process was set in place for them as well as the younger children, to be freshly invested into the interests of the community both in their own estimation as well as the adults who were coming to see their opinions in a new way.  This is a very successful model of participant action research and follows all the methodologies and principles of this type of research.

The project I discovered was on researching education outcomes in Burundi, Malawi, Senegal and Uganda.  My target country is Burundi, but this area had the least amount of accessible knowledge on testing levels and international assessments.  Over the past decade, over 40 million more children are attending schools worldwide.  Many of them are girls.  Unfortunately, there are great concerns that, although the attendance has increased significantly, the knowledge and developing skills that will improve life chances are not being gained.  The biggest concern with this study was that the most influential people in the education system, parents and teachers, are not involved enough in educational participation and are not improving quality of teaching.  Teachers continue to be blamed for poor quality of education, but they are actually frustrated by the lack of support and training.  Parents are seen as uninterested in their children's education, but really, they just lack the knowledge and access to school systems.  Many times, researchers study teachers and parents roles in an isolated manner. The results are then shared with peers and policy-makers, but not with the civil society organizations (CSOs), parents, communities and teachers who could effectively reflect on and implement the recommendations.  By bringing these groups together, research may be shared with all influential characters, and educational goals can be implemented and understood by all.  This project is called The Improving Learning Outcomes in Primary Schools (ILOPS) Project.

The first step was to recruit international, national, and local researchers.  The ILOPS created a team that had project management skills, knowledge of research methods and experience with participatory approaches. They also founded an international steering committee to guide a strategy on engaging participants and developing a future plan.  They created a multi-stakeholder research team to lead the research at national and local levels.  Involving more people and having everybody work together had a great impact on the research.  Parent advocacy organizations were also part of the national and local level steering committees.  Part of their premise was that, everyone, even those who are illiterate, can contribute something to this project and the aid in educational goals.  "Malawi's Parent Association (MAPSA), Uganda's Pamoja Reflect Network, the Association of Mothers' Groups in Senegal and the Reflect Network in Burundi were all actively involved in the research process" (ILOPS, pg 14).  In Malawi and Burundi, students took part in research teams at the local level.  "They were interviewed on their views about current parental involvement in school and in their learning at home; what they liked and disliked at school and at home; how teaching and learning strategies, and teachers in particular, could improve; and how they believed they could improve their own involvement in schools and with parents" (ILOPS, pg 14).  Teachers from Teaching Unions of all four countries were selected to participate in the local research committees.  This was especially important in their learning how their contribution aided children learning, possible areas of improvement, and what was required as far as support and training. 

The ILOPS then designed the research framework.  They designed and conducted surveys at national and local levels and undertook international literature reviews.  They participated in analysis workshops, validation meetings, and discussion forums.  At the end of the project, the four countries held three large meetings to discuss the findings at the national level.  This process demonstrated that a involving all influential participants in a national, cross country strategy for designing, collecting, and analyzing data can help us understand the actual issues at hand.  In turn, local committee members will recognize and apply the data to make positive changes.  In this case, changes will hopefully be made to promote more support for teachers and parents when it comes to educational goals. 

The participatory action research project I picked for my designated country is the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA). This programs primary focus, in conjunction with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, and the Department for International Development (DFID), U.K., is to address the problem of climate change in 5 different South African cities including; Cape Town, Walvis Bay, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, and Port Louis, in hopes of better preparing the cities for an extreme climate change.

The CCAA's chosen plan of action is to better equip and strengthen, not only the local authorities but also the people who live in these cities, in their planning and adaptation abilities, in hopes that they can be better prepared to deal with the extreme climate changes which are fairly common and the direct impact they have on life within these cities.

To put their plan into action they choose to focus on the most vulnerable areas within each city and establish the Local Climate Adaptation Frameworks (LCAF) to help each city assess their particular issues due to climate change. Then in September of 2010, a workshop took place in Accra, Ghana where members of each LCAF could come together and exchange valuable knowledge and ideas in reference to the climate changes in their particular cities.

