Mmcc Evaluation Report

PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT FOR MMCC/AECC

PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT MMCC, MOBILE MINI CIRCUS FOR CHILDREN and its local partner AECC, AFGHAN EDUCATIONAL CHILDREN CIRCUS Geographical Coverage: Kabul, Bamyan, Jalalabad and Ghor provinces AFGHANISTAN, 2012-2013

Evaluation Conducted by: Oriental Consultants: http://www.oc.af And Adeel Asif & Co- Management Consultants- www.adeelasif.com

“There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood” Khalid Hosseini

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT FOR MMCC/AECC

Preface This Evaluation Report of MMCC, Mobile Mini Circus for Children and its local partner AECC, Afghan Educational Children Circus activities in Kabul, Jalalabad, Bamyan and Ghor provinces sets out findings, lessons learned and recommendations for the MMCC/AECC and its management including the stakeholders such as donors.

The Report is developed in compliance with the terms of reference for the assignment. The conclusions and recommendations set out in the following pages are solely those of the evaluators and are not binding on the project management and sponsors.

The authors would like to thank all who assisted in this Project Evaluation, particularly Mr. David Mason, Ms. Berit Muhlhausen, SherKhan Ahmedzai, Fardeen Barekzai, SherAgha, Zarwali, Hamid Ruhan, Ustad Asad and all other office and field staff of MMCC/AECC. Also our special thanks to all the other stakeholders who agreed to be interviewed.

From MMCC/AECC it is an important sign of maturity as evaluators are usually seen with suspicion and defensive attitudes are more the rule than the exception. MMCC/AECC has been looking to this evaluation as a help for their own self-evaluation. We hope they will not be disappointed by its candid content and tone. We are, indeed, impressed by the cumulative knowledge they represent in MMCC/AECC. Last but not the least, we also express our sincere thanks to all children, either direct beneficiaries or the indirect attendees that we met and conducted interviews to complete this Evaluation Report.

Sayyed ul Abrar.

ACMA, ACPA, LLB, AFA, AM.A (Eco), BCS

Head – Management Consultancy Department,

Oriental Consultants Address: House No 141, Noor High School Street,Near Istadgah e Akher, Kabul University, Kabul, Afghanistan.

E mail: ocafghanistan@gmail.com, info@oc.af, Web: http://www.oc.af Ph: 0093-799543356/ 0787098321 Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Acronyms .............................................................................................................................................................. 5 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1

Methodology Followed ........................................................................................................................ 6

1.2

Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 6

2. INTRODUCTION OF THE EVALUATION .............................................................................................................. 9 2.1

Methodology Followed ........................................................................................................................ 9

2.2

Limitations of the study ..................................................................................................................... 12

3. BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................. 13 3.1

What are MMCC and AECC ................................................................................................................ 13

3.2

Current Program activities and regions ............................................................................................. 14

3.3

Type of MMCC/AECC Resource centres and bases ............................................................................ 15

3.4

Program Components ........................................................................................................................ 16

4.

EVALUATION FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................... 19 4.1

KABUL - The Main Centre ................................................................................................................... 19

4.1.1

Kabul - school Outreach..................................................................................................................... 21

4.2

BAMYAN - The Rural Area Centre ...................................................................................................... 24

4.2.1

Bamyan - Outreach ............................................................................................................................ 25

4.3

GHOR - Funtainer Base ...................................................................................................................... 27

4.3.1

Ghor Outreach .................................................................................................................................. 29

4.3.2

Impact and recommendations .......................................................................................................... 30

4.4

JALALABAD - Community Provided Base ............................................................................................ 32

4.4.1

Impact and recommendations .......................................................................................................... 34

5.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE, PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, AND REPORTING ...................................... 36 5.1

6.

Finances.............................................................................................................................................. 37 NETWORKING AND LINKAGES ................................................................................................................. 38

6.1

Suggestions ......................................................................................................................................... 39

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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7.

MEDIA COVERAGE AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ...................................................................................... 40

8.

EVIDENCE OF SUSTAINABILITY ................................................................................................................. 41 8.1

Substantial achievements ................................................................................................................... 41

9.

OVERVIEW OF OBSERVATIONS ................................................................................................................ 43

10.

RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 45

11.

CONCLUSION & SUCCESS STORIES ........................................................................................................... 49

ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................................................. 51 Annex 1: Team and Field Travel ...................................................................................................................... 51 Annex 2: Evaluation Questionnaires ............................................................................................................... 55 Annex 3: School Visit Questionnaire School ................................................................................................... 58 Annex 4: Parents Interview Form .................................................................................................................... 59 Annex 5: Instructors / Teacher Review Form .................................................................................................. 60 Annex 6: FGD with MoE Officials in Bamyan ................................................................................................... 61 Annex 7: Questions For Media Activities ........................................................................................................ 62 Annex 8: Evaluation Pictures ........................................................................................................................... 63

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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ACRONYMS MMCC Mobile Mini Circus for Children MMCC/AECC Afghan- Mobile Mini Circus for Children AECC Afghan Educational Children Circus CBO Community Based Organizations CSO Civil Society Organizations DOLSA Department of Labour and Social Affairs IDP Internally Displaced Persons MoLSAMD Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled MoE Ministry of Information and Education NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As a result of war, isolation and under-investment and the associated collapse of government, infrastructure and basic services including health, education, water and sanitation, Afghanistan is one of the most fragile states in the world. Children throughout the country live in daily fear of death and injury suffering displacement, deprivation and a disruption of normal domestic routines. The needs of children transcend ethnic affiliation and any urban-rural divides. Material assistance alone cannot meet their need for security, affection and stability. The devastating trauma experienced by many children creates a need for designing special programs to help children and their families cope with the upheaval and loss caused by war. Educational and recreation activities can go a long way in the rehabilitation of the physical-social-psychological health of the children of Afghanistan. As a whole Afghanistan lacks in recreational and entertainment facilities for its citizens, and especially for its children.

The MMCC/AECC represents a unique solution of enormous value to help meet the challenges Afghanistan faces in educating a new generation of young leaders with creative solutions for their country. The program revolves around an innovative humanitarian concept of healthy childhood development through recreational education. It has grown since 2002 into a full-fledged, nationwide program with a reach of over 2.7 million children and adults in 25 provinces over the last ten years. Apart from its reliance upon a vast loyal and longstanding financial support base of dozens of national and international donors, which is indicative of its efficacy, it also operates with a large local volunteer base

1.1 METHODOLOGY FOLLOWED This evaluation report is the first of its kind conducted on behalf of the AfghanAECC/MMCC. The quantitative and qualitative survey data for the report was collected during 74 separate on-site meetings, discussions, consultations, observations, field surveys and interviews. A total of 300 children were individually observed and/or interviewed in 4 different provinces. Eleven focus group discussions supplemented individual interviews, meetings with government officials (11) and group discussions with the management and trainers of the Afghan-AECC/MMCC.

1.2 FINDINGS From its small scale beginnings in 2002, through the perseverance and continued commitment of its Co-Directors, the MMCC/AECC has grown into a complex, sophisticated program with a large variety of activities. From an organizational point of view, the design of MMCC's program is comprehensive: planning and implementation are subjected to intense scrutiny both in terms of structure and methodology as well as end goals. The program descriptions provide clearly defined guidelines to the project staff and respective stakeholders. The overall program has been designed to rely heavily on its volunteer base Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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and in-house, locally trained Afghan staff. As a result, it is able to achieve significant results at the grassroots level with minimal operational costs. Most of the trainers and other stakeholders are involved as volunteers and are either working for free or are being paid nominal stipends to cover their work related expenses.

The MMCC/AECC offers activities in three interconnected areas: circus arts (including juggling, acrobatics, theatre arts, singing, and painting), media development (computer literacy, photo, radio and film production including editing) and Shura (children and youth parliaments designed to enhance democratic understanding and awareness). It has been observed by most school administrations that the additional school decoration program increases enrollment numbers, especially in rural areas. In Bamyan, for example, the enrollment increase figured between 05-10%. The Shura formation has benefitted the schools in various ways: In many schools the Shura participants took the initiative to collect money and provide, or at least started to work on the provision of missing facilities (for broken windows glasses) at their schools.

Evaluators observed remarkable improvements in the school performance of students associated with the program. The overall behavior and lifestyle of children who were beneficiaries of the MMCC/AECC's activities has been altered by their exposure to the kinds of skills MMCC/AECC nurtures. Teachers observed that students who took part in activities of these are more astute and sharp in their formal education and more active in their communities. MMCC/AECC beneficiaries were described as innovative and self-reliant after attending activities of the MMCC/AECC. The parents reported that children behave more obediently, politely and are well mannered post MMCC/AECC involvement. Furthermore, teachers observed an increase in the level of confidence of the beneficiary students. Students themselves would consider the activities as a source of recreation, fun and empowerment. In most cases, verifiable data like school grades and attendance showed marked improvement among children involved in MMCC/AECC activities.

Evaluators observed that a strong code of ethics is followed in the organization, including the realization of a "do no harm" policy, which protects employees and beneficiary children. The effort of the program in creating awareness about children's rights, child protection, hygiene promotion, as well as gender equality through enhanced participation of girls in circus, and the inclusion of vulnerable segments of society in the activities is appreciable. The parents and family members of the trainee students regularly visit MMCC/AECC centers and are in constant touch about the performance and interest of their children in the program, thus enhancing parenting skills.

The MMCC/AECC has imparted a complex series of advanced training programs to develop employees and beneficiaries as future trainers. The program staff has implemented relevant training programs for community members and representatives of community based organizations. The social cohesion that has consequently been fostered is a foundation for productive citizenry with positive economic effects on Afghan national GDP. The organization's human resource management policy has positively impacted hundreds of teachers, trainers and volunteers that may well form the core talent in a number of related Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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industry sectors in the future. The program, with negligible non-operational expenditures, has produced an extraordinary beneficiary ratio and represents an unparalleled value in the Afghan experience.

The evaluation points towards a need to follow up on a more long-term sustainability plan.

The program has initiated measures to ensure sustainability and the results to date are broad and robust. For long term sustainability the steps such as the establishment of a local NGO and steadily handing over the affairs of the program to that NGO, has started. But to ensure the long term sustainability of the program with a local NGO in charge, more infrastructure and capital investments are needed. Operations like the trainings in Jalalabad could expand and gain from an investment. MMCC/AECC's approach of repeated capacity building of local staff and trainers, community access to the services, and social media presence has created a sense of longevity among the communities and employees of the MMCC/AECC who believe in the long term survival of the organization in the country.

The assessment of the MMCC/AECC acknowledges an excellent beneficiary outreach and beneficiary to cost ratio. The program is well designed and achieves its objectives with the envisaged outputs and outcomes. The program's financial management is furthermore sound and it achieves an active media involvement and management. On a local and regional level, ministries and other development departments are in constant communication and exchange with MMCC/AECC's offices, and therefore well aware of MMCC/AECC's activities and achievements.

In addition to their activities in Afghanistan, MMCC/AECC has taken a few of the beneficiary children to other countries including Japan, Italy and Denmark, for capacitybuilding and shows. The experience gained through those exposure trips is well regarded among the trainees and considered as worth sharing and remembering. Additionally, the Afghanistan reputation is enhanced abroad in terms of these excursions serving as national good will exhibitions.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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2. INTRODUCTION OF THE EVALUATION This current independent evaluation is the first of its kind carried out for the MMCC/AECC's operations. The evaluation at hand assesses the activities of MMCC/AECC that have been carried out in a project with the “Resource center for creative learning, Quality Education and Improvements of Afghan Children’s Social and Cultural lives”. The project has been implemented by Mobile Mini Circus for Children (MMCC) and its local partner, Afghan Educational Children Circus (AECC) with financial support from the Royal Danish Embassy.

This evaluation is carried out to assess several aspects of MMCC/AECC's work. The assessment includes the physical environment of MMCC/AECC's centers and workshop places, the preferences of the beneficiary children in the activities that they are involved in, and a comparison of the various geographical locations where the interventions were conducted. The assessment furthermore includes an investigation into the organizational culture of MMCC/AECC along with an evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the program: How well are strategies envisaged, how are processes organized and what further adjustments are needed.

The evaluation centered around 4 basic questions for all the stakeholders: 1) The effectiveness of the program, 2) The scope and need for further upscaling, replication and improvements, 3) long term sustainability plans of the program and 4) the organizational capacity to effectively implement the program.

To ask these broader questions the evaluators divided these topics into sets of questions fitting to the participant types of the stakeholders. The questions are detailed in Annex 2.

2.1 METHODOLOGY FOLLOWED The methodology that was adopted for the evaluation is a mixed methods approach with strong participatory elements. It includes on desk file and document reviews, case studies, key informant interviews, site visits, group meetings, focus group discussions and direct observations of schools and training centers.

