Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.....If you wish to SEND a report...send to your ICA contact person OR...go to the members section on the ICA International website

Week ending: Saturday 2010 08 28

ICA ASSOCIATES INC. (Canada)

Location: Canada

Bill Staples and Jerry Mings taught Facilitating Conciliation to a group at the March of Dimes. It is one of a series of courses with them that are taking place over 2 years.

Jo Nelson continued her work with the James Bay Cree Governance Project. She reported meeting someone involved in her earlier work with the James Bay Cree School Board who told her they were still implementing the plans they made and are making real progress in developing the educational system for the Cree communities.

Wayne Nelson           wnelson@ica-associates.ca

PERU:

Location: Lima and Canete Valley

The team of Alex Borjas and Yanina Chuquizuta returned from an impactful Communtiy Implementation Consultation with the three communities of Comunity Compesina Cachuy. This consultation was in support of the new leaders who concluded their formation training in Azpitia last month.  For their first day, Alex and Yanina left Lima at 6 am and went 5 hours by three buses to Canchan at about 800 meters altitude, and then began their climb to Cachuy.  They went by motorcycle to about 1300 meters, and then 4 hours by foot to Cachuy at 2800 meters, arriving at 7 pm along with 9 leaders who joined them from the lower communities.  The team spent the evening by candle light preparing for the Community Forum the next morning.  

At 6am the whole community gathered with great enthusiasm to create a plan for the future, and by 9 am they had built their vision, identified their obstacles and built a plan of action, all facilitated by their own new leaders.  There are now six working teams to move ahead -- we call them Redes Productivas or Productive Networks or Guilds -- which will generate the cooperative work which will lead to a doubling of family incomes in the next three years or less, along with a long list of very specific improvements in community life, with women and youth playing key roles.

As our team worked with the other communities the following day they discovered the same enthusiasm and effectiveness from the new leaders, and already saw the signs of about 20 new small businesses in their initiation stages. The focus of these businesses is to replace goods which are imported into the communities and deliver new needed local services in the communities. To facilitate this, the communities have already formed 7 Juntas de Inversion, which are cooperative weekly savings clubs of ten families each, that will generate capital to start businesses for 70 families. We are seeing that this integrated mode of self-development is the key to moving large numbers of communities into integral development, sustained by their own leaders with ToP leadership skills.

Meanwhile in Lima, Alejandro Camino joined our staff on a part-time basis to assist in our marketing with his 30 years of experience in community relations with a number of companies that work in the rural areas of the Sierra. As a well known anthropologist he brings great skills and contacts to support us in broadening our impact in the rural communities of Peru.

Staff           admin@ica-peru.org

UNITED STATES:

Location: Chicago

The Institute of Cultural Affairs in the United States (ICA-USA) has created a new program initiative in response to the challenges of the twenty-first century. A number of recent events have shown us that now is a rare moment of opportunity to develop a program focused on volunteers and high school/college interns.

Terry Bergdall has recruited James Addington for this assignment. He is a long-time colleague and a training and organizational development consultant. He will capitalize on opportunities by helping to create this volunteer/intern program. His four-month task will be a combination of 1) contextual work drawing upon the insights of ICA’s 45-history; 2) engagement activities related to the green sustainability practices at the 4750 N. Sheridan Rd building, within the Uptown community, and across all Chicago neighborhoods; and 3) the creation of an intentional community life among volunteers and interns. A significant piece of this task will be to develop formal relationships with local and national universities for a “service learning” program.

James has been asked to undertake initial actions to establish this volunteer and intern program. If his research and effort shows the expected potential, ICA-USA may create a permanent position to be filled in 2011.

Karen Sims           ksims@ica-usa.or

ICA International:

Location: Montreal

This week, Michael continued to work on follow-up activities related to the Major Groups Initiative (MGI). The final report will be published within the coming weeks. Photos from the workshop have been uploaded to the MGI website and can be viewed here.  

Chelsea has completed a summary report of the feedback received through the workshop evaluation forms. Participants were very satisfied with the progress achieved during the 5-day workshop and felt strongly that major-group led workshops should be held regularly in advance of each UNFF sessions. The report can be viewed online by clicking here.

Chelsea has also been working on the next issue of the Network Exchange. If you would like to submit an article, please contact Chelsea at cmatheson@icai-members.org.

Staff       info@ica-international.org