Dear Colleagues, My thanks for your contintuing interest and suggestions. On 1/24/05, Adriana Labardini <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> ...I strongly suggest that you include the questions he raises such as: > > * Can he share the tractor with other farmers? > * Can he rent one or have a cooperative own it? Perhaps I should explain that the farmer and I know each other well. It's not as if he emailed me with this problem. He brought this problem to me last time I was in Ago-Are and we discussed it at some length. This idea of a tractor is not a sudden whim. He has in fact been trying to do something about it for years. When he visited me he raised various issues like the ones above and explained his thinking . Please be assured that I did not ignore these questions because I regarded them as unimportant - but because they have already been addressed. In reference to everything Sam Lanfranco wrote about this "opportunity for a useful piece of "mini-research"..." Yes, absolutely, please can we find some way to do that. Thank you Sam for suggesting the possibility of making this flow of information a two-way flow -- and for recognising that costs are involved, including the time that the farmer has to put in. He is a man I respect deeply for his knowledge, wisdom, integrity, hard work, commitment to the community and generosity of spirit. You may find that you want to explore more with him than simply his efforts to buy a tractor. Here are some practical details from my side. The farmer knows me and approached me because of my involvement with the OCDN InfoCentre in Ago-Are. (OCDN is a core member of the CawdNet network.) The man who did all the practical work setting up the InfoCentre was David Mutua - a VSO volunteer from Kenya... David and the farmer worked closely together during those two years. David went back to Kenya when his VSO placement ended, but has now returned to Nigeria. David would be the ideal man to go and discuss all the issues and report back on them. He is currently at Kafanchan (North Central Nigeria) with Fantsuam Foundation (FF is another core member of CawdNet). David is working on a short term contract for CawdNet funded by FF and CAWD. CAWD (the initiator of CawdNet) is a tiny UK registered charity that was initially set up to raise money amongst friends and family to support the work of OCDN <www.bmycharity.com/cawd1> We are very keen to help people have a better and more realistic view of how life really is in rural Nigeria, and are always open to discussions about how this can be achieved - from arranging visits to finding out specific information. However, as we are un-funded, we can only do this if people are willing to be realistic about the costs involved. Pam Pamela McLean CAWD volunteer CawdNet Convenor CawdNet - linking rural communities and virtual communities On 1/24/05, Sam Lanfranco <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This discussion of a Nigerian farmer in pursuit of a tractor is offering > a wonderful opportunity for a useful piece of "mini-research" if someone > close enough to the actual farmer is willing to undertake it, and if > someone else is willing to tip in a bit of financial resources to reward > the farmer, and interviewer, for their time and effort in the > "mini-research". > > A number of people have offered sage advice as to what the farmer might > do, based on what we think was a correct transmission of his tractor > dilemma as he saw it. The advice was broad and varied. It would be > wonderful, and enlightening, if someone the farmer trusted were to sit > down with him, with all the suggestions, and go over them one by one and > let the farmer tell us what looks promising, and what is totally off the > mark, and why. Knowledge, including advice, has value and relevance in > context and I suspect that much of what we have suggested has presumed > many things that are simply not true in the context of the real and > pressing needs faced by this farmer. Paying for this participation would > be a decent thing to do. > > A good reporter's piece on the farmer's measured views of the various > pieces of advice would likely be an informative experience for many of > us. ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