A qualitative approach was used in the primary data collection using beneficiary and key informant interviews, in addition to a number of focus group discussions. Secondary data was used to complement primary information where available. The full outline of the methodology is narrated as below.

As a first step the assessment team led a consultation process that included individual meetings with a range of stakeholders. The primary stakeholders at the field level included beneficiary children and the community at large, the school managements, local activists, as well as field staff of agency and government line departments. At the province level the key Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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stakeholders were the Department of Education, Department of information and Culture, Department of Labor and Social Affairs and Martyrs.

2.1.1 Secondary Data analysis: The team was facilitated with detailed secondary data from the MMCC/AECC itself. The data appears to be complete and up to date. Data sets include list of participants, social stratification maps, school facilities and numbers, and information about the differing infrastructure of the participating communities. All these materials were gathered, analyzed and used as a base to calculate the sample size of the present evaluation.

2.1.2 Preliminary Field Work: Prior to designing the assessment methodology, the assessment team spent several hours reviewing secondary data, discussing the probable outputs of the study with a range of stakeholders, and discussing initial findings on the overall situation in Afghanistan and the reports written by various other agencies.

2.1.3 Primary Data Collection: During the evaluation, the evaluators carried out various interviews (one on one, in group and focus group discussions). They were supplemented by field survey work. All in all a total of 11 group discussions with children and 14 interviews with parents were conducted.

The evaluators conducted seven extended meetings with the MMCC/AECC management and field staff as well as 11 meetings with MMCC/AECC trainers, teachers, and volunteers.

A total of 15 school visits consisting of on-field observation and interviews, were complimented with 11 meetings with officials of government and line departments.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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Description

Kabul

Jalalabad

Bamyan

Ghor

Total

School Visits

03

03

04

05

15

02

01

02

02

7

01

0*

01

02

4

03

02

02

04

11

03

03

04

04

14

05

01

03

03

12

03

02

03

3

11

17

9

15

15

Meetings with MCC/AECC management and field staff Visits and observations at MMCC/AECC centers/ Funtainers TM Group Discussions with beneficiary children Interviews with Parents Meetings with MCC/AECC trainers/Teacher/Volunteers Meetings with government/ line department officials TOTAL number of meetings and interviews

56 without school visits

*In Jalalabad activities are implemented in schools with no MMCC/AECC centre or Funtainer in the region

Additional field visits were carried out at schools and centers for the review and assessment of the trainee children's while performing their respective routines. Around 300 children were observed in the four provinces, including 60 children at the center and in various schools in Kabul, 70 in Jalalabad, 80 in Bamyan, and 90 beneficiaries were evaluated in Ghor province. The gender segregated data of those observed is described in the table below Location

No of program beneficiaries met

Kabul Jalalabad Bamyan Ghor

Boys 37 70 39 26

Girls 23 41 64

Total 60 70 80 90

TOTAL

172

128

300

Note: No girls activities are taking place in Jalalabad

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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80

70

64

70 60 50 40 30

39

37

41 26

23

20 10

0

0 Kabul

Jalalabad

Bamyan

Ghor

Boys Girls

*The figures above only represents the program beneficiaries that the evaluation team met. It does therefore not necessarily reflect the actual program beneficiary compositions and sex segregation ratio

To know the preference and interest of children in a particular activity evaluators always asked about the level of interest in a particular program activity by the participants. An overwhelming majority of the boys preferred acrobatic, juggling, and media. Among the girls theater, singing and paintings were the preferred activities.

Components of program activities and brief introduction of each component is given below.

2.2 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The evaluation is time-bound and geographically specific, and was carried out primarily to gauge the effectiveness of the program in the pre-defined provinces. It does not portray the overall operations of MMCC/AECC in all of Afghanistan. As a primarily qualitative study, numerical projections of community responses are only indicative.

The evaluation team faced considerable difficulties to get appointments with key district administrative officials and heads of various government departments amidst their busy schedule. These obstacles were overcome though and the necessary interviews were conducted as planned.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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3. BACKGROUND 3.1

WHAT ARE MMCC AND AECC

MMCC, Mobile Mini Circus for Children, is an international nonprofit NGO, that has been creating educational entertainment-performances as well as art and media workshops for children in Afghanistan since 2002. The organization is non-governmental and independent of any political, religious or ethnic interests. It is supervised by a Danish Board of Directors.

The main objective of MMCC is to provide educational and informative entertainment for children. This aim is achieved by identifying, training, and applying Afghan talents and potentials.

MMCC is managed by two Danish citizens, David Mason and Berit Muhlhausen, and staffed by a team of 25-30 Afghan teachers, trainers, artists and custodians. The organization was established to support educational entertaining activities for children in Afghanistan at a time when the capacity for organizing and running a new NGO was very limited. The aim from the very beginning has been to hand over the responsibility for the activities to the Afghans as soon as a properly qualified organizational base is established.

MMCC’s main objective is it to provide educational entertainment and cultural activities for children who in general are underprivileged in these fields because of the war

In spring 2006 a new local Afghan-MMCC organization called AECC, Afghan Educational Children Circus, was established. This local NGO is gradually taking over the responsibility of continuing the activities as a pure Afghan project under the umbrella and supervision of MMCC International. MMCC International aims at the same time at expanding their activities to more countries.

MMCC and AECC are each registered in the Afghan Ministry of Economy. The two organizations are still very closely linked. In this report where ever the word MMCC/AECC is being used, it is used to denote both MMCC at the local level and the AECC.

AECC is the result of MMCC’s goal to secure a sustainable Afghan organization that can continue to run and develop creative educational activities for children Afghanistan

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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3.2 CURRENT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES AND REGIONS MMCC/AECC is running 2 very active centers in Kabul and Bamyan plus semi-permanent activities in 3 more provinces, Ghor, Badakshan and Jalalabad. In Herat MMCC/AECC is providing supervision and support for similar activities, initiated by MMCC/AECC, which are now in the process of being transformed into an independent NGO. Comprehensive outreach including programs targeting vulnerable children and cooperation with schools in all regions are essential parts of all programs. Since 2003 MMCC/AECCs mobile teams and children have performed and made workshops in 25 provinces, reaching more than 2.7 million Afghan children, teachers and local community members. It has the capacity to make 125-150 educational entertaining shows in 8-15 provinces plus Kabul city per year. The performances reach estimated 125,000-150,000 audiences annually.

MMCC/AECC utilizes creative education, art, culture and media in an innovative way to teach and engage children. Through circus (includes but is not limited to juggling, unicycling, acrobatic and comedy), school decorations, theatre, singing, painting, radio programs and in-house media productions the children learn to express themselves. Besides this MMCC/AECC focuses on developing the leadership and decision-making skills of children through the formation of children Shuras (Children/Youth-Parliaments).

MMCC/AECC’s activities are developed and administered by Afghan artists. The CoDirectors (David Mason and Berit Muhlhausen) are primarily responsible for conceptualizing projects, managing finances, fundraising, and networking. They also develop long-term planning strategies.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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3.3 TYPE OF MMCC/AECC RESOURCE CENTRES AND BASES The National Capacity Center: The MMCC/AECC centre in Kabul is the centre and ‘laboratory’ for all activities. Besides housing daily trainings and classes for 100+ children, who among more perform at schools several times weekly, the Kabul centre throughout the year host numerous events and workshops for and with children from other children organizations, schools and IDP camps etc. Staff and trainers from other parts of the country are invited for workshops and practical trainings in the Kabul Centre that also hosts several national events, such as the National Children Shura and a National Juggling Championship with participation of children from across the country.

The Rural Area Capacity Center: MMCC/AECC’s centre in Bamyan is a rural area mini copy of the Kabul centre. During the school season, from April till November, the centre runs regular daily activities for and with 80-100 children similar to the activities in Kabul. In previous years the centre was closed during the cold winter months. Starting from winter 2012/13 an educational winter program similar to the Kabul program though slightly shorter, is run in the Bamyan centre with participation of children from rural areas in more provinces.

The Bamyan centre functions as a rural area capacity centre with structures that are more likely for teams from other regions to learn from and copy to more rural areas.

The semi-permanent Funtainer bases: To support and enable activities in more regions for relatively low cost, MMCC/AECC has developed a unique container based concept. The Funtainers are modified containers designed with space for keeping equipment and a roof to provide much needed cover for the sun. While a regular centre requires a wall and guards among much more, the Funtainers with just a lock and a key provide a logistic frame and base for groups of MMCC/AECC children to meet and practice. The first MMCC/AECC Funtainer was placed in Bamyan to try out and develop what since became the actual centre described above. This Funtainer is now placed in a boys school in Ghor, where another Funtainer is also located in a girls school. A third MMCC/AECC Funtainer is located in Badakshan, Feizabad, where a group of MMCC/AECC boys meet several times weekly to practice juggling, acrobatic and theatre. Funtainers are also used as frames for implementing MMCC/AECC's activities in a number of IDP camps in Kabul. These activities are, however, not included in this actual evaluation.

Community provided bases: The Funtainers described above are all placed in schools, where the local education department has agreed to provide space for free including access for children from more schools to use the facilities before and after school hours. The Funtainers thereby become kind of a mini MMCC/AECC centre within the frame of a school and local community. Over the years, MMCC/AECC has been in contact with and implemented workshops for hundreds of schools and local community groups and organizations. In Jalalabad one such group of boys were already practicing gymnastic in a school when they were first invited for a workshop by MMCC/AECC. Following successful initial cooperation and interest from both the boys and the school, the boys gradually adopted the circus activities and have become part of MMCC/AECC. While so far entirely hosted by the school and local community, MMCC/AECC's Jalalabad-team on daily bases thereby Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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function as a more autonomous team, an extensive exchange between the Kabul centre and the boys hosted by the school in Jalalabad ensures the boys and activities at the same time are fully integrated into MMCC/AECC's overall program.

Independent associated groups: Until early 2012 MMCC/AECC was running a centre in Herat, kind of similar to the Kabul and Bamyan centres. The Herat activities are currently in a transition to be integrated to a local based partner organization (HELP). MMCC/AECC continues to supervise and support the core group of staff and children, that among more have been in Kabul several times for trainings and to participate in national events.

3.4 PROGRAM COMPONENTS The program has a varied and large portfolio of activities that have been implemented in various locations in Afghanistan. The program components that the evaluators assessed in Kabul, Bamyan, Jalalabad and Ghor are as following: a) Social Circus:

Broadly educational performances and workshops are being covered under this activity.

Educational Performances: Educational entertaining performances are central to the MMCC/AECC’s methodology.

Every performance communicates an educational message – education for peace among different ethnic groups by using a horse, a frog and a bear who have a conflict; malaria prevention using a giant mosquito; or hand washing performed by a giant hand (diarrhea is a major health risk and kills many children in Afghanistan). A typical performance lasts for up to one hour and always includes one or more educational parts about essential themes such as hygiene, peaceful conflict resolution, or traffic safety. Past performance have also included landmine awareness, teaching and protecting children from the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordinances, in ways they can be easily and much better understood by children than through other educational approaches.

Workshops: Workshops on circus skills such as juggling, acrobatics, theatre and painting are essential parts of Social Circus work. They teach children new ways of thinking through expanding their creative horizons. At the end of each workshop the MMCC/AECC team assists the children to make a full show for their school or local community. In addition, children who are not already part of the regular programs in the main capacity centers are being brought to the MMCC/AECC capacity centers to attend in-depth training programs.

Since 2002, the MMCC/AECC has performed and carried out workshops for more 2.7 million children in 25 of provinces throughout Afghanistan. Combining entertainment with essential educational messages, such as health and peace, delivered by professional Afghan artists in a local context has proven effective in helping other cultural activities take root.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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Circus workshops have been successful even in parts of the country where music, singing and other forms of artistic expression have been suppressed or forgotten for decades.

Both the junior and adult parts of the circus conduct workshops for communities that are interested in learning how to develop their own performances and arts. Safe hand-washing practices are for example promoted through a circus program where children in refugee camps were made aware of the importance of hand-washing before and after every meal as well as periodically during every day for the overall health. b) Children Shura and democracy:

The development of conflict resolution skills and participatory approaches to discuss problems and finding community supported solutions is a main aspect of the children Shura activities of the MMCC/AECC. The activities are integrated to the programs in all regions with special focus prior to an annual National Children Shura in Kabul initiated and organized by MMCC/AECC. Shura-e-Atfal (children/youth parliaments) have been also formed in more schools and children organizations with the guidance of MMCC/AECC. The main purpose of the Shura (committee) is to provide a platform for children to polish their leadership and communication skills.