Ethiopia is one of three African countries in which a participatory research project involving women's health and the study of HIV and AIDS. The ICRW has led research studies in Ethiopia that have aimed to understand the causes and effects of HIV and AIDS as well as working to reduce HIV and AIDS as well as the isolation and out casting of those with AIDS. The research was aimed much towards determining the knowledge of those in Ethiopia about HIV and AIDS and aspects such as transmission, prevention and actual features of the disease. The project also was aimed towards helping to reduce the isolation and exiling of those who have HIV and AIDS by also working to reduce the stigma and prejudice against PLHA (people living with HIV/AIDS). The study has discovered that the views of many in Ethiopia towards HIV and AIDs is an ignorant and distorted one in which they view those with HIV and AIDS as shameful, untrustworthy and dirty individuals who are condemned by their religion and culture. The research project has discovered a lot of information about the information and beliefs about HIV and AIDS that has helped to providing more information to individuals to help not only protect themselves from unsafe sex and transmission of the disease, but has also to educate others so that they are less discriminatory towards those with HIV and AIDS.

The project does a good job at aiming research to help develop social change in the country while setting goals to help educate and assist the people of Ethiopia. The project was led by the International Center for Research on Women and involved many other country research institutions. Some of the research was conducted at Miz-Hasab Research Center in Ethiopia, all of these factors which help to fulfill the first two critiques of Winter's six key principles so that Research on the situation is accurate and effective. This also helps to incorporate the aspect of collaborative resource, however I believe the project could do more of a collaborative effort to discover more aspects of helping improving the problems of HIV and AIDS in Ethiopia, since much of the focus of this project has been on education and information. Also, the principle of risk is not very strongly developed through this research project in that it does not take much risk in actively and aggressively implementing change in Ethiopia. However, the research project does aim to change much of the way HIV and AIDS is addressed in the country which challenges much of the established views, customs and practices such as those set by religious organizations which have aimed towards connecting HIV and AIDS with sin and dirtiness, or those set by the cultural community which has aimed towards accusing and faulting women for the AIDS epidemic in the community. Therefore, in this sense, there is a risk in that it challenges much of the current views which have been set in Ethiopia. The plural structure of this project is present in that many have taken much from the research which has been conducted in order to create actions and efforts in which to help the individuals of Ethiopia. This participatory research allows for a wide range of different views and interpretations by including studies from both urban and rural areas from a range of places and includes different methods of studies including focus groups and interviews; however much of the studies were mainly qualitative and involved little quantitative studies to create a balance in the research. Unfortunately, the sixth principle of theory, practice, and transformation has not shown very strong in this project. The cycle which is commonly present in participatory action research projects does not seem like a constant theme in this research. While the research and information gathered has been able to simultaneously enhance the practices of approach towards HIV and AIDS in Ethiopia, not a whole lot of transformation in the approach towards helping the epidemic has been made. It seems that the information gathered helps to provide a look at the views of Ethiopians which has helped in the presentation and material of educational information provided, but methods and ways of educating individuals has not drastically changed throughout time.

While this research project has done a good job of gathering research while also working to create social change within Ethiopia, it seems as though much more transformation could be made in helping to create a significant change in improving the situation of HIV and AIDS in the community.

There are many different approaches that need to be taken when it comes to executing participatory research in areas of harsh economic levels. It needs to respond to problems, needs and opportunities identified by users; identify and evaluate technology options that build on local knowledge and resources; ensure that technical innovations are appropriate for local socio-economic, cultural and political contexts; and promote wider sharing and use of agricultural innovations.( Gonsalves, J., T. Becker, A. Braun, D. Campilan, H. De Chavez, E. Fajber, M. Kapiriri, J. Rivaca-Caminade and R. Vernooy (eds). 2005.) Guinea has experienced hardships like many western African countries I will be examining a participatory research project in the Republic of Guinea and see if it adds up to the models of successful participatory projects design.   

Guinea had a rough start obtaining resources necessary to make sure they were benefiting most from participatory projects and gaining the most from them. In 2006 CERF came to be the only source of funding for these projects. Funds were allocated to shortfalls and it helped reduce the socio-economic shortcomings tied to Guinea.

If there were more commitment from the groups that have the most impact such as professional educators and communities to stress the importance of learning centers on how to develop more ideas on how to improve these low economic countries CERF would not be the only source to come through in such hard times. Though CERF came through and has made a positive impact there needs to be more involvement and education in communities to make sure that no opportunities are dismissed and a more lasting resolution is provided to an area lacking such economic success.   

