Project Completion Report

February – June 2010

Restoring Livelihood through Capacity Building

Project
(Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts)

Financial Support from:

Talat Hussain & Kashif Abbasi Flood Relief Fund

Implemented at:
Flood Affected Population, District Nowshera

Implemented by:

Report Prepared By:

Alfalah Development Foundation (ADF)

r d
D /2, 3 Floo r, Town Cen tre, Abd ar a Ro ad, Un iv ersity
Town , P e shawar, K PK
www.alfalahdf.org.pk
Table of Contents

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS:.................................................................................................................... 2
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROJECT: ......................................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION: ................................................................................................................................. 5
BACKGROUND: .................................................................................................................................. 5
THE PROJECT: ..................................................................................................................................... 6
OVERALL PROJECT OBJECTIVE: ........................................................................................................... 6
EXPECTED RESULTS: ............................................................................................................................. 6
Key Activities: ......................................................................................................................... 6
COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION PROCESSES: ...................................................................................... 7
DEMAND GENERATION: ...................................................................................................................... 7
TRAINING VENUE IDENTIFICATION: ........................................................................................................ 8
DEPENDENCY SYNDROME REDUCTION ................................................................................................. 9
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION: ............................................................................................................... 9
FINANCIAL RESOURCES: ...................................................................................................................... 9
PROJECT PERSONNEL:....................................................................................................................... 10
TRAINEES’ IDENTIFICATION.................................................................................................................. 10
TRAINING MODULE DEVELOPMENT:.................................................................................................... 11
IDENTIFICATION OF TRADE SPECIALISTS: ............................................................................................... 11
QUALITY TRAINING DELIVERY ......................................................................................................... 11
TRAINING TOPIC AND SESSIONS: ........................................................................................................ 12
TRAINING SCHEDULE: ........................................................................................................................ 13
MONITORING & EVALUATION (M&E):........................................................................................... 13
PROJECT VISIBILITY........................................................................................................................... 14
JUTE HANDICRAFTS EXHIBITIONS: ........................................................................................................ 14
CASE STUDIES: .................................................................................................................................. 15
PROJECT ISSUES: .............................................................................................................................. 16
LESSONS LEARNT: ............................................................................................................................. 17
PROJECT MANAGEMENT:.................................................................................................................. 17
TRAINING QUALITY:........................................................................................................................... 17
COMMUNITY PERCEPTION: ................................................................................................................ 17

A N N E X U R E S :
Annexure A ------------------------------------------ MoU between ADF and the Donor
Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

List of Abbreviations:

ADF Alfalah Development Foundation

CNIC Computerized National Identity Card
CD Community Development
Fin&Admin Finance & Administration
FIs Food Items
EVB Executive Volunteer Board
M&E Monitoring & Evaluation
NFIs Non Food Items
NADRA National Database Registration Authority
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
ProDoc Project Document
SMEDA Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority
WBDC Women Business Development Centre
SCCI Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries

Definitions:
Mohallah Street in the village comprising of 30 to 40 households
Tehsil A sub division of a district, Pubbi is one of Tehsils in District Nowshera
Hujra Community hall

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

Highlights of the Project:

• A total of 300 women received training on Jute

handicrafts in 12 trainings of 10-days each. The
maximum number of trainees allowed in a
training was 25 women.
• Three trainings were conducted each in Mohib
Banda and Pashtoon Garhi whereas 2 trainings
were carried out each in Dheri Ishaq, Banda
Mallahan and Banda Sheikh Islmail
• A total of 5 training centers for these trainings
were arranged i.e. one in each village. All the
necessary renovation, facilities, refreshments and support was separately provided to
each training centre. The training centre was selected with the consent of the
community in all the 5 villages. Local training venue helped women to participate in
the training easily without any mobility problem.
• Qualified trainers were selected on the basis of their skillfulness, experience, neatness
and education. Trainings were imparted either by a single trainer or by two trainers
due to different skills involved in the training.
• Knowledge and skills on 25 various types of jute products was imparted to the trainees.
• All the samples of these products were
manufactured by the Trainers and after value
addition the refined products were approved
by the project management for training
• Identification of the trainees carried out as per
the selection criteria such as CNIC, age
between 18 -30, middle minimum education
apart from exceptional cases, knowledge of
tailoring and embroidery at hand, interest of the
trainees and willingness of the family members
• ADF has appropriately identified and collected more than 500 trainees profiles from
five target villages with the help of its 2 female Social Organizers. Initial meetings in this
regards have been carried out by the Project Manager, Manager Finance &
Administration and Manger Community Development with community elders and
influential people in these villages. They helped ADF to identify training venues as well
as ensured support during project execution.
• Applications from each Mohallah (streets with up to 40 houses) were collected so as
to avoid any biases and provide opportunity to every segment of the community in
the targeted villages. Rigid trainees’ selection criteria helped ADF in short-listing the
most vulnerable, interested and committed
women in these trainings.
• The project management team for the project
was comprised of a Project Manager, Manager
Finance & Administration, 2 Social Organizers
(female), trainers and a Driver. The team of
executive volunteers was additionally involved
in the project which included the Chairperson,
Program Manager and Manager Community
Development and Volunteerism.
• One project vehicle was available for daily pick and drop of the project staff and
second car was rented during the project as and when required.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

• A ceremony at the successful conclusion of the training was organized by ADF for
certificate and toolkits/Sew Machine distribution to the trainees. All the 300 women
trainees were provided a toolkit comprising of 32 basic and advance items for jute
handcrafts manufacturing and a new Sewing Machine.
• A total worth of Rs.25,000/- sale achieved during
2 exhibitions, one at University of Peshawar
organized by Disaster Management
Department and the other was organized by
SMEDA and WBDC. Similarly, many orders have
been placed by the people who have come to
know about the Jute handicrafts. The very first
products manufactured by the trainees have
been appreciated for its neatness, quality, color
combination and novelty. Manufacturing these
products helps trainees in getting practice done every day and refining skills thereof.
• The jute handicrafts include different types of tote bags, designer bags, ladies hand
and shoulder bags, college/school flap bags, cushion covers, napkin roles, wall
hangings, fruit baskets and bottle cover made up of jute twine, etc.
• ADF has planned to demonstrate the products manufactured by the trainees in an
exhibition for the awareness and information of the masses to be organized at Deans
Trade Centre, Peshawar during last week of June 2011. The target for the exhibition is
to attract 20,000 people and the sale target is at least Rs.400,000/-. The products have
been started manufacturing by the trainees at their home and an appropriate
amount in reward will be paid to the trainees.
• ADF has developed Training modules for the
convenience of the trainers to get help from it
during imparting trainings. The training modules
presented step wise instruction for clean
understanding of the trainees. Due to scarce
resources ADF could not print these training
modules.
• ADF made technical conglomeration of all the
technical resources in the development of
training modules, samples and materials for all
the training. The Chairperson and trainers technically evaluated these trainings steps
in order to strike equilibrium in the relationship among numbers of training days, daily
hours, and number of topics and efficient but quality training delivery.
• According to feedback received from the trainers and random monitoring by the
project staff including the Chairperson there are 50 to 60 per cent trainees with
potential to work as entrepreneurs in manufacturing jute handicrafts.
• As per the trainees they took the training for granted at the time of their selection and
could not understand that Jute can ever be of any commercial use. However, a
huge majority appreciated the training quality after they were involved in the training
and found out that these jute handicrafts are not only good for commercial use by
also for their daily use at household level.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

Introduction:

Background:
After the heavy damage wrought by the worst
recorded flood in the history of Pakistan, people
were left empty handed in the open sky and
hopeless. Charsadda and Nowshera were the
worst affected areas as River Kabul flows right in
the middle of these two districts separating from
one another. Devastation of the flood was on
such a massive scale that even it was a
Herculean task for the Government to handle this
crisis alone. All this make it a challenge for the
common people and the people at the helm of
affairs to face it and handle the crisis.

