MCNV cooperated with Quang Tri Health Department and Da Nang Mental Health (MH) Hospital to organise a training workshop on basic mental disorder (MD) diagnosis and treatment for grassroots health care workers.
LAUNCH THE PROJECT ON MALNUTRITION PREVENTION FOR CHILDREN AT AGES UNDER 5 BASED ON AGRICULTURAL SOLUTIONS IN THE MOUNTAINOUS AREA IN PHU YEN
On July 7 2017, MCNV Central Vietnam and the Phu Yen Department of Health organized the project launching workshop on Accessing the Malnutrition Prevention for Children at Ages under 5 based on Agriculture Solutions in the Mountainous in Phu Yen province, period 2017 – 2020 (the NSA project). More than 30 participants taking part in the workshop were members of the Provincial/District People’s Committee, Departments of Health, and other Departments of Education, Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as members of the Women’s Union at different levels. The workshop was organized to: i) share experience among community-based malnutrition prevention projects which were conducted by MCNV; ii) introduce the approach of Nutrition Improvement based on agricultural solutions, and present the cooperation on malnutrition prevention between MCNV and Phu Yen, period 2017 – 2020. The project is divided into three phases: i) Research between July 2017 and June 2018; ii) Pilot Intervention from July 2018 to December 2019; and iii) Evaluation, Conclusion and Duplication of the Model in 2020.
Mr. Do Quang Trung – Deputy Director of the Health Centre of Dong Xuan was presenting project activities
The workshop agreed on the implementation of the retrospective research at two communes, Xuan Lanh and Xuan Quang 2, where MCNV were supporting community-based malnutrition prevention projects, to compare with two communes Xuan Quang 1 and Phu Mo to find suitable interventions to duplicate the model to mountainous communes in Phu Yen, not only at Dong Xuan but also at Son Hoa and Song Hinh.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Tu – Vice President of the Dong Xuan People’s Committee was sharing his ideas in the workshop
After the workshop, the Phu Yen Department of Health would support to conduct research studies at provincial level. Researchers are members of the Department of Health, Department of Education, Women’s Union, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Department of Planning and Investment. These entities will cooperate with MCNV to carry out project activities.
Participants in the workshop
MCNV in brief
MCNV is an international NGO working on health, nutrition, sustainable production and mainstream education for children with disabilities.
Starting up again
The film followed poor women in Binh Dai district, Ben Tre province in their fish and mushroom production groups. This is an efficient method that MCNV is applying to improve climate change resilience through women entrepreneurship.
Scaling-up Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) in Lao PDR and Vietnam
In the week of 20th March 2017, the NWO-WOTRO funded project “Scaling-up nutrition-sensitive agriculture” was officially launched in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The launch was hosted by the National Institute of Public Health (NIOPH) and saw the involvement of a number of consortium partners and stakeholders from both countries. The main objectives of this event were to develop a shared understanding of the project, discuss expectations and make a joint plan of activities.
During the next four years, the team will conduct a transdisciplinary research aimed at generating evidence on the effectiveness of, and best way to scale-up, NSA amongst ethnic minorities in mountainous areas. The project will be implemented in Dong Xuan district, Phu Yen province in Vietnam and Nong district, Savannakhet province in Laos. The NSA project will build on past experiences of MCNV projects, and team up with the newly started CANTEEN and AFAS projects which are managed by MCNV. The research will be carried out in collaboration with partners from Lao PDR (NIOPH, NAFRI, NNC) and Vietnam (HUAF, ICHR, NIAPP) under the scientific supervision of the Athena Institute of the Vrije University Amsterdam and with cross-country facilitation by MCNV.
Partners in Lao PDR: National Institute of Public Health (NIOPH); National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI); National Nutrition Center (NNC).
Partners in Vietnam: Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF); Hue University of Medicine & Pharmacy, Inst Community Health Research (ICHR); National Institute of Agricultural Planning and Projection (NIAPP).
Chances for inclusion
The short documentary film is about inclusive education for children with disability in Cao Bang. The Center for Rehabilitation and Inclusive Education is opening chances for education for more children with disability year after year.
How to Facilitate Writeshops – a two-day course in the Hague by the Barefoot Guide Connection
Approaches & tools for writing stories and learning from practice
15 to 16 May 2017
International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), the Hague, Netherlands
Facilitated by the Barefoot Guide Connection – www.barefootguide.org
Based on the experience of facilitating Writeshops for the development of Barefoot Guides
How can social change and development practitioners write interesting and thoughtful stories and case studies, to learn from and to communicate to others? How can they do this in collective ways that improve reflection and learning practices? A “Writeshop” is a creative and disciplined method for reflection, learning and documenting stories that are worth sharing. This workshop offers training to facilitators to design and facilitate such Writeshops.
Social change and development organisations and practitioners struggle to tell and to learn from their own rich stories and to communicate these to others. The few tools they have, in the dry formats for reporting to donors, are usually too simplistic and dry. Through the collective processes of writing the Barefoot Guides (see www.barefootguide.org) we have developed an approach and tools that enable, encourage and support field practitioners to reflect on stories collectively and to become writers of their own stories. In Writeshops, practitioners write to learn, and learn to write.
