ICA GUATEMALA

Conacaste Project:
Alfredo Fajardo, a former ICA member, and Joaquina Rodriguez held a Group Facilitation Methods course for leaders of Conacaste, a village located an hour’s drive from Guatemala City. It involved members of the Local Development Committee, the Sports Club, the Catholic Church Committee, university students and youths. Meetings were held with residents to discuss the repair and use of the community centre and the ICA Training Centre. Work on legal issues to enable all households and ICA Guatemala to get titles for their properties continued.

Education workshop:
Lis Lorenzo and Joaquina Rodriguez are doing personal consulting work with the Ministry of Education for its education seminar.

Spanish translation

Proyecto Conacaste:
Con Alfredo Fajardo, antiguo miembro del ICA,   estamos realizando una capacitación en los Métodos de Facilitación de Grupos para las estructuras de liderazgo de Conacaste, como son el Comité local de desarrollo, el club deportivo, algunos miembros de la iglesia católica.  Nos queda preparar  la capacitación de un gran plan de acción y convivencia navideña.   

Seminario sobre la educación:
Por otra parte  con Lis Lorenzo estamos apoyando la logística de un seminario del Ministerio de Educación sobre ¨PREVENIR CON EDUCACION¨  (aunque esto es una consultoría personal).  Estamos muy ocupadas haciendo esto por lo que mas adelante estaremos informando más y además  para ver los últimos pasos de la inscripción de la Reposición de ICA Guatemala en el Ministerio de Gobernación.

ICA PERU

Leadership formation:
We extended leadership team building to 53 more communities, from the Amazon jungle to the Sierra, 5,000 metres above sea level. It included a three-week program for 29 community leaders held at the ICA Training Centre in Azpitia. However, we were unable to follow up with implementation as it is not safe to enter their conflict-ridden area.

Funding issues: There is a strong demand for our services but support for staff and travel expenses is a challenge.  Our funding, mainly from mining companies, took a hit due to declining metal prices. But thanks to some enlightened companies which see trained community leaders as an asset to their work, it looks like we are off to a strong start in the first quarter of 2014, following our three-week year-end break.

ICA CHILE

Working with schools:
We began a new area of work with the government’s National Service for the Disabled this year and held leadership formation programs with five schools in Concepción, Rancagua, Freire, Curanilahue and Easter Island. Though this work differs slightly from what we have been doing in the last 10 years, it is still related to our area of interest - strengthening people and organizations for the disabled people.

Japan visit:
We have been invited to visit Kobe and Kochi, Japan, this month to share our experiences of the huge earthquake and tsunami that devastated Chile in 2010.

Educational work:
Other activities include educational work with Robyn Hutchinson, our colleague in Australia, and identifying new sources of funding for programs.