In this milieu international, national, and local organizations started their emergency relief
activities by providing food, shelter and non-food items. The flood has hit the area with a
two edged sword—damage of physical infrastructure at the one hand and cultural
integrity and Pashtoon traditions on the other
hand. Circumstances necessitated and pushed m
ajority of the population to queue up for Food
Items (FIs) and Non-Food Items (NFIs) for hours.
This trend developed in them a habit of getting
ready made items and made them oblivious to
the very fact of rebuilding their own houses. The
situation was getting worst day by day as every
one was in search of help in one or the other
shape such as money, FIs and NFIs. The sympathy
and extreme help started dominating them and
unknowingly they were trapped in by the
dependency syndrome.

Realizing the urgency of the situation the Alfalah

Development Foundation (ADF) came forward
with a project design specifically for the women in
district Nowshera who were economically and
socially very backward. The project was
envisaged to help people avoiding dependency
at this critical stage. ADF presented a very novel
idea and developed a vocational skills
development project on Jute Handicrafts. There
were two reasons for carrying out such project.
One of the reasons was to develop trend of
environment friendly daily use items so as to get
rid of plastic and other less environment friendly products. The other reason to introduce
Jute handicrafts was to reinvent primitive tradition with value addition and modernization
in the Jute fiber and fabric. The project design inspired the donor “Talat Hussain & Kashif
Abbassi Flood Relief Fund” and it graciously fund the project keeping in view the
vulnerability of women in this area.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

The Project:

Overall Project Objective:

“To develop skills of flood affected women through vocational training in manufacturing
jute products in the selected villages of District Nowshera”

Expected Results:
• 300 women provided vocational training in Jute Handicrafts

Key Activities:
• Community mobilization and orientation on project
• Field Training Centers setup for training
• Training module development
• Resources Mobilization i.e. services, goods and finances for the project
• Logistical arrangement
• Trainees identification and selection as per laid down criteria
• Conducting capacity building trainings for women in Jute handicrafts
• Training supervision, follow-up and monitoring visits
• Certificates and toolkits distribution

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

Community Mobilization Processes:

The 4-months Project (February – June, 2011) was

approved during the 2nd week of February 2011.
Every social developmental sector project ensures
success if social mobilization processes are
adequately carried out. ADF believes that centre of
every developmental initiatives is “People”. Their
warm reception, acknowledgement, participation
and cooperation make it easy to carry out
initiatives with guaranteed success.

As ADF has been working with the flood affected community for the last 7 months and
has experienced that dependency syndrome has immensely prevailed among the
people of flood affected area. They don’t cooperate unless they expect and receive
something tangible or beneficial to them.

In this situation, the ADF team decided to first carry

out social mobilization and pave a smooth path for
the project. The project team comprising of the
Project Manager, Manager Fin&Admin, Manager
Community Mobilization and 2 female Social
Organizers started approaching community and
door to door survey for identification of trainees as
per the laid down selection criteria.

During the project inception period the ADF staff

carried out the following activities:
1. Demand generation
2. Trainees identification
3. Training venue identification
4. Training modules development
5. Identification of trade specialists

Demand Generation:
The ADF staff approached the local people,
welfare societies, volunteer groups and elders
to discuss the project and their desired role and
support. There were at least 2 community
meetings held in each of the five villages i.e.
Dheri Ishaq, Mohib Banda, Pashtoon Garhi,
Banda Mallahan and Banda Sheikh Ismail Khan.
Similarly, individual meetings were carried out in
sufficient numbers to secure support of the
various organized groups in these villages and
to float the project idea of vocational skills for
women thereby building their capacity on Jute Handicrafts.