At most of the schools visited by the evaluators, the Shura was formed through a consultative and electoral process. The children were asked to first nominate and then elect the representatives of the Shura through balloting and secret canvassing. In some schools where the initial support for the processes of the children Shura was less, the students to participate in the Shura were elected through direct nomination from the school administration. The Shura has not only helped children engage with the school administration but has also provided a place for the children to interact with each other and settle any grievances among themselves. Shuras were formed in most of targeted High schools and middle schools in Kabul, Bamyan, Jalalabad and Ghor provinces where the evaluators visited. c) School Decorations

In this activity the participating schools' windows and doors were painted in various bright colors such as yellow, red, green and blue. The walls, both inside and outside, were also decorated and painted with additional patterns by the children themselves. The main purpose of this activity is to motivate children and students to get involved in forming their schools' look and learning environment. They can decide themselves about the look of their surrounding, which gives them a direct possibility to realize their own wishes and mould their surrounding according to their own needs. This activity is furthermore geared to involve especially the girls. During the evaluation, students and especially the girls, liked this activity and were seen as participating in Ghor and Bamyan at middle and High schools.

The school decoration activities that were assessed in this evaluation included paintings and drawings of various famous Afghan poets and personalities, the drawing of the Afghan Flag and map, and the pictures of various animals, science laboratory equipment, etc. The choice Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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of subjects highlights another aspect of the MMCC/AECC's pedagogical approach: children learn about the contents of the subjects through painting them, or through the fact that the paintings remain a part of their daily environment. Educational paintings can be used as part of the normal lessons, but can also offer individual students insight beyond the general subject matter. d) Children Media

Under this program various activities such as children’s magazines, radio, video, and photography classes, as well as multimedia and web trainings are provided. Children produce and generate their own content under the supervision of professional trainers at the MMCC/AECC's centers in Kabul and Bamyan. There is a mini-cinema facility available at the MMCC/AECC center in Kabul that was visited by the evaluators. This is one of the very first mini cinemas dedicated for children in Afghanistan. MMCC/AECC has trained numerous children in the latest photography and digital media techniques. Media workshops have been conducted at various locations benefitting children between the ages of 10 to 17.

They now produce their own videos and are capable to screen them for other children and their families in the cinema facility. Radio shows are also produced by children themselves.

The radio programs have been broadcasted in corporation with the Afghan Ministry of Education's radio channel (ERTV) among more. e) Dedicated activities for vulnerable children and poor segments of society:

In general most activities carried out by MMCC/AECC are for children from very poor backgrounds. In addition to this, some dedicated activities are developed out of special considerations for vulnerable segments of society such as IDP camps and communities (internally displaced people), orphans and children with disabilities. The children from IDP communities are invited to the center in Kabul and offered training in arts such as acrobatics, juggling, and theatre. Afterwards a group of MMCC/AECC trainers visits the camps regularly with circus and media equipment to teach children how to play, juggle, perform, interact and express themselves through circus, photo, radio and video productions. Some of the best camp children then become part of a trainer program. This program supports them to continue and sustain the activities in the camp by themselves. Hygiene promotion activities for the children are also being performed in the same vein.

The MMCC/AECC is striving to achieve its strategic goal as established for the promotion of an overall child protection in Afghanistan, through formal and re-creational education.

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4. EVALUATION FINDINGS

Kabul 4.1 KABUL - THE MAIN CENTRE Kabul has been the main hub of MMCC/AECC's activities since the beginning in 2002.

Since 2003 the organisation maintains a Children Cultural House in Kabul. This cultural house has since become an important base and capacity building center for all MMCC/AECC's activities in Afghanistan. Apart from the activities in the center itself, MMCC and AECC have carried out numerous workshops and performances at various schools in the city. The Children Cultural House is a rented property with several buildings, outside areas, and an additional dome structure that all together houses circus, as well as media and Shura activities. The environment in the Kabul centre is very distinct and unique: the four MMCC/AECC colors (bright red, green, blue and yellow) are utilized for all kinds of decorations. Besides colorful painted walls and windows, big models of animals and other educational content is displayed and used in lessons and beyond. The designs were developed together with the children.

The Children Cultural House is staffed with 10-15 young trainers, 8-10 adult activity staff and 7-9 employees working in the administration and maintenance. The young trainers have all been trainees of the MMCC/AECC previously and are now helping to teach new students and conduct workshops outside of the center in the MMCC/AECC's outreach projects for a nominal stipend of 500-1000 Afs per month (equal 10-20 USD). The Kabul Centers young trainers' capacity is high compared to other provinces. This is due to more training and practice opportunities in Kabul.

A core group of 120 students is trained on a daily basis and makes school performances in Kabul and its surroundings. These performances are assisted by AECC’s staff and young trainers, and the performance activities reaches an average of 25,000 children in 25-30 schools, IDP camps and children organizations annually. Apart from school performances, the students assist to teach other children including children in IDP camps, schools and handicap organizations. An annual three months winter program, with a mixture of school subjects, circus and media classes introduces 350 children to the MMCC/AECC activities and subsequently takes the best of them as regular students into its program.

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The Children Cultural House in Kabul serves as a training center for all of Afghanistan, where new pedagogies are developed and tested in cooperation with the children. Staff and children from the provinces are invited on a regular bases to come to Kabul to learn the best of these newly developed practices, pedagogies and activities to be copied to the regions.

An important feature at the Kabul centre are the weekly 'mother meetings', in which the mothers whose children attend the MMCC/AECC's activities, as well as trainers and organizers get together. Through these weekly meetings MMCC/AECC maintains close contact with families and local community stakeholders to facilitate for example girls' participation, stage performances and even travel to other regions of the country.

The main center in Kabul hosts furthermore several annual events with the participation of children from other provinces. These annual events include the National Juggling Championship, the National Children's Shura (Shura-e-Atfal), and Theatre Festivals among others.

The evaluation team carried out a detailed review and assessment of MMCC/AECC's activities in Kabul and conducted many focus group discussions and interviews with various stakeholders. Evaluation participants included trainee children, their parents, school students at large, IDPs, government officials, as well as the MMCC/AECC team and the management.

Focus Group Discussion with the parents of the beneficiary children at the MMCC/AECC center in Kabul: The parents were overall satisfied and happy with the MMCC/AECC's involvement with their children. One of the parents described: “My girl was naughty and careless. I complained to the circus' female teacher and the teacher provided sufficient social counseling. The counseling brought amazing change in the attitude and behavior of the girl. I feel that now she is more respectful and confident than she was before.”

The salient findings of the meeting with parents are: 1. Most parents were thankful and appreciative of the MMCC/AECC's activities for

their children. They observed that as time went by; their children have become more responsible and confident in themselves through the engagement in activities of the MMCC/AECC. 2. The parents see a positive change in their children post MMCC/AECC training: they

believe their children to be more focused, courageous, and more developed in their character.

3. Parents feel that their children see the MMCC/AECC as their second home and don’t

want to miss any activity they are invited to take part in.

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4. The parents showed full support and confidence in the activities of the

MMCC/AECC and are regular visitors at the center to interact with the staff and trainers and to see with their own eyes the performances and the general involvement of their children in the program.

5. Parents voiced that the program has helped their children to improve their own time

management and formal education.

6. The parents were comparatively more aware of child rights and the importance of

psychological counseling of their children.

7. Parents suggested the provision of a paramedical facility at the center, and the

availability of doctors and nurses. The parents furthermore suggested that the trainees should be assisted with having a proper code of conduct and dress code for the center.

4.1.1 KABUL - SCHOOL OUTREACH In Kabul the evaluation team visited four different schools where MMCC/AECC has carried out its workshops. One example of a school visited by the evaluation team, where the MMCC/AECC has carried out many activities, is Allaudin High schools (one High school with two sub-branches, one for girls and one for boys). The activities that were offered among others in Allaudin High Schools were juggling, acrobatics, calligraphy, radio, and the formation of a students' Shura. The Shura was formed in the school through the help of the MMCC/AECC and is still working properly with regular meetings. The principals of the schools was satisfied with the work of the MMCC/AECC team and its activities in the schools. The evaluation team observed that the level of expertise in calligraphy of the children at Allaudin High Schools was second best behind Ghor.

A summary of the Focus Group Discussions with school teachers and management of all the four visited schools is provided below: 1. The two school managements and the teachers in Allaudin boys High school and

Allaudin girls High School were overall happy and had positive views about the MMCC/AECC's activities and the general impact that the activities have on the students.

2. The two school teachers in Abdul Ali Mustaqni boys High School and Roxana

girls High School were not happy and had negative views about the MMCC/AECC's activities and the general impact that the activities have on the students. The school decoration program in these two schools was considered as donated repair and maintenance activity.

3. The Allauddin High Schools teachers like the beneficiary selection criteria and

methodology of the MMCC/AECC team. The way MMCC/AECC picks the

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trainees on the basis of their own interests in the offered activities, is seen as a good approach.

4. There is a general feeling that those children who take active part in the

MMCC/AECC's activities, attend school more regularly, and are more healthy and proactive in their daily lives.

5. The school decoration program at Allauddin High Schools has helped the school

administrations to improve their school's reputation among the local population and school children.

Focus Group Discussions with Allaudin School Shura: The evaluation team carried out a focus group discussion with representatives of the Shura at Allaudin boys High school (namely Qaes, Mansoor Frotan, Ahmed Hashim, and Mohammad Faiz Mir). The salient findings of this focus group are as following: 1. The MMCC/AECC provided the initial training and capacity building (for two months) to the students on how to start and run a student’s Shura in their school.

2. The students’ Shura have since then organized and facilitated many activities in the school including a photo exhibition and calligraphy exhibit.

3. The students were happy with MMCC/AECC's initial help in the Shura formation.

The Shura has helped them to organize themselves as a group and to find a formalized way in which to communicate and coordinate matters with the school administration and the community at large.

4. 8 members of the Shura executive council meet regularly at the school to look after the affairs of the students' Shura.

5. A Shura meeting book is maintained and a regular log of activities is kept, which provides an overview of the activities so far.

6. The Shura requested the MMCC/AECC to facilitate and help them in organizing activities and functions outside the school premises 7. Children were very interested to be involved in MMCC/AECC's activities even during winter vacations, when no such activities take place in their school.

8. The Shura has raised issues in the overall student community such as drug abuse and addiction. With the help of the MMCC/AECC they were able to distribute information on the downsides of drug usage.

General Impressions:

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The students were selected after due diligence and through their preferred choice of discipline. At the schools, the students' capacity was enhanced on various social issues such as anti-narcotics, hygiene and child protection.

In general it was found that the participation in the MMCC/AECC's program has helped students to improve their general understanding about life, has given them a purpose and a future career path if they take their art seriously. Many students were able to participate in events or organized by the MMCC/AECC in various provinces and schools.

The children expressed that they enjoyed the parents' and teachers' support and constant encouragement. Concluding it can be remarked that the MMCC/AECC helps students to maintain discipline in life and in their school engagements.

The evaluators advise, however, to revisit and revitalize the MMCC/AECC's program activities in some of the schools in Kabul. The program needs to focus more on rural areas and small scale community schools rather than big public schools.

At Abdul Ali Mustaqni and Roxana High Schools, the school administration seems to be non-cooperative. This might be the reason why the MMCC/AECC was not able to follow up on the initial activities, including the Shura formation that was carried out in the school. The overall response of school administrations in Kabul (2 out of the 4 schools that the evaluators visited) was lukewarm and non-appreciative, especially concerning the school decoration activities.

In Kabul there is a need for linkages and networking with the physical education department of the Ministry of Education as the official was fairly interested in a collaboration with the MMCC/AECC.

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Bamyan 4.2 BAMYAN - THE RURAL AREA CENTRE MMCC/AECC has a fully-equipped training center in Bamyan, which was established as a smaller copy of the Kabul centre in 2009. During the school season, from April to November, the centre runs daily activities for and with 140 children similar to the activities in Kabul.

The Bamyan centre has the capacity to support activities in more rural regions of the country and is catering to children from various communities. The Bamyan centre thereby functions as a rural area capacity centre with structures developed to be replicated to more rural areas.

Mobile circus activities in the region are coordinated and supported from this capacity centre.

The MMCC/AECC team in Bamyan is headed by the experienced actor, Mr. Asad. He is supported by his assistant Mr. Muhammadullah and Ms. Maryam. Ms. Maryam helps the trainees in their formal education along with supporting the general activities. The trainer team includes seven members, with three young female and four young male trainers.

At the MMCC/AECC center the trainee children were seen practicing juggling, photography, acrobatics and painting. The trainers are the same older children who were initially trained by the MMCC/AECC in the past. Now their level of expertise has increased so significantly that they can act as trainers at the local level themselves. The trainers take part in advanced trainings in Kabul on a regular bases.

All the center children were engaged in formal education along with the circus activities. The MMCC/AECC makes it a point that no child can follow the circus activities if they are not following a formal education track, too. The children were following a strict code of conduct at the center under the watchful eye of the center coordinator. The time table was displayed and activities were coordinated and executed as per time table. The center was wellmaintained and the children were happy with the available facilities.