   Works Cited

ochaonline.un.org

http://web.idrc.ca/openebooks/183-3/

A participatory research program in Guinea- Bissau is UNDP Regional Programme for Social Cohesion and Youth Employment. The UNDP Regional Programme for Social Cohesion and Youth employment supports 12 Sub-Saharan countries "to design macro-economic policies that promote youth employment and facilitate the development of skills among the younger generations" (UNDP.org). With the economic crisis, an estimated 211 million are unemployed; with 40 % being youths between ages 15-24 (UNDP.org). In 2005, Africa accounted for 60% of the unemployment rate (UNDP.org). This is a problem because the population of youths in this area is expected to increase by 36 million.

The Regional Programme for Social Cohesion and Youth Employment "supports countries to compile better labor and employment data; to design policies that can foster employment and business creation; to support education, vocational training and sustainable enterprises creation and to establish a platform for social dialogue with labor unions, employers and youth organizations to promote social cohesion" (UNDP.org). With this encouragement, the program works with the governments, as well as nongovernment agencies in an effort to promote youth employment as a priority. Promoting youth employment helps these countries on many levels. One way that it helps these countries is that the increase in jobs helps the countries growth on a national level. Another way that this program benefits the countries it works with is that it aims to tackle violence, conflict, and mitigation. One example of the benefits in Guinea- Bissau, is that it collaborates with the West African bank to manage a credit line for youth entrepreneurship projects (UNDP.org).

http://www.beta.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/articles/2010/07/09/promoting-youth-employment-in-sub-saharan-africa.html

Safiya Al-Akoum

02-13-2012

            "Please find a participatory research project in your target country (or in the same region of the world) and evaluate it using information learned from the assigned readings.

            The country I am assigned to is Cameroon. One of the projects I found going on in Cameroon was run by the Henkel Smile - Projects 2009. This project focused on ending extreme poverty and hunger. Specifically in Cameroon, it focused on improving medical care in Fongo Ndeng.

            The Smile projects by Henkel seem to be based on getting people to volunteer to help and supply those in need. I don't see any mention of any diagnosing of the problem or action planning. I see a lot of the "Taking Action" part of their program, and the "Specifying Learning" aspect of a project. It also seems to lack in serious evaluation of their results.

            I think that for this project that is ok, because they are focused more on providing the labor to support people in recovering from poverty and extreme hunger. Since Henkel is a kitchenware company, this is pretty good participation. They are definitely taking serious action encouraging their employees to volunteer in the various countries they are active in.

http://www.henkel.com/sustainability/millenium-development-goals-12096.htm

My area of study is Zambia. The Hodi organization is a great organization attempting to improve the quality of life of Zambians. The Hodi organization is a great example of participatory research at work. The goal of the organization is to "improve the quality of life of poor communities by working through community-based groups to strengthen their socio-economic capacity".  The organization is a collaborating with a few other organizations in order to reach their main goal.  There is a section that shows all the strategies that have used and are currently using to accomplish their goal. The website provides reports on the progress as well. This organization definitely fits the description provided by O'Brien.  It also follows Gerald Susman's view in that a problem was diagnosed, they made a plan of action, they have taken action, evaluated their progress and specified what they have learned to better improve the work they are doing.  

References:

http://www.web.net/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html

http://www.hodi.org.zm/index.php?sid=949

Rory O'Brien defines action research extensively. Many action research efforts have developed across the world. In Egypt, an action research community effort called ADVANCE is dedicated to helping children with learning disabilities. ADVANCE is "a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides quality education, based on Applied Behavior Analysis and Verbal Behavior Principles by psychologist B.F. Skinners, to children with learning disabilities." As a psychology student, I was naturally drawn to this organization. Per Skinner's psychological theory and application of classical conditioning, ADVANCE habituates effective conditioned responses despite learning and/or developmental setbacks.

In accordance with O'Brien's explanation of action research, the ADVANCE initiative is to successfully navigate children (and adults) with conditions on learning and development (i.e. autism) through therapeutic methods, which "promote cognitive development, language, motor skills, and academic skills." The methods of the organization are all in humanistic nature and stray away from medication. Currently, ADVANCE is divided into 10 classes, which aid 150 students - ages 2-22 - this being their first step of action research.

As action research describes, ADVANCE has concrete goal of where they foresee their initiative evolving by dividing the students into four sections: (1) Early Intervention, (2) Junior Section, (3) Middle Section, and (4) Senior Section - all which are pretty self-explanatory for ascending age divisions. Within a decade, the goal is to provide an array of options of methods for parents to choose.