It was never a challenge to attract the attention of the local population for women
vocational training project in the area as the local community expects some sort of
support in terms of toolkit, sewing machine or cash. Every body in these villages was
welcoming the project due to material gains therein. However this was a big challenge
to reduce their expectations and convince them on the project laid down criteria for
selection of the trainees. Otherwise they instantly produced all the list of their relatives
and near by women to include them in the training. However, a difficult work was made

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

easy by the ADF team through its social mobilization community sessions. Right from the
beginning the ADF team members started holding meetings with community leaders who
were also involved in the relief efforts. The community elders and other native villagers
were convinced on the importance of some long lasting impact project.

The general selection criteria included:

• Be the residents of the five project target

villages
• Computerized National Identification Card
(CNIC) of the trainee
• Age between 18 t0 30
• Prior knowledge of tailoring
• Middle or metric as minimum level of
education for the trainees
• One trainee from one household

There were very few exceptional cases where ADF project team had to overlook the
criteria to include women in the trainings such as very poor family with low literacy,
inability to provide CNIC but provided token for CNIC received from NADRA, many girls in
a family, etc.

Training Venue Identification:

Initially before project commencement and
before every training a few training venues
were identified and were found suitable for the
establishment of the training centers. However,
these venues were not in good condition
because there was hardly any venue left
undamaged after the flood. Most of these
venues were not renovated by the people
themselves.

The ADF staff due to their presence in the area continued their search for alternate
places for Training Centers in all the project targeted villages of District Nowshera. The
following venues were identified and selected for the female training:

S. No. Village Training Venue

1 Banda Mallahan Hujra of Samin Khan
2 Banda Sheikh Ismail Hujra of Ayub Khan
3 Dheri Ishaq Hujra of Tasawar
4 Mohib Banda Hujra of Salman Khan
5 Pashtoon Garhi Hujra of Sara

The training venues were not in good condition due to flood and therefore, needed
some repair and maintenance initially. These also lacked basic facilities which were
required in the training centre.

The Project Manager ensured that each training venue is available in good condition for
the training in the 5 villages targeted in the project. All the community meetings before,
during and after the training were conducted by the Project Manager, Manager
Fin&Admin and Manager Community Development.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

Certificate distribution ceremonies were also carried out in the field in which Sewing
Machine, Toolkits and Certificates were distributed among the trainees. Such ceremonies
were organized after the training under the supervision of Project Manager.

Dependency Syndrome Reduction

It was the prime objective of the project and it has
genuinely helped in reducing dependency on the
external help that is being provided by a host of
NGOs through various interventions in the target
area. Our intervention with changed approach has
changed people’s thinking and now there is a
realization to start helping themselves instead of
waiting to be helped. With skills in their hands and
tools earned as a result of the training, the
competent trainees have been receiving lots of
orders from ADF and their relatives in the village. This has directed thinking of the local
population towards learning appropriate skills for livelihood development. Therefore, ADF
has been receiving applause of the people with a huge demand for replication and
strengthening of these trainings in the same population.

ADF and its project staff have strived hard to overcome the dependency syndrome
prevailing in this flood affected. It has been learnt that the local community of these
villages have become too much materialistic and will not cooperate unless expect any
gain.

Resource Mobilization:

Financial Resources:
Financial / Kind Contribution of the Donor & IP
ADF received a total of Rs.42,84,500/- (Forty
Two Lac Eighty Four Thousand Five Hundreds ADF
35%
only) bearing number 5699092, A/C No.
0000000001000689 on 26th January 2011 on
account of the project. However, due to the
project revision Rs.34,10,610/- were approved
dated February 14, 2011 including Rs.281,610/-
(9 per cent management cost). A cross
Donor
cheque amounting to Rs.873,890/- were 65%
reimbursed in the name of Syed Talat Hussain
& Kashif Abbasi.

