MIND briefing and training session
The MIND briefing and training session was successfully held on 1 August 2009 at St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral Hall in Aberdeen. The session was attended by almost 20 Malawians from the Aberdeen area.
Malawi Ngwira updating MIND members on MIND activities so far
The session started with opening remarks from the MIND executive director Malawi Ngwira. He then went on to give members present at the meeting an overview of the origins of MIND. He also explained the rationale behind the MIND governance structure which is made up of an Executive Team and and four advisors to the team. He also explained how MIND entered into partnership with VSO to run a Diaspora Volunteering Programme (DVP). The programme has been split into three phases; capacity building, identification of activities and implementation plan.
Malawi then presented the details of the trip by two MIND members who went to Malawi for a period of two weeks to carry out research on the areas that could benefit from the programme. The initial plan was for a pilot programme to start soon after the relevant areas were identified through the research. The pilot programme which is to be carried out in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, is set to commence in September once the registration of MIND as a charity is complete. VSO will be fully involved in the DVP ensuring that MIND members have the necessary skills to carry out the tasks that are identified.
MIND training session
Tiamika Chidothe who is the MIND programme manager on education went on to give an outline of the pilot programme which will be implemented after MIND attains a charity status. This has been split into two phases one to be condutced in the UK and the other in Malawi.
After the update on MIND activities so far the MIND executive team started the training session. This commenced with Pat Malikebu who is the MIND programme manager for health relaying to the members information on the Logical Framework (Logframe). Pat explained to participants the definition of a logframe and how this is used in a project setting and how it will be used during the projects that MIND will carry out. She went on to describe its advantages and challenges and also described a "Problem Tree Analysis" and how this breaks down a problem into its constituents so the problem can be better understood. Sample logframes and problem trees were circulated to members.
Simon Mpandeni, the programme accountant for MIND went through the financial management responsibilities that MIND will have to abide by if it was awarded the charity status. These included basic accounting books and records, accounts and their legal requirements, audit and accounting requirements, regulatory requirements.
Discussion on fundraising
The risk assessment security plan followed presented by Malawi Ngwira. Malawi explained that the security plan has been devised because MIND has a duty of care for its volunteers and employees. Such a responsibility requires MIND to develop a risk assessment plan. This was followed by some notes on fundraising by Pat Malikebu. She described the different ways by which MIND can raise its funds, whether cash or in-kind. She also explained in brief corporate and community fundraising activities so members could form informed decisions when embarking on a fundraising activity.
The training was concluded by a session on monitoring and evaluation by Malawi Ngwira. Malawi briefly described the tools that will be used to monitor and assess that the goal of a project has been achieved. These will include the logframes and many others.
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