Every entity worth its salt periodically takes a pause to reflect on its actions and inactions with a view to plan and forge ahead with renewed vigour. One of the ways in which ActionAid Ghana does this is through what she calls Participatory Review and Reflection Processes (PRRPs).

 

This participatory platform makes it possible for AAG, its partners and collaborators to meet and share experiences, lessons learnt from achievements and failures to enable them to improve upon the quality of on-going programmes.

 

The GARDP has last August held a community level PRRP which drew participants made up of 25 women, 40 men and 33 children from Aboasa and KomKom communities inthe Ga South Distirct of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

 

The discussions at both group and plenary sessions sought to assess what was done collectively by AAG and its collaborators with a view to determining which programme(s) has gone on well or not and whether there was the need for some programmes to be approached or implemented differently, dropped or continued in their original form and content.

 

It came out during plenary that children on the sponsorship programme are restricted to drawing and there was a suggestion that they (children) should not be limited to drawing alone but be given the free hand to sometimes write stories of interest to them. The women's group among other things, lauded the training in bakery project saying it has helped to improve their economic conditions and appealed for its sustenance. The men's  group also praised the bakery project but observed that women who have been trained have not been able to train their peers and asked that this be done.

 

At the end of the process, all programmes have been recommended to continue but the construction of a community school, continuation of the Annual Girls’ Camp and the alternative livelihood project (grass cutter project) were among those considered needing priority attention.

 

Story by She-Vera Anzagira