The general environment and atmosphere at the MMCC/AECC Bamyan centre is welcoming. Children from faraway areas visit the premises as well. Overall, the children feel comfortable and happy while playing and training in the center and were satisfied with the Bamyan center management, the trainers' kind attitude towards the children and the cheerful environment of the center.

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The trainers and the staff of the Bamyan center have developed a cordial and friendly relationship with each other and the children. The center environment is reliable for parents and the greater community. They are therefore supportive of their children's participation in the MMCC's activities. One of the examples is the 16-17 years old Ms. Fatima, who is continuously working as a young trainer for the MMCC/AECC for already two years without fear or worries.

Parents, government officials and members of the civil society are frequently visiting the Bamyan Center especially during special events that the centre organizes. The parents interviewed by the evaluators all like the activities. One of the parents commented on the positive effect of the MMCC/AECC's activities in Bamyan: “My child was playing on streets before and I was worried. But now he is going regularly to the Circus Center and I am satisfied with the activities at the MMCC. My child is now feeling more confident than before.” He gives this credit to the MMCC Bamyan Center and its teachers.

4.2.1 BAMYAN - OUTREACH In Bamyan the evaluators visited four schools, namely Tahbity Middle School of girls, Sukhdar High School (for girls and boys), Yakawlang High School (for girls) and Dar-e Ali High School (for girls and boys).

At Sukhdar High School two separate Shuras were formed, one for female and one for male students with the help of the MMCC/AECC. The girl’s Shura was very active and was coordinating with the school administration and with the MMCC/AECC on an almost daily basis. The Shura had its own representatives who all praised the MMCC/AECC’s efforts in establishing the Shura. The girl’s Shura requested, however, that materials like stationary (stamp pad along with letter heads, pens, Shura dignitary badges, etc.) should be provided to Shura members by the MMCC/AECC. This would enable the Shura members to give their activities a more official look .

The boy’s Shura at Sukhdar High School was not as coordinated or vigilant as the girl’s Shura. There seems to be, however, an appreciation among the boys for the importance of the Shura.

One success story of the Shura was the purchase of window glass for class windows on a self-help basis, as the school administration was out of resources and therefore unable to keep up with maintenances. A group of school children collected the necessary funds with the help and coordination of children Shura members, and refurbished the class windows, protecting themselves from the chilly winds and harsh weather in winter. The school decoration was another activity that was carried out in Sukhdar High School. This activity was praised both by students, the school administration and the community at large.

At Shukdar the school administration was full of praise and appreciation for the activities of the MMCC/AECC and wanted to pursue a long-term affiliation with the organization.

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at the school level. Special attention was given to the sustainability of the program.

MMCC/AECC not only provided training to local people as potential future trainers but also provided equipment/material so that the school can carry on with the activities after MMCC/AECC itself has stopped their workshops.

Tahbity School was another school that the evaluators visited where the MMCC/AECC has carried out its workshops in the past. The student Shura as formed by the MMCC/AECC was still functioning; however no proper record of activities was maintained by the Shura.

Overall, the Shura has helped to maintain the school peace and recounted numerous occasions in which the Shura has helped the school management in dealing with students with erratic behavior, such as smokers. The Shura also advocates for children's rights by interacting with and involving the community at large in questions of children's education.

The Shura has helped many non-school-going children to come or return to school and continue their formal education.

At Tahbity School, the school decoration carried out by MMCC/AECC with the help of students have also helped to increase enrollment and interest from the local community in school matters. School attendance has improved post school decoration activities.

The third school that the evaluators visited in Bamyan was situated in the Yakawlang district of Bamyan, an area that lies distant to the provincial capital. The principal of Yakawlang Girl’s High School was extremely excited and pleased about the work of the MMCC/AECC and hopes for further future collaboration with the organization. The girls were seen as still practicing juggling despite the fact that the program had already ended. The average skill level of the girls seemed to be good compared to other places in Afghanistan. The general standard of the female trainees in singing, painting, calligraphy, and juggling was impressive. A few of the trainees have received invitations from outside organizations to perform at events. The trainees were invited to compare at various district’s programs, at calligraphy exhibitions and signing competitions.

At Dar-e Ali School the response to the activities of the MMCC/AECC was positive. The students as well as the school administration were interested in a long-term plan and further collaboration between MMCC/AECC and the school. They requested the MMCC/AECC to devise a plan to train local resources at their school who can act as master trainers and to provide the necessary material that can be used over the long-term, even after MMCC/AECC has left the school.

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Ghor 4.3 GHOR - FUNTAINER BASE Ghor is a distant and remote place in Afghanistan where there is hardly any entertainment activity for children and adults. TV and radio availability is intermittent. The MMCC/AECC has placed two FuntainersTM (containers that are modified and specially equipped for MMCC/AECC's programs) in Ghor. One Funtainer is at a boy’s school, Allaudin High School, and another is at a girl’s school, Sultan Razia High School of Girls. Currently there are 30-35 boys at Alauddin School and around 25-30 girls in Sultan Razia School engaged as direct program activity beneficiaries.

The FuntainersTM serve the purpose of small- scale centers at each school. Children can regularly take classes in disciplines such as juggling, acrobatic, singing, theatre, painting and calligraphy as well as digital media and radio production. The MMCC/AECC has facilitated the formation of student Shuras in both schools, whereby students have elected their representatives through proper elections and nomination procedures. In both schools MMCC/AECC have organized school decorations and in addition to the Funtainers, a stage was built at Sultan Razia High School for Girls.

The evaluators paid a visit to both locations, and met the main resource person of the MMCC/AECC, Mr. SherAgha, along with other relevant stakeholders including the beneficiary children, the school administration, the regulatory bodies’ personnel, the government officials and the parents of the children.

The evaluators observed that networks and linkages both between the MMCC/AECC and the community at large as well as with the parents of the beneficiary children were better in Ghor than in any other province where the evaluation was conducted. The school administrations were always informed about recent developments and had access to all information about the activities of the MMCC/AECC and their student’s participation in those activities.

Overall, all stakeholders in Ghor were unanimous in praise for the MMCC/AECC and wanted the MMCC/AECC not only to continue its good work but to also replicate the same methodology in other places/schools in the province. The MMCC/AECC's activities were seen bringing social harmony and unity as well as a spirit of cohesiveness among the students/children as well as community at large. Many stakeholders therefore expressed an

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interest in taking up activities again with the MMCC/AECC, with a special focus on the girls' activities.

In all the workshops that MMCC/AECC carried out in Ghor province a proper code of conduct for the activities was followed and the activities were neatly recorded. The evaluators observed the existence of a proper time table that is followed by MMCC/AECC trainers and trainees at the FuntainersTM in Ghor. It also allows to track and review all past activities.

Another important aspect of the MMCC/AECC's activities in Ghor is the use of volunteers.

Most of the trainers, who work in the project, were initially children who participated before in the program of the MMCC/AECC. When they become skilled enough to work as trainers at the local level, they are still students of the same school and premises where they are providing the training. The evaluators would sustain, however, that there remains a need for more mature and skilled trainers especially for the girl’s school.

At Sultan Razia High school of girls, the vice principal acknowledged the positive impact of the initiatives of the MMCC/AECC on the interest of the school children and on improving the confidence level among the students who are taking part in MMCC/AECC's activities at the school. The vice principal also appreciated the idea and the concept behind the school decoration program. He acknowledged that not only the girls' drawing skills have improved through the program, but students have generally discovered their creative competence.

The head teacher of the school remarked: "The beneficiaries of MMCC/AECC activities have shown good character, good moral values and educational attitude. We trust the circus children, they are very competent."

The vice principal also pointed to the fact that most of the students who have attended the MMCC/AECC's program, have been able to improve their formal education grading. The evaluators furthermore verified with the school attendance register that school attendance has improved among students, especially among MMCC/AECC beneficiaries, since their involvement in activities of MMCC/AECC. Another success story in Ghor is the constant and regular involvement of MMCC/AECC in government programs and of government officials in MMCC/AECC's programs. An example of this bi-directional involvement is the annual teacher’s day that was organized by the Ministry of Education, MMCC/AECC trained students who were utilized to perform in theater drama activities at other High schools. Various events were conducted at Razia Sultan High school in the last 2 years and several government officials such as the governor and directors of various ministries attended those functions and praised the contribution and performance qualities of MMCC/AECC's trainees and trainers.

The female beneficiaries requested that they should be allowed to travel outside of the city for MMCC/AECC's activities/ competitions with their male siblings. It would make it easier for them to gain the approval of their families and relatives if they were accompanied by male siblings.

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Most of the parents who were interviewed by the evaluators were happy with the activities of the MMCC/AECC and the involvement of their children in the program. The parents voiced that the program has helped their children realize their true potential. They observed that the children continue to think in their free time at home about various ideas and initiatives that can help them to improve their overall performance in the circus.

4.3.1 GHOR OUTREACH Apart from the FuntainerTM activities, there are various schools where mobile workshops ranging from 10-15 days were conducted by the MMCC/AECC. The evaluators visited three such schools and at each place the response and feedback from the stakeholders, including the beneficiary children, was positive and full of praise. Students/beneficiary children along with their parents and their school administration, however, wanted the MMCC/AECC to invest more in the basic infrastructure and sustainability of the activities by providing equipment and training to local contact persons One such school, where the MMCC/AECC conducted workshops, was Maktab Khadija where the evaluator carried out group discussions with schoolchildren (including former participants of MMCC/AECC's activities), school administration, teachers and parents. At Khadija School the MMCC/AECC carried out 15 days of activities ranging from Shura, acrobatics and juggling, painting, singing, and radio media trainings. Five trainers were involved in the training of around 30-35 students. The trainees expressed satisfaction with the training methodology and the expertise of the trainers. The activities were carried out in school premises after the formal closure of the school, between 1 to 3 pm. The school administration cooperated fully with the program team of the MMCC/AECC. The majority of students that took part in circus activities at Khadija School were asking to continue the program of the MMCC/AECC for them. The Shura program is one great success story in this school where students were able to resolve many of their issues through the help of the Shura that was facilitated by the MMCC/AECC. The success of the program and Shura activities at Khadija High School can be exemplified by the increased confidence of one student, name Karishma, who was a direct trainee in the activities of the MMCC/AECC. Before participating in the program she was described as low on confidence by her family. After the initial training and counseling from the MMCC/AECC and by becoming the student Shura leader, she gradually became so confident that she now acts as a student leader in the school and works towards the provision of missing facilities in the school.

The evaluators also conducted interviews with teachers of Khadija High School and found out that the interest of the teachers remained high for future MMCC/AECC interventions in their school. The general perception of the teachers is that the students, who have been associated with the MMCC/AECC in any way, are more confident, innovative, proactive and self-reliant than those who are not MMCC/AECC beneficiaries. The teachers were adamant about the fact that MMCC/AECC-trained children are better in formal education than those who are not attached to the program.

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The general consensus among the Khadija school administration was that the MMCC/AECC should provide them with the necessary tools and equipment and further training so that the school administration can continue the activities on its own. They showed an interest to continue or build upon the initial MMCC/AECC initiatives. Activities such as singing and theater are enjoyed in girls’ schools and are sought after in many other schools in Ghor province.

The training that the children received from the MMCC/AECC has resulted in several invitations for performances and further trainings of other children (for example annual teacher's day celebration, school functions, drama performances, trainings at NGOs).

4.3.2 IMPACT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Ghor can safely be categorized as a rural area. The impact of the program though was far reaching. In each beneficiary interview the evaluators sensed renewed and increased interest of stakeholders in the work of MMCC/AECC, and further desire for an extension of the project and replication to other schools and places in Ghor. The schools where the MMCC/AECC has carried out its activities reported higher interest post MMCC/AECC involvement, increased self- confidence, and increased interest in education from the beneficiaries of the MMCC/AECC. The representative entrusted with coordinating the activities of the MMCC/AECC in Ghor, Mr. Sher Agha, is a vibrant individual with strong regional presence and extensive networks.

He has gained the trust and support of the local community with his engagement. The opinion of various stakeholders on the activities of the MMCC/AECC in Ghor was therefore positive. The evaluators found an adequate knowledge among the local government officials such as the directorate of the Ministry of Education, MoLSAMD, and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs on the MMCC/AECC and their involvement with the children. The local resource person was seen in constant communication with the government and other school officials, promoting the cause of the MMCC/AECC's program.

Generally, the trainee children were found to excel in painting and calligraphy. The reason for this focus might be, that the trainer himself, Mr. SherAgha, is an expert calligrapher and is known in the area for his skill. Calligraphy is also his main source of livelihood. The juggling and gymnastics skills of the trainees were third in ranking in Ghor behind Jalalabad and Kabul.

At both schools where the Funtainers are based, the Shura was found to be dysfunctional and not working as expected. The evaluators recommend to put a sustainability plan in place for continuing the Shura activities.