The society's next steps in action research were to partner with other mature organizations dedicated to community advancement and support. Partnerships are international organizations and private sectors tackling the same problems. ANVANCE has an approachable form of contact for prospective students and individuals interested in fighting for the cause. The society was founded by 34 academic figures who wished to actively combat the shortcomings of those with learning and/or developmental research.

After studying ADVANCE, I found I was able to detect action research approach yet further development needs to continue. The society is formed of likeminded who strive to help without the aid of medicine. It's impressive that such a humanistic motivation has been initiated despite the reign of pharmaceutical powers - who unfortunately have conquered the American mind in dealing with disabilities that could be defeated with patience and dedication.

 Referencess:

http://www.advance-society.org/

http://www.web.net/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html

Action research is a method of "learning by doing".  By performing action research a group of people must identify a problem, attempt to resolve it, see how reliable and valid their efforts were, and if not satisfied, repeat the cycle (O'Brien, 2001).   Currently, there are four fields of action research that have emerged: traditional, contextual, radical, and educational. 

The main 'stream' I find most important is educational action.  Educational action believes that professional educators should become involved in community problem-solving (O'Brien, 2001).  

In Libya, the 'Health for All' strategy was established and featured universal access for the Libyan population, to primary health care services including health education.  This strategy has been effective, but Abdulbaset A. Elfituri believes that the education component in the role of Libyan health professionals' remain neglected (Elfituri, 2009).  This study assesses the perceptions of Libyan health professionals of their role in the provision of health education to the general public and also identifies the barriers to effective health education (Elfituri, 2009).  This study will also suggest actions for a more effective role (Elfituri, 2009).

A health professional represents a major contribution to community health promotion and education (Elfituri, 2009). Health professionals provide an important and effective role because of their high contact rates with individuals and the perceived credibility of Health professionals among the general public (Elfituri, 2009).  Health education is the communication of knowledge and provision of experience to the general public, the development of attitudes and skills and the adoption of appropriate behaviors in order to maintain public health (Elfituri, 2009).

In this study, participants were requested to answer a closed-questionnaire on how the responsibility of Health professionals for health education, to what degree health education by health professionals is important, and how they assess the effectiveness of the existing role of health professionals in health education (Elfituri, 2009).  The participants were also asked to answer their degree of agreement with each of a list of barriers to the delivery of effective health education by health professionals (Elfituri, 2009).

The data from this research was collected and analyzed by an example of Gerald Susman detailed action research model (O'Brien, 2001).  The problem of this study is that there is lacking and poor quality of health professionals in education.  The study re-assessed the problem and then will begin another cycle until Libya resolved the issue.  The results in the study indicated that about 85% of the Libyan health professionals participated in this study perceived that they are responsible for delivering health (Elfituri, 2009).  Almost 99% considered this role as a very important or important (Elfituri, 2009).  About 44% believed that health professionals' role in health education in Libya was very effective or effective (Elfituri, 2009). 

The study tried to figure out what was causing this low effective rate by identifying the barriers to health professionals' role in health education.  The three major barriers were the lack of educational aids and materials, the low priority held for health education in health services, and the lack of rooms and related facilities for conducting group health education (Elfituri, 2009).  These barriers are causing a stall or hinder on the results in improving Libya health.   So this study also identified three major solutions to helping Libya.  Health professionals should be provided with educational aids and materials, support of policy makers needs to be improved, and enhancing the role of mobile health education groups is important (Elfituri, 2009).   Techniques of action research help identify the health issues that are occurring in Libya.  This study has provided great information for the next researchers to branch off and improve this study. 

Reference:

O'Brien, R. (2001). An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research. http://www.web.net/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html

Elfituri, A. A. (2009). Health Education Practice in Libya; Professional Opinions. Asian Journal of University Education. 5(2), pp. 83-98.

                Around the world there are many different types of participatory research projects that better certain countries in specific ways. The way that these research projects help their country in need is to first diagnose a situation, discover the problem, and then coming up with a way to fix it. As you can tell, this system would obviously create great opportunities for change in the communities in Kenya. One thing that I found while reading about my countries research projects, was that Kenya has many problems focused around education. Many people in Kenya have never attended a school, let alone even seen a school with their own eyes.

                One organization I read about is called International Childcare Trust. This program deals with volunteers from all around the world whose mission is to give children back their childhood, and educate them in the process. This projects mission is to create a better quality of life for these children, and also adults in Kenya through means of education. They research things such as what materials children from Kenya respond to most, and what resources help those children most in the long run. For example, in Kenya, children are taught a lot about the AIDS epidemic in their country so that they do not fall into the same fate that most of their relatives will. Volunteers' work with Kenyans so that one better understands the causes and consequences of AIDS, which in the long run has been proven to reduce the risk of contracting the disease.  

