I sat down with Amina to discuss fund-raising options for future camps. She will likely pursue funding from the embassy once again, but I'm hoping that she will also pursue opportunities with the Global Fund for Women, African Women's Development Fund, MEPI Small Grant Assistance, and USAID's Projet SANAD. She has personal experience with Projet SANAD and has been briefed on others.
Ms. Yabis and I filled out the Projet SANAD grant last year. We did not win financial assistance, but she received an invitation to participate in their capacity building workshops. Unfortunately, those workshops all took place via webcast making it nearly impossible for a lot of semi-urban or rural associations that have unreliable internet or not enough bandwidth or who are not the most tech literate to participate. I'm sure the webcasts were great and I'm sure a lot of people benefited from them, but whoever thought of the idea did not have rural people and their technical challenges in mind.
We knew going in that it would be tough to win given that Amina's association organizes only one large-scale event per year compared to other associations who have year-round programs. We still gave it a shot. I thought that simply going through the process and drafting the Camp GLOW goals and successes in Standard Arabic was a huge step. She said that this was the first grant she completed on her own and applied to directly. All others have been filled out by PCVs and with assistance from artisana delegation folks. I'm hoping that she will apply again this year and draft a more sound budget with a series of camps and other training sessions that will hopefully get some consideration.
The association needs to apply for other funding outside of embassy funds so that the facilitators and other association personnel can get paid for some of the work they do. All of the last four camps have been volunteer-organized and executed. While it's great that these host country nationals have given of their time free-of-charge, expecting people to volunteer year-in and year-out is simply not sustainable. There needs to be a core group of individuals who can organize and plan. In the past, volunteers have filled this role, but given Peace Corps's two-year rotations and constant change in leadership and priorities, it's not certain that the Peace Corps will be there in the future and it really shouldn't be expected to be there indefinitely. Sources like Global Fund for Women and I believe African Women's Development Fund permit the recipient to allocate a portion of the grant towards labor unlike a lot of other sources that forbid it. Amina has never budgeted for labor so it'll be something new for her, but I think it will be something she and the current facilitators will gladly welcome. Fortunately, the Global Fund for Women provides their grant applications in Arabic and French. A couple of weeks ago when we met, she said she would look over the forms. I'm hoping she does and applies. Even if she doesn't win, she and her association will learn a great deal from the process.
All in all, I'm happy that the camp took place despite the financial hurdles. Amina heard my feedback as well as that of PCV Marian and Rachel who were present at the camp on enhancing the structure of the camp. The young women learned a great deal and made lasting friendships. I do hope that the next wave of volunteers will participate in future camps and that Amina and the Golden Buttons Association will continue to learn from each event.
Once again, thank you to all who donated and for telling everyone and anyone about this great event.