The evaluators observed that most of the beneficiary children of the MMCC/AECC in Ghor province are of middle and higher middle class background. There is lower representation ratio of the poorer and vulnerable segments of society. The reason could might be that most of the children that come to the surveyed schools are from a rather well off background.

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Overall the evaluation points to a need for a strategy to engage all segments of society as they are in other places where the MMCC/AECC works.

In Ghor the evaluation Team met with Mr. Sibghat Ullah Akbar (Director of ministry of education), and overall view of the director about MMCC/AECC activities at local level was positive. The officer was satisfied with the overall magnitude, networking and coordination of MMCC/AECC activities in Ghor. The officer assured the evaluators that he would be extending all possible help to the MMCC/AECC team in any of their quests for extension and further up scaling of activities in Ghor province. In his opinion there is further need to work in the rural areas of Ghor and MMCC/AECC could follow a strategy of training the local resource and after providing the basic equipment the schools can then be made selfreliant and sufficient and sustainable. The director also recommended that if MMCC/AECC requires and reaches out, there is a possibility that the local school syllabus and course contents could be modified, to accommodate the MMCC/AECC activities as part of physical education syllabus for the students.

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Jalalabad 4.4 JALALABAD - COMMUNITY PROVIDED BASE The MMCC/AECC has currently no operational center in Jalalabad. MMCC/AECC has, however, invited a team of boys from Jalalabad to take part in trainings in Kabul over the past two years. Through extensive exchange between its Kabul centre and a school that currently hosts the activities in Jalalabad, the boys were trained by Mr. Haroon, who took on the trainings by himself. MMCC/AECC has no full project in Jalalabad, but supports the initiative of Mr. Haroon, who is paid a small monthly amount for being local mobilizer including bringing the boys to Kabul for workshops and events. With so limited investment the results that MMCC/AECC achieves in the Jalalabad region are exceptional.

Mr. Haroon, the master trainer in Jalalabad, is a first-year university student in journalism.

He is training approximately 70 students in juggling, theater, acrobatics and gymnastics. He has the support of two assistant trainers, Ajmal (age 18) and Masood (age16). The trainees in Jalalabad were keen to pursue further training and voiced an interest for the MMCC/AECC to establish an own center with extended facilities. The trainer (Mr. Haroon) in Jalalabad was confident that if a center is established in Jalalabad he can increase the number of trainees’ number from the existing 70 to 300. The needs that the trainees voiced were otherwise mainly related to training equipment such as juggling balls and clubs, computers, internet access, carpets and painting supplies.

The evaluation team visited three High schools in the province (namely Tajurubati, Mohammadi Sahib Zada and Nangarhar) and found out that good interest prevails among the students of these schools for the activities of the MMCC/AECC. Students were particularly interested in activities such as juggling and acrobatics; this increased interest might be the reason why Jalalabad trainees reached most of the top positions in the inter school juggling competitions carried out by the MMCC/AECC. During the evaluation the evaluators carried out 3 focus group discussions in the respective schools with students/beneficiaries of the MMCC/AECC activities. Three one-on-one discussions with school headmasters, principals, and vice principals were conducted. These discussions were supplemented with meetings with the director of MoLSAMD (Professor Abdul Hakim) and the directorate of education (Mr. Saleem). About 30-35 children attend the activities of the MMCC/AECC at Tajrubati High School. The students reported about their active participation in juggling, acrobatics and gymnastics competitions. They also travelled 2 times to Kabul to attend the inter-city competitions.

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Focus Group Discussions with school administrations and teachers: Overall, the school administration and the teachers were satisfied and appreciative of the work the MMCC/AECC has done in their area. Their observations include: 1. The overall behavior and lifestyle of children who took part as beneficiaries in the

MMCC/AECC’s program has changed. Teachers observed that students who took part in activities of the MMCC/AECC are more astute and sharp in their formal education and more active in their community. Furthermore, teachers observed an increase in the level of confidence of the beneficiary students. Students themselves would consider the activities as a source of recreation, fun and empowerment.

2. The program was viewed as overall effective. Teachers voiced, however, that they would

appreciate an additional component in the activities which helps students to gain some Islamic knowledge.

3. It was proposed that the trainees, who developed a certain skill-set through the trainings

of the MMCC/AECC, should be grouped into a team (with the support of the school management) in their school in the same sport/discipline that they were trained in. In this way, the schools would be able to offer this activity as a general part of their school curriculum. For example a juggling team, painting team and a theater group etc.

Intra and inter school competitions may be organized among various teams to further build the interest of possible beneficiaries.

4. There should be periodic repetitions of the proposed activities. The activities which are

conducted once in a school should be conducted or supervised in regular intervals.

Some teachers sustained that especially big schools like Nangarhar High school, where more than 7,000 students study, need proper guidance and monitoring by MMCC/AECC. 5. The teachers and administrators wished for more theater activities at the school level.

Mini Mobile Theater activities were strongly welcomed and sought after in many of the schools.

Focus Group Discussions with Government Line officials and officers: During the evaluation the evaluators carried out various interviews with government line departments and regulatory stakeholders. The director of MoLSAMD, Professor Abdul Hakim, expressed in his interview that he will appreciate the work of MMCC/AECC if it would be on long term bases. He also proposed that coordination between MoLSAMD, MMCC/AECC and other stakeholder should be increased.

The director of the Ministry of culture in Jalalabad also observed a lack of public awareness of the activities of the MMCC/AECC. He voiced the necessity for the MMCC/AECC to develop a more elaborative publicity policy, so that more Afghan people and their children have access to the information about the MMCC/AECC's activities in the area. The director Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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also hoped for a permanent center to be established by the MMCC/AECC in Jalalabad and promised an overall support by the DoIYC (Department of Youth and Culture) to the MMCC/AECC. The officials of the Directorate of youth and Culture were also welcoming to the idea of sharing the hall of the Directorate for any future activities of MMCC/AECC. They were furthermore open to any strategic partnership with the MMCC/AECC for future activities, such as utilizing MMCC trainers for programs of the Directorate and offering likewise their capacities and support.

4.4.1 IMPACT AND RECOMMENDATIONS The impact of the MMCC/AECC activities in the area are encouraging and are generally viewed positively by the local population and the interviewed stakeholders. The beneficiary children felt it as their only or biggest source of entertainment, and they enjoyed receiving education through fun means. The MMCC/AECC trainee children were visibly sharper, more self-confident and optimistic than the children who were not involved in MMCC/AECC activities.

The informal education and fun approach of learning that the children experienced through the activities of the MMCC/AECC have helped them to improve their standard even in the formal education system. In both Nangarhar and Tajrubati High schools the evaluators observed improved grades and school performance of the MMCC/AECC beneficiary children in their formal education. These findings were confirmed by both the school administration and the parents.

Due to the specific skill set and interest of the master trainer (Mr. Haroon) most of the children in Jalalabad were very good at juggling and acrobatic. This focus becomes apparent as well in inter provincial competitions: due to their impressive skills the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions were taken by the Jalalabad province in the most recent inter provincial competition. The children did also show good results in theater and acrobatics.

Jalalabad is relatively more conserve in the matter of girl’s participation in extra circular activities, especially when facilitated by male trainers. Presently there were no activities for girls in Jalalabad. There is a request for specifically designed activities that keep in mind the local traditions of the area for the girls, to maximize their participation in the various activities that MMCC/AECC provides.

Mohammadi Sahib Zada school administrations in Jalalabad confirmed that the schools experienced increased interest from present students just after the MMCC/AECC activities as the school looks and decorations were implemented.

Beneficiaries of the MMCC/AECC expressed univocal that they wished the program to continue. At Mohammadi Sahib Zada High school, management also expressed that a general follow up of the activities that have been carried out in the school is required.

Interviewees in the school administration as well as participating students believe that with a little more mentoring (training of students for the role of trainers) and material help in the Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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form of the provision of sporting equipment, schools could sustain the activities for a longer period of time. On the contrary, the school administration made no formal record of beneficiary children that have taken part in MMCC/AECC activities.

The school decoration activity has been appreciated in Mohammadi Sahib Zada, however, the school management was of the opinion that a better result could have been achieved if the MMCC/AECC had handed over the resources such as paint and brushes to the school administration and let the school administration take over the responsibilities and engage students on their own. The difference of opinion is usually on the colure mix and painting choice. In school decoration activity MMCC/AECC is more focusing on small children physiology, i.e. high contrast and colorful painting through small children, which is usually not matching with the adult choice.

The achievements in Jalalabad are astounding. While considering the limited resources that were deployed, the results that were achieved by MMCC/AECC so far are excellent.

Keeping in view the established interest and fondness among the children for the MMCC/AECC and its activities, there is a need for proper infrastructure investment by the MMCC/AECC in the area. A proper full time training center rather than the part time usage of a school area which is been used after the school timings (at Tajrubati school) would offer the opportunity to build up a promising potential in Jalalabad. Travelling allowances given to trainees for travelling to Kabul is recommended to be increased.

The beneficiary selection methodology that is followed in Jalalabad is based on the selfinterest of the children. The MMCC/AECC provides the children with a broad range of activity choices. Once the children pick a skill, they are divided into various groups and trained in their chosen skill. The evaluators believe that there is a need for a revision of the selection process. On occasions, a few non- beneficiary children spoke about their desire to be involved in activities of the MMCC/AECC but they could not be accommodated either due to resource constraints or selection rules.

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5. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE, PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, AND REPORTING Most of the staff and the volunteers that we met while on field for evaluation were happy, very satisfied and proud of their association with and the time they spent at the MMCC/AECC. The reasons are, 1. MMCC/AECC exerts a family like atmosphere especially at the center in Kabul,

where most of the management and the planning team resides. The employees and volunteers feel themselves to be part of a big family and are happy to work for a common cause. Also, employees feel secure and hope for a long term affiliation with the MMCC/AECC's program, because of MMCC/AECC's management policy to retain quality staff and invest in the capacity and training of those employed.

2. Availability of capacity building and training opportunities are precious. One

example is Mr. Fardeen Barekzai, for whom it was a life changing experience to go for a training session to Tanzania as arranged by the MMCC/AECC. 3. Employees, specially the female trainers, find the atmosphere and equal opportunity

policy of the MMCC/AECC a positive and important point to continue on.

4. Competitive salary packages are offered by the MMCC/AECC to its employees and

the reasonable amounts of stipends paid to its affiliate trainers has helped to maintain the overall vibrant organizational atmosphere.

5. A transparent and objective management system is followed at the MMCC/AECC

and all employees including the Co-directors adhere to a strict code of ethics.

6. The organizational policy of employing their own trainees and preferring internal

resources for any vacancy that may arise is very well appreciated by the staff as it gives them the hope for future opportunities to advance in the MMCC/AECC program. At the same time it teaches them important principles of objective merit evaluation and reward.

7. The attitude of the higher management (co-directors), their friendly nature, top down

management style, and consideration to local cultural norms and traditions is another factor which helps the MMCC/AECC achieve their organizational goal and retain employees for longer tenures and services.

8. Overall, the organization encourages its employees to work with an open mind and

interest in what they do. The responsibilities are assigned on the basis of the interest shown by the particular individuals and the personal history of proven individual reliability for performing as promised.

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5.1 FINANCES The MMCC/AECC has semi-skilled staff handling the internal recording, reporting and financial management of the program. The financial reports are been prepared using accounting software i.e. QuickBooks Premier.

The financial accounts are maintained on accrual basis and a voucher is passed for each and every transaction. The responsibilities are delegated to different individuals as vouchers preparation and verification is assigned to different individuals. One of the co-director is directly involved in approval of expenses as per budget, which has increased her workload, but at the same time it has created a strict culture of expenditure.

Bank accounts are properly maintained and all the revenue expenditures are routed through bank or through small petty cash. The bank cheques are only signed by the co-directors and all the deposits are vouched but pay in slips are not maintained separately in a file. Every year the audit is carried out by a qualified auditor of the accounts of MMCC/AECC and the evaluator has checked the last two year’s audit reports and especially that of last year and found that program activities are accurately vouched without discrepancies.

The online reporting system is entirely accessible and maintained at the website of the organization (www.afghanmmcc.org/1) for the day to day affairs and work management. The system helps the employees and the management in performing and managing their tasks effectively and in coordination with each other. One can easily find the log of the individual activities from the website for the past period.

There is need at the head office in Kabul to re-organize equipment and centralize it, so that it can be available to everyone through the warehouse management.

At organizational level there is a need to have a clear staff responsibility chart and proper segregation of duties. We could not find detailed HR policies and procedures of the organization which are properly approved and communicated to the staff.

Program activities are routinely maintained through a log and internal reporting system is used while communicating with staff and field people. No long term and written strategic plan is in place for the overall management, governance and sustainability of the activities post 5 years duration.