                In the long run, this research program also helps to bring to community together in a common place. Volunteers that dedicate their time to this program are constantly reaching out to more children, and even adults, in the community daily. This in time will bring together the community not only to educate themselves, but also to become familiar with those who live around them.

                Another company that I have familiarized myself with is called Western Education Advocacy and Empowerment Programme and goes by WEAEP for short. This company has been working with the ICT for six years and together have come a long way in Kenya. This is also a volunteer run organization that works to change the lives of marginalized groups within their community. This organization also empowers women and children with the rights they were born with. One of the things WEAEP deals with most is the orphan problem in Kenya due to the fact that many of their parents die from AIDS. WEAEP reintegrates the "street children" into the communities which they came from.

                These two programs could help the communities of Kenya considerably. By educating the communities of Kenya about AIDS, they are help to reduce the number of people who contract AIDS. As many people say, "Knowledge is power". I believe in this statement as well as many volunteers who work for both of these projects.

The water shortage that has long plagued certain parts of Africa has never been more prevalent than in recent times.  Some startling statistics courtesy of thewaterproject.org are as follows:

• Less than one in three people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to a proper toilet.
•  443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases.
• 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases.

Thankfully The Water Project, which is the research project I chose to investigate, was created to help minimize some of the impact demonstrated by the numbers above, by creating and helping to provide fresh water to Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda.  The goal of The Water Project is to simply provide access to clean water for as many people as they can.  That being said, the majority of people in need of clean drinking water just happen to be in rural parts of Africa.  The Water Project has many partners in Africa that it uses to help give those in need access to clean drinking water and part of the initial process in doing so involves these partners.  First, they identify those areas that are most in need, Kenya being one of those areas.  Next, they implement a process to bring clean water into the area or provide access to it.  Within this process they help to mobilize, train, and follow-up with local communities, helping ensure long-term success (thewaterproject.org).

    The actual step-by-step process used by The Water Project starts after the community in need is identified with community engagement.  Next, the community is educated on water and the important aspects that surround the use of clean drinking water.  Next, a well or other water type of water dispensing project is initiated.  Following this, the community is educated on the use of the implemented water well and is granted access to the clean water.  Last, but not least, The Water Project likes to monitor and evaluate whether or not the project was a success by gathering data.  Such data includes things like such as the amount of people that were helped from this project, is the well still working, and how sustainable is this particular water source over a long period of time.

    Within the past 5 years there have been 80 projects that have led to the access to clean water in Kenya.  All of these projects were done at a church, school, or community center.  The reasoning behind this is that these particular places offer the most exposure to young children and adults in need of fresh clean water.  The majority of these wells help serve between 500 and 2000 people daily.  This is extremely impressive and shows that the scope of the project is extremely impressive. 

    The major effects and benefits of The Water Project in Kenya is that there are many more children in schools on daily basis, the amount of disease has drastically been lowered, the infant death rate is lower, the average life span has increased, and the amount of death and disease in the country as a whole has decreased thanks to the introduction of clean water to areas such as Kenya.  Thankfully, with the help of The Water Project and its partners, there are more children that will be able to experience a long life in Africa then ever before. 

Rwanda is still a developing country, and still has many basic issues when dealing with other countries. There are a variety of participatory action research programs currently in Rwanda. One of the research programs I have chosen is looking at the violence against children in schools through the eyes of the children. This project is organized like a scientific method type paper. This project is geared to understanding the types of violence that are present in these children, and ways that teachers and the community can get involved to help prevent these various types of violence from happening.

At first, this program needed to decide where they were going to conduct their research. They decided on 20 schools, and chose a rather large sample to conduct their research on. It was a large and diverse range of school children, and also adult caretakers as well were looked at as well. Having a large sample is a good thing especially when looking at broad issue as child abuse. By gaining a lot of information on something that may has not been tested before can set a standard for new research and better inventions.

When they decided on the people that fit the criteria they needed to research their responses in way. They used focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and drawings (payson).  They used similar questions with all the children, but geared the questions to more of a onlooker when asking the adults. By asking the children the same way, it increases the reliability of the research. Also, by using a variety of ways of getting answers it can help with creating interventions based on getting different reasons why violence may be happening.