The budget revision also reflected ADF contribution which was about Rs.1.8 million, 54 per
cent of the total budget approved by the donor. The cash/kind contribution was made
in the following heads:

1. Personnel cost
2. Transportation cost
3. Office rents and utilities
4. Rental of IT and other equipments such as digital camera, scanners, computers,
laptops, printers and multimedia projector
5. Certificate distribution ceremonies, banners and charts
6. Handicrafts sample manufacturing and module development
7. Refreshments for trainees

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

Project Personnel:
The ADF has been already carrying out various small initiatives in the relief and
emergency phase through its executive and non-executive volunteer members. These
volunteers have got workable experience in carrying out research surveys and other
management related issues. It was decided to hire the services of the local qualified
people for various positions. The details of the staff are provided as under:

Interviews for Social Mobilizers, Trainers, Finance Manager and driver were carried out
during February 2011 at the ADF Office in Peshawar. As a result of interviews and head
hunting methods, ADF hired the services of following staff members for its vocational skills
project on Jute handicrafts:

S. No. Designation Staff Name Qualifications / Exp

1 Project Manager Mr. Mohammad Alamzeb MA Eng / 10 years
2 Manager Fin&Admin Mr. Wali Ur Rahman MA Eng, PhD HRD/14 yrs
3 Social Mobilizer Ms. Asiya Naz MA Urdu, 2 years
4 Social Mobilizer Ms. Hamida Bilal BA, 2 years
5 Driver Mr. Arshad Murad Metric / 7 years
6 Trainer Ms. Nazish Karim BA / 4 years
7 Trainer Ms. Shakila FA / 3 years
8 Trainer Ms. Farzana FA / 13 years
9 Trainer Ms. Rubina FA / 12 years
10 Trainer Ms. Noor Jehan FA / 8 years
11 Trainer Ms. Ayesha MA / 1 year

The Executive Volunteer Board (EVB) members such

as the Chairperson, Ms. Zohra Aslam, Program
Manager, Mr. Israr Khattak and Manager
Community Development, Mr. Nazir Marwat were
involved in the project execution. Regular
monitoring & evaluation and project management,
financial management and supervision, jute
handicrafts sample design, training progress, ADF
cash and kind contribution in the project were the
activities under the ambit of the EVB members.

Trainees’ identification
Another important task for the organization was to identify the trainees who could come
at par with the identified trainee’s selection criteria such as:

1. Be the resident of the targeted villages

2. Trainees’ Computerized National Identification Card (CNIC)
3. Willingness to join a trade and work after receiving training
4. Willingness of parents/guardians of the trainee
5. Minimum metric or middle education
6. Socio-economic conditions
a. Widow
b. Women headed households
c. No. of dependents
d. Family income before and after flood

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

The identification of the trainees carried out by door to door visits by the female Social
Mobilizers. The long lists were analyzed by the project staff at ADF and then only short
listed women were called for the training. It was clearly communicated to the local
community that only those people have been included in the trainees’ lists who are very
vulnerable, willing and deserving people as per the project laid down criteria for the
trainee identification.

Training Module Development:

The Organization contributed in the vocational
training project by developing its own training
modules. Each training has a different set of
handicrafts, therefore, 12 training modules were
developed. Expert opinion was provided by the
project management and specially the Chairperson
in finalizing training course outlines and training
contents. The training modules were made available
at the training centers for its appropriate utilization by the trainers and the trainees.

Identification of Trade Specialists:

It was an intentional endeavour to find relevant trade
specialist for each of the 12 (twelve) trainings for
variety of jute products. However, there was no
exclusive expertly available in the market on jute
fabric or twine. Therefore, it was decided to consider
the expertise in terms of conducting training, tailoring,
Qureshia work, Embroidery, Fabric Paint, fabric
handicrafts etc.

