Raising the bar on inclusion in community development

Students learning the alphabet in sign language at the Mudula Primary School.

Inclusion is deeply rooted in WEEMA’s community-led development work in Ethiopia. But what does inclusion exactly mean and how do organizations achieve it in their everyday practices, whether in Ethiopia, Bangladesh or Indonesia?

Last month, WEEMA joined global development experts in Washington DC to examine the growing focus on inclusion, and challenges and lessons that can be learned as more NGOs, governments and philanthropic groups make it a bigger priority. The conference, Social Accountability and the Challenge of Inclusion, was organized by the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA), a seven-year-old coalition that includes 300 organizations.

Among the key takeaways from the conference:

Meaning: Inclusion is focusing on the most marginalized populations who have historically been left behind, including children (especially girls), women, older people and people with disabilities. WEEMA is keenly focused on all of these groups, whether by launching hundreds of Self-Help Groups for more than 2,000 women or providing first-ever primary school access for dozens of children with disabilities.

Giving Voice: Inclusion is about listening to marginalized groups and doing so in ways that give them power and confidence. Too often, solutions are developed without those voices being heard. In the case of education projects, students and their parents should have input – a practice WEEMA follows. “Where are the children themselves? Do they get a chance to (provide feedback)? If not, why not?” said Marinke Van Riet, a director at Voice, a Dutch grant facility that supports marginalized and discriminated people in Africa and Asia.

Framing Matters: In engaging with marginalized groups, avoid making them feel like “beneficiaries” who are poor and powerless. Instead they should be made to feel empowered and mobilized. One speaker captured the sentiment this way: “The question we should ask is, ‘What are your struggles?’ not, ‘How do we reduce your poverty?” said Flavia Milano, Team Leader, Citizen Engagement Policy and Strategy at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Instilling Trust: Marginalized groups are long accustomed to promises that are not kept. To build buy-in, NGOs and governments must meet their commitments and hold themselves accountable. WEEMA has made accountability a key priority in all of its projects. “When you say you’ll come back in two weeks and you come back in two weeks, it builds trust. It gives them more reason to help on projects,” said Charity Komujjurizi, Project Coordinator of the African Freedom Information Centre in Uganda.

All of these insights above align with key pillars of the Movement for Community-Led Development, a group of 64 global organizations, including WEEMA, that participated at last month’s conference. Co-founder John Coonrod expressed optimism that community-led development - and inclusion - are getting far more attention compared to a decade ago.

“Until 2012, this work didn’t even have a name,” Coonrod said, referring to community-led development.

A New Beginning

A new beginning for 30 students with disabilities

Exciting news! Tembaro’s first inclusive education program is up and running at Mudula Primary School and more than 30 children with disabilities – a mix of boys and girls – are enrolled. All are attending school for the first time now that the teachers and the classrooms can support their learning.

The opening marks the culmination of an extraordinary effort involving community leaders, the local government, teachers, parents, and students – all with a shared vision of giving children with disabilities the same educational opportunities as other children. The Tembaro District has 39 primary schools, but until last month, none were accessible to children with disabilities.

The year-long effort included awareness-raising sessions with local stakeholders about the challenges that children with disabilities face and the wide-ranging benefits of giving them more opportunities – starting with a formal primary education. WEEMA also helped train staff to teach in sign language and support other special needs. The school was also outfitted with wheelchairs,  entrance ramps, special furniture, and other resources to help students who are blind and deaf. 

What a transformation we’ve seen! During a recent visit to the school, English teacher Aleme Wochato was using sign language to teach students the alphabet. A half-dozen students were enthusiastically waving their hands to show what they had learned. In another room, environmental science teacher Alemitu Aweno was using sign language to teach first graders about animals in Ethiopia.

Teachers were especially delighted with the big changes afoot. “Before this year, none of the schools had teachers trained in education methodologies for engaging children with disabilities,” Wochato said. “Now, with support from WEEMA, teachers are trained in the Braille alphabet, sign language, and other skills.  

Judging from their smiles and eager participation in classes as you can see in the photo below, students are also excited about the school’s transformation.

Samrawit Solomon - Opening Doors for Ethiopia’s Most Vulnerable

Staff Spotlight: Samrawit Solomon, WEEMA’s Gender and Disability Mainstreaming Program Officer

WEEMA Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Based on her experiences and interests, it isn’t surprising that Samrawit Solomon is leading WEEMA’s Gender and Disability Mainstreaming work.

Her first exposure to WEEMA was volunteering on its first Cataract Campaign in 2015, an annual effort to restore vision to hundreds of Ethiopians blinded by deterioration of the lens in their eyes. Growing up in the Oromia Region in southwest Ethiopia, she also saw firsthand the painful discrimination that disabled people experience, especially girls and women.

“Gender-based violence is common in Ethiopia and it’s especially common with women who are physically disabled,” the 31-year-old says. For example, she knew of a physically disabled woman in her hometown who was raped and became pregnant.  “She was too embarrassed and frightened to tell anyone.”

Such memories left an indelible impression on Samrawit, who grew up in Jimma, where educational and health services were sparse, clean running water was rare, and opportunities for girls and women were bleak.

Samrawit overcame these hurdles to graduate with a college degree in sociology and a master’s degree in business administration in Addis Ababa. She also has extensive work experience in community development and as a social worker. 

Her calling was always to help others – and when the opportunity came up to work at WEEMA she jumped at it. Earlier this year, she assumed her new post leading WEEMA’s Gender and Disability Mainstreaming work. She also became a first-time mother.

“All of WEEMA’s interventions are very crucial for the community, but, as a mother of a child, my biggest interest goes to health and to women’s empowerment as an independent and decision-making woman,” she says.

In her new position, she is responsible for ensuring that all of WEEMA’s projects – on clean water, medical care, education, and economic empowerment – are creating comparable opportunities for women and the disabled. That means building wheelchair-accessible ramps in new libraries. It means creating jobs for women in male-dominated occupations such as beekeeping. It means upgrading schools and training staff so that disabled students can attend and thrive.

Samrawit says the work can be challenging. But the rewards are far bigger.

“I love that WEEMA tends to work with the most deprived part of society,” she says. “I love that it has a holistic and community-led approach.”

Samrawit teaching primary school girls about gender equality