Ownership in Ha Giang

Hello friends! I know it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post; things have been quite busy on my end for most of November and December, especially with all the travelling I’ve been doing. In November I went on my first field visit, which lasted about a week and then to Singapore a week later (this city – state will always have a place in my heart)! After that it was two back to back field visits each a week long, so I haven’t had much time in Hanoi. But, I am back now and finally have a couple of weeks to catch my breath before I head off to Malaysia to spend the holidays with my family! I am beyond excited to see them and even more so to start the New Year off with them! Anyways, I thought I would write about one of the trips I took with work this past month!

I am very fortunate to have been included on the field trip to the Bac Me district of the Ha Giang province. Though the trip had to be extended a day longer than expected (we had to stay there for eight days, when we originally intended to stay for seven), I was thoroughly impressed with the way the whole team from Oxfam Quebec and WARECOD staff were able to manage and complete all planned activities and training sessions with precision and even enthusiasm. For those of you who do not know, by the sixth day in the field, the tiredness and exhaustion take over and you find yourself pushing through the remainder of the time, very anxious to return home.  On the bright side, since our trip was extended, we got one day off and were able to take a lovely boat ride along the Gam River, seeing mountains and waterfalls all the while experiencing the misty rain splash our faces while standing on the boat deck. It was all very wonderful.

The title of this project is Community – Led Water Resource Management. There are three phases of this project, and so far we are in the second phase which entails establishing “water user groups”; on this trip to Ha Giang, we established four water user groups in the district of Bac Me. Basically, we gathered people in four hamlets Ha Son 1, Ha Son 2, Phia Ven, and Na Pau and explained to them the benefits of joining these groups. Water user groups comprise of dedicated individuals of a commune that provide services to their communities, and in return, the communities provide the groups with money to carry out these services. The aim of this project is to build a strong reputation of these groups among community members, so that they are trusted to complete tasks for the community with dedication and quality. Once this trust is established, the water user groups can ask for more money and become sustainable, allowing WARECOD and its partner Oxfam Quebec to step back.

These groups set regulations for the better use of the land and ensure that the communities are running at the best possible quality. WARECOD provides support to these groups by training them in proposal writing, so that a more formal interaction can be created between the communities and their local authorities when asking for something they need, and even provide them with the aptitude to reach out to other NGO’s themselves to seek funding for their projects (most NGO’s have special funds for such situations). WARECOD also trains the members of these groups to plan the activities required to implement a project and budget their funding to ensure all activities are financed, but above all the aim is to empower these people and give them ownership over improving their communities.

We are often told that giving ownership is the best way to empower people and thus bring about development. It is the same message portrayed by the old, yet wise saying “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime." Providing people with knowledge and encouraging them to take responsibility for what they value gives them ownership over those things, be they homes, communities, or even countries. And if one has ownership over something, their desire to preserve, protect, and enhance it is increased. Helping with this project has certainly been a great learning opportunity and provided some insight as to how NGO’s can help people help themselves. 

Some pictures:

Sailing along the Gam River

Gorgeous waterfalls we saw