ADF has managed to identify 6 specialized trainers

with various skills. Based on their specialization each
trainer was asked to manufacture the sample for their
trainings. Each training was conducted either by one
or more than one trainer due to variety of products
and skills involved.

The samples and products after approval from the

project management were ready for training delivery.
Value addition through out the 10-days training was
made allowed for the trainers so that quality of the
products and marketability could be ensured.

Quality Training Delivery

During the project 12 trainings were conducted starting from 1st March 2011 to 27th May
2011. Following table shows exact dates of the trainings:

Training Date
S. No. Training Location
From To
1 1 March
st 11 March
th Mohib Banda
2 7th March 18th March Dheri Ishaq
3 14th March 25th March Mohib Banda
4 21st March 1st April Pashtoon Garhi
5 4th April 15th April Pashtoon Garhi

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

6 4th April 15th April Mohib Banda

7 18th April 29th April Dheri Ishaq
8 18th April 29th April Pashtoon Garhi
9 2nd May 13th May Banda Sheikh Ismail
10 2nd May 13th May Banda Mallahan
11 16th May 27th May Banda Sheikh Ismail
12 16th May 27th May Banda Mallahan

According to the following table there were only 25 trainees in each of the 12 trainings.
Due to huge population and village size of Mohib Banda and Pashtoon Garhi the
number of trainees is more as compared to other villages as reflected in the below table.

Table 1: Total number of trainings and trainees:

Total
Villages
No. of Trainings No. of Women Trained
Banda Mallahan 02 50
Banda Sheikh Islmail 02 50
Dheri Ishaq 02 50
Mohib Banda 03 75
Pashtoon Garhi 03 75

Total 12 300

Training Topic and Sessions:

10-days training schedule with 4 hours/day was planned to consume in such a way that
the whole range of products targeted for the training could be leant and developed
appropriately. Training was divided in to 5 distinct sessions:

1. Session 1: Sewing Machine, its usual faults, minor

repair, daily maintenance. Usage and utilization
of various toolkit items during the training.
2. Session 2: Jute handicrafts history, importance
and market value, types of Jute fabric and
yarn/twine, lamination of Jute fabric, techniques
of cutting/sewing jute,
3. Session 3: Manufacturing of jute handicrafts,
finishing of products / quality control, practical
work
4. Session 4: Enterprise development

All the training topics were covered in 4 sessions. Only

session 1 was carried out on the very first day of the
training, whereas all the other sessions were carried
out in amalgamation. Duration of each session was
different from each other in the training. However,
the longest hours (30 to 32) consumed only by the
session 3. The courses were starting at 9:00 am sharp
and closed on 1:00pm to 2:00pm as per the daily
targets by the trainer.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

Training Schedule:
The trainee could learn manufacturing of at least 2
products in a training very conveniently. ADF has
created specialized groups of trainees with specific
skills and products. There are 25 different products so
far leant and manufactured by different groups of
trainees. The nature of the people in general and
their existing skills in the village, aptitude and interest
were the main deciding principles for distribution of
particular products/handicrafts in 5 targeted villages.
Skills were imparted on the following Jute handicrafts
in 12 trainings.

Training contents are given in the table below:

Trg No. Product Name Product Name Product Name

First Designer bag Jute Strip Tote bag Pouch

Second Qureshia Flower Pouch Flap bag with Magnet Stud Rope Handle Tote bag
Tote bag with
Third Stud/elastic catcher Embroidered Pouch

Fourth Ex-L Tote bag Flowers

Painted Tote bag/ Cane 6 Pocket Wall Hanging/Cane
Fifth Handle Handle
Pointed Colored Tote bag/ Square Tote bag / Cane
Sixth Designer bag Cane Handle Handle

Seventh Flap bag with locks Twine Napkin Rings Table Mats

Eighth Ribbon Work Cushion Embroidered Pouch

Ninth Qureshia Baskets Designer bag

Tenth Colored Luggage bag Flower Pot Supporter

Eleventh Ribbon Work Cushion Hand bags

Painted Tote bags with cane
Twelfth Wall Hanging handle

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E):

