Shae Thot Newsletter August 2014
Shae Thot: The Way Forward Integrated Community Development in Myanmar
Shae Thot at a glance: Duration: Oct. 2011 – Sept. 2016 Donor: USAID Implementing Partners: Pact (Consortium Lead) Pact Global Microfinance Fund (PGMF) Marie Stopes International (MSI) CESVI UN-Habitat Project Areas: 20 townships in Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing and Yangon Regions and Kayah State 1,782 active villages; 2,092 total villages
Shae Thot Accomplishments Achievements & Impact
1,782 villages, with a total population of 1,856,578 individuals, have active Shae Thot programming. 15,657 women have participated in WORTH savings groups, earning an average of 20% of their saving through dividends. 548 villages are actively managing Village Health and Development Funds, with a total fund value that has grown to more than six times the initial capital, due to interest and contributions from members and Pact. 62,740 household safe water systems have been distributed through the project.
32,617 people took part in 3,386 community health sessions, with 373% more individuals receiving services than the prior period. 1,525 Village Development Committees have been established, with women elected to 53% of leadership positions this quarter. 317 children under five years of age were treated for diarrhea by community Change Agents, a 69% increase over the prior period. 7,994 farmers received seeds from revolving seed banks, with 35% of those benefitting from secondary seed distribution, without direct project provision.
Free From Poverty, at Last! Myint Myint San’s Story
I am Myint Myint San, from Ywa Thit Village. Our village is about a mile from the town of Seik Phyu, some miles west of the Ayeyarwady River. My late husband passed away ten years ago, when I was 43, leaving me with three sons who are now into adulthood. As a widow, life was harsh. I had had tried a variety of jobs as a daily wager. It was never enough. My sons had to leave school in their teens. Oh, those were very bad days! I could not even mend our house’s roof because we could not borrow money.
sharks. Today, I have borrowed three times – 80,000 Kyats in total. I run a snack shops, and breed two pigs. Business has been rather good; I earn about 3,000 kyats per day ($3.08) Looking back, I only wish that Pact and WORTH could have come earlier to free us from poverty.
Then, one day in late 2011, I heard that Pact Myanmar’s WORTH program was active in a nearby village. I was not very interested at first. However, women in my village were, and they founded a savings group named “Shining Star”, based on the model of a group called “Morning Sunshine” from that nearby village. I joined the second savings group “New Ray”, formed six months later. We have 61 members in two groups. From the group, we could borrow at only a four percent interest rate, compared with 20 percent from local loan
Myin Myin San (right), operates her small snack shop that she started with a WORTH loan.
Cover Photo: A beneficiary from the Dry Zone looks on from her home. Photo Credit: Jacinta Van Lint, Freelance Photographer Shae Thot Newsletter 2
Kayah Summit Plans for “The Way Forward” Redesigning Programming to Increase Impact
Pact Myanmar’s Working Theory of Action for Kayah Programming Pact envisions an environment in Kayah State where: “Strong Village Development Councils (VDCs) transform into robust community-based organizations (CBOs) able to identify community needs in maternal and child health, livelihoods, WASH and governance, and respond with local solutions that lead to sustainable development in these sectors”.
From June 30th - July 2nd, the Shae Thot project held a Kayah Summit, where 20 program managers and technical staff met to examine current peace and conflict issues in the region, to re-design the Kayah program to better meet community needs, to strategize how we can influence related stakeholders and implementing partners, and strengthen Shae Thot’s work with our local partners. Shae Thot began working in Kayah State in early 2013, directly implementing community-based maternal and child health programming. In January 2014, the project began partnering with four local community-based organizations to implement projects in MCH; livelihoods and WASH. In Kayah State, decades of conflict have given rise to ethnic tensions, clashes between state and non-state groups, and pervasive poverty; thus the operating environment is quite different from other regions in which Shae Thot works. The Summit provided an opportunity to explore changes that have taken place over the past year, to adapt programming to increase impact while strengthening local capacity.
