The beauty behind buzzwords

Alexandra Plummer, the Managing Director of JWOC explains the buzzwords that the sector uses through JWOC's current projects.


I can talk about JWOC for hours; from the unprecedented commitment of our staff and scholarship students and the positive change we make in the communities we serve to the awe-inspiring support we receive from our donors. This got me thinking about the language I use to talk about JWOC to friends, family, staff and potential donors. I must admit that more often than not I find myself adopting “NGOspeak” – words and acronyms that are familiar to those who work in my field. The fast moving development world is inundated by “buzz” words. These are not to be entirely dismissed; they play an important role in framing an organization’s processes and are essentially used as a summary of their means for implementation. Beyond that, they can also act as key components in securing funds. But for those not living and breathing development work, these words can leave you a little high and dry. Words like empowerment, capacity-building, resilience, governance, civil society can be ambiguous, meaning different things depending on where you stand.

Below I have highlighted what some of these terms mean to me in relation to the work we do at JWOC. Hopefully looking through my lens will give you a better understanding of what JWOC does and why.

1. Capacity Building.

Simply put, I would say that Capacity Building is an investment. It is the investment in activities that can enable an organization to not just reach its aim but sustain itself over time. For this reason I would say it is an integral part of JWOC’s philosophy. Our 5 programs exist to strengthen; they make our staff, scholarship students, the local community and even our supporters and collaborators stronger and more able to face challenges. Projects like our new and exciting Technology Refurbishment expand what is possible for those involved. Learning how to better use technology in a learning environment equips staff and students with the tools to keep up in a technologically driven world. It may be a simple task for Information Technology tools to be delivered to the field, but it takes skills to use them to their full potential - a capacity that must be built from the ground up. Team for Tech and JWOC’s collaboration with the generous support of The Rotary Club of Sacramento helps build these skills to turn unemployed youth into future professionals in Cambodia. (Read more about Team4Tech here)

2. Resilience

The training that JWOC’s Community, Liaison and Assistance program runs is a prime example of resilience in practice. Recently JWOC ran training on practical health and hygiene to reduce health risks during the floods, which are a yearly occurrence. The knowledge that the floods come each year isn’t enough to secure prevention measures. In the squatters villages surrounding JWOC the root causes of flooding cannot be alleviated -- the village has poor irrigation systems, and uneven land. Since villagers do not own the rights to build on the land, the root-cause solutions will be a long time in coming. .Because of this, the chance of a sustainable solution to the flooding is slim.

Resilience means preparing as much as possible to come up against these odds. Working with what we have and what we cannot change, we build on what we can and reduce the risks to those who are vulnerable as much as possible.

3. Self reliance

At least once a week you will hear me highlight the problems that come with giving handouts. Handouts relieve problems temporarily, and are sometimes tempting when faced with dire situations (or necessary in an emergency), but it in the long run it creates dependency on others who are in a position of power.

We don't want to contribute to dependency driven behavior; instead we aim to enable communities to take responsibilities for their own future. How do you motivate a low educated community with poor health standards to improve their living situation? It takes perseverance and a lot of time to alter behavior. JWOC believes that by building strong relationships with local communities, by linking them to access to resources, and by offering training and facilitation, that over time these communities can become self-reliant. To us this means building ability to make informed decisions without external influence.

4. Empowerment

JWOC’s Microfinance initiative (MFI) is a prime example of empowerment in action. JWOC’s MFI increases women’s access to credit to invest in businesses that they own and operate themselves. JWOC’s borrowers have excellent repayment records, in spite of the daily hardships they face -- JWOC has a near 100% repayment rate. However, empowerment is not met by access to credit alone. JWOC operates a group loan system which enables women a space to share new ideas amongst other female participants; it also enables women to be the decision makers. JWOC’s borrowers also receive training on how to manage a budget which challenges existing social norms by empowering women in different ways.

I urge you to take the time to explore an organization's practice behind the trendy language and discover the beauty behind the buzz words. To find out more about all our programs please visit www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org

Microfinance - Training our Scholarship students

I am Sovann, the Microfinance Program Manager at JWOC, going to write about what is Microfinance at JWOC and its importance. So what is Microfinance?

“Microfinance” is the financial services for poor and low-income clients offered by different types of service providers in Cambodia. Moreover, JWOC’s Microfinance program was born to help small entrepreneurs access financial services and improve the income from their small businesses especially those unable to access loans from other institutions in Cambodia. As a part of this program we also offer courses to borrowers so they can gain knowledge of business plans, water filters, hygiene training and budget training.
It also provides potential knowledge to scholarship students for their future career because they all have to work closely with local community, this includes all types of borrowers. They also get training about all aspects of Microfinance: Loan assessment and credit valuation, bad debt solving and advertising techniques before they start working with JWOC MF program. They also get ongoing training from the MF Program Manager. Here are some students who are working in MF sector in Siem Reap.

Mengty, JWOC loan officer leader, is studying in year three in Finance and banking at BBU. Now he is working for YCP microfinance as an accountant. He got training in how to use E-Trust System which is similar to the system which is used by his company.

Heang, JWOC loan officer, is a third year student at BBU in Siem Reap. He is working for Piset organization as credit officer. He attended the training which was conducted by Sovann, MF manager from JWOC. From this cause it helped him to get a job as a credit officer. It also makes him easier to work with the community and borrowers. He knows how to do loan assessment, how to do advertising and solving the problems that he faces. 

Visoth, JWOC loan officer, is fourth year student in the field of IT at BBU in Siem Reap. But he is working as credit officer at AMK. Because he got the training from JWOC, he can work in the different field from his university major.

Therefore, Microfinance program at JWOC is very important for all JWOC scholarship students. It helps to improve the students career which fits to the field they are studying at school.

I would like to say thank you for spending time reading this blog. I am looking forward to writing more about something else next time.