The project M&E was carried out in a participatory

way by involving ADF core staff, project staff and the
trainees. The Program Manager (PM) performed an
additional role of M&E Specialist in the project. The
monitoring tools were developed jointly by all the
staff members and approved by the Chairperson. The
monitoring tools included trainees’ profile forms, pre,
post and mid term training tests. However, keeping in
view the nature of the training assessment of each
trainee with the help of trainer and the products
manufactured by each trainee was considered as the standard for the performance. The
project management team carried out regular supervision of the trainings by random
field visits on various occasions.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

One of the responsibilities of the Chairperson and

Project Manager was to carry out pedagogical
monitoring of trainings and to verify whether
teaching and learning processes are as per course
outlines. Another important task of performed was
to assess the trainees’ learning progress.

It has also been observed that the trainees have

been made inquisitive through their training process
which is a good omen for the learning process.
Trainees were asked different questions during
project team random visits about their very day observations vis-à-vis their present
training. They were desirous to express their respective observations.

All stories and observations collected during the field visits manifest that the trainers have
been successful in keeping the interest of the trainees intact and purposeful.

So far the learning process as a whole is concerned it can be concluded that the
trainees have learnt a lot keeping in view their 5 days training. Therefore, keeping in view
this pace of progress it is hoped that, if the trainers continue the training with the same
dedication and commitment, and which seems very likely, the training will achieve its
objective.

Project Visibility

The Project sign boards have been placed at

distinctive places on various places in these villages in
order to aware maximum people.

Besides sign boards the training toolkit bags have

been marked with the project name and ADF logo.
The donor was not interested to bring its name in to
lime light except for the last certificate distribution
ceremony. The toolkits bags were handed over to
trainees after the completion of the training. The
toolkit bags include necessary tools used in each trade for the respective trainees. At the
end of each training impressive Certificate distribution ceremonies were arranged which
were participated by the project management team and the trainee.

Jute Handicrafts Exhibitions:

ADF participated in exhibitions, one was organized by Department of Disaster
Preparedness, University of Peshawar and the other was organized by Women Business
Development Centre (WBDC). ADF displayed its Jute handicrafts in the exhibitions and
earned a lot of applause by the people. It is important to mention that the handicrafts
displayed were the very first products manufactured by the trainees during the training.
ADF has been able to sell handicrafts of worth Rs. 25,000/- in these two exhibitions during
3 days. The representatives of SMEDA and Sarhad Chamber of Commerce & Industries
(SCCI) appreciated a lot the Jute handicrafts and termed the project very effective in
attracting market. WBDC has also ordered 100 Jute Tote Bags with its logo being screen
printed.

ADF has also planned to display the Jute products manufactured by the trainees in a
very big “Jute Handicraft Exhibition” in the history of KPK. The exhibition is likely to be held
during the last week of June 2011. ADF is targeting to attract up to 15,000 people and

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

carry out a sale of Rs. 0.5 million. This will also help ADF to establish linkages for the women
trainees of flood affected villages of district Nowshera. All the material is being provided
by ADF for the exhibition. The handicrafts manufacturing has already been started in the
5 villages of the Nowshera and each artisan will be paid a handsome amount for the
labor.

Case Studies:

Amina is one of the most active and talented

trainees in Mohib Banda village. She has leant the
skill during the training and practiced the
handicrafts a lot. She has also introduced lots of
variation in the handicrafts. She has been
manufacturing tote bags and gifting them to her
relatives. Her work inspired ADF staff a lot and
now a very handsome order has been given to
her for generating a very decent income for her.
“I am very happy that in my life time, I have learnt
something which can link me with the market. I
am thankful to ADF for providing me this
opportunity”, shared by Amina at the certificate distribution ceremony.