The accounting software could be further customized to accommodate automatically the local reporting and taxation requirements, which are otherwise performed manually. The overall organization maintains furthermore one consolidated operational budget. There are, however, no detailed separate budgets available for various program locations and activities.

No written financial policy manual was found in the organization.

Furthermore the organization’s capacity to track the expenditures of each project separately at recording stage is weak and the accountant is not able to trace the expenditures, project wise, location wise and donor’s wise at initial recording stages.. One of the co-director of the Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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organization is doing the project classification of the expenditure periodically by her own.

This procedure reduces the project-wise reporting credibility on one hand and reduces the organizational efficiency by duplicating the activities on other hand.

Salaries are paid through normal banking channels into the employees' accounts either through crossed cheque or direct transfer. A payroll register is being faithfully maintained by the organization and monthly payroll expenses are been calculated after careful consideration of the allowance to any authorized work related travel.

Apart from the described missing HR policies and procedures and above described non best practices, the finance system of the organization seems to be in order, highly transparent and accountable. We appreciate the culture of financial transparency and accountability of the organization.

6. NETWORKING AND LINKAGES The MMCC/AECC's program has taken an initiative to enhance the capacity of members of community based organizations and key stakeholders of the community by conducting capacity building workshops. MMCC/AECC has also implemented training programs for the formation of Shuras and for school teachers in general. The effectiveness of training programs is seen as satisfactory and provides impetus for community involvement in the activities. This very community involvement has helped the program achieve or at least strive towards sustainability. In addition, MMCC/AECC's local presence and community based mobilization approach has helped to achieve a general awareness and mobilization amongst community members for basic children's rights and education for every child.

In Herat, the MMCC/AECC has taken a step back, after building up the capacity of a local community based organization through the training of sufficient human resources. The local operations were handed over to a local community based organization. This strategy could be replicated in other places as well, such as in Ghor and Bamyan.

Additionally, we recommend the MMCC/AECC do develop a proper training curriculum and material for the trainings of local community based organizations and other human/child right activists who are working in the area. We believe the budget constraints are the main hurdle for this objective.

In most targeted areas. MMCC/AECC has been successful in establishing strong ties, both on the organizational level as well as with political powerbrokers. At the district level, the linkage between MMCC/AECC and the department of education/physical education, MoLSAMD, Directorate of information & Culture and school administrations, appears to be strong. The heads of most of the departments in the respective areas/districts/provinces are either directly involved in the project or were found to have a generally good understanding of the program activities.

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However we also observed in Nangarhar province, that the directors of DoLSAMD and DoIYC (Directorate of Information, Youth and Culture) were not in picture of the MMCC/AECC activities.

The MMCC/AECC is also successful in establishing networks with other community based groups and in utilizing their services. The project has persuaded other departments to emphasize child protection and issues relevant to children including their education and physic-social-psychic health.

Even at the community/ village level, the project is successful in building good and lasting networks. Officials are actively participating in the project activities. Officials and local organizations have supported the establishment of places for the activities of the MMCC/AECC and are welcoming to such alterations as the school decoration program.

6.1 SUGGESTIONS 1. It is required to improve relations and communication with school administrations, especially in the areas of Kabul and Jalalabad, as some of the schools that the survey visited were not happy with the follow-up and communications of the MMCC/AECC with the local representatives/resource persons.

2. Religious scholars should be involved in the project (without compromising on the independence of the organization) as their words are accepted by a large number of rural inhabitants, especially in the area of Jalalabad. This could possibly increase girls' participation in program activities.

3. Networks should be extended and clusters should be formed at district, province and then at the national level of the organization working for children’s rights and children's education through recreational means and child protection. MMCC/AECC would be perfectly suited to endorse efforts for the implementation of child friendly policies in all of Afghanistan.

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7. MEDIA COVERAGE AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MMCC/AECC has specialized itself and its teams to produce performances that naturally attract the national Afghan and international media. There are cooperations with different national TV channels almost on weekly basis, and many TV channels have even allocated a particular section in their archive dedicated to MMCC/AECC. In some seasons even multiple weekly spots are broadcasted of MMCC/AECC performances and other activities.

MMCC/AECC has a very active presence in most of the celebrations and all kinds of national events and celebrations in both Kabul and the provinces.

MMCC/AECC has a very strong online presence and there are literally millions of photos and articles, videos, radio programs as well as calendars, and different documents and links about MMCC/AECC on the internet. The photos taken from MMCC/AECC performances have been selected as the photo of the day many times. MMCC/AECC has a very advanced system of mobilizing and motivating media by print invitations, telephone calls, individual contacts, mass email press releases and social media.

This study used the available media including social media to analyze MMCC/AECC's utilization of media as an awareness tool. To gain an overview of the newspaper coverage on the MMCC/AECC, the evaluators went through the news clippings gathered by the program.

The evaluation of the newspaper coverage of MMCC/AECC's program has highlighted the scope of the media's awareness: coverage of all the aspects were found, such as the mainstreaming of child policies and education through fun and recreational means, rehabilitation and training, research related to child protection and education, awareness among students, and also human resource requirements for the program. Newspapers have also reported about the engagement of MMCC/AECC's team members such as the reporting of Fardeen Barekzai, who produced a documentary film on the working conditions of children in a coal mine in Bamyan. Many of the major activities of MMCC/AECC's program have been reported in local newspapers.

The social media presence of the program is effective. Its website, www.AfghanMMCC.org, has an average of nearly 2000 unique visitors per month from a large number of countries around the world. The reach through media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube is satisfactory. The MMCC/AECC is informing thousands of people about the MMCC/AECC's program and the social media log of the announced activities is impressive. The Organization is very effectively using the social media and is very active on face book (with multiple pages and more than 6000 likes), Twitter (with multiple pages and more than 1800 likes), Flicker, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube and Instagram. Through social media the organization can reach to around 10,000 individuals in just few seconds.

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8. EVIDENCE OF SUSTAINABILITY The effort of fostering the community to participate and take ownership of the project is substantial to the program's success. For MMCC/AECC, this achievement appears to be long standing. The efforts of the project are unquestionably laudable especially in Ghor and Bamyan. The program is helping the community to realize their roles and responsibilities.

The program also creates awareness about the vital importance of education. The community is not only participating in the activities but also contributing by for example providing free space in schools for establishing Funtainers and access to community halls for performances and events.

The training and capacity building of the local community based organization helps to spread the word on child education through recreational activities and on children’s rights. The community is post MMCC/AECC engagement far better equipped to understand the concept of children’s physical-social-psychological health and why entertainment and fun opportunities are absolutely necessary for the young children who are growing up in a society with the devastating circumstances of Afghanistan. With the community having a basic knowledge about the program activities and with basic training provided to each of the school/public environments where the MMCC/AECC trains the children, evidence exists that even after formal closure of the activities at a particular place, the sustainability of activities was granted.

8.1

SUBSTANTIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Training and capacity building of local human resources and provision of equipment

and tools at many of the schools where the training was conducted.

2. Community based organizations and the communities at large became sensitized and

are now familiar with and have working knowledge of MMCC/AECC activities and their proactive positive involvement with children.

3. Significant, effective and integrated involvement of all key stakeholders.

4. Enhanced community interaction and increased school enrollment as a result of

MMCC/AECC initiated activities.

5. Parents, and especially mother’s participation in the project design is impressive.

Through meetings with the mothers of trainee children the project has ensured continuity and visible sustainability of the activities.

6. Formation of a strong volunteer base and training of trainers for the continued

support at the local level is an integral aspect of the program.

Overall, the sustainability of the project depends on the extent to which the project is able to strengthen the capabilities of its local contacts in the area. Their capacities have to be Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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increased with respect to decision making and to improve their ability to initiate action, and enhance self-reliance. The fact that a high percentage of beneficiary participation was a constant feature in various initiatives shows that the sense of community ownership and pride in the systems are high. Due to these measures, the program is expected to be sustainable resulting in lasting value even if the project terminates.

At the strategic level, however, the program needs a long term sustainability plan. The organization relies currently mainly upon its co- directors for planning, fund raising and strategic decision making. There is a greater need for local Afghans to be a part of the top management of the MMCC/AECC and the local resource pool should be broadened and increased to a level where the dependency on a few individuals is not risk inducing.

The transition from international management and ownership to Afghan management and ownership is essential in making MMCC/AECC a sustainable organization. A search to find and train Afghan management, particularly in systems of management, accounting and fundraising, should remain one of the highest priorities of the organization. In light of the lasting profound positive effects demonstrated in the local hosting communities, any promotion and support possible toward greater organizational sustainability is called for.

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9. OVERVIEW OF OBSERVATIONS 1. The design of MMCC/AECC's program is very comprehensive. MMCC/AECC's planning for their own implementation phases and the strategies the program employs detail the expected output and the planned actions for each output.

2. The program manages to accomplish significant achievements at the grass root level with minimal operational costs through its heavy reliance on a volunteer base. Most of the trainers and other stakeholders are involved as volunteers and are either doing it for free or are been paid nominal stipends to cover their work related expenses.

3. The thrust given by the project towards enhancing the competency of partner agencies and project staff could be an important example for other projects. These effective capacity building components effect positively the efficiency of the activities and saves time as staff does not have to acquire the knowledge and skills on their own by trial and error methods. Thus, the MMCC/AECC appears to create long term value wherever it has a presence.

4. The MMCC/AECC has shown considerable efforts to mobilize the communities they worked with. The communities now boast many good speakers and advocates of their rights and we are confident that once the program is over the community use the created potential for their own benefit.

5. MMCC/AECC provides tools and trainings for children to express themselves and thereby develop lifelong creative skills, self-respect, and a healthier sense of identity.

6. What distinguishes the MMCC/AECC from other educational organizations is its primary objective to educate children through active participation. It is a learning process that allows them to laugh and have fun while learning new skills and while broadening their knowledge base.

7. The involvement of various stakeholders at various stages in the project is key for project success, the media liaison, the staff participation and the community mobilization is helping a lot in achieving project objectives.

8. The MMCC/AECC has clear cut areas of responsibilities for both the trainers and stakeholders that work on a volunteer base, as well as other stakeholders who perform paid positions.

9. With a proven track record of over 10 years of existence of the program and a reach out to more than 2 million direct beneficiaries, the devised program design is practical and relevant.

10. The strategy of involving other organizations in different locations to support the project implementation facilitates sustainability even after project completion (The project implementation in Herat province is an example of this operation model).

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11. Due to the cost effective approach to program implementation through utilization of a broad voluntary base the MMCC/AECC is able to divert 80-90% or more of the operational costs to program activities.

12. The evaluation team observed that everyone in the MMCC/AECC team is intimately familiar with all aspects and stages of the program design and is quick in responding to its objective.

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10. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Program needs a defined and written logic model for its activities. In the absence of

logical model, Evaluators have conducted this Evaluation on the basis of traditional approach. However, the tools were applied for results-based M&E approach applying a theory-based or goal-based method of evaluation in which a logic model or theory of change model is the basis of identifying the targeted outcomes or results derived from the formulation or re-creation of the theory of change of the intervention/program to be measured.

2. The evaluators are aware of the funding issues MMCC faces, but clearly sees the

need for a long term plan to own the center in Kabul rather than just to rent it (even though, due to a sympathetic landlord, the rent payments are quite economical and well below the general market prices) and investing so much capital expenditure at the premises. A medium-range solution might be the revision of the rent agreement to accommodate a long term tenancy agreement rather than short term renewals.

3. Although it is very early to comment on the children's Shura, the strategy envisaged

to form the shura at the grassroots level appears to be a fruitful approach. The organization (MMCC/AECC) needs to further streamline their strategy towards children Shura formation. There needs to be a clear strategy regarding sustainability and up scaling of this activity at the provincial and national level. This important initiative is valuable and quite unique in the country. It aides in the development of leadership and personal traits of Afghan school children, future youth and adult leadership.

4. There is also need to put in place standard operation manuals for the activities and

sustainability plan for the continuity of activities implemented in schools even when MMCC/AECC has left. The involvement of school administrations is paramount in achieving the sustainability of the school Shura system.

5. Full fledge training centers like the ones in Bamyan and Kabul are also required in

the provinces of Ghor and Jalalabad. The impact of the activities in Ghor was phenomenal and there is a great demand from all stakeholders including the children, the parents, teachers and even the government officials to scale up and replicate the activities by the MMCC/AECC in Ghor province. As a result of a permanent training center the long term sustainability would be ensured in these provinces. The center would also help to improve the coordination and the liaison with various stakeholders.

6. The children Shuras should be established at each school and community where the

MMCC/AECC carries out its activities. The locally trained resources should be brought into student Shura system so that, once the MMCC/AECC exits, the Shura can work in collaboration with the school administration and the community at large.

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Through this extension of the methodology, community involvement can be made more effective.

