“What do the Mercies leave behind?” This was the very sobering question posed by Maria Douglas to the twenty-two participants at the three-day monitoring and evaluation workshop held at the Good Shepherd Retreat Centre, Hartbeespoort Dam.
The directors, managers and other members of staff of eleven Mercy projects in Gauteng, South Africa, gathered on the 22nd October to learn about the Missionary Approach to Development. Holding in trust, the core values of justice, commitment, respect, compassion and integrity, the participants realized the wisdom of shifting the focus in projects from the Sisters “doing” to helping others to carry on what the Sisters have started.
Maria Douglas and the participants at the Monitiring and Evaluation workshop
Maria Douglas, who is the Mercy Mission and Development Co-Ordinator for the Congregation, facilitated the workshop, created an atmosphere that was conducive to learning. The afternoon sessions were as lively and full of energy as the morning sessions and the three days passed very quickly.
The practical excercises involved fun and learning
Using the Monitoring and Evaluation Handbook for Mercy Ministry, which she and Anne Garbutt from INTRAC co-wrote, Maria introduced the group to methods and tools that could be used in monitoring and evaluating the ministries. To many it was like learning a whole new language – log frames, PEST analysis, inputs, outputs, outcomes, indicators – are just a few of the concepts that have to become part of the work.
There were lively discussions
Maria also told the participants that each ministry evolves through six different phases: discernment, start up, implementation, consolidation, localisation and exit, and how to monitor and evaluate each phase.
The story of a failed project helped everyone to see the wisdom of evaluating, monitoring and analysing the ministries.
The participants were set homework before they left the workshop. All that was learned over the three days has to be passed on to the other staff members in the different ministries. There will be training sessions in all the areas before April 2014. Capacity building will be high on the agenda of all the projects next year.
A group engaged in planning for the future
These were some of the comments of the participants as they left the workshop.
“This workshop incorporated learning and fun.”
“I now understand what I’m really doing when I’m asked to monitor and evaluate my ministry.”
‘When I came here I thought I was just employed at the shelter, but now I am aware of what I’m doing. I walk out of here empowered for the future.”
“Communication is so important for our work.”
“I appreciate the handbook. It’s all there.”
“I see the need to stop and really reflect on what we are doing.”
So what do the Mercies want to leave behind?
Commitment to quality service, commitment to the poor and those in need, integrity and a compassionate heart, carried by those who have learned that Mercy can make a difference today.
Colleen Wilkinson rsm
South African Province