Purpose
PurposeThis is a two-day course for inhouse facilitators, who support, or wish to support, learning processes in their teams or organisations, using writing as an approach to collectively surface, deepen and share practices in any field of development or social change, including key experiences, lessons and implications for the future. From this it becomes possible to develop written products for wider education.
Who should participate?
This Writeshop is for practitioners who (wish to) facilitate collective learning and writing processes in the teams they work with. They should have some experience in small group facilitation.
Our Course Approach
Th
e participants will take home ideas and skills of how to effectively use several writing process designs and tools, like the Action Learning Cycle, the Outside/Inside Story, Listening at Three Levels and Free-writing, f
ocused on helping others to write stories and case studies. They will also learn about how to help practitioners deal with writer’s block and to more effectively learn and co-write with their peers.
A detailed toolkit will be provided to each participant, in hard and soft copy, containing guidance and handouts for use in their own Writeshops.
The Facilitators
▪ Doug Reeler from the Community Development Resource Association (CDRA)
▪ Akke Schuurmans from MCNV
▪ Cristina Temmink, independent facilitator
The Date
15 to 16 May 2017
The Venue
Classroom 4.25
International Institute of Social Studies (ISS)
Kortenaerkade 12, 2518 AX Den Haag, Netherlands
Google Maps link
If you would like to participate please click on this link to register.
Fees
The fee is 400 Euro, payable on registration.
The earlybird fee is 350 Euro if paid by 15 April 2017.
The fee money can be paid to:
Account Holder: MCNV
Number: IBAN NL90 TRIO 0338 5367 60
Reference: Writeshop
Inexpensive lunches can be bought at the cafetaria. Lunch is not included in the fee.
Partnership with Joris Ivens Foundation in MCNV’s jubilee year 2018
In March 2017 a delegation of the Vietnamese Film Institute and the European Foundation Joris Ivens visited the MCNV office in Dong Ha. During the visit MCNV director Guus Paardekooper led the delegation around the MCNV Museum. The organisations plan a partnership in 2018, when MCNV celebrates its 50th anniversary and the Joris Ivens Event will take place. The Dutch Ambassador Nienke Trooster, director Nguyen Dinh Thi of the Hanoi Academy of Theater and Cinema and Nuffic/ NL Universities are enthusiastic about the cultural exchange and like to join the cooperating partners.
The delegation from the Joris Ivens Institute was invited to Vietnam by the Vietnam Film Institute. Both institutes intend to start projects researching the Joris Ivens archive materials, such as films, scripts, photos and film posters. The results of this research could be presented in November 2018 during an international Joris Ivens Event in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Joris Ivens in Vietnam
Film maker Joris Ivens worked in Vietnam between 1964 and 1970 on four movies, that play an important role in raising awareness of the Anti-War movement and their protest campaigns. Ivens arrived secretly in 1964 on invitation of the North-Vietnamese government. Two months later the USA started bombing the country. From the very beginning Ivens was in the unique position eye witnessing with his camera what he described as ‘the biggest colonial war the world ever has seen’. In two films unique excerpts can be seen of Ivens’ meetings in 1965 en 1968 with president Ho Chi Minh.
In the delegation also former MCNV’s Ad Spijkers, who was one of the driving forces behind the support actions to Vietnam, such as ‘Bikes for Vietnam’. He invited Jane Fonda, was involved in the visits of Kim Phuc to the Netherlands through the MCNV and of various Vietnamese professors, for instance the minister of Health Care.
With this visit of the Ivens Foundation to Vietnam a network of reliable stakeholders has been established, with whom the plans for 2018 will be worked out.
Read the full report of the visit of the delegation to the filming locations of Joris Ivens in Vietnam on www.ivens.nl
Delegates from Hulza Foundation visited Microfinance project in Ben Tre province
On April 22nd 2017, Ms. Monique Smiers and Ms. Hoang Phuong Phi, two delegates from Hulza Foundation, Netherlands have visited MCNV’s microfinance project in Binh Dai district, Ben Tre province. They visited Thoi Lai commune, where a new microfinance project was started in December 2016 with the financial support from Hulza Foundation.
Thoi
Lai is one of 9 communes in the microfinance project run by MCNV and Women’s Union. After 4 months of implementation, Thoi Lai has been providing microfinance services to 138 poor women from the initial capital of Euro 20,000 funded by Hulza. Among them, 94 households used their micro loans to build high-capacity water containers to retain rain water to meet domestic consumption and livestock needs during dry seasons. 43 others borrowed to invest in their home business. The project also gives 1 loan for production group and 13 loans to buy health insurance.
Ms. Monique and Ms. Phi has visited 8 households and joined a credit group meeting. The poor women in Thoi Lai were very happy to show them new water containers, which was a great help for health of people and livestock in the drought and salinity disaster recently. Members of the project also learned much knowledge on
financial literacy and production skills in the exchange session during monthly group meetings.
After the visit, Ms. Monique shared “Thanks to the effort from MCNV and partners from Women’s Union, Hulza could use their funding in a real microfinance project. I believe that we have made the right choice to support Ben Tre and our funding will create more social and economic benefits to the poor women in a sustainable way”.