Results show that children have a screwed view of violence, and that violence in their culture is acceptable in their eyes. Also, when categorizing violence children did not think that certain acts were considered acts of violence, when compared to developing countries they are. So in conclusion, children did not understand the cues they needed to know that they were experiencing violence. This is where the intervention comes in, and provides a guideline for what these children need to know, and what adult figures can do in these children's lives to help them learn these.

The recommendations they suggested were short term and long term. The short term recommendations was to create a workshop for children and teachers. Throughout this workshop they would be introduced to different areas of violence in a tasteful way. Introducing them to the results they uncovered throughout their research can help them realize the seriousness of this revelation. For long term recommendations, they are looking at projects geared toward gender violence. Also, towards having peace in the community, and having violence and child right campaigns that will teach people to be aware of the issues for themselves and the children they care for.

In conclusion, this project did an amazing job in not only evaluating research, but creating ways in which they might be able to solve some of these issues. They also focus on further research that could be conducted on issues that need more evaluation. They prepared themselves well, and used the data in the correct way.    

My country is Swaziland, and the Strengthening National Capacity for Poverty Reduction, (SNCPR), is a project that aims at, you guessed it, reducing poverty. The overall Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme, has a few different projects including the SNCPR, that view economic growth as a means to reduce poverty as well as to empower the poor and impoverished and to expand the availability of resources for "sustainable livelihoods" (UNDP Annual Work Plan, pg. 3). This project aims at attaining the first Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) calling for the poverty rate to be cut by 50% in 2015, and to be totally eradicated by 2022. The Annual Work Plan goes on to talk discuss the need for the creation of legislation and policies to be put into place that allow for the use of productive resources by all, but targeting especially the poor. It's estimated to cost 2.5 million US Dollars. Partners involved include the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development from such sections as: the Aid Coordination and Management Section, Cross Sectorial, and the Poverty Reduction and Monitoring Section. There are pre and post assessment reports, as well as their plan for action and their expected result.

From what the UNDP Annual Work Plan has stated and outlined, their project and overall programme for poverty reduction seems solid. They have all of their bases covered that I could see, and well-rounded plans. Both their pre and post reports seem to be in place to properly assess what is and isn't working so they can adjust and adapt to make it work in their favor. All involved seem to recognize that growing and stabilizing Swaziland's economy will go a long way toward eradicating poverty, and hunger. Government action and assistance through lobbying and legislation is emphasized. From what I understood, this year (2012) they were going to reassess the current MDG statistics and see the progress made. I think this is a good course of action as this allows them three more years before the initial target goal of 2015. As of 2010, the poverty rate was down to 63% (down from 2001 when it was 69%). Any success, should be celebrated, but it is still some ways off from the goal of 30% in 3 more years, (2010 Millenium Development Goals for Swaziland).

   One interesting participatory action research project I found in Gambia was the Gaining Ground in Gambia and Senegal (GGIGS) project that ran from August 2008 through September 2011. The main goal of the project was "to accelerate the adoption of ecological agriculture and soil conservation practices by impoverished peoples in rural communities of the Gambia and Senegal in order to counter the trend of land degradation and desertification in the Gambia and Senegal" (REAP- Canada, 2011, p.1).  This goal makes sense because Gambia is a country with little to no natural resources and very minimal agricultural base.  

        This project utilized PAR as is outlined in our text: "a way for researchers and oppressed people to join in solidarity to take collective action, both short and long term, for radical social change" (Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2010, p. 267). In the GGIGS project, the indentified problem was the dependency on agriculture without sustainable land or agricultural practices due to land degradation. The goal was to reduce land degradation, reduce poverty, enhance food-security and minimize impacts of climate change, which would benefit over 5,000 people (REAP-Canada, 2011, p. 10-11).  

      They took action to accomplish these goals through community organization, farmer training, sustainability planning and the implementation of learning farms. Progress was monitored throughout the course of the project and led way for further improvements such as fertilizer development programs and improved household stoves.  The measure of project management and accountability further demonstrates the true process of PAR by showing that there was no defining line between "researchers" and "participants", as discussed by Dr. Wosinski in his video. Members from the project team as well as the community participated fully to achieve goals set upon together to facilitate social change.