Kyaw Naing Oo, Shae Thot Regional Coordinator presents an analysis of regional stakeholders at the Kayah Summit
The three-day summit ended with the drafting of a Theory of Action for Kayah, to plan work around outcomes and impact the project aims to achieve. The working Theory of Action outlines four long-term goals for Pact Myanmar; 1) Partnering/Leading, 2) Staff Development/Security, 3) Program Re-design, 4) VDCs/VHDFs.
Creating Messaging for Kayah State Adapting education materials for the local context In Kayah State, the local population speaks several ethnic languages and the literacy rate is low, presenting communication challenges in disseminating program materials, trainings and interacting with Shae Thot staff, much less communication exchange between communities. To help beneficiaries understand educational messages and materials, Shae Thot Kayah staff have begun adapting materials to the local languages, as well as local context, such as addressing cultural differences and practices. In Hpasawng Village, Dr San Min Oo, an MCH Senior Technical Officer has filmed a video to adapt key messages from the Department of Health (DOH) on danger signs and best practices of antenatal, natal, postnatal and newborn care, to the local language and context. Local Pact staff, Pact-trained volunteers and villagers participated in the filming. The video will be disseminated through the introductory workshop on Self-learning materials for maternal and child health, used to
Dr. San Min Oo discusses the filming process with local community members increase awareness of best practices to lead communitydriven action plans for maternal and child health in their villages. While videos produced by the DOH could be used for this process, Pact has found that using films and materials the reflect the Hpasawng communities also serve to inspire and motivate local staff and villagers. Shae Thot Newsletter 3
Improving Access to Health Services Endline Data from Four Close-out Townships Access to Key Antenatal and Delivery Care Services During June and July, the Shae Thot project concluded programming in four townships- Salin, Seikphyu, and Aunglan in Magway Region and Myingyan in Mandalay Region– where program activities have been implemented since 2011. Endline surveys have been conducted in all four townships to compare with baseline data to assess program effectiveness.
Change in Immunization Coverage of Children
Maternal and child health programming was implemented in all four townships and analyses of baseline and endline data reveal significant increases in access to care and preventative treatment among women and children. The percentage of pregnant women who accessed four antenatal care visits increased by 80% during the period, while those who received two tetanus toxoid injections increased by 37%. The number of women who delivered with a skilled birth attendant increased from 54% to 75 %. In regards to children accessing key childhood immunizations, coverage rates ranged from between 37% and 59% at baseline, whereas at endline, between 54% and 80%. In Seikphy and Myingan Townships, WORTH women’s empowerment programming also concluded during June and July respectively. Beneficiaries have taken part in workshops to promote sustainability and market linkages post Shae Thot programming. An endline survey has been conducted and results are in the process of being analyzed.
An Alternative Approach to Food Security Home Gardening Kits Support Landless Families Landless families are especially susceptible to food insecurity. To address this, Shae Thot partner CESVI, distributes home gardens kits, with vegetable seeds, fruit trees seedlings, tools, organic fertilizers, to families to set up small-scale multi-strata home gardens that will provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the family. Beneficiaries are selected in coordination with Pact in order to identify and prioritize women with children and pregnant women and to join nutritional messages associated with vegetable production. In additional to contributing to improved nutritional status and diet diversity, home gardens also provide an alternate source of income through the selling of surplus vegetables. Home gardens are an especially cost-effective way to improve food security, nutrition and income generation for landless families given the low start-up costs and limited space needed. This quarter, 850 families from six townships received the kits. Additionally, about 65% of beneficiaries from last year are now planting vegetable seeds saved from this agricultural season, demonstrating the sustainability of this alternative method.
Beneficiaries in the Dry Zone read about growing home gardens
For more information contact: Matthew Tiedemann
Sarah Kellogg
Chief of Party
Program Specialist
Yangon, Myanmar
Washington, D.C.
mtiedemann@pactworld.org
skellogg@pactworld.org