7. There is a need to sustain a proper activity log and attendance system at all centers

and workshops of the MMCC/AECC. Evaluators observed a lack of such attendance logs at the FuntainersTM in Ghor, at the center in Bamyan and at the schools in Jalalabad, where activities were carried out.

8. There is a need for additional trained and paid staff in Ghor province, especially at

the girl’s school where one FuntainerTM is placed. The skill level of the boys' trainer was average; a more detailed training is required to be imparted on the master trainer so that the standard of local trainers can be improved.

9. The program (MMCC/AECC) should focus more on small to medium sized

community schools specially those of girls while selecting their beneficiary schools.

This could extend the impact of the program and develop it to be further reaching with an even stronger focus on community participation.

10. MMCC/AECC should devise a strategy to provide training equipment and sporting

material to those schools where mobile circus or workshop trainings are held. At various locations where the trainings were conducted, the school administration wanted to sustain the activities as long as they were provided with the relevant equipment as well as initial training to any of their local representatives.

11. A clear coordination and linkages strategy needs to be developed at the

organizational level. This in turn should be integrated with the already existing standard operating policy manuals that exist in the organization. The outcome and activity results of interventions in places such as Jalalabad, Bamyan and even Kabul could greatly improve if this policy was formulated and implemented in its spirit.

Evaluators would suggest to convene a meeting of all the paid and active volunteer staff of Afghan-MMMC in Kabul about possible policies and strategies. Their input, suggestion and recommendations can help to develop the policy for field linkages, personal relations and reporting. Additionally, the training of field staff could be arranged through the same policy formulation process.

12. The project needs a strategy somewhere to actively involve religious scholars

(ulema) into the model. In a society like Afghanistan, religious scholars can influence the popular opinion. They can play a role in increased involvement of the local population, especially in that of girls and other vulnerable segments of society by providing authentic information to the people. Once informed about it, they can take over a key role in guiding the public on women's and children’s right.

13. Activities in Jalalabad, despite offering great value for the money spent on it (with

just one paid resource/trainer) need nonetheless a better strategy and consideration of the main management of the MMCC/AECC. Through improved and increased

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coordination with the local authorities, greater results could be achieved including paving the way for establishing of a full fledge resource center.

14. The organization needs to follow a set pattern and scheme of activities that would be

carried out at various locations. There is a need for a proper written down training curriculum for both trainers as well as trainees. Activities should be standardized and written down for the full program of the MMCC/AECC. 15. There is a request for adding activities for girls in Jalalabad. In this case both

teachers and parents asked for girls to be segregated from boys.

16. A stronger strategy to further the involvement of the vulnerable segments of society

in the MMCC/AECC's activities is needed at school programs. Population segments such as disabled children, orphans, and minority groups should be given a specific proportion in each program activity. In Ghor the ministry officials recommended a special program for children who are sick and are hospitalized.

17. Overall, the project activities need a nuanced sustainability and exit strategy. At each

activity level and strategic level there needs to be a policy and set pattern of exit as well as a long term local stakeholder’s commitment of the local population and resources of the initial work.

18. The organization needs to put in place a proper advocacy, awareness and social

mobilization policy that can help achieving its program objectives.

19. Overall, a strategy is required whereby government and public resources such as

community halls may be utilized by forming a collaborative partnership with local communities and government offices at the district level to share the capital cost incurred for the physical infrastructure. For example in Jalalabad, the director of the Ministry of culture was welcoming to the idea of utilizing his ministry hall for any of the future activities of MMCC/AECC, if requested.

20. Security measures surrounding expatriate directors as well as centers in Bamyan and

Kabul needs strengthening measures. The MMCC/AECC needs to address the security and protection of its staff and other program's stakeholders. A proper security plan needs to be envisaged especially for women workers of MMCC/AECC who are continuously in the field and are possibly vulnerable to any external threat. It is necessary for MMCC/AECC to draft its organizational safety and security policy and to implement it in any program activity.

21. The evaluators believe that social and print and electronic media should not be the

only publicity tool to report events, but that they should be used to create a general awareness. A proper media strategy with reference to the extent of media involvement, media mix and utilizing electronic and social media, would help MMCC/AECC to reach and extend their target audience. A workshop involving key project members and stakeholders may help in devising such a media strategy.

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22. The project/program needs to devise a general strategy to report on laws and recent

amendments in laws related to child protection, as these fall directly into the area of responsibility and engagement that the circus is pursuing. Handouts for community members and stakeholders, who attend training programs, should furthermore be provided and retained afterwards.

23. Overall, there is a need for elaborating the beneficiary selection methodology that

has been followed by the MMCC/AECC through shortlisting and selecting their trainees at the center or at the workshops in different locations. The beneficiary selection methodology should be well written, documented and displayed at the centers and other relevant places where MMCC/AECC carries out its activities.

24. Looking at the success of the program in Ghor and Bamyan, it is recommended that

the target area of the program should be extended to other regions and districts of both these two provinces, particularly to the areas where the bulk of rural communities resides and where children are more prone to and susceptible to violations and abuse, particularly to child labour etc.

25. The formal education and fun/recreational activities should be mixed in other places

like Jalalabad and Ghor in the manner they are in Kabul and Bamyan center as evinced by the fact that parents and children wanted help in their formal education and requested the MMCC/AECC management to devise a strategy in this regard.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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11. CONCLUSION & SUCCESS STORIES 1. Overall, reaching out to and serving over 2 million people in just over 10 years of its activities in Afghanistan, is a phenomenal success in itself. The program has managed to expand and reach a larger audience with just their basic administration and negligible non-operational expenditure. Financially the cost to beneficiary ratio is extraordinary and represents an unparalleled value in the Afghan experience.

2. At some schools the evaluation team was told that due to MMCC/AECC's activities the schools have increased student’s interest in formal education. Especially in Bamyan where the headmaster reported an increase of 5-10% enrollment (60 students in total) in his school. He gave all the credit for this sudden increase in children’s interest in formal education to the MMCC/AECC activities that were carried out in his school, specially the school decoration. This increased student’s interest was seen and reported to the evaluation team in almost 70% of all locations (schools) that were visited, especially in rural areas. However in urban areas the school administration was the least interested or motivated on increased enrollment as they were of the opinion that the schools are already running beyond their capacity and that they cannot cope with the sudden rise in enrollments without proper infrastructure investment from government or non-government agencies.

3. In various schools where the MMCC/AECC initiated and created the children/student Shura, the response was remarkable, both of children and the school management. In many schools the Shura children themselves took the initiative, to collect the money and provided, or at least started to work on the provision of missing facilities at their schools. In Bamyan and Ghor winters are harsh and many schools are missing glass panes in windows. The cool breeze normally keeps the class atmosphere chilly. At least 3 schools, 1 in Ghor, 1 in Nangarhar and 3 in Bamyan, reported that after the Shuras were formed by the children/students, they collected the funds and repaired the class windows etc. At another school in Nangarhar the students are now collecting or accumulating funds through the Shura for the construction of a school boundary wall and the expansion of the school building itself. The Shura was even able to mobilize the school administration, which made funds available, At one school that the evaluators visited, the science laboratory was missing in a High school. Through the intervention of the shura, the school administration provided the missing facilities to the students.

4. There has been a vast improvement in the grading and class performance in formal education of children who have been associated with MMCC/AECC initiatives and activities. Evaluators observed astonishing improvements in grades of up to 80% of female students involved with MMCC/AECC in Ghor; 65% boys of Ghor who are associated with MMCC/AECC showed improvements in the school tests and examinations. Comparable improvements were seen in Bamyan, Jalalabad and Kabul with varied intensity.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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5. Fardeen Barekzai is one of the great success stories of the MMCC/AECC's overall activities in the country. At the age of 8 he was one of the very first trainees of MMCC/AECC. Now, 18 years old, the young Fardeen is an integral part of the Kabul team and is managing the children media and digital art activities. He was initially the beneficiary of the MMCC/AECC's activities and after training was employed by the organization itself. Briefly, after serving outside organizations, Fardeen is now back on MMCC/AECC's payroll and works for the benefit of Afghan children. One of his remarkable achievements is to shoot a documentary of an unlicensed and unauthorized coal mine situated at a far flung area in the outskirts of Bamyan Province where it was reported that around 1,000 children of age less than 15 were working in a coal mine. These children were mostly deprived of all human rights, received a low remuneration and were subject to occasional harassment. Mr. Fardeen Barekzai visited the site. With the skills and equipment that he gained from the MMCC/AECC, he shot a documentary, which then got worldwide attention. The Wall street Journal reported about it and it was featured in over 600 other media outlets worldwide. As a result, Afghanistan's government was mobilized and not only that particular mine was shut down (on the legal issues) but also a pledge was made to revise mining related laws, and to prohibit child employment and involvement in this sector.

5. Overall, the organizational employee’s retention and low turnover ratio is one great success of the program. The MMCC/AECC has been able to not only employ mostly their own trained children but also is able to retain most of the staff that was employed so far. The staff is satisfied with the top management of the MMCC/AECC and works diligently.

6. An organizational policy to utilize the home-grown resources has helped it to gain the confidence and trust of the local community. More than 100 boys and girls have been trained indigenously over the past few years that will make up the core talent of the Afghanistan Circus, digital media and entertainment industries in the future.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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ANNEXES ANNEX 1: TEAM AND FIELD TRAVEL Evaluation Team The Evaluation Team included field and report writing specialist namely, A) Field Team: 1. Mr. Syed Ul Abrar, 2. Mr. Waris Shinwari 3. Mr. Umaid 4. Mr. Saeed Ullah.

5. Mr. Aurangzeb 6. Mr. Farooq Fazal Yar.

B) Data Sorting, Anylisis and Report Writing. ·

Mr. Muhammad Asif Shaffi Awan.

·

Mr. Syed Ul Abrar

·

Mr. S M. Yasir Abbas

Field Visits Itinerary: October 20th to 24th: Visit to Bamyan: October 20th: Travel from Kabul to Bamyan Activities on 21st of October at Bamyan: ·

On 21st of October a meeting with Sukhdar School management was arranged in which the children, their parents and Circus volunteers/trainers were present at the school.

·

On the same day a meeting with MMCC/AECC resource person at Bamyan- Mr Ustad Asad and other team members was attended.

·

Meeting at Tehbati School with the school administration was made.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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·

Meeting with ministry of information and culture director in the area on Bamyan.

·

Meeting with CIRCUS center children/beneficiaries in the visited area.

Activities on22nd October: ·

Around 80 KM from Bamyan a meeting at Yakoland High School was attended with the administration of school along with the children and parents and Circus volunteers/trainers were present at the school meeting.

·

And on about 2 hour’s journey from Yakoland School, Dar e Ali School was visited.

Activities on 23rd October: ·

Meeting at Bamyan Central School of boys with school administration, parents and Circus volunteers and trainers.

·

Meeting with ex-headmaster of Tehbati School and discussion on various project related matters.

·

The team tried to meet with the officials of MOE but unfortunately couldn’t get any appointment.

·

Meeting with Deputy Director of MoLSAMD.

·

Had a meeting with AINDA (a Govt. Orphanage House) officials and children and viewed their several activities.

·

Meeting with Samar Orphanage’s management and children.

·

Meeting with CIRCUS teachers.

·

Review Interview with CIRCUS team.

·

Attended and participated in an event at Tehbati School for an hour.

·

Meeting with the management of Seghan (District of Bamyan) Girls and Boys School.

·

Visit at Yakawlang, Dar e Ali, Saghand, and Bamyan schools.

Activities on 24th October: ·

Travel Back to Kabul.

November 2 ·

Had a meeting with the main management of MMCC/AECC at Kabul Office.

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November 3rd-6th ·

Conducted a field assessment at Kabul.

·

Financial review and review of the overall internal controls and management SOPs.

·

Visit of school at Kabul and meeting with the children and meeting with the parents of the children at the school.

·

Visit at the MMCC/AECC Kabul center.

·

Conducted a management review at the center.

·

Interviews of the teachers, trainers and administrative staff.

·

Event seeing (performances by trainee children).

10 TO 15THNOVEMBER- VSIT TO GHOR 10-11TH November: Travel from Kabul to Ghor Activities on 12th November: ·

Initial meeting with the MMCC/AECC-Ghor representative (Sher Agha).

·

On the 2nd Evaluation Team visited the Girl’s middle school Khadija where workshops were organized previously.

·

Visited Razia Sultana Girls High School and had a meeting with headmaster, principal, trainers and trainees. (new FuntainerTM is been placed)

·

Meeting with Director of Education in the local area.

·

Had a meeting with director of MoLSAMD.

·

Attended an event of inauguration of FuntainerTM at Girls High School.

·

Visit at Orphanage at Ghor and met with the children and the management at the orphanage.

·

Meeting at Alauddin School and attended the ceremony of inauguration of second FuntainerTM, afterwards team had a meeting with the trainers and trainees at the school and viewed several activities and performances of the children at the school.