In 2002 an action research project was undertaken in Mali regarding reproductive health. O'Brien defines action research as individuals identifying a problem, tackle it according to data gathered, and then analyze the results. This is different from most research in that although it relies on theories, its intent is to effect change in ways that seem to have the most potential based on research. The methods are constantly being changed to fit the situation and are intended not to be generalized. The researchers in Mali wanted to implement a program which would educate members of the community about reproductive health. Instead of using methods and trying to impose outside values on the community, which are usually based upon western research, they decided to research what the best way would be to implement reproductive health education in the community which was tailored it's own values.

            When this project is compared with the six principles of action research stated by Winter (1989) The first principle Winter states is reflexive critique, in which practical accounts of knowledge from the community are used to formulate theories of change. In Mali, the researchers surveyed the community to see which aspects of reproductive health they wanted to learn about. All this information was collected before the curriculum was developed. This is key to ensuring that health programs are suitable for the community. Another priniciple of research is dialectical critique, which states that dialogue is necessary to ensure that the phenomena is related to its context. This set of dialogue was achieved in the discussion of community values. This served the researchers well as they found out that the medical aspects of reproductive health were not the only things the community cared about. Several members of the community stated that values such as fidelity and the spiritual nature of sex were very important to them. The researchers were then able to include this in their curriculum to make it more appealing.

            One of the most important principles is collaborative resource which states that all ideas are equal and that there is not " idea-holder." I find this important because it takes the researcher off of a pedestal. I believe that if the researcher proclaims himself or herself as a expert and attempts to change an aspect of a community, it is not only inefficient but also disrespectful. The researcher according to this principle is bringing their perspective to the table, and while he or she may be knowledgeable regarding their own specific field, they are not often the most knowledgeable on actually applying the knowledge. Overall, this action research project in Mali largely followed the principles of action research according to the articles.

Works Cited

(Re)Defining Reproductive Health with and for the Community: An Example of Participatory Research from Mali

Sarah Castle, Sidy Traore and Lalla Cisse

African Journal of Reproductive Health / La Revue Africaine de la Santé Reproductive , Vol. 6, No. 1 (Apr., 2002), pp. 20-31

Identifying the Problem

In Mauritania, the traditional and most popular social organization continues as agriculture and pastoral farming.  In the span of a quarter century, this cultivation has decreased remarkably and continues to undergo dramatic changes.  Research shows that the reasoning for this shift is largely due to a change in weather, more specifically a change in precipitation or isohyet.  Isohyet is defined as the amount of annual expected rainfall across a given area.  In Mauritania, the isohyet has largely shifted southwards becoming responsible for the increase desertification in the east of Mauritania.  This particular scenario has created a deficit in land and the amount of work for the agriculturalists and pastoral farmers.

Action Plan

Mauritania: Technology Fosters Tradition (TFT) of 2002, edited in 2004.  This is the document created to enhance the communities technological system.  To provide for them information on their land and technology of GPS's to help control and locate where to find work.  Also, this action plan gives land owners rights in protecting their land with the use of water wells and other water replacements.  Changes in the environment would be remotely detected and these changes can be made publicly with no hesitation.  If this action plan was proven to be successful, than it would be used in other countries as well.  Providing a change in protecting the environment and securing jobs.

The research action project I found in my area was Seed
funding for Africa-Europe Youth Cooperation. The project is called Dreams in
Action, the purpose was to get youth involved by sharing their dreams and ideas
through dance. It started as a workshop that consisted of body training, voice
training, modern and contemporary dance training, etc. Funding was limited and
daily duties got in the way of participating in the workshop and later the
performance.

Financing wasn't in order due to little involvement and help
from other resources. Due to the financial problem only a few children had the
opportunity to be a part of the project. Another issue that got in the way was
that a lot of African children have duties to attend to everyday and practice
got in the way of that. To participate it meant they had to sacrifice
expressing themselves in dance or in their daily duties.

Once the funding was in order they were able to perform but
only once because it was a time conflict with the festival that was already going
on. The whole idea of this project was to combine other cultures dreams and
ideas and to realize how materialistic our views can be.

 As for future
performance to action plans, more funding needs to be available which means get
other countries involved and make them away of the project. Give more than just
a handful of children the opportunity to participate in the
workshop/performance.  The more youth
that is involved the more dreams and ideas that will be shared. It's an
opportunity for the youth to share their voice. Once it's heard the more we
know what to do to help them in the future.

Source: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre/Resources/Documents/Youth/Narrative%20report%20Dreams%20in%20action.pdf