Sara was equally talented and ADF helped her polishing skills during the training. She has
happened to be very neat and skillful in making pouches, designer bags and decoration
items. The recent preparation for the exhibition for Jute Handicrafts will help her earn
about Rs. 10,000/-. She said that she has never earned money in her entire life and never
contributed in the family kitty. This would help her participating equally along with their
brothers.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

Project Issues:

Status of Project Risks/Assumptions: Project Open Issues

• Willingness on the part of the communities, especially of There were no open issues
women to participate in the training in the project. In fact all
the issues were resolved
After community meetings and trainees profiles collected amicably by the project
initially helped ADF to realize that there is many women management.
waiting to receive training, nevertheless, only those who
come at par with selection criteria will be selected for the
training.

• Utilization of skills after the training

ADF has introduced the marketing of jute handicrafts in the

project although it was not approved by the donor. ADF on
its own, organizing exhibitions and carrying out marketing to
promote the artisan skills and environment friendly products
among the masses. Now the skilled artisans are getting
sufficient work orders at home and earning for their decent
livelihood.

• Community pressure for favoritism

ADF has pre-empted the community move and enforced

already laid down procedures for project implementation
and avoided community pressure. On different occasion
threats were received but through the inclusion of local
police the community could not succeed in their ill
intentions.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

Lessons Learnt:

Project Management:
• Every social and humanitarian / development
sector initiative requires appropriate amount
of administrative cost without which the
project can’t be executed. The vocational
training project in this regard required ADF to
contribute about Rs.1.0 million in terms of
transportation, staff salaries, certificate
ceremonies, banners, refreshments, frequent
field visits, office rents, etc. in this project.
• Training modules are keys to estimate training
expenditures before the training. This reduces hassle of carrying out procurement on
daily basis. Management remained conversant and was well aware of all these
essential issues to get the best of the results from the training endeavours.
• Selection of local staff for social mobilization has happened to be a helpful strategy
for overcoming problems and issues related to the local community. However,
chances of favoritism were huge. To avoid this, long listing of interested trainees on
the basis of project laid down criteria was carried out through the local staff and short
listing was carried out by the project management team. Trusting local staff
identification and selection of trainees as per criteria is never suggested.
• Proper and appropriate selection training venues for female in the local community
made it convenient for the trainees and helped reducing absenteeism and dropout.
It also helps in management such as administration and monitoring.
• Management was also aware of the fact that skills development courses should
always be made more attractive to the trainees by directing their attention towards
sustainable benefits of the training instead of training support costs such as sewing
machine, toolkits and a certificate. All the efforts were underway to keep the interest
alive and was done marvelously.
Training Quality:
• Accelerated skills development courses of short
duration are very effective in maintaining
trainees’ interest, curtailing absenteeism and
dropout, focused on practical lessons and
practice, trainer’s control on trainees and lesson
plan.
• Persistent monitoring on daily basis of skills
development courses can ensure quality results.
• There should always be sufficient training
consumable material available for each trainee
to carry out enough of practice.
• The ratio of theory and practical work in accelerated skills development trainings
should be 15 per cent and 85 per cent respectively.
• Training session on repair & maintenance of the sewing machine, usage of toolkit
items was very essential and found helpful through rest of the training.
Community Perception:
• The people in these 5 villages have found to be a bit materialistic. They cooperate
until they expect some tangible benefit otherwise they will never. This psyche was
handled skillfully by the project team by never revealing their final plans in the field.

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Capacity Building for Restoring Livelihood - Vocational Training on Jute Handicrafts Feb – June 2011

• Trainees were very happy for such opportunity

provided to them at their door steps and they
were of the opinion that this was a unique
intervention so far carried out in their villages.
• As per the trainees they took the training for
granted at the time of their selection and could
not understand that Jute can ever be of any
productive and commercial use. However, they
are very happy to be part of the training and
learnt about manufacturing environment friendly
jute handicrafts.

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