·

Meeting with the parents of the students at the school.

Activities on 13th November. ·

Meeting with the management of Alauddin School and observation on several activates at the school.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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·

Meeting with the Director of Ministry of Information & Culture at Ministry of information & Culture Office.

·

Visited Ghor Middle School but unfortunately the school was closed.

·

Team had a final review meeting with the GHOR, MMCC/AECC representatives.

·

Visited the Sher Agha livelihood place (Calligraphy shop).

14th and 15th: Travel back

17 TO 18TH November: Visit To Jalalabad ·

Travel from Kabul to Jalalabad.

·

Meeting with MMCC/AECC resource Person-Mr. Haroon.

·

Visit at Tajrubati School in Jalalabad and interviews of children’s, trainers and school administration

·

Meeting with children’s, trainers and school administration at Nangrahar High School.

·

Visit at Mohammadi Sahib Zada High School and discussion with various stakeholders.

·

Meeting with MoLSAMD.

·

Meeting with IMAM Bokhari Orphanage management and children’s.

·

Meeting with Directorate of Education.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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ANNEX 2: EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRES ANNEXURE -2.1 : OVERALL ASSESSMENT MANAGEMENT AND TEAM OF MMCC/AECC

Sr No

Question

Response

Is project theme identified through problem analysis? Please attach the A1 baseline survey document, if carried out.

Is Organizational activities design was A2 responsive to clearly identified needs Is Program design responsive to the clearly defined risks in the operating A3 environment?

How would the management analyze the A4 whole project activities?

In percentage wise (%) how many percent of the objectives and outcomes that management set at the start for the Organizational activities are been A4 achieved.

What are the reasons of goals that are not been achieved. Please list down the A5 bottle necks?

Any additional measures or activity that was not initially budgeted in the project A6 proposal A7 List down project Achieved Outcomes Is Project/Organizational activities impact visible, Please provide source A8 data of activities.

Any change in Organizational activities design (early approved Organizational activities from the donor) till its A9 completion?

Any findings or midterm Organizational activities evaluation carried out in the A10 past during Project execution?

B- PROJECT IS APPROPRIATE AND RELEVANT The Project activities theme linked to the longterm needs of the children's and broader B1 community plan of the area?

Objectives were relevant to the perceived needs and focused on the long-term development plan of B2 the area?

Any Objectives that were adjusted to suit B3 changing circumstances during implementation?

Are Organizational activities interventions B4 appropriate to achieve the desired goals Has Organizational activities coordinated with other actors?, Like other NGOs, Government, B5 Local government etc.

Has Organizational activities maintained baseline B6 data to compare overall impacts?

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

QUESTIONNAIRE Means of Verific ation

FOR

THE

Any Additional Comments

please take copy of any such report/finding

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C-FINANCE BUDGET AND HR POLICY C1

Procurement process and financial system maximized value for money

Any budget and activity Over Run C2 Is prior approval required from the donor for any budget over run and any adjustment of any budget line item C3 adjustment in to another?

C4 How was Project staff hiring carried out?

Is HR policy for Project team C5 elaborative?

Any community consultation while C6 hiring for staff?

Are project activities completed in Time, as per the initial Organizational activities C7 plan to ensure cost effectiveness?

Are Project interventions chosen from the best alternatives to ensure cost C8 effectiveness?

Record keeping and reporting met the C9 defined standards?

What software is used for maintaining C10 Accounting data and reporting to donor?

D. Organizational activities is accountable to beneficiaries and donors Has the Project activities shown commitment to agreed values, humanitarian principles and International D1 standards Project information transparently communicated to the beneficiary and D2 wider community?

Project outcomes monitored regularly?

D3

D4

Please collect the copy of organizational procurement policy and specially that of this Organizational activities procurement policy Please take copy of final Organizational activities budget and actual expense utilization against each budget line. Reasons for any overrun should be asked from the donor If the prior approval required, please check has it been taken for any budget overrun from the initial estimate.

please share any policy that is been followed, like Child Protection policy

Who monitored, team, Frequency, sample of monitoring reports?

Any formal complaint system developed and communicated to the staff, donor and beneficiaries (For the Organizational activities duration)?

E- Miscellaneous/ Others E1

The project activities promoted gender equity?

The Organizational activities prioritized staff safety and security?

E2

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

Please collect gender desegregated data for all activities/ beneficiaries Take plan of action that was followed, and document any negative incident that may have taken place

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Does the Organizational activities ensured protection of children and disabled and vulnerable children's from E3 abuse?

The Organizational activities visibility complied with the donor Visibility E4 policy?

Organizational activities created a sense E5 of shared ownership for the community?

The Organizational activities approach E6 was replicable in other sectors or regions What lessons have been learned by MMCC/AECC management after the E7 whole set of activities so far?

How the staff of MMCC/AECC have benefitted (In enhancing their capacity) E8 during this Project implementation?

Any comments that MMCC/AECC management might have on overall E9 Project activities execution, and theme?

How was the donor response towards MMCC/AECC post Project inception E10 and since its conclusion?

Has the learning is systematically captured by MMCC/AECC while project E11 executing?

Identification of Stakeholders, Evaluation Objectives and Organizational strategy towards Evaluation.

1. Prepare a list of the individuals and organizations that have interests in the project/organization activities and its F1 evaluation.

2. Determine their interests in this project/organization activities and its F2 evaluation.

3. Identify their information needs, F3 particularly from this evaluation.

4. Identify their level of involvement in the project, based on their needs and F4 interests.

5.

Identify potential evaluation F5 participants (i.e., primary stakeholders).

6. Invite participants to be part of the project evaluation group (see Module F6 Two).

7. Identify the potential users of the products of this evaluation (i.e., F7 secondary stakeholders).

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

Please take any supporting document in this regard

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ANNEX 3: SCHOOL VISIT QUESTIONNAIRE SCHOOL

Sr No

Question

A1

Please elaborate on the activities that children's have participated over a period of time as carried out by MMCC/AECC.

A2

What are the activities that MMCC/AECC have carried out during all this time

A3

Do the children's clearly identify with the project activities and consider themselves as part of the project?

A4

Do the children's find MMCC/AECC education/teaching methodology worth studying/involving with?

A4

What is the reaction and response on the teaching methodology that is been employed at model school activities by MMCC/AECC?

A5

Do the students identify with the teachers? Ask them to name their favorite teacher and favorite thing/action that they like about the whole process?

A6

Ask the children's about the best thing that they can identify with the whole process that they are involved with. Also the worst?

A7

Do they want more of all this?

A8

What are their career plans and how they can identify their career with the initiatives that are gaining from here?

A9

What are the additional needs of the child's and what up calling they would require for this project?

How the kids identify the surroundings

Response

Any Additional Comments

project with their

A10

What are the lessons that children's have learnt from this project

A11

How these activities have helped children in their regular studies?

A12

Please document as success story or two,

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

Means of Verification

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ANNEX 4: PARENTS INTERVIEW FORM ANNEXURE -2.3 : Beneficiary Children's Parents interview- form

A1

Any Social Taboos attached?

A2

Have you ever noticed your children participating in the extracurricular activities carried out by MMCC/AECC project team?

A3

How do you identify yourself with MMCC/AECC

A4

What is your initial impression and response when you found out that your child is participating in activities that are been carried out by MMCC/AECC

A4

What is the reaction and response on the teaching methodology that is been employed at model school activities by MMCC/AECC?

A5

What changes have you noticed in your child's behavior, knowledge and attitude as beneficiary of MMCC/AECC project activities?

A6

Would you rather encourage or discourage your child in taking part in the activities organized by MMCC/AECC.

A7

If encouraged, Why?

A8

If Discouraged, Why?

A9

Have you ever been invited or have witnessed MMCC/AECC project activities yourself?

One thing that you like MMCC/AECC to impart through their knowledge in to your child

A1 0

Comment on the available resources of MMCC/AECC, especially about the trainer and teachers/resource person.

A1 1

Comment on the sustainability of project activities post MMCC/AECC involvement?

A1 2

Would you like to see project been replicated or up scaled elsewhere? If Yes, where and Why

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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ANNEX 5: INSTRUCTORS / TEACHER REVIEW FORM Sr No

Question

A1

Teaching Mythology?

A2

List the activities that are been performed by the teacher while interacting with the kids and their outcome methodology

A3

What innovative techniques are been used by the instructors/teachers

A4

Are the resource persons fully equipped and trained for the scope of work they are been volunteered/employed.

A4

Document the lessons learnt.

A5

Document the success stories

A6

Documents the problem

A7

Document the needs

A8

Document the outcome indicators

A9

What social and cultural impact has their training and teaching methods have made for the beneficiary and community at large.

A1 0

How have the teachers ensured increased focus on children's entertainment and educational recreation

A1 1

What special considerations are been made to include children's Wishes, needs and thoughts while making decisions for the course contents.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

Response

Means of Verification

Any Additional Comments

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ANNEX 6: FGD WITH MOE OFFICIALS IN BAMYAN ANNEXURE -2.5 :FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION WITH MINSTRY OF EDUCATION OFFICIALS AT BAMYAN Sr. No

Question

A1

How would you evaluate activities in the area?

A2

What have you liked the most about CIRCUS activities during this project?

A3

Are you been consulted before the project design by the management of the CIRCUS

A4

Are you been consulted during the project activities by the CORCUS Management?

A5

Anything that you may think can be done differently to have more impact on the area of intervention?

A6

What role the government officials can further play to spread the message of CIRCUS activities

A7

Have officials talked about this learning and play techniques to be replicated (reproduced) at any other place through their own initiative.

A8

What extra security and safety measures are been provided or required by the CIRCUS management?

A9

What is the community feedback of CIRCUS activities that the government/district government officials have received?

A10

If project is replicated or reproduced at any other place in the province or at other provinces, what do the officials think would be the most suited place and why.

A11

Are beneficiaries were targeted appropriately, if no then that else could have been targeted?

Response

the

Means of Verification

Any Additional Comments

CIRCUS

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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ANNEX 7: QUESTIONS FOR MEDIA ACTIVITIES

ANNEXURE-2.6: FOR PROJECT MEDIA, MAGAZINE, AND OTHER INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND AWARNESS ACTIVITIES. INCLUDING MEDIA FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES

Question

A1

What activities are been carried out under the media and communication strategy of the Project. Please provide the Transcripts of the activities, including any display material

Please take the copy (In soft or hard) of all the visual and display material

A2

What radio program and activities are been conducted during this period. Please provide the list of all such programs and the detail of the program contents, including the air time, the network that is been used and the program team

Please take all the transcripts of the program that is been done and went on air.

Please provide the list and distribution summary of any of the literary material that is been produced in the project activities, including magazines and pamphlets

A3

A4

What were the dates during which media festival activities were carried out and for how many days?

A5

What activities is carried doubt in Media festival?

A6

How many and who participated in media festival activities.

A7

What programs were there in the media festival activities, which were responsible to conduct the activities. Please conduct and interview or two with the people who carried out as instructors of such activitiesAsk them about their roles, and responsibilities and the feedback they got.

A8

Please have a meeting or two with the beneficiaries of these media activities and gauge what changes of attitude, knowledge and practices have been there pre and post program activity.

A9

Please populate a list of all such activities that are been shown under this head. Like how many workshops are been carried out by the management of the CIRCUS all through this period, how many radio programs , frequency and quantity of the magazines that are been published and what theater activities are been carried out all through this period.

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

A10

What was the organization methodology for beneficiary selection for all the media and awareness activities?

Respons e

Means of Verificatio n

Sr No

Any Additional Comments

Take the distribution list and the copy of each of the magazine that is been produced and published in this period, including the distribution and dissemination summary.

Please obtain a list of participants.

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ANNEX 8: EVALUATION PICTURES At Bamyan

With director of Youth and Cultural Affairs

With Members of Child Shura- Sukhdar High School of Bamyan

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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Sukhdar High School, Bamyan with Inner walls decorated by MMCC/AECC

Juggling at Sukhdar High School

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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School Paintings Exhibited at Various schools of Bamyan where MMCC/AECC worked.

Meeting with the Parents of the Beneficiary Children

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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Meeting with School Teachers in Bamyan

Meeting with School Administration

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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At Kabul:

With the core Management team of MMCC/AECC

Review of Financial and Operational Management of MMCC/AECC

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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At Kabul Center with Children performing.

Acrobatics at MMCC/AECC Center in Kabul

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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School Decoration at Kabul Schools

Meeting with School Administration

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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At Ghor

FuntainerTM Inauguration

At Sultan Razia School-FuntainerTM

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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School Decoration at Ghor

Meeting with Beneficiary Children’s Parents/Siblings

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants- http://www.oc.af

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Meeting with School Administration

Children/Students Shura members

Evaluators: Oriental Consultants-

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